On 16/08/05, Cormac Lawler <cormaggio(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Dan, thanks a million for doing all this. On
Manchester venues,
have you had a look at the University of Manchester?
http://www.conference.manchester.ac.uk/meetingmanchester/meetingandaccommod…
I haven't seen the Reynolds building in their list.
It was the University of Manchester Conference Department that I was
talking to today. They said the only place that could handle 400-500
delegates is the Reynolds Building, which is on Sackville Street, not
Oxford Road :-). The biggest LT on Oxford Road is only a 244 seater
:-(.
They did also suggest that Fallowfield Road is a possibility, although
it was described to me as "being a bit run-down" :-). I'm consulting
further with them on this one; I'll let you know as soon as I get
something back.
And have you seen
Arwel Parry's list of suggestions on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:UK_Wikipedians%27_notice_board#…
? Some interestign ideas - although on a different scale.
Appear to be mainly hotels, where you are looking at 3x the cost of
accommodation. But if Arwel can get numbers and they're competitive,
great!
Also, if
we're worried about leaving it too late, maybe the best thing to do is
to find our best option early and then provisionally book it, in
advance of the wikimania committee decision?
That's a good idea! I'm a bit worried they'll want a deposit, but
we'll certainly give it a try.
And finally, the
Wikimania conference itself was over three days but there was a whole
hacking convention and minor meetings beforehand so we might be
looking at a Wikimedia presence needing to be facilitated on-site (or
nearby) for a week or so. Maybe James F (who was on staff) could fill
us in on some relevant details?
Apparently any future "hacker's conventions" are going to be held
seperately. However it shouldn't an issue to hire a suite of smaller
rooms (all unis are filled with them, after all) for a few days before
hand. It's getting a slot in the large-capacity LTs which is the main
concern.
Thanks for your input Cormac :-)
Dan