On Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 05:53:16AM -0500, Brian Gupta wrote: > On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 7:54 AM, Wouter Verhelst <wou...@debian.org> wrote: > > On Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 06:44:42AM -0500, Brian Gupta wrote: > > [...] > >> 2) Belgian-team close second (11), with 50%+ having attended DebConfs > >> in the past. > > > > I just noticed I've forgotten to add this to the wiki, but: Gerry, Juan > > and myself are all also members of the FOSDEM team and have been for > > several years (Juan and Gerry actually even longer than me). While > > FOSDEM isn't DebConf, this is also a large free software conference, and > > I think this is also relevant experience. > > > > From talking to other members of the FOSDEM team, it is clear that some > > of them might be interested in joining as well should we win the bid, > > but none have so far helped out. > > > > [...] > >> Belgium needs a food cost estimate > > > > Yes, that is indeed our major outstanding issue. > > > > I have just done a quick websearch for catering options in the > > neighbourhood, and have come up with a company "Traiteur Derkinderen". > > This company's focus is to deliver hot meals to people at home, mostly > > for retired and needy people, starting at a price of EURO 8 per person per > > hot meal. > > > > They don't actually deliver to Mechelen, but I assume they would be > > willing to do so for 300 meals, which would be a large customer. > > > > I haven't yet contacted them, however. > > Bear in mind, it's not just a question of willingness. They may not > have the facilities/staff to accommodate such large orders, especially > considering that it is a smaller city. I would put more effort into > hammering this down, and exploring options, BEFORE THE DECISION, as > arranging meals for 150+ is not always as trivial as it might seem.
Yes, I'm aware of that. I couldn't contact them anymore on friday, and the beginning of this week has been rather busy for me. I have been planning on calling them tomorrow (wednesday) to find out whether they would be an option. This will probably be too late to get a formal offer, but at the very least I should have some more information. > It doesn't need to be finalized, but I feel you should have at least > one viable option available. (You may find that the only kitchens that > can accommodate DebConf needs are the near-by hotel kitchens, and they > may be cost prohibitive.) Most likely, yes. > > [...] > >> 4) Belgium: Food costs? > > > > See above. > > > >> 5) Belgium: Can local team take photos of venue and accommodations and > >> add to bid, before decision meeting? > > > > I'll try to get that arranged ASAP. > > Reminder. We have been looking into this. It turns out to be a bit late to be arrange for a tour of the various buildings and take pictures. However, their commercial folders that they have sent us do contain pictures, and we've made a selection from those. Obviously these won't be high-quality pictures, but they should be enough to help people get a feel for the venue and the other buildings. > >> 6) Both: Family accommodations: Will family-rooms be available? If > >> not, will there be nearby (walking distance) hotels? > > > > Yes. The three hotels that are part of our bid are within walking > > distance. One is across the street (less than 10 meters from the venue), > > the second is across the river (about 50 meters from the venue), the > > third is two blocks away (200 - 300 meters from the venue). > > To be clear, are the hotels the only options for families, or are > there hostel rooms that can be reserved by families? (It's not a > blocker in any case, just is a useful data point.) These three hotels are the three larger hotels in the immediate neighbourhood. However, they are not the only hotels in Mechelen; there are several more available. hotels.com, for instance, knows of 10, and I know of a few more that aren't listed there. There is only one hostel, and that's part of the bid. -- This end should point toward the ground if you want to go to space. If it starts pointing toward space you are having a bad problem and you will not go to space today. -- http://xkcd.com/1133/ _______________________________________________ Debconf-team mailing list Debconf-team@lists.debconf.org http://lists.debconf.org/mailman/listinfo/debconf-team
