In early January, Nattie and I visited the two likely DebConf 20 bid cities [0] (Lisbon, Portugal and Haifa, Israel), to check on the status of the bids, and do some reconnaissance of the venues. There was also a preliminary bid from India, but no city has been proposed, and there hasn't been any activity on the bid since August 2018, so we've assumed they aren't ready for DebConf 20.
The bids are going to be discussed this week by the committee [1]. The trip was quite brief, only a couple of days in each city. And it was directly after New Year, so many people in Lisbon were still on holiday. But we got a good feeling for the venues, and bids. We looked at the proposed venues, accommodation, and nearby attractions. We helped the bid teams to answer the questions in the Location Check List [2], meeting with venue representatives to get details. This check list was a little out of date, so we also updated it. [0]: https://wiki.debian.org/DebConf/20 [1]: https://pad.riseup.net/redirect#https%3A//lists.debian.org/debconf-team/2019/01/msg00003.html [2]: https://wiki.debian.org/DebConf/General/Handbook/Bids/LocationCheckList Here's a brief summary of what we saw. Lisbon ====== Bid: https://wiki.debian.org/DebConf/20/Bids/Lisbon Check List: https://wiki.debian.org/DebConf/20/Bids/Lisbon/CheckList We met with José Calhariz, the main representative for the Lisbon bid, and his colleague João Silva [3] to have a look around potential conference facilities at the Técnico (IST) in Lisbon. The Técnico is situated on top of a hill, overlooking the Alameda, and is easily reached by public transport. However, accessibility is somewhat of a concern: in the main auditoriums, wheelchair accessibility was not immediately evident. The potential hacklabs appeared at first glance to be accessible. Furthermore, there are plans to inquire further into accessibility through groups on campus dedicated to such matters. The proposed model for a DebConf in Lisbon would be very much a "city" DebConf in the style of New York or Portland, where the attendees would have the opportunity to get to know the city in which the conference is held. There was the possibility of investigating the university's other campus, some way outside Lisbon proper and not easily reached by public transport, but we didn't take it this time. In the case of a repeated candidacy by Lisbon, we would be interested in exploring this possibility as well, although it would substantially change the type of DebConf on offer. Since there are no dormitories available at the Técnico, accommodation would have to be external. The university has contacts with nearby hotels, from past events. João Silva very kindly arranged a meeting for us with a representative of the InterContinetal group, parent of the nearby Holiday Inn hotel. It should be possible to make a block booking for us, although distributed over multiple hotels. We also have a contact with a more economical hotel, but I'm not sure whether anything has come of that yet. The bid has the support of the IT department of the University. We expect the venue to have some cost, although the university may be a partial sponsor for this. [3] https://fenix.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/homepage/ist14028 Haifa ===== Bid: https://wiki.debian.org/DebConf/20/Bids/Haifa Check List: https://wiki.debian.org/DebConf/20/Bids/Haifa/CheckList We met with Tzafrir Cohen, the Haifa bid's main proponent, along with several others, including a representative from the city. On the first day, we were shown various venues near the port of Haifa. These included the customs hall of the cruise ship port (a very interesting building, but very high-security and only one space we'd use for talks), an art school with a fabulous rooftop terrace (perhaps suitable for a party, but not really what we had in mind for talks), and the future site of the robotics lab [4] (beautiful, but realistically too small). On the second day, we checked out the main campus of Haifa University, and met several members of the staff of the Caesarea Rothschild Institute [5]. Effectively, two options were presented to us, a "city" DebConf, with talk venues based in the city near the port, and a "campus" DebConf, with talks and accommodation based all in one place. Accommodation for a "city" DebConf in Haifa would have to take place in small hotels near the port, of which there are several, and of which we visited one. Accommodation for a "campus" DebConf would take place at the University's dorms, which are located about 500m from the proposed talk rooms and hacklabs. Overall, the preference for Haifa seems to be to bid for a "campus" DebConf. Both the City of Haifa and the University of Haifa are extremely keen to host us, and it is heartening to be met with such enthusiasm. The conference has been approved by both the mayoral and university chancellor's offices. There would be a cost to the university venue, both accommodation and conference venue, although the university may be a sponsor for the conference venue. [4] https://sites.hevra.haifa.ac.il/rbd/ [5] https://cri.hevra.haifa.ac.il/people We took many photographs at both venues, but we haven't sorted through them, yet. Some contain students in class, and other areas that we shouldn't be sharing photographs of. So, we've left it to the bid teams to select some photographs to include in their bid pages, and you can see some of them, there. We probably have more detailed pictures of many areas, that we can share with the selection committee, to answer questions. This trip was funded by Debian, thanks! Stefano and Nattie -- Stefano Rivera http://tumbleweed.org.za/ +1 415 683 3272
