Flock 2015 Rochester proposal

This is a proposal that Flock 2015 be held at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY, US.

This is a work in progress. RIT itself is currently working on a proposal. This page will be updated with details as they become available, but we're not going to spring it too soon.

Staff

   Need at least two locals who will participate on the Flock committee and actively help organize. Will require significant time commitment over the next year.

Stephen Jacobs, Jennifer Hinton, Remy Decausemaker

Remote staff

David Gay will be helping with whatever he can, though he moved to the Seattle, WA area in late August 2014.

The city

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Population is approximately 210,565, making it New York's third most populous city after New York City and Buffalo. Rochester was one of America's first "boomtowns" and rose to prominence initially as the site of many flour mills located on the Genesee River, then as a major manufacturing hub.It was home to Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony during the bulk of their careers as abolitionist and suffragette leaders, as well as the Fox sisters and the founders of the Spiritualist movement. Rochester is now an international center of higher education, as well as medical and technological development. The region is known for many acclaimed universities, and several of them (notably the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology) are nationally renowned for their research programs. RIT is the home of the first Academic Minor in Free and Open Source Software and Free Culture and has hosted and/or participated in over 50 hackathons in five years. Red Hat, Inc. and Fedora have actively supported RIT's FOSS efforts over the years.

Airports

   The airport is the Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC) and is roughly 20 minutes from the airport by car, cab or hotel shuttle. Estimated costs of flights from
 

BOS $250/$340 (1 Stop/Direct)
RDU $250 (1 Stop)
BOM $1,100 (2 stops)
CDG $1,400 (1 stop)
PRG $1,250 (2 stops)
Rochester is also a 4-6 hour drive from Toronto, Detroit, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and DC.

Transportation

   Rochester is best navigated by car or cab and most places are no more than a 15-20 minute ride away.  Rochester also has an active set of [bus lines http://www.myrts.com/]

Lodging

   Proposed lodging
       Cost of loding--please provide written agreement from lodging specifying rates
       Number of single and double rooms available
       Note Internet availability and cost in lodging
       Distance from venue and transportation required between them 
   Proposed evening event locations (at least 2, preferably 3)
   Pros and cons of the proposed location.

The venue

   Proposed venue, including:
       Cost of venue
       Room availability for keynotes and capacity (assume 250 attendees)
       Room availability for sessions--number of rooms available, capacity of each, and configuration (classroom style, conference style, etc.) -- we need 6-8 of these, each with a capacity of at least 40
       Internet availability