FUDCon:FUDConEMEA2009

FUDCon EMEA 2009 planning

At FAD EMEA 2008, we made a short list of possible cities for FUDCon EMEA 2009. We would prefer to hold FUDCon EMEA 2009 no earlier than June, and no later than September.

Each city has an owner who is responsible for looking into initial organizational questions.

After phase 1, we will eliminate cities for which the logistics are impossible, and narrow down the options.

Phase 1: Information Gathering

Deadline: January 30, 2009

By the deadline, please add any information that you have gathered. Refer to the FUDCon organization page for some of the requirements. For Phase 1, the most important requirements are:

• Facilities -- is there a faciilty that can give us the infrastructure that we need for a FUDCon? This means 3 days worth of space, typically one large room (150-200) and 4 or 5 smaller rooms (20-30), as well as a general "lobby" area. Wifi is also essential.
• Lodging -- is there a hotel that we can book for attendees, that is relatively close to the actual location? Is there public transportation? What are the prices like? Is there wifi included?
• Budget -- Keep in mind that the entire budget for the event (food, shirts, hotel subsidies, travel subsidies, etc.) will be about $20k USD (14k EUR). Also keep in mind that some of that money might be needed to help get Red Hat engineers from Stuttgart or Brno to the event, depending on where the event is. This will depend on what kind of budget is available for Red Hat engineers in Europe to travel to the event.

Athens

Owner: DimitrisGlezos

After seeing the vibrant Linux community in Athens, as well as the comparatively inexpensive costs and excellent subway system, MaxSpevack suggested Athens as a potential location for a FUDCon, but needs to follow up with Dimitris to gauge interest.

Dimitris asked a few Qs and got a few As:

• Facilities: There is a good chance we could get space at the National Technical University of Athens. PierrosPapadeas is studying there and can help us with that.
  • A few FOSS conferences were held there (including FossComm in which Fedora was represented), infrastructure is pretty OK (don't know the details yet but since it's a University it should be OK). Network, wifi, sound in main area of 200, projectors are pretty much covered there. There's also a big lobby area.
  • Photos: main room, lobby/cafe, spam, floor.
• Lodging -- Since it's Athens I'm pretty sure we can find a multitude of hotels close by. The venue is a 10' bus from the heart of Athens, the Parthenon etc. Prices are decent (ticket for bus/metro/etc 80c, day ticket €3).
• Budget -- Probably quite lower than other European capitals and expensive cities, but possibly a bit higher than others like Brno.
• Availability: We'll need some concrete dates possible early on to book the venue. The fact that it's weekend will probably make things easier.
• Other details: Two of the local ambassadors (PierrosPapadeas,KostasAntonakoglou are eagerly willing to help. ( :) ) Local LUG is willing to help out. Probably 30+ hackers will come around to participate/watch/etc, since the community here is quite vibrant.
• Flights from big airports in central Europe (Munich, Brussels, Zurich) should cost around 200-300 €. For direct flights check Greek Aegean and Olympic Airlines and local airlines (eg. Lufthansa). Easyjet from London 150-200€.

Discussion

• GeroldKassube: the price for the cheapest flight (I found today) from Zurich to Athens (both ways) costs approx. CHF 500,- which is about ~ EUR 325,-

Basel

Owner: AndreasRau

FUDCon would be at the University of Basel, since Andreas works there. For phase 1, we need to finalize the FUDCon location, potential hotel information, and options for dates of the event.

Berlin

Owner: GeroldKassube

This option is for FUDCon EMEA 2009 to be co-organized around LinuxTag 2009. We already have an idea of what this event might look like, due to work that Gerold and Marko Jung have already done.

• GeroldKassube 2008-12-20: the price for the cheapest flight (I found today) from Zurich to Berlin (both ways) costs approx. CHF 275,- which is about ~ EUR 175,- (from Basel it's approx. CHF 80,-)

Brno

Owner: RadekVokal

After last year's success, returning to Brno is always an option. Max needs to speak with Radek to see if this is possible for 2009. For phase 1, we basically need to know if we can replicate last year's facilities and hotel, and what dates would be best.

The primary benefit of this location is that a great number of Red Hat engineers are in that location, and not all of them would be able to attend a FUDCon somewhere else.

Comments from Radek: Confirmed with the University. We have the same offer as last year.

Netherlands

Owner: JeroenVanMeeuwen

FUDCon would be either in Utrecht or Delft, both a short train ride from Amsterdam's airport. For phase 1, we need information about about FUDCon location, potential hotel information, and options for dates of the event.

• GeroldKassube 2008-12-20: the price for the cheapest flight (I found today) from Zurich to Amsterdam (both ways) costs approx. CHF 350,- which is about ~ EUR 230,-

Stuttgart

Owner: ThomasWoerner

For phase 1, we need information about FUDCon location, potential hotel information, and options for dates of the event. One of the benefits of this location is that several Red Hat engineers are already there.

• GeroldKassube 2008-12-20: from Switzerland (regardless from where) it's a 2 hours to 4 hours doable car drive

Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland is located in the midst of central Europe.

Owner: Sandro Mathys

Based on Dimitris' Qs and As, Sandro provided some As:

• Facilities: It should be no problem to get lots of space (i.e. rooms) and equipment at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) which is a science and technology university that is ranked among the best universities in the world (i.e. #1 in Switzerland, #5 in Europe and #24 in the world according to popular rankings like the Times or the Shanghai). Alternatively, the University of Zurich could be an option as well.
  • Sandro starts to work at the ETHZ as a (Red Hat Enterprise) Linux Engineer on 2009-02-01 which should prove helpful.
  • The Linux User Group Switzerland (LUGS) has their monthly meetings at the ETHZ. They'd help us if we need them for sure.

• Lodging: There's lot of hotels of different size and in different price ranges all over Zurich. If we decide to go for one big hotel for everyone, we should be able to get some group discount.
  • Zurich has excellent public transportation (city trains, trams, busses). This makes it easy to find a well-connected hotel (if those nearby don't fit). Day tickets cost CHF 5.- (EUR 3.-) and I think we could get group rebates there too.

• Budget: Zurich is an expensive city like most metropoles in Europe. But it depends on what we want/need.
  • With the help of the LUGS, /ch/open (a Swiss association supporting open source) and the ETHZ, we might get in touch with the right contacts for further benefits/discounts.
  • The ETHZ might help us with more than just lots of space since their linux engineering offices are highly interested in meeting Red Hat engineers (particularly those from Stuttgart) and community folks.
  • Sandro has some good contacts to open source companys that might donate some money or resources (as happened for the FAD EMEA 2008 in Basel).

• Availability: There's lots of buildings and rooms at different sites of the ETHZ. It shouldn't be a problem to have the event during weekends - term breaks might be even better. I think the most important point here is that we get in touch with the ETHZ prior to defining the exact date (i.e. it would be better if we're a bit flexible with the exact weekend).

• Travels: Zurich is well connected by national and international trains and has an international airport (which is very well connected to the city by train and tram). You can also easily get there by car.
  • The Zurich Airport is home to the Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss belongs to the German Lufthansa and is member of the Star Alliance) and to the Helvetic Airways.
  • Berlin: round-trip with Swiss from EUR 140.-
  • Paris: round-trip with Air France from EUR 230.-
  • London: round-trip with Swiss from EUR 150.-
  • Brussels: round-trip with Swiss/Lufthansa from EUR 320.-
  • Rome: round-trip with airberlin from EUR 250.-
  • Brno: round-trip with Czech Airlines from EUR 380.-

• Other details:
  • FSF Europe's founder and president Georg Greve is living in the Zurich area and his office (i.e. the FSFE Zurich office) is located in the heart of Zurich (not too far away from the ETHZ anyway). Maybe we could invite him for a talk or something.
  • FreeBeer (as in freedom - German only) is available in Zurich and would be a great refreshment at the FUDPub. We've drunk it at OpenExpo's social event and it's really tasty - and as the name says, the recipe is available under a copyleft license (CC-BY-SA). Goerg Greve likes FreeBeer too. It's been developed (and is being sold by) a students organization (of both, the ETHZ and the University of Zurich), by the way.