Organizing Team
(Alphabetically by surname)
- Neville A. Cross Event Owner
- Fernando Espinoza Transportation
- Cristhian Vanessa G Conference and Barcamp
- Aura Lila Gutierrez Promotional and printing materials
- Samuel J. Gutierrez Aviles Hacking
- Eduardo Mayorga Lodging
- William Moreno Budged Tracking
- Porfirio Paiz Workshops
Team members have organised and been part of the staff in small and large events. Small events like university visits, informal gatherings and Fedora release parties. Large events like, Document Freedom Day, FLISOL and Software Freedom Day.
Managua
Managua is the Capital city of Nicaragua. One distinct feature is that has a lot of concrete cobbled streets. You can not walk the city, you may walk within some neighbourhood, but usually distances are beyond walking distance and there is lack of side walks. The address is based on landmark references.
Airport
Managua International airport Agusto Cesar Sandino has MGA code. It is serve by Avianca-TACA, Copa, American Airlines, Delta, United, Spirit and Nature Air. You may expect to get connection in Miami, San Salvador or Panama city. Airport is about 12 kilometers from city center.
Local Transportation
The public transportation is overcrowded. There is plenty of taxi cabs but you have to bargain the fare before hand. There is not meters on the taxi cabs.
Schedule
Proposed dates
October 30th, October 31st and November 1st, 2014.
This will be at mid rainy season. Temperature will be around 26C / 80F with 50% of rain probability. When rains, usually it is for a short time, most likely at the end of the afternoon.
Schedule
| Day | Time | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| October 30th | Morning Afternoon |
Opening and barcamp votation Pre scheduled talks |
| October 31st | Morning Afternoon |
Barcamp Workshops and hacking |
| November 1st | Morning Afternoon |
Workshops and hacking Barcamp and closing |
Fud-Pub
There is a popular Nicaraguan food for festivities called "Caballo Bayo". Food is serve in a buffet, clay pottery that holds ignited charcoals and on top there is a big clay plate holding the food hot. Usually there is shredded beef, shredded chicken, minced pork, plantains, cheese, cream, among other stuff. You take corn tortillas in a plate and serve whatever you like. By default we can have this at the hotel. We are exploring other locations to offer different locations.
Venue
At this point, there is no definitive venue. The proposed Venue is Universidad Centroamericana, it is a catholic university administered by the Jesuit order. It is one of the best universities on the country and it has a FOSS community GUL-UCA. Among the private universities UCA is the biggest, having several conference rooms. It has several labs, one of them has already installed Fedora. Starting 2012, UCA is a smoking free area.Their staff will provide some talks as part of the commitment to the event. They are reviewing the schedule of internal activities. It has been said that the will sponsor the event providing the venue and some internet bandwidth free of charge.
There are several conference halls. Aula Magna 400p, Xabier Gorsotiaga 220p, Roberto Teran 120p, Ponsol-Astorqui 100p, Amando Lopez 60p. There several post graduated class room 40p with air conditioning. Also there are several computer labs from 20p to 40p all of them with air conditioning.
The university have book shop, school supply store, snack bars and banks with ATM. Around the university there is several low cost small buffet. Within walking distance there is a Shopping centre with food court, cinemas pharmacy, computer store, electronic store, office supply stores, banks and offices of mobile phone companies. There are some restaurant more up scale near by.
We have talks with Universidad Autónoma de Nicaragua and Universidad Americana to host the event. Both have offered their facilities free of charges. We are please to have options to choose from.
Logistics
Accommodation
At this point there is not definitive selection. Our proposed Hotel is Mansión Teodolinda. Has a good Internet infrastructure and is offering a meeting room for hacking after hours. It has been offered to provide transport to the venue free of charges. The hotel has airport shuttle service, this is a pending issue to negotiate.
There are some small bars nearby. There is a shopping centre near by with food court, cinemas and small stands of mobile phone companies. There is a pharmacy close by. There is a gas station with convenience store and ATM.
Catering
Hotel Mansión Teodolinda have offered lunch boxes delivered to the venue, this may be convenient. There are some restaurants in walking distance of the university that can be explored.
Pre-registration system
There is not estimated cost for this item, but it will be sponsored by Kakao media in their web site Folcano which displays activities and sells tickets for events.
Travel
Visa information
People from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador only require valid government issued ID to enter Nicaragua.
The rest of countries required valid passport. The passport expiration day should be at least six months later than the entry day. Most country does no require visa. However there is a short list of countries that their nationals require to obtain visa before travelling to Nicaragua. Having in mind countries that have fedora collaborators, people from Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru require visa. This is a decision within the consular office, should be a short time waiting. For some other countries, not relevant to our case, the visa have to be consulted to the inmigration offices at Nicaragua and take longer to be processed. You can consult the complete list at the foreign ministry web site (Spanish)
There is a fee at the migration check point (airport o border) of USD 5.00 applied to foreigners.
Buses
As Nicaragua is at the centre of Central America, it is possible for people to travel by bus. Both way bus tickets to Managua
| City | Ticabus | Transnica | King Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guatemala (Overnight) |
Mix USD 140.32 Tourist USD 107.52 |
||
| San Salvador | Executive USD 100 Tourist 60 |
||
| Tegucigalpa | Tourist USD 40 | ||
| San Pedro Sula | Tourist USD 64 | ||
| San Jose | Executive USD 80 Tourist 56.40 |
||
| Panama (Overnight) |
Executive USD 190.10 Mix USD 162.10 Tourist USD 132.10 |
Mix =Over night travel that is booked half in executive class and half in tourist class
Direct Fligths
The table below only shows direct flights. You will have to make connection in one of those cities to get to Nicaragua. Prices searched in Orbitz on December 14th, 2013. Travelling to Managua on October 29th and returning November 3th.
| City | Air Line | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Miami | American Taca |
USD 436.90 USD 436.90 |
| Atlanta | Delta | USD 608.90 |
| Houston | United | USD 797.4 |
| Guatemala | Taca (1 stop) Copa |
USD 443.10 USD 443.10 |
| San Salvador | Taca | USD 298.43 |
| San Jose | Copa Taca |
USD 317.81 USD 317.81 |
| Panama | Copa Taca (1 stop) |
USD 590.10 USD 579.40 |
It is possible that a flight from Panama stops in San José, Costa Rica, for 30 minutes without need to change plane. The flight from Panama by Taca, goes up North to San Salvador, change planes and then returning South to Nicaragua.
Conecting Flights
The table below is for long distance flights that requires connections. Searches made in Orbitz on December 14th, 21013. Travelling to Nicaragua on October 29th and returning November 3rd 2014
| City | Air Line | Price |
|---|---|---|
| São Paulo - Brazil | Copa (1 stop) | USD 1,141.56 |
| Rio de Janeiro - Brazil | Copa (1 stop) | USD 1,139.52 |
| Caracas - Venezuela | TACA (1 stop) | USD 2,512.80 |
| Valencia - Venezuela | Insel/TACA (3 stops) | USD 1,149.60 |
| Bogota - Colombia | TACA (1 stop) | USD 948.90 |
| Quito - Ecuador | Copa (1 stop) | USD 946.56 |
| Lima - Peru | TACA (1 stop) | USD 1,229.74 |
| Cuzco - Peru | LAN/COPA (2 stops) | USD 1,591.01 |
| Santiago - Chile | Copa (1 stop) | USD 1,333.50 |
| Asunción - Paraguay | COPA (1 stop) | USD 1,114.30 |
| Montevideo - Uruguay | COPA (1 stop) | USD 1,616.90 |
| Buenos Aires - Argentina | Copa (1 stop) | USD 1,283.72 |
| Córdoba - Argentina | Copa (1 stop) | USD 1,531.52 |
Budget
This shows our current budget
| Item | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Drinks | water and soda bottles | USD 235 |
| Venue | Conference Halls | USD 0 |
| Rooms | 10 double rooms for four days | USD 2106 |
| food | 3 day lunch for 40 people | USD 960 |
| fud pub | rent and food (40 persons) | USD 665 |
| t-shirts | 150 units | USD 0 |
| booklets | 300 units | USD 113 |
| Banners | 4 units to show our sponsors | USD 80 |
| USD 4159 |
Sponsors
- Güegüe Comunicaciones will be sponsoring t-shirts
- UCA will be hosting the event
- Folcano will be host our pre-registration system.
Pros and Cons of the proposed location.
Pros
- Centrally located in Central America. People can travel by bus.
- Venue will be low cost
- People has experience with events and links with local news media.
Cons
- few sponsors at the moment
- Bad transportation within the city
- Expensive air fares
Quotations a.k.a. Working information
Lodging
Cost calculated in base of 20 guests in 10 double rooms. Taxes included. Meeting room will be a hacking/meeting space for the night. If breakfast is not included, the price will be added. Air shuttle has to be calculated double, as incoming and outgoing travels.
| Hotel | Double rooms 10 | Meeting room | Airport shuttle | Transportation to venue | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Mansión Teodolinda | $52.65 x 10 rooms x 4 days Breakfast included |
Included (Free) | $5 x 20pp x 2 (in-out) | Included (Free) | $2,706 |
| Hotel El Almendro | $63.65 x 10 rooms x 4 days Breakfast included |
Included (Free) | $ | Included | $2,530 |
| Hilton Princess Managua | $110 x 10 rooms x 4 days plus taxes Breakfast included |
Not included (unknown rates yet) | Not included | $5,148 | |
| Intercontinental Metrocentro | 190 x 10 rooms x 4 days Breakfast included |
Included (free) | $12 x 20pp x 2 (in-out) | $8,080 |
Catering
The idea is that there will be 20 people from abroad plus 20 local people helping with the event. This is an estimated. Most likely there will less people.
| Catering service or restaurant | Price | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel Mansión Teodolinda | $8 x 40 x 3 = $ 960 | delivery to the venue included |
| Hotel Crowne Plaza | 2 x 10 x $120 = $ 2400 | |
| Name | $ |
Stationery
Bocklet for information about the event and writing space for the schedule. Note blocks as gifts. Banners to display our sponsors.
| printing shop | Booklets | note blocks | banners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolonia Printing | $306 (300 units) | $293 (300 units) | $53 (each) |
| Deseño Centro | $113 (300 units) | $576 (300 units) | $20 (each) |
Serigraphy
It has been a custom to give t-shirts to the 150 first people to pre-register on the event. There is also the idea of making bags as gifts, like small running backpacks.
| printing shop | tshirts | bags |
|---|---|---|
| Bordados Anan | $776.25 (150 units) | n/a |
| Publi bolsos | n/a | $470.58 (200 units) |
| Diseño Centro | $480 (150 units) | $696 (200 units) |
Güegüe Comunicaciones will be sponsoring t-shirts
drinks
3 days x 40 people x 4 units = 480
24 water bottle pack = C$280 240 bottles = C$ 2800
6 soda bottle pack = C$ 76 240 bottles = C$ 3040
Total C$ 5840 aprox US $235
Images
