Wikimania 2006/London

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Archived Wikimania bid : London

Wikimania 2006 cities: Boston ||   Toronto    |    Milano  |  London

This is an official bid, but still very incomplete.

Was (unsurprisingly) unsuccessful, but will be rolled forward (possibly amongst others) to a bid for 2007.

City details

• Country: England, U.K.
• City proposed: London
• Proposed dates: 8th to 13th August 2006 - Pre-conference (hacking days) can be held before those dates.
• Contact persons: Loopzilla, Cormaggio

Conference venue

• Queen Mary College - Mile End Campus. (See also Queen Mary Conferences and facilities)

1. Main hall: "Great Hall" - 800 seats (with fixed seating in balcony)
2. Seminar rooms: "Skeel Lecture Theatre" - 263 seats, "Drapers Lecture Theatre" - 214 seats (fixed seating), "Octagon - 200 seats, "Laws Room" G4 - 60 seats, "Physics Room" 602 - 40 seats.
3. Lounge facilities:
4. Other rooms (organisation, staff, speakers, interviews/press, storage):

• 10 rooms with fixed seating and writing surfaces to seat 100 or more
• 17 rooms to seat 50 to 99
• 14 rooms to seat 25 to 49
• 37 rooms to seat 13 to 24

Contacts with conference venue (emails, price quotes etc.)

• • Great Hall: 2,000 pounds per day
  • Drapers Lecture Theatre: 395 pounds per day
  • Laws Room G4: 185 pounds per day
  • Octagon: price on application
  • Physics Room 602: 108 pounds per day
  • Skeel Lecture Theatre: 395 pounds per day
  • 10 rooms with fixed seating and writing surfaces to seat 100 or more: Price unknown
  • 17 rooms to seat 50 to 99: 185 pounds per day
  • 14 rooms to seat 25 to 49: 108 pounds per day
  • 37 rooms to seat 13 to 24: 77 pounds per day

Technical facilities

• • Existing technical installations

On-site, standard AV such as overhead and data projectors, CD/DVD playback, radio microphones etc. See [1]

• • Wireless Network implementation: Some rooms have wireless but not all. They may have wireless by August 2006 in many more rooms. Internet connection is through JANET - a potential problem. There is a charge for username and password to connect to the networks, which covers both the wireless net and the wirefull (CAT5) connections in the accommodation bedrooms.

Transportation

• Distance from international airport(s): Near to London City Airport (which will have frequent DLR service by 2006), tube link (cross-platform change only) to London Heathrow, two tube stops without changing from express train to London Stansted, direct tube (no change) to cross-platform change to express train to London Luton. Stansted is also served by bus services from Stratford which is a short bus ride from the venue.
• Distance from mainline station(s): Links to London mainline stations via London Underground and buses or tube from Mile End (no change of lines to Charing Cross, Victoria, Kings Cross or Paddington, single change for all others)
• Estimation of travel costs from all continents: According to Talk:Wikimania_2006/Planning#travel, prices of round trip tickets to London: Paris (90-140€), Frankfurt (190-300€), Toronto (740-830€), New York (600-680€), Los Angeles (800-870€), Rio de Janeiro (1100-2000€), Buenos Aires (750-1100€), Sydney (1650-2200€), Tokyo (2400-2500€)
• Distance from most accommodations: Accommodation on site - five minute walk.

Accommodation

• Location of main accommodation facilities: On site, five minute walk
• Room details and price range: Can accommodate up to 1000 people between double and single rooms - prices as follows: 300 standard single rooms with bathroom down the hall (25 pounds per night), 80 twin rooms with bathroom (50 pounds per night), 140 single rooms with bathroom (32 pounds per night). (2005 rates and subject to VAT)

1 pound = 1,76 dollars

• Catering (one meal a day)

Canteen style catering, low cost, to be confirmed

• contacts with accommodation partner(s)

(emails, price quotes etc.) to be confirmed

Local sponsorship opportunities

Possibility of local sponsorships

• Contacts

(no name needed, just "company X, 4000 USD or will provide 300 beds)

Local team

• LoopZilla (Queen Mary College graduate, former staff member and still living in w:en:East London, England
• Possible professional organizer - personal contact of LoopZilla
• James F.
• Cormaggio
• Dan100
• Thryduulf
• MrWeeble
• and others

Miscellaneous

• Not available first week in August 2006

Self-evaluation

• Weaknesses of the proposed location ...and how to overcome those weaknesses

1. Costs

   Solution: sponsorship

2. JANET connectivity for internet - see JANET Terms and Conditions

   Solution: Possible use of other network services: Consume and Informal or a "IP tunnel"

   The exact terms of use are being investigated - to be confirmed.

• Strengths of the proposed location

1. Close to central London, thus access to all the facilities (museums, entertainment, etc) that this world city can provide.
2. The venue is in regular use for Open University summer schools and language schools, so is all set up and running.

More helpful pages:   Wikimania 2005 | 2005 website +/-