Wikimania 2008/Perth

Status: Not current/Inactive
Notes: The deadline for making this bid official has now expired. Perth volunteers are presently assembling a competitive and viable bid for Wikimania 2009.

The undersigned propose that Perth, Western Australia, be selected as the venue for Wikimania '08.

Benefits of selecting Perth

Several advantages of Perth as a venue include:

Perth is equidistant by plane between Singapore, an international air hub, and the eastern Australian cities.
Perth is a beautiful city, offering the historic port city of Fremantle (the venue of the 1987 America's Cup), natural attractions such as the Swan River, the 1000-acre Kings Park [1] and the Swan Valley wine region [2], and is the gateway to the wider region which includes the world-famous Margaret River wine region [3], the karri forests of Pemberton [4] and the Pinnacles Desert [5], one of Australia's most recognisable and unusual landscapes. An attractive venue is obviously a benefit to Wikimania attendance as people may wish to attend the conference as part of a family or personal holiday.
Perth is the centre of a minerals boom which has led to the construction of world-class facilities and considerable investment in infrastructure since 1970.
Perth is home to two active WikiProjects, WikiProject Western Australia (31 members) and WikiProject Perth (61 members), however, it should be noted that most members are members of both projects, some members do not live locally in Perth and some are no longer active on Wikimedia projects.

Maps of Perth

MSN Live map of Perth (points of interest marked)
Streetsmart map of Perth

Note that in Australian usage, "CBD" is equivalent to "city centre" or "downtown" in other English-speaking countries.

Possible venues for Wikimania

Alternative 1 - Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, immediately southwest of the Perth CBD with views to the river. It is adjacent to the Parmelia Hilton hotel and close to several others, and of the three venues, it is the most recently constructed (2002) and the closest to the city. It won the top business tourism award from Tourism Western Australia in 2005.
Alternative 2 - Burswood Resort, located in Burswood, 3km/2mi east of Perth and first opened in 1985. This venue played host to Jimbo Wales during his visit to Perth on 24 April 2007, and contains two hotels, Intercontinental Burswood and Holiday Inn.
Alternative 3 - Rendezvous Observation City, located in Scarborough, a coastal suburb on the Indian Ocean 12km/7mi northwest of Perth and was first opened in 1988. [6]
Alternative 4 - Perth contains three universities with conference facilities, the largest of which is Curtin University in Bentley, 8km southeast of Perth.
Alternative 5 - The historic port city of Fremantle, at various locations in close proximity including The Esplanade Hotel, WA maritime museum, and other waterfront locations.

Supporters of the bid

Volunteers

Please add your name to this list if you are willing and able to do the work organising, managing and running a 2008 Wikimania in Perth (please note after your name if you are over 18, have any relevant skills and qualifications and whether you have experience organising and running conferences for ~500 people):

Nathannoblet - Quite happy to do some googling!

Accommodation

All proposed venues have significant accommodation available within close proximity which caters for various travel budgets, starting from backpacker styled accommodation in the nearby inner-city suburb of Northbridge, Western Australia and up to various hotels from 1-5 star.

Alternative 1 There is x rooms immediately next to the perth convention centre. There may not be enough however, there are many hotels since the convention centre is in the CBD - all within 300 metres. Availability is unknown. point 6

Alternative 2 There are x rooms inside the same building - everything on site is no more then a few hundred metres away. Availability around this time of the year is high as this is the off-peak time of the year. Discounts are available. point 16

Cost of living

Perth offers a relatively low cost of living for those from Europe, the United States and Canada. Department stores, discount stores, chain supermarkets and specialty stores are sprinkled throughout the metropolitan area and offer a range of products comparable to other Western countries. Australia offers relatively cheap global roaming telephone access on three networks (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone) for international travellers from most destinations, or visitors may wish to buy a pre-paid SIM card or one of a wide range of discount calling cards for use with a regular hotel phone - both options are available from newsagencies in the CBD and metropolitan area.

Transport

Perth has a well-designed road system, being for the most part a very recently built city along planning guidelines set down in 1955 and 1963.

Public transport is provided by the Public Transport Authority through Transperth, which allows free travel within the CBD, West Perth and East Perth with purchase of a Smartcard, and fares and services comparable to those in American and European cities which run well into the night.

All possible venues with exception to Scarborough can be directly accessed by well serviced rail networks. Scarborough is serviced by frequent bus services from the Glendalough Railway Station.

Food options

There is a variety of food options within Perth in both budget and gourmet ranges. Due to Perth's proximity to the Asian region and in particular its strong student population from Singapore and Malaysia, many authentic Asian food options exist in a variety of price ranges (starting from $7 for a full meal), and Perth's significant Italian and Greek communities account for a number of well-regarded restaurants and cafes. Premium restaurants include Fraser's, Bells, C Restaurant (formerly Hilite 33) and those associated with Perth's major hotels, which usually charge $20-$30 for a main meal. In addition, a range of pubs (including themed Belgian, English and Irish pubs) are located in the city centre and in neighbouring Northbridge.

Alternative 1 (PCEC) - There is a small cafe/bar on site next to the centre as well as a smaller restaurant. It is located immediately adjacent to the Perth City Busport and to the Esplanade railway station (expected to be completed in October 2007).For station, see point 8

Alternative 2 (Burswood) - All food can be supplied on site with restaurants, cafes and buffets which are available throughout the day. There are also bars and nightclubs on site. Free transport to the city is available and can be arranged to increase frequency. See point 16

Funding and amount of local sponsorship available

The WA government has a 1.7 billion dollar surplus and, sponsor a lot of these sorts of events.

Alternative 1 If the event is held in perth exhibition centre, the City of Perth (the local council) is a regular sponsor of such events.

Alternative 2 If the event is at burswood, they may give us free rooms, or confrernce halls etc.

General location

There is much tourism, nightlife and other recreational facilities extremely close to both sites.

A bus service from Resort Burswood is offered and, other services can be made with Transperth - our local bus service. High speed ADSL 2+ Internet access is available at both locations There is free and full access to all areas at burswood and in the city. There is a good wi-fi service which is preexisting and, laptops can be rented at Abacus in Victoria Park for up to $105AUD ($86.71USD) English is the local language in Perth. Translators can be hired cheaply for all days and can translate into French, Italian and Japanese at this point. The local telephone company Telstra offers telephone interpreting services. For more information on interpreting, please visit Telstra.com.

There are no extreme laws in Perth. There is no smoking inside any building, government property or enclosed area. This includes restaurants and bars. All drugs are outlawed and it is illegal to drink or talk on a non-hands free mobile while driving. Corporal punishment is outlawed. Australians should be taken pretty light heartedly - they are known to poke fun at themselves and others a lot - nothing should be taken personally.

The location is extremely dieerent to other years with Perth being the most isolated city in the world ****expand****whether the location is too close to Wikimania location in the preceeding years (note proximity to Singapore and other Asian locations)

Social areas

whether a space for socialising is available, whether that space is open 24 hours a day, proximity to venue and accommodation, facilities available (food, drinks, internet access)

Travel

costs of travel to the location from various countries, particularly those with high numbers of Wikimedians, options available for travel (alternatives to flying)

Venue

suitability, proximity to accommodation, number and size of rooms available, whether Wikimania will be the sole user of the venue during the event, venue owner's experience with handling conferences of this size

Visas/immigration

any issues with attending this location from any other location, difficulty and cost, possibility of local help with getting these (such as Chapter support)

No reentry visa is required for Australian passport holders to enter Australia. A current New Zealand passport ensures the holder can enter Australia subject to testing. Usually visitors will require a tourist's visa to enter Australia. For more information, please refer to IMMI.gov.au.

Visibility

the "brand awareness" of the location and venue, both locally and internationally - high visibility places (e.g. 2006) will encourage more press coverage, more sponsorship, more significant "highlight" speakers, etc.