Gnome Asia Summit Vietnam 2009 Check List

This list is part of the Gnome Asia Summit Application for Ho-Chi-Minh City, Vietnam 2009

Country

• Does the country have any GNOME hackers?
  • There is a growing Gnome and Linux Community in Vietnam.
• Is it easy to get VISA for non-European natives?
  • Yes, it is easy for most countries.

City

• Does the city have any GNOME hackers?
  • People who develop around the Gnome desktop - yes.
• Does the city have LUG people that can help with organizing?
  • Different organizations exist including the Ho-Chi-Minh Computer association (www.hca.org.vn) and the SaigonLUG (www.saigonlug.org).
• Is it centrally located?
  • It is one of the biggest cities and easily reachable including by budget airlines in the region.
• Does it have good airport connections?
  • It does have good airport connections.
• Is there a good bus infrastructure?
  • Different transportation systems are available. It is easy and cost efficient to get around.
• Is there a good train infrastructure?
  • There are number of national train connections.

Dates

• Does the conference happen at the weekend? Does the conference happen during the week?
  • We plan to hold the Gnome Asia Summit for about 4 days including the weekend.
• Does the conference overlap with any public or religious holidays?
  • No.
• Does the venue cost more money during certain dates?
  • There are different venues planned including free spaces at the university.
• How long with the conference be?
  • 4 days
• What are your planned dates for opening up registration, call for papers, ... ?
  • Call for papers: 5 months before event Registration: 2-3 months before the conference

Venue

• Does the venue have a good collection of different sized rooms for large keynotes, network room, and small breakout sessions?
  • Yes, we have different venues available suiting different needs.
• Does the venue have microphones?
  • Yes.
• Does the venue have video projectors?
  • Only partly. We need to organize this.
• Does the venue have white screens?
  • Only partly. We need to organize this.
• Does the venue have whiteboards?
  • Only partly. We need to organize this.
• Does the venue have notice boards?
  • Only partly. We need to organize this.
• Is there space for a coffee area?
  • Yes, there are spaces for coffee and tea.
• Is there space for booths to be set up?
  • Yes, there are spaces for booths.
• Is there a registration area?
  • We have to set this up.
• Are there shops, restaurants and pubs near the venue?
  • Yes, there are public facilities available to most venues.

Network

• Does the venue have a wired network?
  • Most venues have a wired network, however we plan to set up wireless networks with Freifunk for the event.
• Can a network be set up in a suitably large network room?
  • Wireless Freifunk networks will be available throughout the area.
• Does the venue have wireless?
  • See above.

Events

• Does the host city have a party venue?
  • There are many party venues in Ho-Chi-Minh City.
• Are there tourist opporunities in the city?
  • HCM is a major and cheap tourist spot.
• Is it possible to have food and drink provided at the conference?
  • Yes, it is possible.

Sponsorship

• Are there any local businesses that would be interested in sponsoring the event?
  • There are a number of local and international businesses in Quang Trung Software City, who would like to sponsor the event.
• What are the different sponsorship bands, and what amount of sponsorship is required for each band?
  • This is still to be decided.
• Can you count on holding the event on its own without sponsorship from the main players eg. HP, Sun, Red Hat, ..?
  • We can hold an event without major companies involved, however we would have to cut back on a number of activities.

Accommodation

• Is there a large variety of different accommodation options available?
  • There is a huge variety of accomodation available.
• Are there accommodation options near to the venue?
  • Yes.
• Can you organize cheap accommodation for visiting speakers?
  • Yes, we are planning to preorganize cheap accomodation for speakers.
• Can you organize discounts with accommodation for conference attendees?
  • Yes, we are planning to preorganize cheap accomodation for attendees.

Travel

• Can you organize a different set of travel options to get to the host city?
  • We can provide information on travel options and budget connections, which can be booked online directly at travel companies.
• Is it easy to get to and from the conference venue?
  • It is very easy to get to the venues.
• Is it easy to get to the city from the conference venue?
  • Yes, it is easy. You need to calculate more time during rush hours.

Website

• Is the infrastructure in place for gnome asia?
  • We are planning to use the existing infrastructure available.
• Have you called for criticism/suggestions/patches for the website, so it looks professional.
  • It looks very professional and we will keep it this way.
• Are there people capable of maintaining the web page before, during and after the conference?
  • Yes, we have a number of people available for that.
• Can the front page prominently display approximately 10 sponsor logos?
  • Yes.
• Is a registration system available for use?
  • A registration system still has to be set up.
• [Optional] Does the website allow easy translation, without one version becoming outdated/out-of-sync.
  • It is our plan to offer different languages.

Schedule

• Do you plan to have planning or BOF sessions?
  • We are planning several meetings of involved people and volunteers.
• How many speakers do you propose to have?
  • We are planning for 4 parallel tracks for 2 days, and 2 tracks for the other day. Sizes of rooms differ and we also would like to have a bar camp like track.
• What times to you intend to stick to?
  • 25 minute sessions or 55 minute sessions.
• Do you have any group sessions?
  • We will have workshop areas.
• Lightning Talks
  • Lightning talks with 5 minutes talk will be preorganized in a wiki.
• Have you factored in registration and foundation members meeting?
  • We will include this in the final (internal) schedule.
• Who will organize the collection of abstracts, papers and photos?
  • Mario Behling, Kevin Miller Jr. and the core team
• Will you have a paper committee to decide which papers to accept?
  • Yes, we will coordinate this closely with the Gnome Asia Committee.
• Who will you get to keynote during the conference?
  • This is to be decided.
• Who will you invite from the business sector?
  • This is to be decided.
• Will you have themes for the conference, and divide the schedule into separate tracks?
  • Yes, we plan to do this.

Merchandizing

• Do you plan to design a special logo for the conference?
  • Yes.
• Do you plan to print tshirts for people to buy/receive during registration?
  • Yes.
• Are the designs ready 2 weeks before they are used, so they can be reviewed?
  • Yes.
• Do you have enough L and XL t-shirts? The split should be 20% XL, 40% L, 25% M, the other 15% equally among baby-doll S and M and standard S.
  • We will make sure, we stick to this.

Printed material

The following still has to be decided.

• Do you have a designer and printer, with a clear idea of what they need, and when?
• What's the budget for printed material?
• Can t-shirts be printed by the same printer, and designed by the same designer?
• What do you plan to be in the registration pack?
• When are your dates for printing the conference proceedings?
• Do you plan to have live CD's available?
• Do you plan to advertise the conference with any leaflets?
• Get the layout files (Quark, etc) done by GNOME contributors who know what they are doing. Commercial pre-press/printers are often expensive, slow, and incompetent. List all the various logo files (GUADEC, GNOME, sponsors, organisers) on one web page.

Registration

• What numbers of people can the venue hold?
  • We have different choices and are able to extend the venues. The exact venues will be determined in the upcoming months.
• What categories of registration do you plan?
  • We plan to focus on a community event.
• Do you intend to charge for registration fees?
  • We do not intend to charge community participants for registration.
• What infrastructure is available to handle registration fees both before and during the conference?
  • To be determined.
• Are there likely to be any unforeseen administration costs?
  • To be determined.
• See Press - is there a clear path for press contacts coming to the registration site to get accreditation for the event?
  • Yes.

Budget

• Do you intend to keep a budget?
  • Yes.
• Do you have funds easily available to organize a number of local services before the conference?
  • We are planning to have funds available.
• Did you factor in currency conversion into your budget?
  • We are planning to factor this in.

Helpers

• Are there local people available to help with conference registration, session timing, ...?
  • We have numerous people from the universities interested in helping out.
• Are there international people available to help with keeping things going smoothly?
  • Yes, there are internationals living in HCM available.
• Do you have people in each room, to make talks start and end on time.
  • Yes, we plan to do this.

Board meeting

• Is there a room available before/after the conference to hold the foundation board and advisory board meetings?
  • Yes.
• Is there a hotel to hold these if a room at the venue isn't available?
  • Yes.
• Are projectors, screens and whiteboards available in these rooms?
  • Yes.
• Does the room have an internet connection?
  • Yes.
• Can you organize lunch, drinks, snacks for these all day meetings?
  • Yes.

Emergency

• Are there people with cell phones available during the conference for emergency contacts?
  • We need to set this up.
• Do you have current numbers for the police, ambulances, fire brigade?
  • Yes.

Streaming/Recording

• Are there network connections capable of streaming talks?
  • We will make talks available after the event.
• Are microphones available for recording?
  • Yes.
• Are digital video cameras available for recording?
  • Yes.

CategoryGnomeAsiaSummit