WikiConference UK 2013/Venue Shortlist

The Conference Committee put out a request for quotes for potential WikiConference 2013 venues. The quotes and proposed venues were discussed, and two venues were shortlisted—Lincoln College and the Lowry Centre, Manchester. Below are notes from site visits to these venues. Please edit this page if you wish to add details about the venues or cities. If you wish to offer an opinion on which venue we should choose, please feel free to do so on the talk page.

Note that certain information (such as prices) cannot be published. However, for reference, The Lowry is the more expensive of the locations (by approximately a factor of three, factoring in quotes for catering). Full information is available to ConfCom members, WMUK trustees and WMUK staff on the WMUK internal wiki.

Lincoln

The city

(please expand with details of the city, including travel)

The venue

• Lincoln College is the shortlisted venue for Lincoln
• Conference suite seats 81 max.
• Classrooms (for breakout sessions) seat ~25 each
• Excellent WiFi
• 10 plug sockets on walls
• SMART boards in all rooms
• Light, spacious, a view (albeit not a great one)
• Room available until 20:00
• Quiet
• Some parking on-site; other parking not far away (NCP; multi-storey)
• 10-15 min walk from Lincoln Central station
• Duty manager is on-site point of contact (+ first aid), available all day
• Tables are semi-circular

Manchester

The city

(please expand with details of the city, including travel)

The venue

• The Lowry
• The Conference Theatre has natural daylight and air conditioning and can seat up to 100 in a fixed tiered theatre style.

This room has space at the front for speaker and a top table if required. Access to the room is via a communal Foyer area which is ideal for catering and registration. Directly opposite is our West Room which can seat up to 50 theatre style and has natural daylight and air conditioning and is ideal for your breakout group area.

• The capacity- see if it will fit up to 100 people- Yes and breakout areas are great sizes
• Wifi- wifi in the whole area and can get wide connection for a additional cost
• Check the toilets- think about accessibility during the meeting. The toilet are at a good distance, just outside the theatre hall and very clean. They have 24hr service, which means they will be clean throughout the day.
• Ask about the equipment:
  • Robust wireless internet access
  • Lots of power sockets available to attendees.
  • Digital projectors and reasonably-sized display screens (WMUK has laptops available, so these aren't needed).
  • Either in-house AV facilities, or no objections to us bringing in our own AV/webstreaming.
  • Can get wireless microphones at an additional cost
• Distance from the main station. The distance is reasonable as the tram stops right outside the venue and it is about 10-15 ride, which runs every 12 minutes. Same time with taxi as well.
• Are there hotels around? How much would it cost by e.g. taxi/public transport to get to the venue - The Holiday Inn Media City UK , Express Ramada and Lowry hotel are are within 15 minutes of the conference centre. The are no deals but the hotels are very close.
• Size of the breakout room and if it is easily accessible from the meeting room. Ideally about 40, can be theatre style - Good size rooms with table and chairs, the size is ideal for about 50 people.
• The overall feel of the venue- tables,chairs and the decor. Could it cope with many less people, e.g. 50 - The venue has a professional feel and fits all the requirements.
• Enquire about the lunch and tea- make sure it is adequate for the Wiki delegates.- There has been a change of prices and the food will be served in the front reception area which is very big and spacious.
• Contact for the day- There will be a dedicated event manager for the day who will know will be able to help with the technical queries we may have. For an actual technicians there is an extra additional cost, however, the event manager will be very familiar with most issues.
• Opening hours on the day the earliest they can set up.- Access will be granted from 7am.
• What are the minimum number of delegates they could hold the event with- Minimum number of delegates is 80 or even slightly less are are flexible with the number.
• When do we need to confirm the booking- End of November
• When can we cancel the booking without any penalties - 10-12 weeks 75% , less than 10 weeks notice will be 90%.
• Parking- parking spaces will be available at the outlet mall, reduced amount to £7 per car from £13 for 12 hours.