The PyCon organizers are looking for a venue for 2006. List any potential northwest places here, and if we get a solid candidate(s) we can prepare a proposal. See message in Seapig MailingList dated 5/11/2005 for the (slightly outdated) RFP. Main highlights:
- Need 600-seat auditorium for keynotes. (This is why GWU has become too small.)
- Registration should be near $175 (early bird) for 3-day conference. The bids from the RFP came in at $275 + $150/night hotel rooms, which is way too expensive.
- Willing to drop catering (the biggest optional expense) if a comprehensive cafeteria or food court is nearby.
- Close to public transportation and/or inexpensive accommodation (hostels, college dorms).
- RFP scheduled four sprint days after conference; two of these may be moved before.
- Ideal dates are Feb-Mar 2006, but willing to postpone till summer or fall.
- A nearby open area for impromptu meetings/collaborations is desirable. A public plaza, terrace, or indoor court would be fine, as long as inclement weather is planned for.
- Universities, colleges, and less formal conference centers are the most likely places within our budget. Hotels tend to require $100+/night room commitments and expensive catering.
Seattle area
Good candidates
- University of Washington
- Keynote: 732 (Kane 130). Other rooms: 240 (Kane 110), 20-165 (Mary Gates: 19 rooms). 5 min walk between buildings. 260 standing capacity in Mary Gates commons room.
- Conference seasion: June (3rd week) - Sept (1st week). Application/deposit required by November.
- On-site dorms. Two hotels and one "English inn" in neighborhood.
- University District: 5 miles northeast of downtown, 17 miles northeast of airport. Neighborhood is major bus hub.
- Park-like campus with 1920s neoclassical buildings (but conference buildings are newer).
cherry cam (cherry tree views)
- Seattle University
- Keynote: 900 (Champion Ballroom in auditorium configuration). 60 meeting rooms in 14 buildings.
- Conference season: June 17 - Sept 2.
- On-site dorms.
- Small Jesuit university, park-like setting.
- Capitol Hill: 1/2 mile east of downtown.
- Seattle Center (Northwest Rooms)
- Keynote: 550 (Snoqualmie room), 670 (San Juan room), 620 (Rainier rooom). 6 other rooms.
- Other rooms may be too big? Can we subdivide them with soundproofing?
- 70-acre park containing the Space Needle, Experience Music Project, science center, other stuff.
- 1/2 mile north of downtown.
room capacities table -- the Northwest Rooms are the rows from "Alki Room" to "Rainier Room". These rooms are all together around an outdoor patio.
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
- Keynote: 816 (rooms 606-609 joined). Rooms seating up to 8,000 available.
- Downtown location, adjacent park.
All these venues have a keynote room (capacity noted) and five smaller rooms available. All are in urban neighborhoods with nearby restaurants, bars, parks, and near good bus lines. (Buses run till 1am, skeletal after that.) There are two hostels downtown, tons of hotels downtown and by the airport, and the cheaper (and seedier) hotels on Aurora Avenue N. Population is 500,000 city, 2.7 million metro.
Potential candidates
- Local community colleges:
- Shoreline Community College (has auditorium: what size?; mediocre location; all colleges follow UW's quarter system)
Shoreline Conference Center -- looks big enough, but need more info
Overlake Hospital -- big enough?
- Museums?
Bell Harbor -- on the waterfront, barely walkable from downtown, no capacity info
- Lynnwood conference center (?--Dan to investigate)
Too small
- World Trade Center -- too small (waterfront location not quite walkable; adequate size?; expensive?)
Bastyr -- only 500 max
Edmonds (has conference center, but too small)
Seattle Pacific -- only in summer, only 400 max
Portland/Vancouver WA area
Vancouver BC area
Victoria area
Bellingham area
Spokane area
Whitworth College