Talk:WikiConference UK 2013/Venue Shortlist
It's down to numbers?
The two venues here differ on a lot of details, and they'd both be great locations, but one thing stands out for me:
- Lincoln: "Conference suite seats 81 max."
- Manchester: "Conference Theatre can seat up to 100 ... Minimum number of delegates is 80 or even slightly less"
If we're going to have <80 people, Lincoln wins; if we're going to have 80-100, Manchester wins. Everything else seems to be a bit secondary to the numbers issue!
Given this, I'd recommend Lincoln; I don't know what estimated turnout is, but I'd make a small bet on it being closer to 50 than 100. Andrew Gray (talk) 12:53, 17 October 2012 (UTC)
- This is my thinking to. If the argument is we need to accommodate potentially all of our members then neither venue is enough - but as with the 2012 AGM there was nowhere near the number expected. With those aside Lincoln (disclaimer: that is my "bid", so I am a little biased) has a number of interesting things in its favour; lovely little city, a prime target for a Sunday Wiki-edithathon/photography/tour event, two on-the-ground Wikipedians (myself and KTC), etc. --ErrantX (talk) 17:16, 17 October 2012 (UTC)
- 2012 had about 50 I think (not all voting) & showed a considerable increase on 2011. But the location will surely affect turnout, & it seems likely Manchester will attract a bigger crowd, as involving less travel, people being more likely to have friends to stay with etc. I don't think 80 is out of reach, at least in Manchester. Johnbod (talk) 14:18, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
- I recall less, but will check! In terms of travel, to help inform the decision I have created a poll to help figure out where people are coming from to attend the 2013 conference: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dHVpU2E1VjJfVmtaTkZldFNxSTY5N1E6MQ Hopefully that will give us a clearer picture of which destination is more convenient (both have their disadvantages). --ErrantX (talk) 10:57, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
- 2012 had about 50 I think (not all voting) & showed a considerable increase on 2011. But the location will surely affect turnout, & it seems likely Manchester will attract a bigger crowd, as involving less travel, people being more likely to have friends to stay with etc. I don't think 80 is out of reach, at least in Manchester. Johnbod (talk) 14:18, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
Accommodation
Was there any consideration of accommodation location/prices? Lincoln looks like 8 hours of round-trip for me, which I would not be prepared to in one day and be expected to stay concious in the AGM itself. --Fæ (talk) 17:54, 17 October 2012 (UTC)
- Yep! For us when reviewing Lincoln it was one of the key considerations. A Premier Inn is being built about 10 minutes (max) walk from the venue (completed in the next few months :)). Within twenty five minutes walk there is an
IbisHoliday Inn (on the Brayford, a lovely place) and also a hostel. It's cheap, for a city, ranging from £30-100 per night. Also; I believe the university term will be over by then so if there is demand we may be able to negotiate accommodation with them. Travel is a consideration - but it is roughly the same time to get from London to both Manchester and Lincoln. Beyond that it much depends on where everyone else is coming from. (I should add; travel/accommodation is a key consideration for Lincoln as we'd like to offer a second day of activities on the Sunday) --ErrantX (talk) 18:37, 17 October 2012 (UTC)
Conflict of interest
I am concerned that I may have a conflict of interest when it comes to the decision between the final two venue options. I originally suggested the Lowry location and contacted the organisation to get this quote. My suggestion was partly based on my familiarity with the location due to it being in my home city (differentiation between Salford and Manchester notwithstanding). It would be very easy for me to attend a conference held at this venue (and I equally have to say that it would be very easy for me to provide local support for a conference held here, as a volunteer). I have no commercial, voluntary or personal connection with the Lowry. However, to avoid any doubt, my intention is to abstain from the decision here, and to restrict my contributions to this page to housekeeping edits and responding to questions on an neutral information-providing basis only (or when only being specifically asked, if that would be preferred). Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 23:19, 17 October 2012 (UTC)
- It's your call, but I strongly doubt that anyone would consider being your home city a COI. I am familiar with a lot of London, including the most notable GLAM institutions, and I'm not going to start declaring London as off limits for my involvement. Similarly my undergraduate degree was at Imperial College, but I'm in no hurry to declare that a COI as I have not done anything else there in the last quarter of a century. Slightly sad actually, as I used to love the library in the maths department and the head librarian was a lovely woman. :-) --Fæ (talk) 08:21, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
- Hey Mike. Personally I wouldn't consider it a COI and I'd actually encourage you to advocate for the location. All you are "benefiting" from is easier travel which is "meh". One of the issues, though, is that if you recuse from a decision & myself and Katie do too (for the same reasons) then that leaves a very small number of people to make the decision. I'd prefer a robust debate than for this to languish with no one to actively make a decision. In some ways the Conference Committee represents the Wikipedia community trying to take an active guiding/organisational role in WMUK (something I am an advocate of) but the turn out so far is... disappointing (and I realise my non-attendance at past meetings makes that statement a little ironic). --ErrantX (talk) 08:53, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
For the avoidance of doubt, I will be abstaining from the final decision over the choice of venue now that Lincoln College is in the picture. Over the last year, I have been a (part time) student of the college and in that capacity have been paid for helping a different part of the college during college's open days a total of ~£170 cash or cash equivalents. In addition, I have previously applied for employment with different parts of the college.
For the record, I had made the appointment for venue visit to Lincoln College as an alternative venue within Lincoln for comparison, after arranging the visit to the venue proposed by ErrantX. In addition, I had contacted the Lincoln Drill Hall who did not have an appropriately sized venue available on the proposed date, attempted contact with one venue who failed to reply, and also looked into a couple more where I can't find the appropriate information. KTC (talk) 12:54, 18 October 2012 (UTC)
Decision needed
Personally I have a mild preference for Lincoln over Manchester but a major preference for getting on and making a decision. Flip a coin, do a poll, whatever you want, but please have a recommendation in time for the 17th November. AndrewRT (talk) 21:41, 10 November 2012 (UTC)