Also see the 2012 Venue Planning Wiki
The purpose of this wiki is to capture information about possible venues for hosting Drupal Camps or other Drupal meetings in the Twin Cities area. This information was originally collected for the 2011 Winter and Summer Camps, but is kept as a reference for future camps as well.
University of Minnesota - Keller Hall and Tate Lab (Confirmed):
General U of M Campus Info
Conference Wireless Procedure and cost ($2.50/person gets one week access and a unique ID) - Sponsored and Set up by the University of Minnesota Libraries http://www.oit.umn.edu/wireless/guest-access/conference/index.htm
Keller Hall/Tate Physics Building (confirmed)
Keller Hall is confirmed for the Summer Camp.
Contact information:
Jenny Dalton
External Relations
University of Minnesota
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
dalton@cs.umn.edu
612-625-1381
Pamela Vold External Relations University of Minnesota Department of Computer Science and Engineering vold@cs.umn.edu 612-625-2424
Keller Hall rooms will be open at 7:30am and must be vacated by 6:00pm
Tate Physics Building (Keynote):
Tate Physics Building, Room 150 - Max Capacity: 448
Keller Hall Rooms:
Keller Hall, 3-210 - Max Capacity: 246
Keller Hall, 3-230 - Max Capacity: 105
Keller Hall, Room 3-111 - Max Capacity: 70
Keller Hall, Room 3-115 - Max Capacity: 72
Keller Hall, Room 3-125 - Max Capacity: 68
Saturday Only:
Kenneth H. Keller Hall 3-180 (Conference) and 3-176 (Reception)
Venue Locations that We Considered:
McNamara Center
This is more conference-y ~$1500/day with campus support, ~2900/day without - includes event coordination, AV, etc.,
CSEE Building (more classroom-y),
Carlson School Building (more conference-y)
Booking "Regular" Campus Classrooms (Does not include McNamara)
In general, it looks as though we could get classroom space for very cheap, if not for free with a departmental sponsorship/partnership (e.g., w/the U Libraries). However, the Event Scheduling Guidelines state an "order of priority" that preferences University classes and seminars over other sorts of events, like conferences. In fact, we would not know until one month before the camp whether or not we actually got our space. I have been told that we could know slightly sooner (e.g., by October or November), but the policy states the one month period. Moreover, The Office of Classroom Management (the department that handles all of this) takes requests for specific rooms, but may give you something different based on your numbers and availability after campus classes have been assigned. Having chatted with a classroom management employee, the brand new state of the art Science Teaching and Student Services building would have been ideal with two large lecture halls for speaker tracks and AV-rich active learning classrooms for BOFs. Argh! So, this choice would be cheap, potentially very nice but fairly unpredictable.
[Keith] Don't our proposed dates fall during winter break? If so, what is the likelihood that we would get bumped? If not likely, then I would seriously consider this option. Moreover, I am a bit concerned with the price of McNamara, as it puts a huge burden on us to come up with some serous sponsor $$$ in order to keep the conference affordable (or free). Yes, the Jan date intentionally falls during winter break. It's hard to say how likely it would be that we'd get bumped though.
Carlson School of Management
This is not tied as closely to the classroom management rules as other facilities, and they can confirm space sooner and more concretely as a result. They have a massive auditorium at $650/day, and three rooms with capacities of 45, 45, and 70 for between $250 and $350. They also have a planning person who is going to work up costs for sponsored accounts, insurance (we'd have to pay what sounds like a nominal fee for this), etc. I am writing up a little summary of our camp in order for them to get sign-off from their dean, but the event coordinator thought we sounded like a good fit for them. I'll share more when I learn more.
Humphrey Center
Contact:
Margaret Oltmans
612-625-1806
oltmans@umn.edu
http://www.umn.edu/lookup?SET_INSTITUTION=UMNTC&UID=oltmans
Here are the rooms and the break downs:
http://www.hhh.umn.edu/news/conference_center/rates.html
Like Carlson, they have an event planner. She was very helpful and said she would help us through insurance and such. Incidentally, she thought the cost for insuring our event could be as low as $100/bucks (this fee applies only if the camp is NOT sponsored by a department).
We can also reserve any of these spaces well in advance. Humphrey, I think, would probably work better for a Little Camp than Big Camp.
Saint Paul Student Center
Contact: Kelly Rickie 612-624-0936
I [Chad] recognized that someone proposed the St Paul campus and I pooh-poohed it, but I hereby take that back. They can handle a wide variety of events and have professional event planning staff. With University discounts for Big Camp, I think St. Paul Student Center is a major contender, especially given that Big Camp will happen in the summer, so standing outside to wait for campus buses wouldn't be quite such a big deal. If we go with the St Paul Student Center, we'll probably have to get it catered since food options are kind of limited on that campus, and by their policy, we'd have to go with campus dining services. I am told, FWIW, by my wife (who has attended several events catered by U dining services there) that they do an excellent job with the food.
http://www.sua.umn.edu/reservations/spsc/
We can reserve things far in advance as well for this location. Availability can be found here:
http://vems.sua.umn.edu/VirtualEMS/BrowseForSpace.aspx. Click "filter" and the calendar pop-up widget to get to a particular date
and be sure to scroll down to see the St Paul campus rooms. Many of them look quite nice.
Continuing Education and Conference Center
This is another big contender on the St. Paul campus. All these people do is conferences, and the rooms look quite good for our purposes.
Minneapolis Public Radio
MPR is very interested in supporting a TC DrupalCamp.
The site has an auditorium on the 5th floor which can seat about 140 people. There are stadium risers so that the chairs in the back are higher, but these can be removed in case we'd rather have a configuration with tables. There are electrical sockets in the floor, and the staff can run lines if we need. There's a large screen and projector, and wireless in the auditorium. Outside the auditorium is a roomy lobby with couches, tables and chairs, and restrooms. Jenel thinks we can reconfigure the lobby to accommodate a BoF if we want. There's also a very small green room off the auditorium which Jenel says we can probably use, although it was locked so we couldn't see it. (There's also an outdoor patio off the auditorium, but that's probably not a big draw in the winter.)
There's also a training room on the 1st floor with a screen and projector at one end of the room. It was set up in roundtable configuration for about 20-25 people, but we can have the tables re-arranged lecture-style, or I think if we remove the tables and just have chairs we can probably fit about 50-60 people, although I didn't ask about the legal capacity.
The atrium is pretty spacious. We could easily set up the registration table, BoF board, etc. There's one unmarked unisex restroom off the atrium. There's also a small waiting area with couches and table which could be used for a small (4-6 people) breakout.
There are about half a dozen meeting rooms throughout the building which can hold from about 6 to 15 people, that we could use for BoF sessions. Three of the rooms had screens and projectors, and Jenel thought she could get another one set up as well.
Except for the auditorium and the two meeting rooms off the atrium, all the rooms are behind security doors, so we'd need to arrange access through the building security, which Jenel says we can do. I wonder whether any wanderers may find themselves locked in a stairwell that they couldn't get out of. We would need to make it clear to everybody that they need to respect MPR and their building and offices.
Because the several rooms are located various places around the building from the 1st floor to the 5th floor, we'd need some good signage (and lots of arrows) to help people find the rooms they're looking for.
There's parking behind the building, but I don't know whether this would be available for attendees. There are a number of pay parking sites within a block or two, including the old Science Museum building.
I assume we'd like to bring lunch in, if MPR allows, but there's also any number of eateries within walking distance, including Mickey's Diner, Sawatdee, Camp Bar, Key's, Fuji Ya Sushi, Great Waters Brewing Co, and Meritage.
Some notes on other sites
Minneapolis Central Library
All of the conference rooms are current available. Hours are 8:00am to 6:00pm on Saturdays. Pohlad ($800) holds 235 people, Doty ($600) holds 80, and RKMC ($350) holds 50. There's a 20% discount for non-profits. None of the conference rooms are subdivisible, so we'd have to book multiple rooms. Smaller meeting rooms (typically 4 to 20 people) can be reserved online for no cost. Mintahoe is the only caterer for the library meeting rooms. If we brought food in, we'd need to go through them. Coffee and rolls for breakfast would be an estimated $210 for 100 people. There is no cleaning deposit, or security deposit, but payment must be made up front.
St. Thomas
Quoted $900 for an auditorium (144 capacity) and two classrooms. We'd have use of the foyer, wireless everywhere, an event manager to help with the planning, and free parking. Their food service can provide break refreshments (~$4 to $5) or lunch (~$9 to $12).
Hennepin Technical
I know they have rooms and auditoriums. Their scheduler was not available when I called. I haven't tried to contact them again.
Science Museum of Minnesota
No information
St. Paul History Center
Has a pair of classrooms that open into each other to create a single large room for $100/hr. They also have single classrooms for $50-$60/hr. We'd need to be out by 5:00 or pay an additional security charge of $125-$360.
Como Park
Como Park provided a 60 page brochure that had no rates listed. I asked for rate info but haven't heard back yet.
Open Book
THis is a book-binding and printing museum in Minneapolis. It has a performance hall that can hold 100 people for $75/hr ($65/hr non-profit), and one classroom that can hold 30 people for $55/hr ($35/hr). They have other smaller rooms. I asked whether the performance hall could be divided, but haven't heard back yet. I'm expecting not.
Best Buy
Dan Moriarty (mplsdan) has a contact for this venue, and is following up on it on 12/14/10.
CPC
Capacity 300 Price $300. Open, bright & sunny. Somewhat convenient location at Highway 100 & W 70th St. Many smaller rooms and break outs available. You can bring in your own catering if you want. Held three user group meetings there and it worked out great.
Grand City Buffet
Free. Seating up to 90 in private room. Held a couple of 2 hour lunch meetings there. Just ask attendees to pay for their meal if they eat. Great menu. St. Louis Park off Hwy 100 & Hwy 7.
Good Samaritan
Seating up to 200 plus break out areas. Very affordable. Held a few half day meetings there. Baked cookies in the new kitchen to feed everyone. Location is a bit more difficult to find.
