We've collectively done a fair bit of research on venues and it seems that there are 3 broad categories of venues to choose from;
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| Community centres / halls | cheap (~$400), DIY catering | lack atmosphere, often too small, more flexible & accommodating, catering might be difficult |
| Hotels | quality facilities, flexible, catering is possible but might be expensive | expensive ($1.5-2k), "corporate" atmosphere, equipment like projectors are very expensive |
| Bars & Restaurants | great atmosphere, probably good value if we want food and/or beer | "minimum consumption" makes them expensive ($5-8k incl venue), few are large enough, some are not accommodating |
In order to choose a venue we need to work out what sort of event we want this to be, and what our priorities are with regard to;
- price
- atmosphere
- catering / consumption
$2000 is a lot of money to commit to spending at a hotel-type venue. $5-8000 for a bar's function centre is a helluva lot more. The advantage though is that normally only the venue hire (or a deposit of it) is necessary to secure a booking, which is a small amount (e.g. one sponsor can pay it). Also the minimum consumption is normally per person but is often $25-40 – which makes registration at least that (probably 1.5-2x that).
To consider what we can afford for venue we need to think about numbers of attendees. These are very unknown. But, we can make a guesstimate if we consider;
- DrupalSouth Christchurch almost sold out at about 48 attendees
- Chch was a year ago, and the Drupal community (globally) roughly doubles every 2 years
- Wellington is more accessible to more people
- DrupalSouth Wellington has two big draw-cards that Chch didn't have;
- LCA. Many attendees will be able to get more value out of their travel expenses.
- Drupal "celebrities" Angie, Addie, Emma Jane (and possibly others if we can convince them that the LCA-combo is worth their while)
- 40 people responded to the survey and answered at least one question. An additional 149 clicked the link but didn't answer any questions
- 7 people signed up on g.d.o. in about 10 days. I think there were about the same number for Chch at this point, but GDO has been plagued with sign-on issues impacting this figure
- GDO/nz has 129 members. I think it had about 80 when we ran DrupalSouth Chch. A significant number (30-70%?) of Chch attendees were not members of gdo/nz.
- There is supposedly an economic crisis and people may not want to spend so much.
Given that, I think 100 is an entirely reasonable count to aim for. However it's also quite possible that we get 50 or 200. I doubt very much that we would get more than 200 or less than 50 though. Ideally a venue would be able to seat 150 persons, however 100 would be okay too if it's a great venue.
Assuming a bar / restaurant type venue, we can break down costs to;
- Venue $1000
- Catering / consumption $6000
- Other expenses (wifi, equipment, schwag) $2000
- TOTAL $9000
DrupalSouth Chch got about $1800 in sponsorship. I expect we will get 1.5-2.5x more sponsorship for Wellington. Let's budget pessimistically to be safe and say $2.5k. That leaves $6.5k to be covered by tickets. Lets budget pessimistically again and assume we only sell 50 tickets, we need to sell them at $130.
A little more realistically, $3k in sponsorship and 80 sold tickets is $75. And optimistically, $4k in sponsorship and 120 sold tickets is $42.
We also need to consider how much people are prepared to pay. The survey shows a very wide spread of preferences with less people preferring free and $100+. Consider also that the options were of a wide range (10, 30, 60, 100).
Considering that I think it's okay to up the price with respect to Christchurch ($50) to $60-80, as long as we provide lunches and/or drinks.
KatteKrub wisely suggested we secure sponsorship before committing to an expensive venue, or ask attendees to pay now (pre registration) and possibly refund them once revenue comes in. Thoughts?
What are peoples preferences for venue-type and financial risk? Do we have any commitments from sponsors?
Comments
:-}
Too many questions to get a consensus on but:
- The atmos we got in ChCh was great, so I've been thinking around the same sort of style, +/- 20% as formal/informal
- I've been guestimating 80-100, though actually counting on my fingers I see it may be less.
- If we get tied into the consumption thing, I think it's gonna be the thing to do to keep the ticket price high and say this includes a mandatory dinner ticket. ... until we've sold enough to be sure of covering costs. ?
Hm, even 50 people having a $40 dinner each only makes $2000 consumption. I think we're going to have to pledge to drink a lot to make tugboat happy.
Tug boat's minimum
Tug boat's minimum consumption was based on 100 attendees. It may (or might not) be less if we have less attendees. We should check. What did you think of the place as a venue and for atmosphere?
Bevan/
tugboat doesn't have wifi.
tugboat doesn't have wifi.
I was assuming we'd have to
I was assuming we'd have to install our own robust scalable wifi regardless of venue. So I'm looking for places that have fast broadband.
Bevan/
http://thecross.co.nz really
http://thecross.co.nz really is perfect - it'll fit 120 seated at tables with laptop without a problem.
They also have screen, projector, mic, wifi, and a bar in the room.
I know they have enough powerpoints, and the staff are now used to hackfests, and treat us well.
It is a bar, so 18+ restriction applies unless you bring your parent. (the enforcement of this depends on who managing the bar that day, but nothign we can do about that.)
They have no charge for venue - people can buy their own food and drink... so I can't see any costs at all if we pick the cross.
I can't see any space at
I can't see any space at http://thecross.co.nz/functions that fits this description. I just called them but wasn't able to speak to Christine, the events manager. I sent her an email and CCed Brenda. If someone has time to follow up on this and is confident that it will cater for our event please make a booking. It's hard for me to connect with these folk in Paris timezone.
Bevan/
I just spoke to Christine.
I just spoke to Christine. They don't have spaces that can be reserved for private functions that seat more than about 45 people. There main public space is large enough but is not available for private functions. Is that perhaps where past BarCamps have been held? I think we really need a private space for the sessions/presentations. Thoughts?
Bevan/
that's bizarre - we had 80
that's bizarre - we had 80 people at Girl Geek Dinner, with seats to spare.
I know you've done a lot more organizing like this ...
I don't get it. I'm thinking of the function room, where I can't imagine 100 at desks.
Were your other events out in the dancefloor or restaurant area?
i suspect that's their limit
i suspect that's their limit for table service - Bevan, are you in Wellington? we can go in and have a look at the space.
Another options is either the SaintJames foyer, or the Film Archive theatre.
There's also Paramount cinemeas, if we're happy with movie seats (with the lights up)
yeah
Film archive would be sweet. Good presentation space, good cafe attached, good space. Didn't know they did hire-outs
Is the St James foyer
Is the St James foyer bookable? I don't know the other venues but I trust your collective judgement on this. Please feel free to go ahead and book whatever you think will suit most.
Bevan/
another free venue - The
another free venue - The function rooms at the back bencher -- i've not used them yet, but we're likely to have girlgeekdinner there in October.
http://www.backbencher.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&i...
I'm unsure if they have wireless.
i rang the backbencher - they
i rang the backbencher - they can fit 70 people in lecture style seating arrangement. Their wireless is a "Telecom Hotspot" -- which a bit of a show stopper unless we want to pay per hour.
$9.95 per hour or 120MB for
$9.95 per hour or 120MB for wireless -- that really sucks.
http://telecom.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/telecom.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?...
Backbencher is also too
Backbencher is also too small, according to their website.
Bevan/
Mac brewery have a function
Mac brewery have a function room upstairs - on the large side.
Will ring them tomorrow and enquire on numbers and wifi situation
http://www.thebrewerybar.co.nz/functions.html
Thanks!
Thanks for jumping on this Brenda and Dan. I won't be in Wellington till early January unfortunately. Please decide the venue and/or book if you can, while I work on sponsorship and things that I can do from here (Paris): Any two consecutive days in; 15-17 or 23-25 January are fine. 16-17 is preferred.
I trust that you had events at The Cross in a space for 100 people seated at tables, but I can't seem to find or book it. Perhaps you will have more luck than me? Who booked/organized other private events there, such as Girl Geek dinner and barcamps? If you are able to get them to book a large enough space for us in the dates we need please don't hesitate to make a booking.
Dan and I did some investigating for Macs Brewery. I agree it's a great venue though they were unfriendly to me. It's not cheap and additionally has a minimum consumption, which means we have to commit to everyone having at least one meal per day. It's near the top of our list, alongside Garden Club and Tug Boat, which need checking out and/or more enquiries.
Bevan/
i prefer it to be after LCA
i prefer it to be after LCA -- because there's no way i'll be concentrating on anything other LCA in the week before the event.
See
See http://groups.drupal.org/node/27446 for discussion about dates.
Bevan/
Altspace have offered their
Altspace have offered their venue for free.
http://www.altspace.co.nz/
i'll catchup with them tomorrow and see how many they'll fit.
This sounds great. I'm dying
This sounds great. I'm dying to know aobut capacity. The meeting rooms are probably too small, but if they can reserve their main coworking space for Saturday and Sunday then it could work.
Bevan/
they'll fit us, but in 4
they'll fit us, but in 4 seperate rooms.
Shiny, just a out of the blue
Shiny, just a out of the blue idea - What about using Catalyst Level 3 as the venue, that fits upto 100 people, has wifi, and we could self cater or arrange catering? Yes? no?
Yes yes yes! I was
Yes yes yes! I was originally hoping/soliciting for something like this, but got no offers so assumed it was not possible.
Brenda, any luck with alt-space?
Josh, would you have time to checkout out The Garden Club? See the venues list for their details.
Bevan/
Josh you sure it'll fit 100?
Josh you sure it'll fit 100?
if we split into 2 streams it
if we split into 2 streams it may be a more comfy fit -- 50 in the main room - and 50 in the tabletennis area. Use the kitchen supplies too. Possibility to use the training room.
I'll grab some photos -- it's nothing flash really.
I'm offline for next two weeks
I haven't received a single response about sponsorship yet. I'm hoping this is because people are too busy to respond and/or want the event to be a little more confirmed than it currently is, and not that they don't have the money or see the value. Maybe we need to pitch it better? I haven't pushed for sponsorship outside of DrupalSouth Chch sponsors and GDO/NZ yet, because I wanted to get an initial early response and confirm venue and dates before asking for sponsorship from the wider Drupal community.
However without some financial backing confirmed we simply can't take book (or take the risk) of going for a venue like Mac's. Nevertheless I pencilled-in a booking at The Garden Club ($1000+gst total, no minimum consumption, staffed bar). I won't be paying the deposit till we can confirm enough sponsorship though.
If it came down to us chipping in for the deposit, how much would we each be prepared to put in? $50? $100? I think they will expect a $500 deposit to confirm the booking.
I'd much prefer a free venue or a venue with a little more outdoorsiness if we can find one. Please book one when/if we find one that is both appropriate and available. Likewise, if you can confirm appropriate sponsorship to bootstrap DrupalSouth, please feel free to book a venue like Mac's if you think they will be appropriate (and are available).
I'll be mostly offline for the next two weeks. Please SMS 021 1433 129 if anything urgent comes up.
Cheers,
Bevan/
Garden Club
I went into Garden club earlier this week - sorry I didn't write it up.
(also on the wiki): Very accomodating! Central. Excellent size and shape (converted theatre) with bar and a reasonable breakout cafe-bar upstairs also. Great price for what you get. But combines the worst of "old theatre" and "underground nightclub after hours" for ambience. Jared (very friendly Event Director) assured me that with lighting and furniture it's been successful for corporate events but spending two full days away from any natural light makes me wonder. It really is good as a nightspot, but could be quite a cave during the day. The cafe helps make up for that. They've got another booking for the OS conference itself (a good sign?), but free for our dates.
Thinking about it, it's not that different from many function centres, lecture theatres, shut away from sunlight like that ... so I don't really know. Probably not a big deal - was just a gut impression or prejudice on it as a nightclub.
Hotel Bristol, Four Kings
I visited Hotel Bristol (on Cuba St) and it seems like a real good venue for us. Their private function room costs only $150/day, they have free wi-fi (they just installed it so offereing it for free as a promotion), they have a bar and finger food, very little minimum consumption. The room has a projector and a screen the only problem is that it's not huge, and probably won't fit more than 50 people...
I also visited Four Kings (sports bar, cnr Taranaki and Dixon St) which will fit 100 people, but they weren't sure if they wanted to close the bar for two days to have us. They don't have a projector but there are heaps of big TVs on the walls and they said they'll let us hook up laptops to their system. They also have wi-fi. The boss should ring me next week to give more information.
The first place also said they would ring me next week so if I need to ask them something else, please let me know.
Thistle Hall and Garden club were closed this morning when I tried to visit them.
Wellington High School
I just remembered I used to be an IT Technician at Wellington High School and they have a big hall with projector and screen that they hire out for different events. I'm not sure how much they charge though. The hall is huge, will fit 100 people and they have wi-fi. The only problem is that they don't have a bar, so I'm not sure whether it's going to be suitable. Let me know if I should try to get in touch with them to find out more?
Still haven't heard back from
Still haven't heard back from Four Kings, perhaps they weren't very keen to close the entire bar for us for two days.
I'm going to talk to the principal of WHS next week and let you know then.
Thanks everyone for working
Thanks everyone for working on this! We'll get there eventually.
Please see the wiki of possible candidate venues for a list of questions to ask the venue managers. Add any venues you think might be appropriate there.
Kirill, any response from Four Kings? Wellington High sounds interesting. Could you make more enquiries?
Critically, we are still pending followup/visits about Garden Club, Macs Brewery & Southern Cross.
We also need sponsors to come through with some funds.
Bevan/
WHS
I spoke to the IT guys at Wellington High School today and they are offering to use the school library as our venue. There is a data projector with a screen there.
They have Wi-Fi and they will remove all filtering and have no password but they will time restrict it to the hours that we need. Only ports 80 and 443 will be available. Alternatively, we could use CafeNET that sells 24 hour access tickets for $10 (we'll need to test the reception in the library though).
The library will fit about 50 - 60 people (probably more) but extra desks and chairs can put in the foyer just next to the library. So there is plenty of space.
They have a Kapai cafeteria which we could use for catering or we could organise our own food. They prefer we don't eat in the library (drinks are fine) but we could all go to the cafeteria to eat.
They are asking $1500 per day for the venue. Somebody else is hiring the place on Sundays, so we can't have it for the entire weekend but Friday - Saturday is fine (on ony of those date ranges).
Vic Venues
I added VicVenues to the Wiki list - Vic Uni have several venues we could consider, and I didn't see those options mentioned yet.
http://vicvenues.im.co.nz/venues - mostly academic environs but may be worthy of consideration (if it works for Kiwicon ...)
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We have a venue! Maybe you
We have a venue! Maybe you missed http://groups.drupal.org/node/30106?
Bevan/