LibraryCamp DC --- Venue?

We're working though a couple of friends/associates to get a location through DCPL.

Thanks, dougvann. I have a number of places to mention, but none of them so far are what I think of as very inexpensive.

I've been requesting these venue specs:

• inexpensive or free to use for the a day-long meeting
• reliable wireless internet connection we would be able to access
• has a large room where all attendees could convene (not sure how many – I’m thinking we’ll be looking for someplace that can accommodate somewhere between 50 and 150 people)
• has several smaller breakout rooms for separate discussions and presentations
• is reasonably accessible by metro

Here are recommendations from Bonnie Bogle (DrupalCamp organizer Cathay suggested asking). I emailed all the places she suggested - have not yet heard from them all but it hasn't been that long.

• MLK Library - I don't know how good the quality is of their space or
  internet connection, or how large their capacity is for a single
  meeting, but I bet you could get a few rooms for free.

• National Education Association building on 16th street. Plenty of
  space for 200+ people with good breakout rooms. I know the New
  Organizing Institute (http://www.neworganizing.com/) uses it for
  RootsCamp, so you might want to ask them about pricing and their
  experience there.

• American University has Mary Graydon Center, which I know they've used
  for camps in the past, and the Katzen Arts Center, which is a little
  nicer. No idea on pricing, but if you say it's a nonprofit educational
  event they might give you a good deal.

• GW has some event facilities too.

• Wooly Mammoth Theater - again, no idea on pricing but it's a beautiful
  facility that I believe would meet your needs.

This was also suggested by a person who organizes unconferences:

"...MLK Library, American's communication school, CUA, and GWU media & public affairs. "

I contacted them because they have a library school, but the people I reached at the CLIS didn't seem to be involved with any space booking or availability and referred me to other people. Apparently different spaces are booked by different people.

a) Emailed the campus events address…. waiting to hear back.

b) McKeldin library room options:
Looks like $300 all day for Special Event room – we could contact them about “instruction labs” – rates seem to be the same for those:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/rooms/requestingrooms.html

c) Student Union Rooms
http://www.union.umd.edu/reservations/room_list.shtml
There are many rooms whose specs and prices are included, but they seem very expensive to me.

Referral info I got:

I can suggest checking with these three offices on our campus:

http://www.union.umd.edu/reservations/room_list.shtml

http://www.cvs.umd.edu/meetings/

http://www.lib.umd.edu/visitors.html#renting

Thanks so much for the offer, Sean! I'm sure Amy or someone from this group will keep your email handy! Hopefully we can keep costs down and provide the unconference at no cost to participants, and American Libraries' generous gift helps us achieve that goal!

Please thank all who are behind this!
--Cathay

Their rental brochure is linked from here: http://www.woollymammoth.net/about/space_rentals.php

I don't see wireless internet listed on the amenities, and while they do have less expensive rates for nonprofits, they're still kind of expensive ($500-$2000 for a full day).

I'm so happy to see that this is coming together.
You can count on me being there. I do have three other speaking events in June but none are close to June24th.

I like the Arlington Central Library suggestion. It is on the orange-line and its 7.3 miles from the Reagan International Airport. Hotels.com says there are a number of $100 to $120 hotels within a few miles from the library. There are a few below $100 but the hotels.com reviews were not at all good.

The Largo-Kettering option looks good too. I haven't looked into its proximity to airports or hotels.

Which one is it going to be? I'm ready to make some bookings. :-)

• DV

(Oops that message somehow got posted before I was totally done :-(

Hi, sorry I didn't have a chance to respond over the weekend.
Location-wise, I think Arlington is probably much better. They guy I talked to at PGCMLS had told me Largo-Kettering was on the metro line, but actually it appears to be a mile away from the closest metro stop and would probably take an hour to reach by public transportation from the location of ALA.

If we have to go wired at Arlington, can we somehow split the connection, or might anyone have an air card that lets them access the internet if we split into groups? I'm not that savvy with network stuff.

I have been talking to someone at the Smithsonian, but she is still waiting to hear back from some more people.

Cathay had suggested a survey asking people what they most value in a venue, and she drafted some questions, which I think might be a good idea in addition to asking what people want to discuss. What do you think about something like a Surveymonkey questionnaire asking what people care about in a venue (parking, close to ALA, close to dining options, etc.)? I think we also need to eventually run the singup sheet somewhere beside Drupal Groups, as I'm guessing there will be attendees who don't have Drupal Group accounts.
Sclapp, would you be willing to put up a survey and monitor the responses if we get together questions?

Thanks.

Amy S

BTW, if you're headed to CIL & want to hash out some LibraryCamp details F2F, I'll be there. Am flying in Monday AM, not leaving until Wed PM.
- Sharon Clapp
Web Resources Librarian, Connecticut State Library

• I think taking this off the list and onto more organized online site would be great.

• Cathay, thanks for all your help. I agree we should let PGCMLS know as soon as possible if we want to cancel.

• Sean, that sounds excellent about advertising. I think if we're looking at a free event, am I right? If we go with Arlington, the event could be 9-4/4:30 on Thursday, June 24th. Dougvann started a presenters thread, but I don't think that's close to hammered out yet.

• Sharon, does your library have a paid Surveymonkey account so you could email/export results? If so, that would be great. I personally am not attending CIL ($ deficiency) but was planning to head down to meet a friend one of the nights, so it would be cool if I could meet up with any other organizers at CIL as well.

Regarding the survey, I'm pasting Cathay's suggested questions with my edits as a draft:

To plan the day's events, we'd like to target the attendees' most desired interests.

1. What is most important to you?
   a. wifi at meeting space
   b. location convenient to metro
   c. the event is free
   d. networking with other libraries who use or will use Drupal
   e. learning Drupal how-to information
   f. learning what is possible with Drupal
   e. other (comment box)

2. Are there certain topics you would like to see covered?
   [comment box, or we could make a list with an "other" comment field]

3. Would you like to be a speaker? If so, describe your presentation (and remember that it should be no more than (30?) minutes?

4. Do you plan to eat at a nearby restaurant or to bring a lunch?

5. Anything else you'd like to add?

Thanks, Sharon.
The first question is only letting me choose each rating ONCE like it's ranking the possible choices, even though it's listed like Likert scale - I think it would be better if that one could be changed to let people rank several options at the same level of importance.

I know this thread is called "LibraryCamp" but I think in order to reduce ambiguity for people coming to the survey from potentially different places, it might be better to title it something like "Library DrupalCamp."

Thanks, Doug.

I don't know what to say about the officialness of decisions - the organization of this event so far seems kind of nebulous, so I am not sure who the official deciders are.

Arlington is actually free (although the event has to be free and open to the public, which I expect won't be a problem as long as we only advertise it amongst library people interested in Drupal), so luckily we don't have to worry about a room rental fee with them. Maybe we could ask DUO to sponsor something equally critical, like coffee in the morning...? :-)

-Amy S

Sounds great - I'm sure coffee and donuts will be much appreciated by the attendees :-)

-AS