[nylug-talk] Assistance Requested: The UbuCon New York

[Ron Guerin]

John Mark Walker wrote:
> Hi all,

Mr. Britton informed me I'd be hearing from you. ;)

> I would like to put together a free one-day conference in NY to bring
> together Ubuntu users and developers. I put together one in August at
> Google's headquarters in Mountain View, and I'd like to do it again the
> day after LinuxWorld NY, which would be February 16, 2007.

It's coming back here?  I didn't know that.  I know Bruce Perens had
choice words for this year's Boston show.

> I don't yet know if this is feasible, which is why I'm asking you guys
> for assistance - where would I be able to find space for a couple
> hundred people? I notice that you guys have meetings at IBM. How would
> I get in touch with them? I have not been able to get in touch with Jim
> Gleason yet, and I don't know who else to contact for that.
> 
> Your thoughts, comments, and ideas are all welcome. Thanks!

Jim's kind of hard to reach ever since he started selling Blue Gene.
Between all the flying around and the broken foot that's not healing
very quickly, he's got a lot on his plate.

As for the matter of space, it's a constant concern for us.  It's a
constant concern of nearly every group around here.  The spaces that are
available tend to be fairly small, relatively speaking.

I believe we meet at the largest space IBM has in Manhattan, and the
room limit is 70 persons.  (It's a pretty large presentation space with
2 exits, and physically holds well over 100 persons, but the fire code
doesn't allow it.)

I think you've got at least two possibilities though that haven't been
mentioned (at least unless I missed a post on this thread):

1. Go back to Google and ask about that nice new 300,000
   sq feet of space they just acquired in Chelsea. (which
   we don't know too much about yet)

2. College space.  You will need at least one student or
   faculty member as a "sponsor".

Perhaps someone on the list can help with #2, but if Google's already
helping you, then I think they're your best bet.  You've already sold
them on the idea, you just need to pitch the additional venue to them.

- Ron