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YAPC Europe Foundation - YAPC::Europe Proposal: Vienna

    
YAPC::Europe 2007 in Vienna
    Vienna.pm proposes to organise the YAPC::Europe 2007 in Vienna, Austria.

  Venue
    Thanks to Andrea Pavlovic and Klaus Ita we have the commitment of the
    Headmasters of the Vienna University of Economics and Business
    Administration (http://www.wu-wien.ac.at/english/international) (WU) to
    host the YAPC.

    We can choose from any of those rooms which have already been reserved
    for the YAPC. There are many additional rooms that are bookable - the WU
    is the biggest Business school of Europe with over 20,000 students.

    * Audimax, holding up to 500 people
    * 2 big lecture rooms, holding up to 175 people
    * 2 smaller lecture rooms, holding up to 90 people
    * multiple computer labs holding from 25 to 50 attendees

    All rooms are equipped with a video projector, microphones and speakers,
    as well as rows of seating with small tables. The "Audimax" and the two
    big lecture rooms have rampant tiers (we're not sure if this is the
    proper word: the auditorium isn't flat, but amphitheater-like - take a
    look at the pictures below).

    There is free wireless access available throughout the whole university
    campus including the cafeteria. All of the rooms and the whole
    university are handicapped accessible.

    The cafeteria is experienced in hosting its inexpensive and nevertheless
    decent food for hundreds of people. Vegetarian meals are available. We
    will try to make a special deal with the cafeteria operators, in order
    to offer free lunch for YAPC attendees. In the unlikely case that we
    will not be able to conclude such deal, it should be comforting to know
    that standard menus are relatively low-priced with around EUR 5 each.

    The university itself is situated in the heart of Vienna enclosed by the
    vineyards (west) and the inner city (east). There is the "Donaukanal"
    nearby where you can cycle or rest at the water.

    Oh, and did we mention that we can use the venue free of charge?

   Venue Images
    (Images where taken during another conference)
    http://vienna.pm.org/yapc2007/proposal.html

  Dates
    The conference will take place from August, 29th to August, 31st 2007
    (Wed-Fri), which is the traditional date for YAPC::Europe conferences.
    The venue is reserved on these days (but still we'd like to know as soon
    as possible if we won the conference, as we would like to firmly book
    the rooms to avoid Birmingham's problems).

  Conference Theme
    The proposed theme is 'The Art of Perl'.

    The theme should not only convey the Art of programming (in Perl), but
    also highlight actual works of art implemented in or at least using
    Perl. Maybe we can arrange a "Perl Art Price", which could be awarded in
    the categories 'Obfuscation' and 'Art using Perl'.

  Conference Website
    We will use a combination of ACT and a Wiki for the conference website.
    ACT will be used to power the main site, user registration and payments,
    talk handling and scheduling. The Wiki will be a place for attendees to
    share information (travel teams, hotel room sharing, etc).

    We have used ACT for two Austrian Perl Workshops and thus know how to
    work with it (although our competitors from Lyon may know it even
    slightly better ;-)).

  Budget
   Income
   Attendance fees
    We will probably charge the usual EUR 90 to EUR 100 per person, likely
    with an early-bird reduction, and maybe with a more expensive corporate
    tariff (which companies may choose to pay to support Perl).

    Speakers and organisators will not have to pay the fee.

    We will use ACT to handle user registration and talk management. ACT
    provides us with a free and working credit card payment system. But we
    will also accept regular bank transactions and cash payment.

   Sponsoring
    Apart from the Vienna University of Economics and Business
    Administration, who sponsors us by offering a venue with great
    infrastucture free of charge, we have contacts to several Viennese
    companies who already have sponsored one of the past Austrian Perl
    Workshops. They will most likely sponsor the YAPC as well. In addition,
    we will ask other Austrian companies and institutions known to use Perl
    to support the conference. We might also get funding from the City of
    Vienna and - given the conference theme - from art organisations.

    Of course, we will include the 'usual suspects', mostly international,
    British and U.S. companies who previously supported YAPCs in our fund
    raising efforts.

   Expenses
   Venue
    The venue is basically for free. We only have to pay approx. EUR 400 in
    total for a person from the fire department who is needed after 16:00.
    The venue usually consumes the biggest costs for conferences, so getting
    it for free is a big plus.

   Attendees
    Here's a list of 'gimmicks' with aproximate costs per attendee :

      T-Shirt                   5 EUR
      Coffee Break             30 EUR
      Attendees Dinner         20 EUR
      Conference Bag            2 EUR
      printed abstracts         2 EUR
      name badges               1 EUR

      TOTAL                    60 EUR

    This means that two regular attendees are needed to pay for the costs of
    one speaker. If we calculate with 50 speakers, we should break even if
    approximately 100 non-speakers attend the conference, which seems very
    reasonable.

    We did some research on the costs for each item, and while we haven't
    asked for concrete offers, we are quite sure that those numbers are
    reasonable (in fact we can probably get most of the items cheaper, but
    we're trying to stay on the save side...).

    This also means that all sponsoring can go into adding more value to the
    core conference (more gimmicks, art price, inviting more people, ...).

    We won't produce printed proceedings. Instead we will print abstracts
    for each talk and provide them to the attendees. We will collect all
    slides and presentations and put them on the web. Maybe we will also
    produce a CD with the slides (depending on our budget and whether we get
    the slides from the speakers in time).

   Invitations
    With our current calculations, we will very likely have quite some money
    left, so we would like to use it to invite some Perl 'stars' like Larry
    Wall, Damian Conway, Mark Jason Dominus, Audrey Tang. We already sent
    first emails to them asking if they would be available. Audrey and Larry
    already replied saying they would like to come.

    As we already know the dates of the conference by now, it should be
    possible to get rather cheap flights. Additionally, we think that some
    big names will attract quite a lot of people and even more sponsors.

    We've already got a sponsor giving 500 Euros to invite Damian Conway...

  Organisers
    Vienna.pm is a "Verein" [registered association] and as such, an
    official legal and financial entity. Vienna.pm can sign bills, collect
    and hand out money.

    Currently, the following Vienna.pm members have already volunteered to
    organise the conference:

    Andrea Pavlovic, Klaus Ita, Maros Kollar, Max Attems, Michael Kr�ll,
    Peter Holzer, Thomas Klausner and Wilhelm Nagy.

    Vienna.pm already has organised three Austrian Perl Workshops, which
    where attendend by 25-50 people each. All of the workshops where
    profitable. Even though the workshops were smaller then a YAPC, we
    accumlated some experiences regarding conference organisation. Some team
    members have organised other, big events (eg Wilhelm Nagy, who
    organsises Europe-wide boy scout meetings with several thousand
    attendees).

    Klaus and Andrea have been granted permission to do organisational tasks
    during their job hours at the university.

   Contact
    Please send any questions, comments and your acceptance of our propsal
    :-) to domm@cpan.org.

  Additional Programm
   Hackathon
    We think it would be nice to host a small
    Perl6-Hackathon/Organisators-Meeting on the day before or after the
    YAPC. We can use some well-equipped meeting rooms at the venue as well
    as several other places. This meeting should be reservered to the 'main
    players' in Perl 6 development and should enable them to discuss
    important issues. While pure-virtual collaboration does work, a
    real-life meeting from time to time seems to greatly enhance
    productivity.

  Vienna
    Vienna is the capital of Austria with approximately 1.6 million
    inhabitants.

    * City of culture: Numerous activities in the areas of theater, music
    (from classical to pop and underground), art exhibitions, public
    readings, museums, opera, cater to all tastes.
    * Imperial Vienna: Imperial buildings, splendid buildings on the
    Ringstrasse, narrow medieval streets and baroque squares shape the
    city's character.
    * Safe city with an excellent public transport network of underground
    trains, trams and buses
    * Well-organized public services and clean environment

    According to the international city ranking by Mercer, Vienna is the
    4th-best city to live in in the world (first in the EU)
    http://www.mercerhr.com/

    Beer comes in "Kr�gerln" (0.5 liter) and costs around 3 EUR.

    http://www.wien.gv.at/english/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna

   Getting there
    Vienna International Airport (VIE) is served by all major international
    airlines. There are regular flights to all major European and many
    international cities. VIE is also served by some "cheap" airlines. There
    is a high-speed train going from VIE to the heart of the city, taking 16
    minutes (http://www.cityairporttrain.at/). Regular trains are cheaper
    and take approx. 25 minutes.

    Several cheap airlines don't fly directly to Vienna, but to nearby
    Bratislava (Slovakia), Graz and Linz. Graz and Linz are aprox 1.5 to 2
    hours by train, and Bratislava airport is connected to the city of
    Vienna with a shuttle bus, taking about one hour. Since this summer
    there is also a high-speed katamaran connecting Vienna city with
    Bratislava city. The katamaran takes 75 minutes and travels on the
    Danube.

   Getting to the venue
    The venue is located right next to a subway station where two subway
    lines (Vienna has 5 subway lines) connect. There are also several
    tramway and bus lines stopping near the venue. One of the three major
    train stations ("Franz Josephs Bahnhof") is only a stone's throw away
    from the university.

    The city center of Vienna can be reached within under 10 minutes (4
    stops by underground), and within the same time you can reach the train
    that connects the airport and the city within only 16 minutes.

    A day-ticket for all public transport (including night busses) costs
    between 3 and 4 EUR. A single trip is 1.50 EUR.

    Vienna also offers an interesting alternative to public transport. There
    are about 50 locations distributed throughout the city where you can
    rent a bicyle using an ATM-like machine. The first hour of biking is
    free, so this system called CityBike is ideal for short trips.

    http://www.citybikewien.at/

    For those arriving by car the university has its own parking garage
    which can be used at a cost of EUR 2,50 per hour.

   Hotels
    Vienna was visited by approx. 3.5 million visitors in 2004, so it has a
    lot of hotels to accomodate any taste and budget.

    We will arrange a special price with one of the larger hotels near the
    venue.

  Things to do in Vienna (besides Perl)
    http://info.wien.at/

    There are lots of things to do in Vienna, so attendees (or their
    company) won't be bored if they stay a few days longer.

    There's music, old and new, to be heared in various concerts halls, the
    internationally known opera and various clubs (Flex, B72, Fluc, ..).
    There are various theaters, like the world-famous Burgtheater, and
    several ballet venues/festivals. Vienna houses literally hundreds of
    museums, showing famous pieces of art from Duerer, Schiele, Klimt to
    contemporary artists. Several of those museums are located in the
    MuseumsQuartier, which has become a vibrant hot-spot since it's opening
    some years ago.

    As the YAPC is going to take place in summer, attendees might want to
    pack swimming gear, as Vienna not only boasts several in- and outdoor
    swimming pools, but also the 21km long Donauinsel, an island originally
    built to protect Vienna from Danube floods, but now used by Viennese
    people for cycling, skating, and swimming (there's even a big nudist
    area if you forgot your bathing suit). At a distance of only three
    stations by subway from the venue one might even use an hours' break for
    a quick swim in the cut-off sidearm of the Danube.

    If you're not that much into culture, you can spend several nice
    evenings in Vienna just hanging around in various excellent restaurants
    (or cheap 'Beisln') and bars. There are also several big shopping
    streets and a big flea market offering everything from antiques to trash
    each Saturday. Right next to the flea market is "Naschmarkt", a big open
    air food market with several small restaurants sprinkles in between,
    where Vienna's young and hip spend the whole Saturday breakfasting.

    Here are some highlights:

   Historic Center of Vienna: Part of UNESCO'S World Cultural Heritage
    The historic centre of Vienna has been added to UNESCO's World Cultural
    Heritage list. Thus, St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Imperial Palace and
    many other historic buildings are now recognised as being among the 700
    outstanding cultural and natural monuments of mankind - the others
    include the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur, the historic center of
    Rome, the Kremlin with the Red Square, the Chinese Wall, the Taj Mahal
    and the Grand Canyon.

    http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1033

   Music
    Vienna is the world's music capital! More famous composers have lived
    here than in any other city - in Vienna, music is literally in the air:
    Waltzes and operettas have their home here, and so do musicals "made in
    Vienna," which have conquered international audiences. But Vienna also
    caters to young and urban visitors, offering several clubs playing
    whatever is currently hot (and sometimes even inventing the next cool
    thing...).

   Classical Music
    Millions of music lovers all over the world are familiar with the Vienna
    Musikverein as a traditional concert venue. Here, from its Golden Hall,
    the annual New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic is telecast
    internationally.

    http://www.staatsoper.at/Content.Node2/en/index.php
    http://www.musikverein-wien.at/ http://www.schoenberg.at/default_e.htm

   Film Festival 200[67] auf dem Wiener Rathausplatz
    During the summer months the Vienna Film Festival on the Rathausplatz in
    front of the City Hall attracts music lovers from all corners of the
    world. The City Hall provides a perfect backdrop for classical music
    performances which can be attended free of charge and an international
    culinary experience along the many food stands there.

    http://www.wien-event.at/stadtWienEvents/eventDetail.cmi?cmi.eventId=434
    6

   Clubs
    Flex, Fluc, B72, ...

    http://www.flex.at/ http://www.fluc.at http://www.b72.at

   Kids
   The world's oldest zoo, Sch�nbrunn.
    Here's what they say about themselves:

    Welcome to the world's oldest zoo (founded 1752!). Building on its long
    history, Tiergarten Sch�nbrunn has developed into one of the most modern
    zoos in the world over the last 10 years. Our top attractions include
    Giant Pandas, koalas, the first elephant born in Europe using artificial
    insemination techniques, and a rainforest house modeled after the
    ecosystems of Borneo. Why don't you click through our homepage, book
    your next vacation to Vienna, and come visit us in Sch�nbrunn!

    http://www.zoovienna.at/e/index.html

   Zoom
    ZOOM Children's Museum is a place of playful inquiry, learning and
    discovery for children. It gives young explorers the chance to ZOOM in
    on new situations and use all their senses to grasp the world around
    them.

    http://www.kindermuseum.at/e/main2.html

   Prater
    The Prater in Vienna is an expansive area (6.143.984 square metres)
    close to the city centre where the Viennese go for recreation. Due to
    regulation of the Danube and extensive use of the park for recreation
    activities, relatively little remains of what was once a vast river
    basin used as the imperial hunting ground. Today the area offers a wide
    variety of open spaces, ranging from natural riparian landscape to city
    park. Most of the trees both in the Vienna Prater and the Krieau are
    what is left of the woods that grew up on the "heaps", the islands that
    used to exist in the Danube.

    There is also the famous "Wurstlprater", an amusement park offering
    everything from the classic "Riesenrad" to roller coasters.

    http://www.prater.at/

   Vienna Woods
    Apart from the Prater and the Donauinsel, which we already mentioned,
    there is a third large area where the Viennese love to spend their spare
    time: the Vienna Woods, to an extensive area, approximately 135,000
    hectares in size, to the west of Vienna.

    There are children's playgrounds along the way, as well as picnic tables
    and seating with fabulous views or nearby wood glades and people who
    like to spend time in nature will love hiking or biking in the woods.

    http://www.wien.gv.at/english/leisure/hiking/wege.htm

  R�sum�
    We are confident that we can organise a great YAPC::Europe 2007 in
    Vienna. As we have an excellent free venue, we are commited to turn the
    conference into a profitable and fruitful one. We are a big team of very
    motivated people, some of which even get to work on the YAPC during
    their day job.

    Hopefully, Andrea Pavlovic, Klaus Ita, Michael Kr�ll & Thomas Klausner
    on behalf of Vienna.pm