YAPC::NA::2009 Pittsburgh.pm Bid

Jun 5, 2008 · 6 min read  ·
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Here is Pittsburgh.pm's bid for hosting YAPC::NA 2009

YAPC 2009 Proposal

Pittsburgh Perl Mongers

In 1999, the first ever Yet Another Perl Conference was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and hosted by Perl Monger Kevin Lenzo. In the past ten years, YAPC has flourished into a world-wide craze. But little did everybody realize that back when Kevin started it all, he implanted a very small homing beacon in the conference.

Now, on the 10th anniversary of YAPC, we feel it's time to activate that beacon and bring YAPC back to Pittsburgh. We hope to do justice to what started out as a small Perl conference, but has become something that belongs to the entire Perl community.

We have spent the last 3 years preparing ourselves for the monumentuous occasion by introducing another first: The very first Perl Workshop to be hosted in the United States (yet another tradition that is starting to grow across the country). We followed up on our first success with the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop 2007, and are already in the process of preparing for PPW 2008. We feel that the cumulutive experiences we have gained over these three years gives us a leg up on the task.

Proposed Dates

The proposed dates for YAPC 2009 are Monday, June 22 through Wednesday, June 24, 2009.

Estimated Costs

University Center Room Reservation Pricing

Room                  Daily Cost      Extended Cost
McConomy Auditorium   $356.50         $1069.50
Connan                $212.75         $638.25
McKenna               $74.75          $224.25
Peter                 $74.75          $224.25
Wright                $74.75          $224.25
Rangos 1              $212.75         $638.25
Rangos 2              $212.75         $638.25
Rangos 3              $212.75         $638.25
Dowd                  $34.50          $103.50
Pake                  $34.50          $103.50
Class of 1987         $34.50          $103.50

The total cost for rental (assuming we choose to rent all of the above rooms) for three days would be $4,605.75

Additionally, there is a daily cost of approximately $250 per room anywhere that we would like to have A/V service provided. If we assume that we will not need more than four such rooms per day, we can expect to pay an additional $3,000 for a/v services.

Each snack provided is estimated to cost approximately $1 per person. With an estimated attendance of 600, and a snack service provided each morning and afternoon, we anticpate snack costs to be about $3,600.

Beyond these known costs, we believe it is reasonable to plan an additional $5,000 for various professional services required during the event.

Readily Accessible Location (Planes, Trains, & Automobiles)

Pittsburgh is within 500 miles of more than half the U.S. population and less than a 90-minute flight from 50% of North America's population. It's under 6 hours by car or train to 9 states, D.C. and Canada. (source: visitpittsburgh.com)

Pittsburgh International Airport is only 25 minutes from Downtown Pittsburgh and supports over 300 non-stop flights per day to 118 destinations. Port authority busing provides convenient transportation from the airport to downtown Pittsburgh, departing the airport every 20 minutes.

Amtrak provides daily rail service to New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago.

Greyhound also provides a bus terminal in Pittsburgh with numerous routes.

Public Transportation

Busing and Taxi services are available throughout Pittsburgh. Visitor's can even use Google Transit to plan their route around the city.

Once you are at CMU, if you are staying on campus, there are several fine dining locations withing walking distance, so the need for travel is very limited. Additionally, most local hotels provide free shuttle service for their guests.

Facilities

The meeting facilities at the Carnegie Mellon University, University Center are state of the art. They are clean, and professional. We've used them for the past two Pittsburgh Perl Workshops, and feel confident that participants will be satisfied with the quality of the venue.Â

The largest room available to us will be McConomy Auditorium, which seats 450 people. If there is a need for overflow, we will be able to simulcast any presentations into additional rooms.

We have also started to research several potential venues for the YAPC dinner. We have started to research all of these venues, and believe that all of them are available for between $30 and $35 per person. We feel that with the right sponsorship, this is obtainable.

  • Gateway Clipper Fleet

    An evening on the Gateway Party Liner touring the rivers of Pittsburgh with fine dining.

  • Heinz Field

    Home of the 2006 world Superbowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Â This event would include a banquet-style dinner in the "West Club", with a scenic outlook over Pittsburgh's Ohio River.Â

  • Kennywood Park

    Kennywood Park is one of the oldest amusement parks in the country, hosting some of the fastest roller coasters in the world. In addition, they have plenty of rides and amusements for the more timid. Cost would cover an all-day ride pass as well as a catered dinner.

Internet Access from Conference Location

The Carnegie Mellon wireless network is one of the largest wireless networks available on a college campus today. The network blankets the campus with highly reliable service. No other campus of this size offers such complete coverage. We have had personal experience using the wireless at CMU for the past two years, and have never had any problems.

Internet Access from Accommodations

Dorm rooms located on the university campus benefit from the same wireless network that is being used at the conference. There is no difference in accessing the network from the conference or from a dorm room.

All nearby hotels offer either wired ethernet, wireless access, or both. In past years, many of our PPW participants have made use of the network available at the Quality Inn, our recommended hotel.

New Location

Although YAPC originated in Pittsburgh, ten years ago, we believe that most the YAPC participants probably have not been attending YAPC's that long. Pittsburgh is an excellent choice for the 10th anniversary of YAPC.

Affordable Dorms and Hotels

Carnegie Mellon University dorm room pricing (per night)

Each room is equiped with air conditioning and linen service is provided. There is no charge for wireless internet access in dorm rooms.

  Single Room                     $42.00
  Double Room / Double Occupancy  $28.50 (per person)
  Double Room / Single Occupancy  $57.00

We currently have 87 dorm rooms available to us with a maximum occupancy of 147. There may be an opportunity to secure more dorm rooms if that will not be enough.

The Quality Inn University Center is located close to CMU, and provides daily free shuttle service to the university. Rooms are available for about $80 per night for a double room, meaning that one person could theoretically stay for about $40 per night. The Quality Inn has been willing in the past to split bill a double room for two people staying in the room.

Quality of Host Committee

The host committee has an established track record of putting together quality Perl events. In the past two years, over 200 participants have enjoyed the quality Perl Workshops that we have hosted. We are excited and up to the challenge of running an event with the magnitude and high standards of YAPC.

About the Committee leadership:

Robert Blackwell, Tom Moertel, Casey West, and Dan Wright have all been members of the PPW organizing Cabal since it's inception in 2006.  Together, they represent over 4 decades of programming experience as well as a great deal of experience organizing events of all sizes.

Tourist Activities

  • Abundant art galleries
  • Pittsburgh Pirates
  • Riverboat cruises
  • Scenic Mt. Washington dining
  • Kennywood Amusement Park
  • Carnegie Science Center
  • Pittsburgh Zoo
  • West Penn Brewery