[EuroPython] Wish list for Europython 2004

[Magnus Lyckå]

I'd like to thank both Denis, Tom and the other people who worked
with Europython, as well as the speakers and all the other people
who attended. It was a great pleasure to meet you all face to face,
having used software and read lots of emails etc from many of you.
I had a great time, and met a lot of new people! I really hope that
I will be able to attend next year as well.

I'd also like to thank you for how well the catering worked,
especially for us vegetarians. (I hope it worked well for the rest
as well, of course. :)

Since next year is up, I thought I'd bring up some things that I
would really like for Europython 2004--whereever it will take place.

The major issue
---------------

* Better acustics and ventilation.

The auditorium was decent, both from sound and air point of view, but
room A wasn't as good, and room B was rather poor. It is tiresome to
listen all day to people speaking about rather complicated things in
a language that is foreign to both the speaker and the listener, and
the poor acustics and bad air in the end of a session made it harder
for me to follow a number of sessions.

Microphones and loudspeakers are a poor substitute for good acustics,
and they should certainly not be needed in a correctly built room of
the size of room A or B. The amplified sound is more tiresome to listen
to, and time is lost due to technical problems with microphones etc.

I guess this is not a trivial thing to "fix" if we are to stay in the
same place. I don't know if there are other rooms at CEME that would
fit better.

This was the only really significant problem I had with Europython. As
I said, I'm generally very pleased.

Minor issues
------------

* Oops, why isn't my presentation on the screen? (Alterntatively, why
   is only 61% visible.)

Would it be possible to set up some kind of "test your laptop" rig, so
that people could verify that their presentation could be displayed in
the projector before they actually had an audience impatiently waiting
for them? :)

Maybe it would be enough with a 800x600 VGA monitor standing somewhere,
that they could connect to? They need to check that external monitor is
enabled, and adjust their screen to the resolution of the projector's,
which I assume is 800x600. Right? Obviously it would be best if they got
a chance to test in the room where they were to hold the presentation,
or in another equivalent room, but I guess that's impossible with the
tight schedules and human nature...

* Computer rooms

It was often difficult to get internet access, and I'd like to see more
sprints in conjunction to Europython 2004. It would be convenient if they
could take place in or near the conference location.

* Budget lodging

The hotel cost is significant for an event like this. It would be good if
we could find cheaper accomodations, but 10 km out in the woods is not
quite perfect...

* Location

It would obviously be perfect if lodging, conference and town centre (i.e.
entertainment) was all in walking distance.


--
Magnus Lycka (It's really Lyckå), magnus@thinkware.se
Thinkware AB, Sweden, www.thinkware.se
I code Python ~ The Agile Programming Language