Some structure to help finding a venue. Assumptions are based on the last event. Not written in stone - schedule to be confirmed as we move forward
--deb
Schedule/meals
arrive Friday 6 to 7 pm (snacks and drinks only)
Saturday all day, 3 meals
Sunday leave 6pm, 2 meals, no supper.
Each day the morning and afternoon snacks should include fruit juice, healthy snacks. Breakfasts should include protein (eggs, cheese).
Rooms
let's say 40 people need rooms out of 50 total.
Meetings:
Friday: one big room, for "lightning talks" (no projector, just chairs in rows). Also coffee area for relaxing and chatting (sofas, or at least some chairs and small tables)
Saturday, Sunday: one big room for opening/closing circle. coffee/snack area with sofas or at least tables/chairs. Places for 9 breakout sessions (can meet in corners of several large areas if needed). Need flipcharts and chairs for each of the 9, only a few tables here and there. (if we need a projector, we can borrow one).
Room size: a room 10-12m on each side will comfortably fit a circle of 50 chairs. A smaller room could work, if it has one long and one short side, so we have room to maneouvre for making the agenda. Maybe get a couple of options, find out what they have. A room without middle pillars is ideal but we can live with narrow pillars.
I hope that will give us an idea of the cost.
-- deb
Here are venue notes from last time we looked for a venue (2008)
VenueSelectionCriteria
Venue Availabilities
Considering the available dates, we have to ask the different locations for their availability.
x = available from thursday to sunday of the regarding weekend
1 = only available from thursday to saturday of the regarding weekend
2 = only available from friday to sunday of the regarding weekend
0 = not available at all
(1) There is an option from somebody else on those dates, will be clarified in January if the venue could be available for us
(2) Options for weddings. Will be clarified if the venue could be available for us
(3) Option from somebody else on this date, will be clarified in January
(4) Can be propably visited by Martin on his trip back from Sri Lanka at 10.01.10
Didn't work, because venue was closed until that day.
In bold the venues to purse as per conf. call 21.12.2009
Venue Proposals
Short List
--deb
Schedule/meals
arrive Friday 6 to 7 pm (snacks and drinks only)
Saturday all day, 3 meals
Sunday leave 6pm, 2 meals, no supper.
Each day the morning and afternoon snacks should include fruit juice, healthy snacks. Breakfasts should include protein (eggs, cheese).
Rooms
let's say 40 people need rooms out of 50 total.
Meetings:
Friday: one big room, for "lightning talks" (no projector, just chairs in rows). Also coffee area for relaxing and chatting (sofas, or at least some chairs and small tables)
Saturday, Sunday: one big room for opening/closing circle. coffee/snack area with sofas or at least tables/chairs. Places for 9 breakout sessions (can meet in corners of several large areas if needed). Need flipcharts and chairs for each of the 9, only a few tables here and there. (if we need a projector, we can borrow one).
Room size: a room 10-12m on each side will comfortably fit a circle of 50 chairs. A smaller room could work, if it has one long and one short side, so we have room to maneouvre for making the agenda. Maybe get a couple of options, find out what they have. A room without middle pillars is ideal but we can live with narrow pillars.

I hope that will give us an idea of the cost.
-- deb
Here are venue notes from last time we looked for a venue (2008)
VenueSelectionCriteria
Venue Availabilities
Considering the available dates, we have to ask the different locations for their availability.
x = available from thursday to sunday of the regarding weekend
1 = only available from thursday to saturday of the regarding weekend
2 = only available from friday to sunday of the regarding weekend
0 = not available at all
Weekend (Sat. date) | State TODO-DONE | Option x weeks | Mar 6 | Mar 20 | Mar 27 | Apr 10 | Apr 17 | May 1 | May 29 | Jun 12 | Jun 19 | |
Finished example | DONE Anybody | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | x | x | |
Kloster Fraueninsel | DONE Pierluigi | Fully booked for the whole 2010! | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Academy Ettlingen | DONE Sebastian | n.a. for conferences | ||||||||||
Zentrum Rückersbach (4) | DONE Martin | option for May 1 until 27.01.10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | (2) | 0 | (2) | |
Kloster Seeon | DONE Pierluigi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||
Schlossgut Oberambach | DONE Martin | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Schloßhotel Neufahrn | DONE Pierluigi | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Hotel watthalden Buhlsche muehle | Done Heiko | x | 0 | 0 | x | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
European Business School, Wiesbaden | in Progress Marc | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | x | x |
(1) There is an option from somebody else on those dates, will be clarified in January if the venue could be available for us
(2) Options for weddings. Will be clarified if the venue could be available for us
(3) Option from somebody else on this date, will be clarified in January
(4) Can be propably visited by Martin on his trip back from Sri Lanka at 10.01.10
Didn't work, because venue was closed until that day.
In bold the venues to purse as per conf. call 21.12.2009
Venue Proposals
Area | Location | Description | Notes | |||||||||
Karlsruhe | 1&1 | Video: Lobby & 4 conf rooms off the side: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-YXNy-5BzU Cafeteria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Vd1oJejLA | Unavailable on Sunday. Cafeteria catered | |||||||||
Munich | Gut Sonnenhausen | http://www.sonnenhausen.de/ | Not an option: from April until October they have all the weekends full with weddings | |||||||||
Munich | Kloster Fraueninsel | http://www.frauenchiemsee.eu/ | Booked for the whole 2010! | |||||||||
Karlsruhe | cirquent Academy Ettlingen | not available for conference, only used for cirquent internal trainings | ||||||||||
Frankfurt | SeminarZentrum Rückersbach | http://www.natuerlich-tagen.de ; Fotos: http://www.qype.com/place/835794 | ca. 50 km von Frankfurt Hbf und Flughafen entfernt, mit Zug bis Aschaffenburg und letzte 10 km per Taxi. prices are per person and day: 41 EUR for 2 coffee breaks + lunch, 79,50 EUR room (single) including breakfast and diner, 58,50 EUR room (double) including breakfast and diner. With 40 - 50 people it should be possible to get three rooms without costs, but that has to be checked | |||||||||
Munich | Kloster Seeon | http://www.kloster-seeon.de/ | Could offer only the weekend 28.->30.5. They would both hotel rooms for all of us + rooms for the camp. They have only one 120mq room on the ground floor - i.e. with access to the garden, so probably we'd need a room on the another floor as well or we have to give up access to the garden. Prices are around 140 EUR/day all included, but I will hopefully get a more detailed & customised proposal tomorrow. | |||||||||
Munich (Starnberg) | Biohotel Schlossgut Oberambach | http://www.schlossgut.de/content/index.php | Few options for May/June, very expensive: 59 EUR/person and day for the conference-room + lunch + coffee, 32-39 EUR for the dinner, 129 EUR room (single) | |||||||||
Munich (Neufahrn bei Landshut) | Schloßhotel Neufahrn | http://www.schlosshotel-neufahrn.de | Could offer something on the following dates: 9->11 July, 7->9 May, 16->18 May. They would have an option for 5->8 June, i.e. the day after XP2010. As XP finishes on Thursday, people could fly directly to Munich: not sure how much of an option this would be. 66 EUR for the single room/95 EUR for the double. WLan from Deutsche Telekom (i.e. expensive!), wired access is free. 42 EUR/day: Kaffeepause mit Obst, Joghurt und Gemüsesticks mit Dip, Mittagessen (3 Gang Menü mit 3 Hauptgängen zur Wahl), Kaffeepause mit Obst, Teegebäck oder Gebäckteilchen, Raummiete und Standardtechnik (OHP, Leinwand, 2 Flipcharts, 4 Pinwände) - includes drinks during the breaks and one drink during the lunch. 4 dinner menus varying from 17 EUR to 72 EUR. Possibility to choose a "Rittermenue" (http://www.schlosshotel-neufahrn.de/schlosshotel-kulinarisches/schlosshotel-ritteressen.html). AGB still missing. Next train station: in Neufahrn itself, within walking distance | |||||||||
Hotel Watthalden/Buhlsche Mühle | nice place in Ettlingen, accessible via Karlsruhe | http://www.hotel-watthalden.de/DE/tagungsraeume.htm and http://www.hotel-watthalden.de/DE/arrangement-mit-uebernachtung.htm http://www.buhlsche-muehle.de/ and http://www.buhlsche-muehle.de/pdf/preise.pdf Fotos: www.qype.com/place/71371 | prices (per day and person) from the Website: 88€ room + breakfast, 41.50€ per Day and Person Lunch+2 Breaks with Coffee + 2 Drinks (no all inklusive) + 26€ Dinner. Seminar Rooms (per day): 872€ +60€ Weekend + 368€ for "group rooms", Internet Access: DSL available, private setting: no, but very good options to dispatch about the place (e.g. hotel lobby...)/ Next train station: S-Bahn Albgaubad,Ettlingen (from Karlsruhe) within walking distance | |||||||||
Wiesbaden (Oestrich-Winkel) | European Business School | http://www.ebs.edu/ Image 1 Image 2 | Location has several rooms, a big one for 50 people and two/three smaller ones. Price for one day: €600, this includes all technical infrastructure (WLAN, beamers, chairs, tables, etc.). Hotels nearby: Hotel Schwan Kempinski Kühns Mühle Catering is possible by an external service or the internal mensa. |
Short List
Parameter | Seminarzentrum Rückersbach | Schlosshotel Neufahrn | ||||||||||
Days | 30.4->2.5 (Fri->Sun) | 29.4->1.5 (Thu->Sat) | ||||||||||
Big room for all the participants | No | Yes, but only until Friday 15:00 | ||||||||||
Rooms available | 6 rooms in 3 buildings, 50-70 m2 | 9 rooms on four floors 16 to 160 m2 | ||||||||||
Alone in the venue? | Possible, but restaurant could have other guests | Event dinner on Friday, wedding on Sat. | ||||||||||
Garden | Available, with "Hochseilgarten" | Available, with "historical village" | ||||||||||
Biergarten | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
Eating outside? | Yes | Yes | ||||||||||
Internet access | Available, small fee | We have to set up our access points, cable internet available (alternative: very expensive T-Mobile hotspot) | ||||||||||
Daily price, incl. coffee breaks | 41 EUR (3 rooms with no additional cost?) | 42 EUR (additional room 45 EUR/day) | ||||||||||
Room price | 79,50 EUR incl. dinner | 66 EUR | ||||||||||
Dinner price | incl. | various choices form 17 EUR to 72 EUR | ||||||||||
Website | http://www.natuerlich-tagen.de | http://www.schlosshotel-neufahrn.de/ | ||||||||||
Photos | http://www.qype.com/place/835794 | http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157623110776349/ |