FirstAnnualConferencePlanning

The page for conference participants is FirstAnnualConference

Details

• October 10th, 2008
• Embassy Suites in Burlingame, CA.

Logistics

Hotel

We have conference rooms booked at the Embassy Suites Hotel SFO, with space for up to 200 people. We can expand that if we get more (which seems unlikely). The hotel is really nice, it's right on the bay with a view of the SFO runways across the water, and has a nice atrium / bar / restaurant area. It is walking distance from a couple of other hotels that are probably cheaper, for budget-conscious attendees. There is also a park (Anza Lagoon right next to the hotel.)

Hotel	Rates	Discount Code	SFO Shuttle
Embassy Suites Hotel SFO	$130-$250	Yes (15%)	Yes
Red Roof Inn	?	No	Yes
Doubletree Hotel SFO	?	No	Yes

Food

The hotel will supply food - hors d' oeuvres for a reception on Thu. night, then on Friday snacks & caffeine (morning, midmorning, midafternoon), lunch, and dinner. Post-reception thu night, and post-dinner friday night we can hang out at the hotel bar. The food is expensive, but that's how they make their money, so I don't think we have much choice about using their food (the conference rooms are fairly cheap). The food schedule is:

• Thursday
  • Hors d' oevres in the evening (reception)
• Friday
  • Morning break
  • Lunch - Embassy Deli Buffet
  • Afternoon break
  • Dinner- Embassy Royale
• Saturday
  • On your own

A/V equipment

Their projector rates are awful, we will probably buy one for TSI and bring it. The hotel will supply WiFi.

General Format

A couple talks (Patri, maybe Peter, maybe Wayne), and a bunch of workshops.

Workshops

Each workshop has a topic, like "How do we transport people and stuff between seasteads and land?". One person serves as the facilitator, there is a brief presentation on the topic, why it is hard, maybe some standard solutions, and then participants break up into small groups to brainstorm and research their solutions. Then they take turns presenting their solutions, and put together a final set of recommendations.

Schedule

• Thursday
  • 6:30pm - 11:30pm. Evening reception (will move to the bar at some point). No other formal events.
• Friday
  • 8am - 9:00am. Morning snacks & registration.
  • 9:00am - 9:30am. Opening Talk (Patri. Outline goals, progress, initiatives, challenges)
  • 9:30am - 10:45am. Morning workshop set #1
  • 10:45am - 11:00am. Morning break.
  • 11:00am - 12:15am. Morning workshop set #2
  • 12:15pm - 1:30pm. Lunch (possibly a talk).  ? Present summaries of morning workshops during lunch.
  • 1:30pm - 3:00pm. Afternoon workshop set #1
  • 3:00pm - 3:30pm. Afternoon break / mingling (playtime outside on the water?).
  • 3:30pm - 5:00pm. Afternoon workshop set #2.
  • 5:00pm - 6:00pm. Summaries of afternoon workshops.
  • 6pm - 7pm. Break
  • 7pm - 9pm. Dinner. Possibly one or more short talks during dinner (ie Peter if we can get him).
  • 9pm - ?. Drinks & Mingling.
• Saturday
  • Do stuff on the water in the AM
  • Brunch
  • Activities in SF

Todo

See Google Spreadsheet: http://spreadsheets.google.com/a/seasteading.org/ccc?key=pxQIdumbCC4jWgs-TwVywGQ&hl=en

Ideas

• Workshops/brainstorming sessions on specific topics. Topics listed at FirstAnnualConference#Workshop_Topics
• Bring a library of related books, so people can read/learn during the conference. (Patri has many such books)
• Have a useful basic set of tools/materials for experimenting with physical designs.