[Battlemesh] Preliminary Recon Team Report

[M]

Hi all!

The previous week, between Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning, Simon, 
Marek and me have spent some time together with the local team of Porto, 
Portugal. Here we present our preliminary report about the facilities of 
the next Battlemesh.


*Scheduling*

We plan to have the event the 1st week of May or the weeks around it.

The 1st week of May was suggested by the local organizer team because 
there are no classes at the university. Therefore it is easier to 
organize access to rooms and facilities. At the same time there are 
plenty of events going on to celebrate the end of the student year.

Please take into account that the venue depends on the week selected. 
There is already a doodle available to help us settle on a final date 
[1], but please fill it up after you read this email.


*Location*

We visited places of various sizes and styles but here we propose the 
ones that seem more adequate with the event. All the venues are in the 
University area which is located 20-30 minutes by metro from the city 
center, or about 50 minutes walking.

Green Carpet room:
This room is available the 1st week of May only due to frequent events. 
It is located centrally on the University campus[2], directly connected 
to the main campus outdoor recreation area (garden). The building is in 
10 minutes walking distance from the nearest metro station. This room is 
a more official room for events used by the local University department. 
The space is a bit more tight (compared to the red carpet room) but 
still everyone can fit. It is more or less already separated for talks 
and hacking space and useful equipment is already available: projector, 
in-room free coffee machine and a basic kitchen. This room is available 
until midnight, and extending the opening hours can be negotiated. The 
deployment can be done across the whole department in meeting rooms, 
labs, offices and common areas. Concerning food options, the nearby 
university canteens are available for lunch and dinner during weekdays. 
Vending machines are open 24/7. More info will be available on the 
Battlemesh wiki page.

Red Carpet room:
This room is available the last week of April and the 2nd week of May.
It is located in the Polytechnic University buildings[3]. The buildings 
are in 5 minutes walking distance from the nearest metro station. The 
room is located on the 1st floor. To give an idea of the size, the room 
was successfully used previously to host a LAN party of 100-150 people, 
so it can host both the hacking space and the talks. We can artificially 
separate the room in order provide some kind of isolation for the two 
uses. Equipment (like projector, room separators, sofas, etc) is not 
currently available but the local team will probably be able to get it 
from the student's Union. Food can be provided by university catering 
service. The room can stay open until midnight more or less, extra time 
can be negotiated. More info will be available on the Battlemesh wiki page.


*Internet Access*

Both locations are connected to the broadband university Internet.


*Accommodation*

As in the previous years, the local organization team likes to offer a 
hotel package to ease the task of finding a place and negotiate a better 
price.

No single (affordable) hotel is large enough to accommodate more than 45 
participants. However, we found two hostels in the city center that are 
close to each other, that together can easily accommodate 100 people.

As usual there will be a package participation deadline, which will be 
announced very soon.


*Social Events*

If the event takes place in the 1st week of May there will be plenty of 
options for social events. Moreover, the visited hostels provide 
facilities, like terrace and garden for organizing social events. The 
university has also event locations available, such as student union 
rooms and large canteens.


*Travel*

The Porto airport (OPO) provides a large variety of international flight 
connections and it is well connected to the city center by (direct) 
metro. If there is no direct flight available from your location, it is 
possible to fly via Lisbon or many other major European cities.


*Cost estimation*

We estimate the accommodation package will cost around 120-160 euros.

There may be also a food package provided upon registration, similar to 
Maribor.


*Local organization*

The local core team consists of Filipe Teixeira (who participated in the 
Battlemesh in Aalborg), Mario Lopes, Filipe Ribeiro together with the 
INESC Wireless Communications department (http://win.inesctec.pt). The 
organizers have been very helpful during the recon process and they seem 
very eager to organize a nice event. They will introduce themselves on 
the list and will take care of our needs.

Best regards from the recon team and local organizers.

[1] http://doodle.com/poll/y7h6tg99ey89ny2g
[2] http://osm.org/go/b8bpCkbUp--?way=36979227
[3] http://osm.org/go/b8bpAOsYp--?way=172045688