Going Solo

This week is venue week. It’s venue week because I want to be able to tell the world that “yes, it’s certain, it is the 16th” — and also because I’ve heard you: you want to know how much Going Solo will cost (I don’t blame you) and I can only really fix that and point you to where you can sign up once we’ve settled a few details like The Venue. All sorts of things depend on the venue: what kind of visibility we’ll be able to provide sponsors (booths), exactly how many people we’re going to be able to accommodate, which of lunch or dinner will be organized, what colour bean-bags we need to find… and that’s just the start.

So, here’s a little summary of the venues visited today. (I’m not giving any names, to protect the innocent, though if you’re from Lausanne you can probably guess. Just guess in private, thanks.)

Venue #1 is the place at which I’d “pre-decided” to hold Going Solo. (Not sure if that was good English.) Somebody had told me about it, the location is ideal, so I thought — OK, we’ll do it there. All that without visiting or making sure it was free on the date (I just know their food is good because I’ve eaten there a couple of times.

Well, we had an appointment with the woman in charge of conferences. She showed us around but wasn’t overly friendly, I have to say (she seemed very much in a hurry, to the point that after 30 minutes she left with little ceremony saying she really had to go) — overall it didn’t really make me feel as they valued my business. Aside from that, the big hall is not free on our date, but they could accommodate us in a long seminar room. Unfortunately, no really nice break-out place and definitely nowhere to put booths for our sponsors and partners.

Other than that, it’s a modern hotel which looks really good, and it’s just a minute from the station.

The big hall is nice, and would be big enough for us to put a few sponsor booths inside the conference hall itself — but I’m not sure it’s the best solution. Add to that the rather cold “welcome”, we decided to pass.

Venue #2 was a much nicer experience. It’s also right next to the station, and though it’s slighly darker and older (in a stylish way) and not non-smoking (!), we were positively impressed with the very professional and friendly welcome we got. The woman who showed us around didn’t make us feel like we were using her time (although we just walked in without an appointment).

We could have a large enough conference room, a breakout area outside of it, and an extra, smaller room to extend the (rather too small) breakout area. With open doors and if we put thought into how we place booths and break tables, it could work. Their prices are competitive, too, with a “per head” seminar arrangement including sitting lunch with a choice of menus as well as the breaks. (As I discovered by going from hotel to hotel, this kind of arrangement is pretty standard, at least around here.)

Downside: to be honest, the slightly musty smell (carpets and smoke do not mix well, particularly after a certain number of years) — but I guess that could be taken care of with some ambient perfume 😉

Wifi is not included in the arrangement (also seems pretty standard). For a geeky conference like Going Solo (all those bloggers and podcasters and WoWers and Sypers — aware that Skype is P2P? — with iPhones and Palms and rabbits and Kindles) we clearly need to look for an external partner to deal with these matters. (Another headache looming up, I can feel it.)

Venue #3 made me go “wow”. They have a beautiful conference room, great food (I’ve eaten there before), a garden (May 16th could very well be warm and sunny here), and enough space surrounding the conference room to place 2-3 booths, maybe 4 — though there is not enough of this space as I would ideally wish for. I got a very friendly welcome, got a chance to discuss internet connectivity stuff with the tech guy who happened to be dealing with a stubborn window while I was talking with the events man.

I was also shown the hotel rooms — pretty posh, with a great view on the lake for some of them. They even have family rooms (a large room and bathroom with an extra smaller children’s room attached). Downside: a little more pricey (and the slightly tight “lounge space”, though if the weather is good we get the garden).

Choosing this venue would also mean that lunch would have to take place outside the hotel, for logistical questions, but we’d have dinner there (in the conference hall which doubles as a dining hall). It could be a nice arrangement too — I was planning to have one “meal out” (the evening one) anyway, Reboot-style.

Venue #4 I didn’t get to visit, but I’m putting it on the list because it could be an option. It’s not a hotel, but a kind of city hall (“Maison de Quartier”) just beneath the station. The local parish rents and uses part of it — the issue here is clearly one of standing, for a commercial conference. But I remember from attending a show there that there is a stage and a huge room, and that there is a dining hall just outside of it which would be perfect as a break-out area. I’d have to re-visit to make sure my memories aren’t toying with me — and if dates and all were OK, we’d still have to figure out if the “type of venue” would be a big issue or not.

Venue #5 is a little further away from the station (oh, what, a 5-minute walk). It’s a really beautiful hotel (the view of Lausanne from the 7th floor is just breathtaking).

Unfortunately, the large conference room is not that exciting. It’s big enough, that isn’t the issue. However, it’s a long-rectangle format rather than square, which means people sitting in the back would be really far from the speakers. It has quite a low ceiling, so that limits screen size (for the beamer). There is a nice big balcony with a beautiful view, but no space near the room to have a break-out area or booths — they usually serve the break drinks in the hotel lobby. If we wanted to place sponsor booths in that area, we would have to rent the hotel lobby too, which is not exactly cheap. (But it’s feasible.)

I was shown around by the hotel director, who was very nice and accommodating, even charming (it seems the quality of service I got this afternoon just increased as the day went along). This would probably be the priciest venue, particularly if we rent out the lobby too.

Venue #6 is not in a hotel either — it’s in the station building. So, location is fine — the windows are sound-proof, so you barely hear the trains (sound so faint the noise of fingers tapping on keyboards will drown it). I was shown two rooms (both pretty historical). The first is a little small, though it could probably hold us (but again, no break-out area or booths). The second is huge. We could most certainly place partner booths inside the conference room — but the problem would be that there isn’t really anywhere to go if somebody wants to flee the conference room. (Nowhere quiet to blog or chat in peace, for example — of course, I hope you’ll be listening to the great speakers I’m lining up with open eyes and ears, but I know that one sometimes needs a break.)

The restaurant would cover the breaks and probably lunch. As the person in charge wasn’t there I’m not sure if it’s available on the date, or exactly how much it would cost, but the approximate prices uttered sounded quite reasonable.

Venue #7 was a bit of a surprise. It’s a privately-owned hotel by the lake, and it doesn’t look too impressive from the outside (or from the reception area, which honestly, is a little dark). The owner came to show me around. They have a big hall (long-rectangle, sadly) with a hole wall of glass windows opening on the lake (that probably isn’t good English; what I’m trying to say is that there is a view straight on the lake, and the lake is 25m away). The view is absolutely stunning. I know we won’t be staring out of the windows during the talks, but it’s still a nice thing to have (I also brought you to Lausanne for the scenery…)

We could have the breaks in the café area outside the hall. However, no way to put sponsor booths there. We’d have to use the second, separate room a floor below for the breaks and place the booths there. Not ideal, again, but doable. (These booths keep coming up, don’t they? They are really important for sponsors/partners, right? It makes sense to me that they are, but I have to admit some confirmation at this point would be welcome.)

The pricing there is very competitive (both for the event and the rooms), and I have to say I personally like the touch of dealing directly with the owner. The conference hall is really very nice, and I think it should be possible to arrange the second room so that it’s a nice place to be during breaks.

I won’t tell you about venue #8, because I didn’t get to see the person in charge of events (he was busy), and I learnt afterwards from my logistics partner that she’d already called and were fully booked on our date. I also found the reception a little chilly, but maybe we were simply reaching busy check-in time.

So, there we are. Choices we have, but nothing obvious, for me. I thought afterwards that I should probably have taken my camera and snapped photos of all these places to show you :-). If you have any insight/input you’d like to share, the comment space below is yours.

I found myself wondering about a couple of things (things I thought were obvious, but which after visiting all these venues I’m questioning again):

• is it a nice thing for the speakers to be put up in the same hotel as where we hold the conference?
• is lunch at the venue good, or would people rather go out to eat? And in that case, eat at the venue in the evening?
• are booths really that important for sponsors? (As I said above, I guess they are, but I could be mistaken…)
• is having sponsor booths and break tables inside the conference hall itself an option?
• is it nicer to sit down for lunch or have a standing buffet?

There, you’re more or less up-to-date with what’s going on in my head on the topic. If you think I’m slipping into “excessive transparency” (as a few of you have hinted), feel free to let me know.