John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar
Dec 11 2014 - 3:03pm

Venue

I have good news already re a Larkinville site: http://larkincenter.com

Their marketing manager is  Edla Collura <edlacollura716@gmail.com> 716-440-7507

She informed me that a Saturday, April 18 date is doable, with tables and chairs ready for 80 attendees, up to 100 max.

It's a multi-use training facility on their 6th floor, with good light and acoustics, and open to caterers (or else we are welcome to have people bring up lunch from food trucks that can park right outside on the street).

They have Wi-Fi.

There's also a projector area (three areas of white walls) but we would need to bring a beefier projector if their small one is too weak.

The best part is the fee: $375 for the day, but expect extra charges for a clean-up person. And, we need to provide our own insurance: $2MM, general liability.

Other than that, they seem very accommodating and I have an "in" with one of the tenants who may even be able to emcee if we need that. Edla mentioned twice that they offer tours of the facility, too (since it's pretty historic).

All in all, it seems like a good fit. The next step would be a tour.

Let me know if you have any questions.

-John

Replies

#1
Dec 14 2014 - 9:18am  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

Larkinville, 11 a.m. Saturday December 13, 2014

Here is a pano from the main intersection in Larkinville.

The large structure we could be in the one with the lighter colored surface and the tall smokestack.

For reference, this was taken around 11 on a Saturday morning—not very busy at all, which is good for us.

#2
Dec 19 2014 - 4:41pm  by David Canfield Your profile picture

Photos from meeting today:

!st floor, will probably not use this but took some pictures anyway:

Another angle of the 1str floor:

This is the 6th floor, where we will most likely be holding the actual event:

6th floor, another angle from outside of the room:

6th floor, another angle:

6th floor, again:

8th floor, where we will set up for lunch:

8th floor, another angle:

#3
Dec 19 2014 - 4:57pm  by David Canfield Your profile picture

Notes I had from the tour of the Larkin Exchange today:

Items that need to be confirmed:

  1. Internet access.  Not currently set up on 6th floor, will need to work with them on that to make sure there is infrastructure set up for ~80 concurrent wireless users.
  2. Parking cost.  Edla made it sound like it should be free, but she needed to check on the number of spaces that would be available.  Parking lot is right across the street, very convenient.

Items that we will need to provide:

  1. Sound system
  2. Projector(s), at least one and 2 would be helpful
  3. Power cord and channels. - We can not attach anything to the floor (like tape), and will need to run up to 100 ft of cable and channel to provide power for 3 central hubs.
  4. Registration table for foyer
  5. Catering: coffee (possibly doughnuts or other breakfast items) and lunch

Items she needs to confirm:

  1. Pricing - rental should be $375, this sounded pretty firm
  2. Depost - not sure how much is needed, she's not used to working with groups like ours, most of her groups just pay in full in advance
  3. Support people - will probably be 1 person at $35 / hr for 10 hours, but she wasn't firm on this either.

That's everything I had, please feel free to add on anything I didn't catch or overlooked.

Thanks

#4
Dec 21 2014 - 4:36pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

Absolutely great pics and notes, David. Thank you.

April 18, 2015 seems to be the going date for the event.

Note, I also made contact with the best person at Buff State to help faciliate collaboration with their web team--by luck, at a Christmas party--and will be updating as things emerge.

-John

#5
Jan 9 2015 - 1:43pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

The latest on Wi-Fi is that my contact Reed Rankin is advising we work directly with DrumbeatNetworks.com . . . I already messaged them; expecting a reply soon.

-John

#6
Jan 12 2015 - 3:17pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

Uggh. So far "Drumbeat Networks" is more like "Deadbeat." . . .

I finally got in touch after I left two messages and the contact there was rude and unprepared to talk about the 6th floor room. I thought he was joking when he asked if we were a hacker group, because we wouldn't be served. . . .

Apparently he's going to check with his partner on dropping a line to the room, but the install fee alone would be $150+. I told him to give us an estimate on possible service tiers for the day.

Trying to remain positive here. . . .

#7
Jan 13 2015 - 2:41pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

Update: David phoned the same contact at Drumbeat today and had slightly different results (we're still not sure which of us was the good cop, and which was the bad one). . . .

Anyway, Drumbeat is not interested in doing a temporary cable drop for our event. But, that they would talk to Edla about arranging for a permanent installation that would be figured into the room cost. Seems like a better all-around solution for everyone.

I will drop Edla a note today to impress that we need to know what to do by the end of this week.

I also will find out other options from outside firms, including http://naturalwireless.com/services/event-solutions/ and even Localnet (Tony, expect to hear from me shortly). That's assuming they can accommodate the Larkin space.

Otherwise we may have to punt and look into Buff State.

#8
Jan 13 2015 - 4:37pm  by Kevin J. Moll Your profile picture

Hey guys, awesome work on all this.  I think the ideal solution would be for Drumbeat to install a permanent cable and provide access to the room (and hopefully not add too much of a cost to the room).  Would love to hear what Edla has to say about that.  My thinking is that it could take them a while to negotiate that and get it done and we may not have time to wait for them to figure it out.

Next best would be to see if we could bet a wireless connection that you mentioned.  I don't know alot about firms that provide that on a temporary basis, but would be interested in seeing how much that costs.

John, let me know when you speak with Edla.  If that all doesn't look like they can provide us a guarantee that we would have internet very soon ( and we can figure out what 'very soon' is) then I think we will need to start kicking tire at Buff state to see if they can accomodate us.  If that is the case, hopefully given that they use Drupal, they would be willing to donate some space for us for the day.

#9
Jan 13 2015 - 4:57pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

Thanks, Kevin. I'm waiting to hear back from Edla as well as http://naturalwireless.com/services/event-solutions/

I'll also get the Chris Luckhardt info ready later tonight

I will be online at 9 p.m. for the planning hangout, but attendance is not mandatory. Tomorrow night at 7 will be fine, in the "public" hangout. I will send out another blurb about that one too.

Off to the gym--this all sedentary stuff is too much :-)

#10
Jan 13 2015 - 8:51pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

Natural Wireless serves only NYC.

#11
Jan 14 2015 - 1:57pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

I heard back from my insurance contact today. The agent we need to contact ls:

Denise J. Harman, AAI, ACSR  |  Commercial Lines Select Field Representative
First Niagara Risk Management  | 726 Exchange Street - Suite 900  |  Buffalo, NY  14210
Direct:  (716) 819-5637  |  Fax:  (716) 819-5140 |  Cell: (716) 525-4302
Email: Denise.Harman@fnrm.com

I am also attaching the PDF of the form we need to complete and submit to her.

-John

AttachmentSize
special20events20-20not20sports20-20supplemental20application31-869.pdf381.13 KB
#12
Jan 16 2015 - 1:41pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

With no return call from Edla or Drumbeat, Kevin agreed we should proceed in parallel with a Plan B (Buff State).

I've gone ahead and left a message for the staffer that my contact recommended:

Mark A. Norris

Web Admin Assoc Dir and Editor
(716) 878-4859
Campus Address: Cleveland Hall 307

NORRISMA1@BUFFALOSTATE.EDU

#13
Jan 16 2015 - 4:36pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

Okay, things are moving fast.

Mark referred me to the lead on the campus Drupal conversion:

Colleen Callahan
Associate Director, Web Community & Development
SUNY Buffalo State
1300 Elmwood Avenue
Cleveland Hall 307
Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 878-6657

And she wants to include Dan Schmidt <schmiddj@buffalostate.edu> who does a lot of the Drupal work there.

We hope to have a preliminary phone call Tues., due to Monday being a holiday.

I will see if this merits an in-person meeting with them later in the week.

For now, it seems we have their attention, and I did include a link to our 1/28 Chris Luckhardt meeting in my reply to them.

-John

#14
Jan 16 2015 - 6:57pm  by David Canfield Your profile picture

Awesome work, John, thanks for running this to ground.

#15
Jan 20 2015 - 11:29am  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

I had the preliminary phone call with Colleen and Dan at Buff State. I hadn't realized that they self host. They have migrated about 115 sites so far and eventually all campus sites will be on Drupal. She mentioned SUNY Fredonia advanced on that same front (we met their lead, Jonathan Woolson, at last year's camp).

She is very interested in the group and fielded my info on the April 18 event and the possibility of housing it on campus. She is going to consult with her director and get back to me. Hearing the words "It would be a great event" was reassuring, but we'll have to see. If all goes well, they would be open to meeting in person with us to get more details.

Stay tuned--I'll let you know what her next e-mail or call says (probably a call, since their Exchange server is down!).

#16
Jan 20 2015 - 8:44pm  by Jeremy Knab

Thanks John for the great updates! My Drupal senses are tingling on this.

#17
Jan 22 2015 - 8:47pm  by John P. Weiksnar Post-it® Suit • Copyright © 1990 by John P. Weiksnar

You're welcome, Jeremy! Kevin and met with Colleen and Dan on campus today. Everything went as smoothly as possible. They are willing to pursue making the Camp a Buff State event, which would defray quite a bit of expense if successful. They are also interested in hosting monthly meetups down the line, as well as help plot out some future potential for making a Drupal-based curriculum, but the immediate task is setting a date and room for the event slated for April.

Kevin articulated all the key points of hosting the learning sprint there. Part of that was the tie-ins he has with Acquia, e.g., the Large Scale Drupal initiative, and the chance to import a few East Coast leaders for the event. He made it very clear that companies like Appnovation are motivated to interview and hire Drupal talent, and having a pool of capable talent to choose from in WNY would be ideal.

Colleen is also interested in speaking with us about their in-house hosting, since it seems from her that it's in need of better practices. Kevin offered to communicate on that, through Appnovation again.

For now, we're just waiting another business day or so for our venue application form to be processed. Colleen offered to step in and highlight a few of our needs, mainly expediting the camp scheduling, and will let us know what her superiors say.

All in all, an encouraging meeting and proof that the local community is about to grow.

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#11