[LGM] LGM in Paris?

[Gregory Pittman]

On 04/26/2017 06:28 PM, Louis Desjardins wrote:
> Hi Frank and all,
> 
> I think the most accurate we can get to those numbers is by the list of
> registered participants!
> 
> The final picture could aslo give a hint! :)
> 
> It’s not rocket science because as you mention people come one day and
> don't show up the next day, or vice versa, and not all participants
> register themselves. But it gives a good overview, I think.
> 
> And in any case, no matter how accurate the past numbers can be, they
> can only be of a relative help for the future. It’s only stats in the
> end. In the end, each LGM is different. The number of participants
> depends on many factors.
> 
> To Jehan, we had LGMs with 80 or so people, and others with nearly 300
> people. It’s hard to tell ahead who’s coming. However, if the venue is a
> university, it’s ok to make the assumption that we will have enough
> room, no matter how many people show up. And this moving target can
> become more and more accurate along the way to LGM. Before we get there,
> we already have a sense of who’s coming. Plus, getting more and more
> activity on the network make people more aware of the reason why they
> should register, for instance.
> 

One of the issues this highlights is the decision process. At times I
get a sense that feedback about a potential site for LGM is something
like a travelogue, where we always have a desire to pick some new,
interesting, exciting place! It's one thing to pick a site because it's
cool, but there should also be some realistic effort to gauge
participation -- if we have it at XXX, who will come? It's not like a
promise, but there is some benefit in the feedback of probably vs.
possibly vs. probably not.

At the same time, there are items which should be researched by the
proposer - the cost of getting to the venue from various parts of the
world, housing costs, incidental costs. What's the range of housing
available?

There are also locations, like Paris, where one must consider more
specifically where in Paris is being proposed. For such a city there
must be a local organization such as a college that can help with site
arrangements and maybe even with housing. In our most successful LGMs we
had this support.

Greg