Q&A Stage 2 Prizren

= Questions to the LOC from CC =

María Arias de Reyna
1.- '''You mention accessibility to the venue. How is the accessibility from the nearest airport/train station to hotels? And from hotels to the venue? Is public transport accessible?'''

2.- '''Are you preparing a business to business meeting? Or any other kind of activity/ideas to help strengthen the business networking among FOSS4G companies?'''

3.- We are planning to organize SotM consecutively and in the same venue.

Besfort Guri on behalf of LOC
1.- All international flights to Kosovo arrive at the Prishtina International Airport. There is a public transport bus line from Prishtina International Airport to the Central Bus Station in Prishtina. Participants can take the hourly airport shuttle bus (Line 1A) to Prishtina Bus Station (3 EUR). Bus lines from Prishtina Bus Station to Prizren travel every 20 minutes (4 EUR).

We plan to have a direct bus shuttle from Prishtina International Airport to Prizren for FOSS4G participants. The bus would be available for two days on arrival and two days on departure for a reasonable cost.

Another option is the Tirana International Airport which is 2:10 hrs by bus (163 km) away. Tirana - Prishtina bus stops by Tirana International Airport with a stopover in the periphery of Prizren, from which participants can call a taxi. There are also flight options from the Skopje International Airport and limited options from Kukës International Airport.

Train options are limited in Kosovo.

The walking distance from hotels to the venue is around 15 minutes. Participants can also take the taxi to the venue, which costs around 3 Euros.

2.- Yes, we are planning a business-to-business meeting as elaborated in the bid (point 6.1). We are planning to have this meeting after the workshops, on the second day of the conference. We want to dedicate this day to business meetings and a panel during the day where we would invite other business partners, especially those in the region, and end the day with a FOSS4G business party.

3.- We are planning to organize SotM consecutively and in the same venue.

Paul Ramsey
1.- '''How far is the venue from the accomodations in the city proper? is walking reasonable? is there transit?'''

2.- Have there been local foss4g conferences that give you some feel for the local attendance you can draw from Kosovo specifically and the Balkans more generally?

3.- Are there direct transfers from the Pristina airport to Prizren?

4.- '''Are there local sponsors identified (not asking about commitments, just a knowledge that there are N potential local targets with some probability of success)? repeat international sponsorship is nice but local sponsorship is key to making the budget numbers generally'''

Besfort Guri on behalf of LOC
1.- The conference will be held at Innovation & Training Park. Innovation & Training Park (ITP) Prizren is a business park located in a suburb of the city of Prizren.

The city of Prizren is not that big so walking would be reasonable. From the City Center and the rest of the hotels that are inside the city, the walking distance to the destination is around 10 - 20 mins. Participants can also take a taxi to the venue which costs around 3 Euros.

2.- Yes, we organized State of the Map Southeast Europe in 2019 in the same venue, where we had over 150 participants from the region and around the world in lectures and workshops.

Registration was free and included sleeping, meals, and organized transportation from Tirana, Skopje, Podgorica, and Belgrade.

Some of the lecturers were Erle Schuyler, Till Adams, and Vasile Craciunescu, the well-known global experts in the field of Geographical Information systems and Open Source Mapping. They could give feedback.

3.- There is a Public transport bus line from Prishtina International Airport to the Bus Station in Prishtina. Participants can take the hourly airport shuttle bus (Line 1A) to Prishtina Bus Station (3 EUR). Bus lines from Prishtina Bus Station to Prizren travel every 20 minutes (4 EUR).

We plan to have a direct bus shuttle from Prishtina International Airport to Prizren for FOSS4G participants. The bus would be available for two days on arrival and two days on departure for a reasonable cost.

4.- Yes, we have identified some of them, but we need to work more on that, as you said. Our plan is not only to contact the businesses and potential targets in Kosovo but also get the support of our connections in the Balkan area. Moreover, we are trying to involve not only companies that deal with GIS but also those that are in the tech industry more generally.