Vienna Code Sprint 2014

''OSGeo Code Sprint 2014 official web site: http://vienna2014.sprint.osgeo.org. Please contact us if you are interested in our sponsorship opportunities.''

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Venue Sponsor

Other/in-kind sponsors

Purpose
Get together project members to make decisions and tackle larger geospatial problems (as done last year at the Boston Code Sprint 2013 and previous years: Island Wood (2012), Montreal (2011), New York City (2010), and Toronto (2009)). This code sprint is targeting members of the "C Tribe" (e.g., MapServer, QGIS, GRASS, GDAL, Proj, PostGIS, MapGuide, OpenLayers). Other tribes are welcome to join the sprint, of course, but we hope that "C Tribe" members will give this event special consideration.

Venue
The City of Vienna MA 14 gladly provides the location for the Vienna Code Sprint for up to 60 sprinters in their very new office called STAR 22 located at Stadlauerstraße 56 (see also OSM map).

The venue is not far from the center of Vienna (~25min via train and subway) and can be reached easily from the Vienna airport via train.

Directions

Convenient route planning for public transportation: http://www.wienerlinien.at/ (both German and English)

From the airport take the train S-Bahn S7 going to Wien Floridsdorf and exit at Praterstern (~30min). Make sure to avoid the CAT as it doesn't bring you to Praterstern and I consider it too costly for gaining just 10 minutes.

From Praterstern take the subway U-Bahn U2 going to Seestadt and exit at Stadlau. Now either take a 15 minutes walk to the venue or take the bus Autobus 86A going to Breitenleer Straße/Arnikaweg or 87A going to Hermann-Gebauer-Straße and exit at Genochplatz.

From Praterstern instead of the U2 you can also take the subway U-Bahn U1 particularly when going to the Hotel Hillinger. Take the U1 going to Leopoldau and exit at Kagran. Now take the tram Straßenbahn 25 going to Oberdorfstraße or the bus Autobus 26A going to Großenzersdorf and exit at Polgarstraße for the Hotel Hillinger or continue to Konstanziagasse for the code sprint venue.

Dates and Times
March 24-28 2014

Note: March 19-21 FOSSGIS Berlin

Duration: Full week

Sunday Ice Breaker
If you're in Vienna already on Sunday you're invited to join us for a small ice breaker starting from 7pm at Green - Cafe-Wok-Grill-Restaurant which is located next to the sprint venue. You will see the signs when you enter the plaza of Star22.

Evening plans

 * Monday: Welcome party at venue starting at 19:30; doors close 12pm
 * Tuesday: Pizza at venue starting at 19:00; doors close 10pm
 * Wednesday: Guided city walk (see below) from 6:30pm to 8pm; meeting point: At entrance of St. Stephen´s Cathedral, subway U1 station Stephansplatz (http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/48.20872/16.37240); Dinner at Augustinerkeller, Albertinaplatz (http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/48.20479/16.36794) starting at 8pm; doors (at venue) close at 8pm but probably earlier to leave in time for the dinner
 * Thursday: Dinner at Vorstadtbeisl zum Selitsch (walking distance from venue http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/48.22255/16.45246); doors (at venue) close 10pm
 * Friday: End of sprint at 5pm; farewell dinner at Schweizerhaus (http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/48.21421/16.40161) starting at 6pm

Project Plans
On Monday we will start 9ish with some sort of "official" opening around 10.

GRASS GIS Agenda: See http://grasswiki.osgeo.org/wiki/GRASS_Community_Sprint_Vienna_2014

Hotel
Two blocks of rooms have been negotiated at the two hotels closest to the sprint venue, Hotel Hillinger (map) and Hotel Wiener Kindl (map). Please make your own choice.

The rooms are blocked for the sprint week i.e. 24.-28. March 2014 whereas +/- one day should be no problem.

Please find the lists of available rooms below. If you make a reservation for one of the listed rooms please indicate this by adding your name to the list. Thanks.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you need any assistance.

Hotel Wiener Kindl
The rates include breakfast buffet, sat TV, direct dial telephone, ensuite bathroom with shower, minibar, and free WLAN.

Cancellation policy:
 * Free cancellation until 7 days in advance
 * 50% fee later

These rooms are blocked until 28.02.2014. Please make your reservation via mail to "wienerkindl@utanet.at" and indicate that you're participating at the "OSGeo Vienna Code Sprint" in order to get a room of the block.

If you really want to save on budget you might consider a room with shared bathroom and sometimes also shared shower. Note that these rooms are available at the hotel as backup rooms but not recommended. You have been warned.

Hotel Hillinger
Note, in case you've seen the previous note, that today I visited the hotel again and hopefully resolved all misunderstandings.

The rates include breakfast buffet, cable and pay-TV, air conditioning, direct dial telephone, ensuite bathroom with bathtub or shower, hairdryer, and free WLAN in the whole hotel. In addition they offer free usage of the climbing hall and fitness center on the other side of the street.

Accepted payment methods: cash or creditcard.

Cancellation policy:
 * Free cancellation until 7 days in advance
 * 50% fee from 7 to 3 days in advance
 * 100% fee later

These rooms are blocked until 15.02.2014. Please make your reservation via mail to "hotel@hillinger.at" and indicate that you're participating at the "OSGeo Vienna Code Sprint" in order to get a room of the block.

Alternatives
If you don't feel comfortable with both options we recommend to look for alternatives around Kagran (map) which is just a couple of stops away from the venue with the tram and also close to the city center with the subway.

Costs
Participants should plan for the following costs:


 * Travel to Vienna
 * Accommodation for four nights
 * Breakfast and dinner (partly)

Communication

 * Please join the mailing list: http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/tosprint
 * IRC chat during the event: #tosprint Server: irc.freenode.net
 * irc://freenode/tosprint

Participants
We are planning for attendance of 50-60 participants. Please add your name and the projects you are hoping to sprint and note the likeliness of your attendance as well as any special needs.

Individual Preparation

 * Bring your own computer
 * Bring AC power connector adapter if needed (Austria )
 * Install git, subversion and the compiler tools, and come with a working development environment if possible

FAQ

 * Is the Vienna Code Sprint just a coding event?
 * Yes, a coding and documentation event. It is a working session for people who are already participants in open source projects.
 * Will it be possible to present new projects during this event?
 * While this is not a presentation-oriented event like FOSS4G, there will be the possibility to have presentations. There are plans to get a dedicated room with beamer.

Welcome party
In the evening of the first day of the sprint we will invite all sprinters to a big welcome party. More details shall not be revealed yet but we try to make it a memorable event.

Guided evening walk - "The City of Vienna at a glance"
On Wednesday evening we invite interested participants to a guided evening walk - "The City of Vienna at a glance". An on-site registration will be needed due to a limit number of 25 places.

The downtown tour introduces the imperial city, Vienna´s great history, its unique architecture, and todays life-style.

Meeting in front of St. Stephen´s Cathedral, Vienna’s main 900 years old landmark, we will stroll along Graben and Kohlmarkt, passing former court confectionary Demel and the most exclusive shops in Vienna. Crossing the courtyards of the Imperial Palace "Hofburg" you will hear about the great times of former Austrian monarchy, see where Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) married Emperor Franz Joseph, where the Vienna Boys’ Choir sings mass on Sunday, and where the famous white Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School perform. You will enjoy the great view from Heroes Square to some of the magnificent buildings of the famous Ringstraße. We will continue walking towards State Opera and the legendary hotel Sacher and will end the tour at Albertinaplatz.

Skiing
We will leave Vienna early on Saturday to go to Haus im Ennstal for skiing. In the evening we will visit an open air concert and return on Sunday.

Please contact Stephan Meissl if you're interested.

Budget
TBD