MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference/Location ideas

Some attendees and former organizers have floated around ideas for where future conferences could be held. Below are anonymized opinions compiled from water cooler discussions.

Criteria

• Whether any organizer lives there and/or has enough familiarity with the location, and is willing to serve as the conference chair or local chair
  • To avoid accidentally doxxing anyone, we will be intentionally vague about this and will only say if we have any community familiarity or not
• Whether it would make certain attendees and/or their colleagues more likely to attend
• Whether this conference location has been featured in recent memory—if it has been, it's not on this list
• U.S. only: How good the air connections are
• Whether April or late fall would be a good time to host the conference at that specific location
• Cost for attendees
• Public transit
• Whether the conference would be suitable for a family to attend as well (an optional nice-to-have)
• Whether the location has fun social activities for attendees

Proposed locations

Proposed location	Spring or fall	Upsides	Downsides
Denver, Colorado, USA (or Boulder, Colorado, USA)	Spring	Great air connectivity, both domestic and international Near nature April is shoulder season when the skiers leave and the mountain bikers/hikers haven't arrived yet Direct train link from the airport to downtown (RTD Line A)	Limited community familiarity Not many attractions Not great for people who are particularly sensitive to high altitude sickness
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA	Spring	It's where our colleagues who serve in the Space Force are based Community familiarity Pretty town	Not many air connections If flying to Denver, still need 1 hour drive to get to Colo Springs Limited public transit
San Luis Obispo, California, USA	Spring	Beautiful town Community familiarity	Very few air connections Limited public transit
Atlanta, Georgia, USA	Spring	Excellent air connectivity, Many direct flights to ATL, both domestic and international Low cost of attendance	Not many attractions No community familiarity
Phoenix, Arizona, USA	Spring	Nice weather before May Community familiarity Low cost of attendance	Gets too hot after April Bad public transit Not many attractions
Orlando, Florida, USA	Spring	Very suitable for conferences Great for family fun—Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Orlando, and the Kennedy Space Center, among others Near to Kennedy Space Center, which facilitates NASA employees to attend more easily Good (but not great) domestic and international connections Great weather during this time of year Low cost of attendance	Limited community familiarity Small nit: MCO Airport is overcrowded and is operating over its designed capacity Bad public transit Not well-known for fun social activities for adults In extreme southeast of the contiguous United States
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Spring	Well-known tourist destination Well-known conference city Las Vegas Strip is walkable and transportation to/from LAS is streamlined Good (but not great) domestic and international connections	Might not be family friendly Not a great location for people battling addiction or for those who are sensitive to tobacco/cannabis smoke Limited community familiarity Far away for East Coast folks
Los Angeles, California, USA	Spring	Large city Great for family fun—Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood Near to Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which facilitates NASA employees to attend more easily Excellent air connectivity. No elaboration needed; it's LA	No community familiarity Somewhat high cost of attendance Bad public transit Far away for East Coast folks
Dallas, Texas, USA	Spring	Excellent air connectivity. Many direct flights to DFW, both domestic and international Relatively central location in the United States Low cost of attendance Community familiarity	Not a very fun or interesting place Bad public transit
Seattle, Washington, USA	Spring	Great air connectivity. Many direct flights to SEA, both domestic and international Excellent public transit system Community familiarity Decent amount of fun things to do, such as Pike Place Market and the Space Needle	In extreme northwest of the contiguous United States High cost of attendance Rainy/cloudy in April
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA	Spring	Good public transit system Great air connectivity. Delta Air Lines hub. Relatively central location in the United States	Might still be too cold in April No community familiarity
Chicago, Illinois, USA	Spring	Good public transit system Great air connectivity. United and American hub. Relatively central location in the United States Many things to do Somewhat high cost of attendance	Might still be too cold in April No community familiarity
Reykjavik, Iceland	Fall	Centrally located for both North Americans and Europeans, with relatively great air connections In the Schengen Area	High cost of attendance No community familiarity