Conference Location?

Folks,

Help please.... This is hardly a "problem", but am looking for suggestions.

I work on a team of 8 guys spread throughout the northern hemisphere (Europe, Asia, North Africa). We have scheduled a conference to meet up and work for a week, Jan 6-11, 2013. We can meet anywhere we want in the world, but the only place that everyone can agree on is somewhere WARM. Some guys want Miami (seriously?), some Canaries, Greece (too cold in Jan!), etc...

Here are the criteria: A place that has an international airport, so we can fly in form a major international hub. We need reliable internet (still have to work that week). Need a hotel with a meeting room with A/V equipment and wireless internet. Hotel needs to be below $200/pp daily incl. the conf room (so Miami or Rio in high season is out of the question). Food, etc no bidget problem. But wherever we go can't be TOO obviously a "vacation spot". I.e. Miami is reasonable, Cancun is still OK (did it last year), Tahiti, Maldives, or Carribean Islands is too much of a stretch . South America is OK, but (for political reasons) Brazil is out. Travel is not a problem (we have to fly a guy in from Singapore and West Coast USA, etc, etc.. so anyway we go it's expensive). But we need decent Internet infrastructure. No one is interested in "sight-seeing", just decent WARM place to hang out before/after a day of conferencing and working.

So, any ideas? Personally, I'm thinking Goa, but does it have the infrastructure? Anyway, I'd be very grateful for any ideas.

Thanks in adavnce,

Tom

Have you considered Dubai?

Geographically it sounds like it might make sense and a quick look on booking.com shows you can get a decent 4 star business hotel (Crown Plaza for eg) for under $200pn easily and I'm certain any hotel there would have the infrastructure for conferencing.

Otherwise, maybe Australia? It'll definitely be warm there that time of year.

Seems your problem is that your requirements are too open. Basically any major city in South America, Australia, south/southeast Asia, etc. It's not like anywhere in the world lacks for hotels with business services and meeting facilities, so your real restrictions are major airport + fast/reliable internet.

So that gives you, what...Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Jakarta, Lima, Quito, Manila, Bogota...

Major conference locations outside of big cities would also work, so that opens up even more options, though I'd be hard pressed to name them.

Looking at that list of randomly selected cities, I'd probably be looking at BA. But you know your group best.

2wanderers wrote:Seems your problem is that your requirements are too open. Basically any major city in South America, Australia, south/southeast Asia, etc. It's not like anywhere in the world lacks for hotels with business services and meeting facilities, so your real restrictions are major airport + fast/reliable internet.

So that gives you, what...Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Jakarta, Lima, Quito, Manila, Bogota...

Major conference locations outside of big cities would also work, so that opens up even more options, though I'd be hard pressed to name them.

Looking at that list of randomly selected cities, I'd probably be looking at BA. But you know your group best.

They also want a location with WARM weather. So that rules out Bogota and Quito. And possibly Lima. Not sure about Santiago or Buenos Aires.

Depends on your definition of warm, I guess. Quito and Bogota never get hot, but they never get cold either. Comfortable t-shirt, but not shorts, weather almost all the time. Lima and BA are on coastal lowlands, and Santiago is not particularly high, so they get plenty hot in summer months like January.

Bangkok would be choice #1, Bogota 2nd warm enough to be comfortable or be different & try San Salvador, meets all requirements + only 40 minutes from beaches.

Again, I just don't see Bogota or Quito as meeting the OPs requirements. He specified warm before and after work. That ain't those two cities. They can be pleasant but not warm and of course before and after work the temperature is going to be cooler. Look at some of the places he's mentioned - Cancun, Miami, Goa, Rio, Tahiti, Maldives. Those places are warm and are the sort of temperature that the OP is looking for.

I agree with Busman's suggestion of Bangkok as an option.

Tom B. wrote:Folks,
Here are the criteria: A place that has an international airport, so we can fly in form a major international hub. We need reliable internet (still have to work that week). Need a hotel with a meeting room with A/V equipment and wireless internet. Hotel needs to be below $200/pp daily incl. the conf room (so Miami or Rio in high season is out of the question). Food, etc no bidget problem. But wherever we go can't be TOO obviously a "vacation spot". I.e.

I think most of the criteria above would eliminate the Maldives.

If they are set on Miami, maybe you should consider Fort Lauderdale instead. It is less than an hour away from MIA and even FLL gets a lot of international air traffic. As well, Fort Laud will have a lot cheaper hotels and still has a night life and lots to do.

I also know that Florida has more convention center/business hotels than many big cities. I actually worked in hotel AV in Fort Lauderdale, so I know you won't have a problem finding AV hotels with meeting rooms.

But seriously, what you should do is hire me and I will travel with your folks and make sure it goes off without a hitch.

Funny, I just spent a couple of nights in Fort Lauderdale and was thinking the same thing. Fort Lauderdale has its own international airport or you can fly into Miami and take Tri Rail to get to Fort Lauderdale,

Panama City would be another option.

Course I'm not sure the OP is even reading this....

EMH wrote:

Course I'm not sure the OP is even reading this....

Bet you're right, no response in 10 days, likely another one post wonder.