From ICommons wiki

The building is very new and nice

Strength:

• We are all in one place - sessions, food, hanging out
• Variety of room choices
• Communication spaces
• City of Sapporo is funding it
• There is professional staff
• There is a beer festival (threat in terms of SWOT analysis, actually beer festival is Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat)
• The convention center is ready for these types of event - they have power adapters, etc.

Weakness:

• Language is an issue
• We will have to set up wifi in some areas (others are already covered)
• The staff is very good and professional, but they don't speak English
• (Lack of) proximity to the rest of the world (Sapporo) - It's a little difficult to get to

Opportunity:

• Rooms are large and flexible enough to have multiple breakout sessions or labs in same room
• Lobby can be change to a cafe for people to hang out
• Can make a broadcast room

Threats:

• Always about the language / We have volunteer staff, but they are not professional translators
• Distance / cost might prevent people from coming
• Threat is that the venue is maybe too big
• Because the hotel is so nice and there are good space to hang out - people might not go to the convention center

Todo:

• Create a phrase book wiki to deal with some of the language issues

Speak to the Asia commons people (incl. India) to enlist their support in finding people to help out.