As previously announced – we are delighted to confirm the venue and date for this years WordCampNZ on Saturday 21st of April in Auckland.
The venue is the “Ellen Melville Hall” which is located centrally right near a beautiful square called Freyberg Square. The hall is on the 1st floor of the building and there are entrances off High St and Freyberg Place.
The hall has space for around 150 people. We also have a smaller room alongside which can be used for genius bar type tips and help especially for new users.
There is disabled access and car-parking is available at Victoria St, Chancery and anywhere downtown although we’d recommend public transport. It is an easy (5min) walk up from the Britomart transport hub.
This area is part of the downtown High St zone, just one block up from Vulcan Lane and right near Chancery Square which is a great location for cafes.
The main event is all day Saturday after which everyone will be welcome to socialise over a drink or dinner nearby. If you would like to be a speaker this year please use the call for speakers 2012 form to let us know. All content needs to be related to WordPress users.
On Sunday we will have a more development oriented tech meet-up nearby in a smaller workspace which will be announced soon.
The venue building is a historic place and
“was built in 1962 as a monument to the pioneer women of the city and a memorial to the late Miss Ellen Melville (1882 – 1946). Miss Melville was the first woman to practice law independently in New Zealand and was Auckland City’s first and longest serving female councillor in the history of the council (33 years).”
For architecture buffs the original modernist building was designed by Tibor K Donner between 1958 and 1960. When it was first built it had a pool and fountain immediately underneath the hall itself as it was on columns called pilotis which kept the ground level open. Unfortunately for designers the downstairs space was converted to a shop some years back. However there is now a fountain on the other side of the square.
