Meetings

Venues suitable for meetings

Everytime I think of organising a meetup, or meeting with someone I have the same problem. And the search starts. SO here's a list of places to narrow down the search. Please call to check before you set up the meet. Things could be different from the info listed here.

Requirements of venue:

• Range of Food (snacks to meals)
• Range of Drink (coffee, tea, softdrink)
• Noise Level - Not too noisy. we should be able to have a conversation without shouting. So no live music etc.
• Wi-fi: Would be nice if the venue had free wi-fi access
• Room : Some places have an area/function room that can be booked. They may charge a fee for booking

Some considerations

• Bars/pubs:
  • Not suitable if there's an under 18 planning to attend without parent/legal guardian
  • Usually quiet during the day UNLESS they have an event/function on or show sport match (eg rugby) on tv.

Meeting rooms

• Centre of Gravity Cafe. W. Weekdays only. No wi-fi. Basement. Meeting rooms $30/hr. CoffeeTimes Review.
• McDonalds GreenLane. There's a meeting room. Free if you order McCafe stuff. Have to book ahead to use. Wi-fi with Telecom. ph 524 2651

Restaurants & Cafes with Wi-fi

• Zoomin Akl Cafe hotspots
• Columbus Coffee: Locations. Apparently many Columbus Coffee houses have wi-fi. No Wi-fi at Auckland Museum's Columbus Coffee. Avail at the Dominion Rd cafe
• Esquires: NZ Stores. Each store info tells you whether they have Free wi-fi access
• McDonalds: Free wifi with usage limit 50MB per session. No purchase required. Store info on McDonald's website includes whether Wifi is available at that location. No Wi-fi at 9 foodcourt & 4 airport McDs due to lease arrangements. Announced on 16 Dec 2010. Computerworld Story | Press Release (pdf file) . ISP: TelstraClearNZ
• Starbucks: NZ Stores. Click on each area. eg Auckland. it will indicate whether there's wireless hotspot at the cafe. Not Free. (60mins for $3 or day pass $6.50 or week pass $30 bought online thru tomizone.)
• Seatle Espresso. Ferry Building, 99 Quay St, Auckland. Free wi-fi. Has upstairs area. Suitable for one on one meetings but not big groups.

Areas with Free Wi-fi

• Auckland Public Library
• Wellington Airport
• Aotearoa People's Network Kaharoa - lists public libraries provide free broadband internet access.

Wi-fi Providers

• Cafe Net: CafeNet Zones, Auckland Cafes, Wellington Cafes
• Kordia Metro Wi-fi
• Zenbu NZ Hotspots (put in City to reduce the list) or Map (select area from map)

Wireless Hotspot listings

• Auckland Airport Internet facilities
• TotalHotspots.com's NZ Wifi List - appears to list only iPass sites in NZ
• Free or Nearly free Wifi in NZ - listing created by a user. Depends on people informing him of hotspots existence.
• Hotspot-locations.com's list of NZ Hotspots - has free & pay-to-use wifi hotspots including Reach Wireless, Viola hotspots as well as others.

Internet access for Travellers in NZ

• Internet options for short term visitors/travellers in NZ.
• Please be aware of security of your data.

1. Wifi hotspots (see list above): either free or buying wifi access from providers like Tomizone, CafeNet or becoming a customer at an establishment that provides their customers with wireless internet access.

• Some free hotspots have limits depending on each service. For example it could be a time limit from 15 mins - 2 hours, data usage (per block of time - eg xMb per 24 hours) and/or limits on certain types of usage (usually by blocking certain ports)

1. Internet access via accommodation provider.

• Bringing your modem, and using your ISP's dialup service isn't always the cheap option. Be aware that accommodation providers do often charge for phone usage, even for local calls. So check before you dial up to avoid any nasty bills at checkout.
• Internet access provided by accommodation provider. The range of costs for this service is quite vast. An accommodation provider stating broadband or wifi available does not necessarily mean it is affordable. Most hotels & motels use a third party to provide the service. Often internet access in your room provided by the accommodation provider is quite expensive. A few also offer limited free wireless hotspots perhaps in public areas like their lobby. Some smaller or more savvy providers offer totally free internet access. However sometimes it is limited to one or two computers and not wifi. Access bought is either charged by time used or by amount of traffic used or a combination of both.