[Board] Event Owner for FOSS4G

Mon Sep 8 06:22:44 PDT 2008

+1
Jeroen

On Sep 7, 2008, at 10:40 PM, Arnulf Christl (OSGeo) wrote:

> Board,
> I propose to fund the flight and overnight stay in Cape Town for Tim
> Bowden so that he can take on some of the jobs that Tyler can not  
> because
> he is not there. Please take the time to read through the following  
> thread
> to find out what this is all about.
>
> I think that we should make this a precedence. In future this could  
> mean
> that officers of OSGeo - for example board members, committee  
> chairs, etc.
> may receive travel funding / expenses if they request for it and  
> they are
> fully engaged as OSGeo staff at the destination. This would move some
> pressure off Tyler and help OSGeo a lot appearing professionally in  
> more
> locations. In most cases we should obviously choose someone nearer  
> (here a
> Cape Town local) but unfortunately I do not know anybody and we are
> already  short in time. In this special situation I think that Tim  
> would
> be ideal. We would also profit from having him as a liaison to the  
> next
> conference in Australia. And so on. There are many more good  
> arguments,
> read Cameron's mail.
>
> I myself will unfortunately have less time in Cpae Town that I can  
> spend
> at the OSGeo booth because my partner Peter will not be able to come  
> to
> Cape Town so that I will be there alone (and we have a company booth).
> Additionally Tyler will not be there and I have agreed to fill in some
> slots and functions that he left open. So realistically the OSGeo  
> booth is
> not well managed.
>
> I know that this (funding travel etc.) is a hot topic and needs a  
> lot of
> attention and that it is not something that we should rush about and  
> so
> on. In this special case I am inclined to simply go ahead, do it and
> discuss how to make it a good process afterwards.
>
> Please advise how we should go ahead.
>
> I will try to be on IRC and Skype on Monday as of 16:00++ UTC if you  
> think
> it helps to chat or call.
>
> I have talked with Tim and he has sent me a list of good arguments in
> several mail threads describing the potential policy and governance
> implications. As these come in a conglomerate of privately sent  
> mails I
> cannot simply forward them to this list without asking Tim but I am  
> sure
> that he will send them to you directly if you request for them.
>
> Best regards,
> Arnulf.
>
> Sorry for this messy message, I am slightly overworked and still not  
> up to
> speed.
>
> ---------------------------- Original Message  
> ----------------------------
> Subject: Re: [Marketing] Event Owner for FOSS4G
> From:    "Tim Bowden" <tim.bowden at westnet.com.au>
> Date:    Fri, September 5, 2008 08:27
> To:      "Arnulf Christl" <arnulf.christl at wheregroup.com>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Arnulf,
>
> Is this option being actively investigated, or did it turn out to be a
> case of turning over a corpse?  Flights are getting limited and the  
> cost
> looks like going up soon.  The travel agent says there are very  
> limited
> seats available at AU$2,400 (abt US$2,000).  I can make a booking, but
> will have to pony up with some cash within 24hrs of doing so to keep  
> it.
>
> Regards,
> Tim
>
> On Wed, 2008-09-03 at 16:41 +0200, Arnulf Christl wrote:
>> Cameron Shorter wrote:
>>> Tyler,
>>> I'd like to strongly recommend Tim Bowden for the OSGeo Booth
>>> coordinator role.
>>
>> Tim,
>> what do you say?
>>
>> If you are interested I will talk to OSGeo Finance and see whether we
> can bend Tyler's travel costs to your name and make you the official
> OSGeo Event Owner for FOSS4G 2008. This would mean that you are sort  
> of
> hired by OSGeo to represent, man and manage the booth. I say "sort of
> hired" because I think OSGeo never did this before so we are  
> creating a
> precedence here. But I think it is a good one as we are running  
> short on
> staff everywhere and volunteers are cool but they are even better if  
> you
> can pay them - at least a bit.
>>
>> But before I continue down that road please confirm whether you are
> actually available and would be willing to do what Cameron suggested.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Arnulf.
>>
>>> He did a very good job setting up the OSGeo stand at the WALIS
>>> conference in Western Australia last year and he is an  
>>> entertaining and
>>> passionate OSGeo salesman.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to scrape funds together for
>>> FOSS4G2008 (he is a 1 man company and can't justify the expense).  
>>> But
>>> with elementary expenses paid, he would be there like a shot.
>>>
>>> Financially, he doesn't cost much. Perth is not far from South  
>>> Africa,
>>> so flights should be less than for others, and a few beer boxes are
>>> sufficient for accommodation.  (He'd drink the beer first).
>>>
>>> And most importantly from my point of view, we would really like  
>>> to have
>>> someone from the Australian FOSS4G2009 committee on the stand, so  
>>> that
>>> we can promote FOSS4G 2009, and Tim is just the man for the job.
>>>
>>>
>>> Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:
>>>> As discussed a while back at one of our last meetings, I was  
>>>> trying to
>>>> line up someone to help be the event owner for FOSS4G - to help
>>>> organise and coordinate OSGeo's marketing through the booth, etc.
>>>> Everyone I talk to who is going to be at the event only has limited
>>>> amount of time to commit, or cannot help organise before the event.
>>>>
>>>> So I started to talk to a few people who I have worked with at
>>>> previous events and who might be more likely to attend if they  
>>>> had a
>>>> free conference pass and a small budget to offset some of their
>>>> costs.  The free pass wasn't really enough for anyone I spoke to.
>>>> Since it looks like I won't be able to attend, it will be  
>>>> critical to
>>>> have someone who can do the planning and delivery of the event, but
>>>> still have some support from me when needed.  Some of my own travel
>>>> budget could be used to help cover some of the costs but  
>>>> ultimately it
>>>> would be general marketing costs for OSGeo. [1]
>>>>
>>>> This is the one event that I believe is important enough to make  
>>>> sure
>>>> we have a full time booth staffer and planner/coordinator  
>>>> available.
>>>> Volunteers certainly are still needed to do it right, but unless  
>>>> there
>>>> is one person to go to, the whole effort can fall apart.  Ideally
>>>> there'd be two people, but I won't push it this year ;-)
>>>>
>>>> I would like to propose a budget of $3500 to cover our presence  
>>>> there:
>>>>
>>>> * $1000 - handouts, collateral, shirts, banners, table cover, etc.
>>>> With new branding where possible.
>>>> * $500 - on-site booth costs for maintenance, upgrades, equip  
>>>> rentals,
>>>> etc.  Like video displays, extra chairs, cleaning...
>>>> * $1500 - costs for staffing, travel and food costs, etc.
>>>> * $500 - miscellaneous - some buffer room for unexpected items.
>>>>
>>>> Think of it as a delegation exercise for me, I would easily spend  
>>>> that
>>>> in my own staff time, travel costs and merchandise, etc. if I was  
>>>> going.
>>>> Sound reasonable?
>>>>
>>>> Tyler
>>>>
>>>> [1] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Marketing_Budget_2008
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Marketing mailing list
>>>> Marketing at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
>>>
>>>
>>
> -- 
> Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a  
> mistake
> when you make it again.
>
>
>
> -- 
> Arnulf Christl
> http://www.wheregroup.com
>
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