[OSGeo-Conf] Hackers, business, funding and other issues

[venka.osgeo]

Hi All,

On my way back to Japan after a great conference
at Cape Town. It was well worth for me to be there
despite the constraints of Distance, Cost and Timing.
I must profusely thank Gavin and the entire team
who put up the FOSS4G 2008.

The reason I go (and will go) to FOSS4G is that is a
unique event wherein one can be amazed by the hackers (Code Sprint,
Lightning talks, AGM presentations),excited by new FOSS4G
business opportunities (Exhibitions, Case Studies),rejuvenated
with new ideas through Education and Training (WS, Labs) and
motivated by presentations at the academic and general tracks.
To me, the awesome thing seems to be that all of the above can
be found at a single forum provided by the FOSS4G events.

It is also understandable that hacker community at FOSS4G finds
the one day code sprint inadequate. Perhaps we could consider
ways to extend the code sprints step-by-step(2 days at
FOSS4G2009, 3 days at FOSS4G2010 and so on). For FOSS4G2009,
perhaps have a code sprint a day before the conference and
a day after the conference and the conference itself providing
hiatus for code sprinters to contemplate on new ideas.

FOSS4G2008 was a 5 day event (one day code sprint) and
FOSS4G2007 a 4 days (1 day code sprint). Guess the max
period for FOSS4G could not be more than a week considering
commiitments that all of us have. FOSS4G2009 could be
a 6 day event (if that is still possible, with day 1 and
day 6 for code sprint) and FOSS4G2010 a 7 day event
(with with day 1 and day 6 and 7 for code sprint).

Some kind of incentive for Code Sprinters for extra
time would need to spend at future FOSS4G meetings.

As for the rest, I pretty much agree with the
observations summarized by Tim.

Regards

Venka

Tim Bowden wrote
> All,
> 
> Having just re-read the previous missives about the hacker/business
> divide and funding I'd like to start again (seems like a good idea
> rather than trying to continue the previous thread) with some
> observations from my experience in Cape Town.
> 
> There seemed to be clear consensus amongst those I talked to that the
> one day code sprint doesn't cut it.  There were suggestions we look at
> making it four days or so the week before the conf proper, allowing
> project teams (perhaps more for those who's activities are at least
> somewhat commercially funded?) to get some decent productive work out of
> the exercise.
> 
> For Sydney (if we go down this track) it could also be an opportunity to
> take advantage of the the planned OGC(?) integration showcase.  If we
> did this, it would probably be best to hold it at a location well
> outside the city (Blue Mountains, South Coast?) away from the
> distractions of the city hustle and bustle.  Perhaps Jeroen's successful
> Bologna monastery event could be a model of sorts for this.
> 
> Yes, this idea makes it a long way to come for a lot longer, but if it
> provides the opportunity for real productive work to be done, perhaps
> the sting would not be so bad.  That at least is the impression I got
> from a number of people, though the consensus was not entirely
> universal.  Lets see if idle chat translates to commitment to the idea.
> 
> Another "wish" that was expressed to me was for more in depth technical
> content.  There was lots of "starting out" type workshops/presentations
> (like Victoria?), which does go down very well with a large part of the
> delegates, but again there was a sense that the uber-hackers weren't so
> well catered to.  Perhaps we need to better label/select content based
> on some sort of stream categorisation of Hacker/ Power user/ Education/
> Management etc.
> 
> Cost:  We are (very deliberately) about as cheap as we can get for a
> formal conference.  The bulk of the cost for delegates is in travel,
> which is going to be a problem for many (academics and hobbyists
> mostly?) no matter where we hold it.  Making it an informal (very hacker
> centric?) international gathering won't solve this.  IMHO we're just
> going to have to wear this for our gathering of the tribes.  Local confs
> (of whatever style) can fill some of that need, but by definition you
> won't get most of the community attending so there is still the need for
> an international tribal gathering anyway.
> 
> These issues all point to some fundamental tensions we have in trying to
> cater to the needs of a diverse crowd (hackers, power users, managers,
> educators, newbies and so on).  I believe we need to cater for all those
> groups.  Perhaps that does mean we will end up with a much bigger conf
> in years to come.  If so, we will have growing pains, and need to do
> things differently over time but I believe it would be a mistake to back
> away from those challenges.
> 
> Regards,
> Tim Bowden