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Hi Eric<BR>
<BR>
Congratulations to you and the LOC for a thorough proposal and enticing location and programme. Here are some of my thoughts:<BR>
<BR>
PROPOSAL<BR>
<BR>
-There isn't a precedent for OSGeo guranteeing any sponsorship so I don't think you can rely on your expectation/hope of "OSGEO or another party guaranteeing a portion of the budget for sponsorships"<BR>
<BR>
- Promoting FOSS GIS by targeting ESRI users, newcomers , managers etc. is a strong component that worked very well in 2008.<BR>
<BR>
- you don't appear to have any labs or tutorials in your programme. They are extra effort to manage but have historically been very popular and a defining feature of FOSS4G.<BR>
<BR>
- I recommend you offer 'full conference' packages that include workshops and promote those over separate workshop registration. <BR>
<BR>
- Building on Cameron's LiveDVD would surely be better than defining a new DVD/USB product for 2011 workshops.<BR>
<BR>
- have you considered building on the 2009 plugfest, which in turn evolved from previous attempts to run workshops and exhibitors off a common conference infrastructure. It's a mammoth task but if the concept is built on each year I see it becoming a core attraction of FOSS4G. <BR>
<BR>
- you state: <BR>
"We will also look at ways of using conference presenters or presentation materials to produce<BR>
more written materials, including success stories, which can be published on a conference (or<BR>
other OSGeo) Web site, and used as a resource to help in sales and marketing of FOSS4G<BR>
systems."<BR>
This is a great idea but needs some more concrete commitment up front to make sure it happens. <BR>
<BR>
- nice to see an academic track, that's becoming standard now. (btw the full special issue of the South Africa Computer Journal dedicated to FOSS4G 2008 is available for download from the home page of <A HREF="http://www.foss4g2008.org">www.foss4g2008.org</A>)<BR>
<BR>
- definitely include a poster 'track'. In 2008, posters were up in a section of the exhibition hall all the time. One lunchtime, presenters has to be at their posters to field questions. <BR>
<BR>
- A demo theatre was very popular in 2007 and 2008. It would be nice to see in 2011. <BR>
<BR>
- identify cheap accommodation, e.g youth hostels. everything you can do to make it easier for low budget attendees to get there will help. (although wiki pages to facilitate room sharing haven't been that successful). Youth, students, pay-your-own-wayers and attendees from less affluent regions are a crucial part of our community. <BR>
<BR>
WORKSHOPS and PROGRAMME OVERVIEW<BR>
<BR>
- I support the others' comments to add more workshops:<BR>
<BR>
You could argue that in 2008 we had too many (18) at 3 locations, which was a logistical headache, but if you have enough venues at the same location then you can't have enough workshops. Almost all of ours filled up in the end. <BR>
<BR>
We had workshops on Monday morning and all of Friday. Opening plenary Monday afternoon followed by drinks evening. Then we had all Tues, Weds and Thurs for programme, with closing plenary and OSGeo AGM in the last session after tea on Thurs. This sort of format I think will give you the space to lengthen rather than broaden your programme as Paul pointed out. <BR>
<BR>
Put field trips parallel to workshops on Friday to maximise track time, instead of on Thursday. Then there are also more things to do on the Friday before the weekend ski packages or codesprint/unconference. We managed to fill both workshops and field trips on the Friday. <BR>
<BR>
BUDGET<BR>
<BR>
- Do you have the 2009 + 2010 lists of sponsors to approach? You mention 2006-2008 sponsors only. <BR>
<BR>
- Making gala dinner tickets separate cost items brings down the registration cost. The majority of attendees will likely still buy separate gala dinner tickets, as I believe was demonstrated by at least 2007 and 2008 numbers. <BR>
<BR>
- definitely increase price of workshop component. Your income mix is radically different from 2008:<BR>
<BR>
Income breakdown for 2008 (2011@950,600):<BR>
Registration 65% (80%,72%)<BR>
-attributable to workshops: 18% (5%,5%)<BR>
-attributable to normal programme: 47% (75%,67%)<BR>
Exhibitors 13% (9%,12%)<BR>
Sponsors 22% (11%,16%)<BR>
<BR>
(This analysis could be applied to the other years and scenarios and put on Cameron's Google spreadsheet perhaps). <BR>
<BR>
I would advise that you increase your sponsorship and workshop targets as proportions of the total target. Then you will have a lower registration breakeven threshold and you can focus on maximising registrations beyond that. <BR>
<BR>
It would be helpful to have your budget accessible online, say in a google spreadsheet, and merged into one so the 600, 950 and other scenarios can be compared and varied more easily. And then actuals, as they start coming in, can be reflected in the same spreadsheet for the LOC and OSGeo conference committee to monitor against budget. That would also mean that by the time the finances are wrapped up, most of the report's already done.<BR>
<BR>
Paul's given more atomic comments on the budget but I agree with hi in general - it does need more detail, breakdowns and descriptions/notes. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Gavin<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On Fri, 2010-05-21 at 16:45 -0600, Eric Wolf wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
Conference Committee members:
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
<BR>
<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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On behalf of the Denver Local Organizing Committee, I am pleased to submit the full proposal to host FOSS4G 2011 in Denver. I will email the sample budgets directly to Jeff McKenna.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BR>
<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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I look forward to your questions and anticipate your decision. I hope you'll find that Denver is a great place to make FOSS4G a success in 2011.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BR>
<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
On behalf of the Denver LOC
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BR>
<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
-Eric Wolf
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<BR>
<BR>
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<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
-=--=---=----=----=---=--=-=--=---=----=---=--=-=-<BR>
Eric B. Wolf New! 720-334-7734<BR>
USGS Geographer<BR>
Center of Excellence in GIScience<BR>
PhD Student <BR>
CU-Boulder - Geography<BR>
<BR>
GPG Public Key: <A HREF="http://www.h4h.net/ebwolf.public.key.txt">http://www.h4h.net/ebwolf.public.key.txt</A><BR>
<BR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
<PRE>
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--
Gavin Fleming
t: 0218620670
c: 0845965680
f: 0866164820
Paarl
South Africa
18°59'18.8"E 33°44'40.2"S
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