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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">I think it will help to provide
definitions of the different types of FOSS4G events, as each
should be treated differently.<br>
<br>
Firstly: The International FOSS4G:<br>
* This event has grown into a major international event<br>
* It is successful because of the quantity and quality of
international delegates who attend and present<br>
* Due to the size of the event, it requires a large venue, which
carries a large financial cost (and risk)<br>
* The event has also become dependant upon sponors in order to
keep the price appropriate<br>
* We don't want to let this event fail, and as such we only want
to give these events to experienced teams<br>
<br>
At the other end of the spectrum are Code Sprints, or a FOSS4G
track in other conference:<br>
* These smaller events attract less people, are easier to organise
and manage, have low financial overhead, often have no, or fewer
sponsors<br>
* Attendees pay less, and have a lower expectation on overall
content delivered<br>
* These events can accept a higher risk profile, and a
cancellation will not have a significant impact on the greater
OSGeo/FOSS4G reputation.<br>
* As such, we can support such events being managed by less
experienced teams<br>
<br>
Somewhere in the middle are the regional conferences.<br>
<br>
So Paul is right, the International FOSS4G event should not be
allowed to fail. I believe this should be facilitated by selecting
the International FOSS4G event to be in a location where minor
FOSS4G events have already occurred and where there are
experienced LOCs.<br>
<br>
<br>
On 15/08/2012 5:46 AM, Eric Wolf wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAD8L7BKeStj9CLztLn41Fg1NH1RKMo=0p0awC+Gv1VosR5TuEA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">I'm a big fan of failure. We learn more from failure
than success. However, I agree that there should be room for small
failures to occur but for FOSS4G to continue to get sponsor
dollars, the failure cannot be catastrophic again.
<div>
<br>
</div>
<div>I can't even begin to understand how to provide both an
egalitarian approach to hosting while ensuring a high level of
professionalism. I love doing little WhereCamp events where the
idea is to throw off the shackles of "professionalism". But at
the level FOSS4G has attained, there has to be some kind
baseline of professionalism.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I was, personally, one of the biggest causes of uncertainty
for the Denver event. But what most people don't know is that I
was ready to quit my PhD (or put it on hold) if Peter (or
someone comparable) didn't step forward to take over.
Fortunately, Peter stepped forward and did an amazing job
keeping everyone working together.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Denver also had the best possible PCO in GITA. They knew how
to put on big international geospatial conferences in Denver
(and elsewhere). </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>To top it off, Denver's choice of location and the way
conference hotels, like the Sheraton, work in the US, the event
would have been successful by most measures even if very few
people turned out. Again, we were fortunate in that the problem
was just the opposite: we started to approach attendance levels
that would have required changing how some of the events worked.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I suspect Nottingham will be equally successful because the
LOC has had lots of experience with there own events. The only
uncertainty for them will be managing the size of the event. And
that's a really challenging part of the equation. The last thing
I did as Denver LOC Chair was to try to make estimates on
attendance. I went county-by-country and tried to estimate a
low, mid and high attendance for each. In the end, I was
consistently wrong. Fortunately, even though I was wrong, for
every time I guessed too high, there were more instances where I
guessed too low.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Peter and I were talking the other night about who might bid
for FOSS4G 2014. We both thought it might be interesting to put
forward another Denver bid. Many of the biggest conferences stay
in the same location because it eliminates uncertainty. We have
a template in place for FOSS4G in Denver.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>But that's hardly egalitarian.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-Eric</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-=--=---=----=----=---=--=-=--=---=----=---=--=-=-<br>
Eric B. Wolf 720-334-7734<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 12:57 PM, Paul
Ramsey <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:pramsey@opengeo.org" target="_blank">pramsey@opengeo.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div class="im">On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 11:46 AM, Frank
Warmerdam <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:warmerdam@pobox.com">warmerdam@pobox.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
> I agree with Jachym that it is still desirable to
give the local<br>
> organizers quite a bit of freedom and that we should
accept that<br>
> occasional failure is not a disaster.<br>
<br>
</div>
On the contrary, I'd say that random failures are a disaster
and will<br>
actually contribute to more failures. As Cameron noted in
his<br>
document, the success of a conference is tied to the
perceived<br>
expectations. Throwing a conference is like throwing a
party. Do you<br>
want to go to a lame party? No, you want to go to a rocking
party. If<br>
PartyPete throws awesome parties every Thursday, you'll
clear your<br>
schedule as next Thursday rolls around. If LameLou throws
passable<br>
parties sometimes, and sometimes cancels them, you'll start
going to<br>
PartyPete's instead. Consistency is very important.<br>
<br>
The same thing will go double for sponsors: are you going to
commit to<br>
early sponsorship and send a cheque to an event that was
cancelled<br>
last year? Or will you hold on to your cheque until the last
minute<br>
just in case? The uncertainty effect is going to make the
financial<br>
situation of future conferences more precarious as sponsors
and<br>
registrants hedge their bets until later in the calendar.
This will<br>
only get worse if we embrace failure as an occasionally
acceptable<br>
mode.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
P.<br>
</font></span>
<div class="HOEnZb">
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</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</div>
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</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Solutions Manager
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
Think Globally, Fix Locally
Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.lisasoft.com">http://www.lisasoft.com</a>
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