<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Thank you Eddie for the explanation.<br>
<br>
I confess that my prior comments were based on email discussion
before I'd had a chance to read your proposal, and as such, my
comments need not have been worded as strongly as I phrased them.<br>
<br>
So now that I have read the proposal, here are further financial
comments/questions:<br>
<br>
* At the moment, the budget has a fixed amounts of money allocated
to OSGeo based upon attendance. I suggest that a fairer allocation
of profit would be to have OSGeo's earnings directly linked to
total profit (probably as a percentage). This reduces potential
for future animosity which may arise if the conference is
especially successful (eg by attracting more sponsors), where the
Eclipse foundation receives a much greater share of profits than
OSGeo.<br>
<br>
* The offer of protecting OSGeo from financial risk is valuable to
OSGeo, though not essential.<br>
<br>
* The budget only estimates up to 900 attendees. What happens if
you attract 1000+ attendees (which I suggest is reasonably likely)<br>
<br>
* In a likely scenario of 900+ delegates, there will be ~ $100,000
profit. In previous years, OSGeo has been the recipient of such
profit. As it stands, the Eclipse foundation is "humbly
requesting" that OSGeo donate ~ half OSGeo's projected annual
income to the Eclipse foundation.<br>
<br>
I still find this of substantial concern to OSGeo, and request
that a conversation be opened up to find an alternative where the
OSGeo Foundation is not stripped of income. (I note that the
Eclipse foundation has budgeted for staff time to act as a
Professional Conference Organiser, so is not dependant upon profit
in order to recover staff costs).<br>
<br>
<br>
On 06/07/13 02:19, Eddie Pickle wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CADR4=YZqCRQwE4HpPYaGv+sq56gN8NYJYsX=PrUeArO8eDnL1A@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div>Dear Cameron,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This may be a misunderstanding. What we are proposing for
proceeds going to OSGeo is, so far as we can determine, the same
mechanism used for past events including Denver. Our intent in
our proposal is to offer OSGeo the very highest proceeds
possible, and to minimize any downside. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Our proposal holds registration, workshop, and sponsorship
prices pretty much the same as from Denver even though it will
be 3 years previous by 2014. In our budget, we have included
increasing contributions to OSGeo as the conference is more
successful. You’ll note at the 900 attendee mark, the payment to
OSGeo is $50K. For 1,000 attendees, we anticipate a payment of
approximately $75K.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>We already have Platinum sponsorship commitments from two
organizations (OpenGeo and Radiant Blue) with a demonstrated
track record of FOSS4G sponsorship. Plus, we believe the
accessibility of our Washington, DC location for international,
regional and local attendees will maximize attendance and
outreach opportunities.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Our proposal insulates OSGeo from financial risk from a loss.
At the same time it offers a return to OSGeo comparable to past
events. This is no small thing in today's economic uncertainty. </div>
<div>
<br>
</div>
<div>This proposal is backed by a professional team who organize
events like FOSS4G for a living. For an event as important as
FOSS4G, we believe such a team dramatically decreases risk.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
As evident from our many letters of support, FOSS4G 2014 in
Washington D.C. will attract diverse participants, sponsors, and
speakers. That should lead to the kind of high quality program
that will be, of course, the main assurance of solid financial
success.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Let me know if I can provide any further clarification.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Sincerely,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Eddie</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>J. Edward Pickle
<div>Chief Executive Officer</div>
<div>
OpenGeo</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://opengeo.org"
target="_blank">http://opengeo.org</a></div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:epickle@opengeo.org"
target="_blank">epickle@opengeo.org</a></div>
<div>703-608-0200 - Mobile</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 4:53 PM, Cameron
Shorter <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com" target="_blank">cameron.shorter@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
On 3/07/2013 10:37 AM, Andrew Ross wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
- What happens with the net profit or loss beyond the
OSGeo contribution?<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
The Eclipse Foundation is prepared to cover the loss. OSGeo
would not be expected to do so.<br>
<br>
Should the event be more successful than the budget
predicts, there will be some balancing of re-investing to
enhance priority areas as determined by the committee.<br>
<br>
Should there be modest profit beyond that, the Foundation
humbly requests it.<br>
<br>
For what it's worth, I don't think they'll mind me sharing
that we did ask advice from Daniel Morissette & Peter
Batty about the best way to approach this. The advice was to
keep it simple & clear which I hope we've accomplished.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Speaking as an OSGeo Board member, I'm seriously concerned
that proposed profit from our global FOSS4G is not being
retained by OSGeo. OSGeo runs on a shoestring budget, and the
FOSS4G conference is OSGeo's primary income source. Passing
this income source across to the Eclipse foundation is likely
to have a substantial impact on OSGeo's viability (Eg: we
would have to reduce sponsoring code sprints and the like).<br>
<br>
I request that sharing of the budget be re-considered. I
consider it an issue at show-stopper status.<br>
<br>
More details about board priorities here:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_Meeting_2013-02-26#Board_Priorities"
target="_blank">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_Meeting_2013-02-26#Board_Priorities</a><br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Conference_dev mailing list<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org</a><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev"
target="_blank">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</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>
</pre>
</body>
</html>