<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Well said Barry<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Conf Cttee shall we make that a request for 2016 and a requirement thereafter?<br class=""><div class="">
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<br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 3 Sep 2015, at 10:18, Barry Rowlingson <<a href="mailto:b.rowlingson@lancaster.ac.uk" class="">b.rowlingson@lancaster.ac.uk</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class="">I've also noticed a decline, or at least a wild variability, in<br class="">prominence of "OSGeo" on FOSS4G web site front pages:<br class=""><br class="">2007: "Presented by" + logo and link in sidebar.<br class="">2008: [CSS broken?]<br class="">2009: "Hosted by" in sidebar with OSGeo logo and link to <a href="http://osgeo.org" class="">osgeo.org</a><br class="">2010: "Hosted by" in sidebar with OSGeo logo and link to <a href="http://osgeo.org" class="">osgeo.org</a><br class="">2011: OSGeo mentioned in text, "...is brought to you by" + logo and<br class="">link in footer<br class="">2012: [No conference]<br class="">2013: "OSGeo's Global Conference" in main title. Logo in carousel. "is<br class="">a production of" + logo and link in footer<br class="">2014: "is a production of the OSGeo organization" in text of footer<br class="">with link. No logo at all.<br class="">2015: Mentioned in box at bottom. "Proudly hosted by OSGeo. Organized<br class="">by OSGeo Korean Chapter" in footer. No logo, no link.<br class=""><br class="">Only 2009, 2010 and 2013 have the OSGeo logo "above the fold" (ie<br class="">visible on my screen without scrolling)<br class=""><br class="">Surely OSGeo should have at least as much website prominence as the<br class="">top sponsors? For Nottingham, I think I wanted the "OSGeo's Global<br class="">Conference" tag line to be used for Nottingham 2013 to stress that<br class="">this wasn't a regional event and that it was an OSGeo event. Perhaps<br class="">that tag line should be encouraged?<br class=""><br class="">If FOSS4G really is "Proudly hosted by OSGeo", then OSGeo really needs<br class="">to stop being so shy about it...<br class=""><br class="">Barry<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">On Tue, Sep 1, 2015 at 9:50 PM, Steven Feldman <<a href="mailto:shfeldman@gmail.com" class="">shfeldman@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">Jeff<br class=""><br class="">This shouldn't be a touchy subject. It should be a mandatory requirement on bidders for a FOSS4G<br class=""><br class="">My suggestion - the organisers should provide a space of similar size and specifications to that offered to top level sponsors in a prominent location. OSGeo should be responsible for fitting out the stand and staffing it<br class=""><br class="">If the conference committee agree we can make this a requirement for bidders for 2017 (and we can request it from 2016 as part of the guarantee agreement)<br class=""><br class="">I suggest that we also require bidders for 2017 and beyond to provide details of any advances and guarantees that they require with supporting schedules as part of their proposals<br class=""><br class="">Regards<br class="">Steven<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">+44 (0) 7958 924101<br class="">Sent from my iPhone<br class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class="">On 1 Sep 2015, at 21:36, Jeff McKenna <<a href="mailto:jmckenna@gatewaygeomatics.com" class="">jmckenna@gatewaygeomatics.com</a>> wrote:<br class=""><br class="">Hello Conference Committee,<br class=""><br class="">I would like to discuss something, that, in all honesty is a very touchy subject, as there never seems to be a good time to discuss this (I may offend current local committees, past local committees). So, this is a disclaimer: In this message I am not referring to any past or current FOSS4G. I am merely needing to explain the issue, so we can possibly handle this for future events. And I realize that the experienced Conference Committee members will know the best way to handle this from now on.<br class=""><br class="">Each year I must contact the FOSS4G local committee and ask about an OSGeo booth. Now, the local committee has to please its sponsors and attract more sponsorship revenue and there is a lot of pressure on them for this reason. (OSGeo is never classed as a sponsor) Yet, here is OSGeo, the host of the event, the foundation who awarded the team the event, the foundation who provided the necessary seed money a year in advance, the foundation who gave the local committee the spotlight, and so on...asking for a booth as well.<br class=""><br class="">On my (OSGeo) side, I want a large prominent booth; I do not want OSGeo to be given a small booth away from the main exhibition area, facing a wall etc. In fact, sure, I want OSGeo to have a double-booth, we want to be seen, to show that 'hey yes we are hosting this event, we are great, we do great things'.<br class=""><br class="">The reality is that there is no requirement to give OSGeo a booth, as it is not mentioned in the FOSS4G RFP.<br class=""><br class="">If it is not in the RFP (and here is where my tongue gets tied always) should I be asking the OSGeo Board for approval to become a platinum sponsor, of our own event, so we can get a great booth? Imagine that reaction. Then, what happens is I instead ask for a booth to the local committee, and they often do their best to give OSGeo a booth.<br class=""><br class="">My question is: should the OSGeo Conference Committee be including the OSGeo exhibition booth as a requirement for hosting FOSS4G, by adding this to the RFP; or should the OSGeo Board be looking at ways to become platinum sponsors for FOSS4G as well?<br class=""><br class="">I really feel that this should (well it is) become a requirement. If it is written in the RFP then this pressure is removed.<br class=""><br class="">Does the OSGeo booth hurt the event's bottom line? (less sponsor space etc., less sponsor revenue) Yes this does open a can of worms, back to the focus/priority/goal of FOSS4G. And I also am acutely aware of OSGeo's lack of marketing committee and materials (it is funny how I/we are asking for great booth space, and yet we don't have professional marketing materials, I realize the irony here). Even still, this needs to be discussed openly.<br class=""><br class="">But I feel that it is the OSGeo Conference Committee that can solve this.<br class=""><br class="">Thanks for understanding,<br class=""><br class="">-jeff<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">_______________________________________________<br class="">Conference_dev mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org" class="">Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org</a><br class="">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev<br class=""></blockquote>_______________________________________________<br class="">Conference_dev mailing list<br class=""><a href="mailto:Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org" class="">Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org</a><br class="">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev<br class=""></blockquote></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>