<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Dear Michael,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">thank you for your questions and observations!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">The BALOC will be responding ASAP.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Cheers</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Malena</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">El dom., 1 dic. 2019 a las 17:45, michael terner (<<a href="mailto:ternergeo@gmail.com">ternergeo@gmail.com</a>>) escribió:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Malena and the BALOC:</font></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">(Also <a href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Q%26A_Stage_2_Buenos_Aires#Michael_Terner" target="_blank">posted to the Wiki</a>.)</font></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Excellent, and well thought out proposal. I appreciate your efforts to innovate. Below are a few questions and a couple of comments that refer to the dialog in other question threads.</font></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Due to the fact that sponsorship is such an important part of the budget, ranging from providing 24% to 36% of expected revenues, I have several questions in this area. While the amount of sponsorship revenue you are seeking may be "typical", due to your lower costs the <i>percentage</i> of revenue from sponsorship is higher than typical. Indeed, it is at the “base, break-even scenario” where sponsorship would provide ~36% of revenue. To the sponsorship questions:</font></p><ul style="margin:0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em;padding:0px;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">When you talk about outreach to companies, you state you will “contact local and regional companies. We will start with those that have already sponsored previous FOSS4G events.” Is there any plan for outreach to companies that aren’t “local and regional” and might include international companies? Do you have a sense of how many “local and regional” companies have sponsored “previous FOSS4G events”? Have any of these companies previously sponsored the global conference?</font></b></li></ul><ul style="margin:0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em;padding:0px;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Can you elaborate on the “foyer in the CEC” that will be used for the sponsor booths? Will this foyer be connected/adjacent to the main hall and/or eating areas? Such an arrangement can help to create more natural encounters with the sponsor community vs. having to travel to a specific location to find the sponsor exhibits.</font></b></li></ul><ul style="margin:0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em;padding:0px;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">What are the number of sponsor booths/exhibits you’re expecting to accommodate? Based on the budget spreadsheet it looks like you’re expecting 10 “exhibition stands” from sponsors. The proposal indicates there will also be 10 table top exhibitions for the Silver sponsors. Is it accurate that the exhibit area is expected to accommodate 20 sponsors with a mix of table top exhibits and exhibition stands? Have you spoken to any representative sponsors about their exhibiting expectations? I might observe that some Silver Sponsors - who <i>could</i> be paying $5,000 USD - may have a reasonable expectation of having more than a table-top exhibit.</font></b></li></ul><ul style="margin:0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em;padding:0px;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Can you elaborate on how many, if any, “free conferences passes” will be included at each level of sponsorship from Diamond - Supporter?</font></b></li></ul><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Non-Sponsorship questions:</font></p><ul style="margin:0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em;padding:0px;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Can you elaborate on the phrase “82.11 The estimated change for 2021 by the Argentinian Government”? Fully understanding that exchange rates can be very difficult to predict does your budget change (for better/worse) if this exchange rate is not achieved/is exceeded (noting that the current exchange rate is ARS ~$60 = USD $1)?</font></b></li></ul><ul style="margin:0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em;padding:0px;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><li style="margin-bottom:0.1em"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Pleased to learn that you will be using a “Professional Conference Organizer” (also referred to as the “Productora del Evento”) and that you have worked with them previously. Can you elaborate on their role and responsibilities (e.g., will they be doing banking? Contracting? Registration? Audio/visual? Etc.)?</font></b></li></ul><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Relevant observations:</font></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Steven relayed that the typical "advance" from OSGeo was $40,000 USD. I can report that Boston received a $70,000 advance, and that we modeled our "ask" on previous conferences. I also know that Dar es Salaam did not seek any advance. So from my vantage, the number has moved around a bit.</font></b></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><b><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">As someone whose attendance will likely be funded by a corporation, I would strongly +1 both Steven's and Paul's suggestions that the semantics of registration costs matter a great deal. For me, it would be more difficult to get an expense reimbursement/approval for a "voluntary higher cost contribution" than it would be to simply pay a higher advertised fee. I think both notions of having an advertised market price with multiple options for "need-based discounts" (Steven) and/or a "corporate rate" (Paul) would make sense and would help with revenue, while providing flexibility for need-based discounts.</font></b></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><br></font></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Congrats on getting the proposal and best of luck!</font></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif"><br></font></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">MT</font></p></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 30, 2019 at 8:23 AM Malena Libman <<a href="mailto:malena.libman@gmail.com" target="_blank">malena.libman@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Dear Eli and CC, </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">please find the answers to the latest questions in the Wiki.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Cheers</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Malena</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">El vie., 29 nov. 2019 a las 15:15, Malena Libman (<<a href="mailto:malena.libman@gmail.com" target="_blank">malena.libman@gmail.com</a>>) escribió:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Hi Eli, </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Thank you for your questions, will let you know as soon as we upload the answers</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Cheers</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Malena</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">El vie., 29 nov. 2019 a las 14:50, Eli Adam (<<a href="mailto:eadam@co.lincoln.or.us" target="_blank">eadam@co.lincoln.or.us</a>>) escribió:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">BALOC,<br>
<br>
In the schedule it appears as if the code sprint is essentially the<br>
same time and duration as the conference. This is further explained<br>
about having mentoring sessions available.<br>
<br>
Some projects use the code sprint not only to write code but as high<br>
bandwidth face to face interaction about making project decisions.<br>
Finding a time that everyone can meet from a project during the<br>
sessions could be difficult (many of these people will also be<br>
presenting sessions).<br>
<br>
Before eliminating the separate-day code spint, can you poll this<br>
list, <a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/tosprint" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/tosprint</a> ?<br>
<br>
Maybe I've misread this, but it seems that the vast majority of the<br>
conference (workshops, sessions) is taking place at the law school.<br>
Is that correct? Is the large venue being used for more than Opening,<br>
Closing, AGM, and Lunch? If the large venue is only being used for<br>
Opening, Closing, AGM, and Lunch, can other venues but explored for<br>
those functions? Does the Law school have any larger spaces? It<br>
seems like a large expense and high risk for minimal use. Maybe I've<br>
misread it.<br>
<br>
On the wiki in short form, here,<br>
<a href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Q%26A_Stage_2_Buenos_Aires#Eli_Adam" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Q%26A_Stage_2_Buenos_Aires#Eli_Adam</a><br>
<br>
Thanks, Eli<br>
<br>
On Fri, Nov 29, 2019 at 4:21 AM María Arias de Reyna <<a href="mailto:delawen@gmail.com" target="_blank">delawen@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> Hi,<br>
><br>
> Questions and answers posted on the wiki page.<br>
><br>
> On Thu, Nov 28, 2019 at 11:34 PM Malena Libman <<a href="mailto:malena.libman@gmail.com" target="_blank">malena.libman@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> ><br>
> > Hi Paul,<br>
> ><br>
> > Thanks so much for your questions, we are working on the answers and will upload them to the wiki.<br>
> ><br>
> > cheers<br>
> ><br>
> > Malena<br>
> ><br>
> > El jue., 28 nov. 2019 a las 19:14, Paul Ramsey (<<a href="mailto:pramsey@cleverelephant.ca" target="_blank">pramsey@cleverelephant.ca</a>>) escribió:<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> >> Hello All,<br>
> >> Your proposal is very nicely structured and well done!<br>
> >><br>
> >> - Your plan to scale back facilities in the event of shortfall in registrations is wise. A question on that: what are the deadlines for cancellations? How much of the deposit will they retain? Unfortunately you will not have a clear feel for potential attendance until the early bird registration period closes, which can be only a few months before the final date. At some point, the venue will ask for full payment. Do your schedule points for things like early bird line up with your decision points for things like venues?<br>
> >><br>
> >> - If you'll excuse my language, the facility prices you quote seem very "international", that is, they would be not surprising in any other major global city. At the same time, the entry fees seem very low, compared to the general foss4g trend. I see that the A/B and food costs are lower than I would "expect", have those been validated in the marketplace? Generally expensive venues have exclusive catering arrangements with firms that are equally expensive, are you allowed to use your quoted catering in the venues you have chosen?<br>
> >><br>
> >> - How much of your $122K in budgeted sponsorship is "sure" already? That is, have the government corporate sponsors of this proposal made some kind of non-binding statement of interest in sponsorship?<br>
> >><br>
> >> - Not a question, but one way of squaring the "can afford it" pricing problem is an "individual" rate vs a "corporate" rate. The community <a href="http://pgcon.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">pgcon.org</a> conference in Ottawa uses this construction.<br>
> >><br>
> >> Thanks again for a great proposal.<br>
> >><br>
> >> P<br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
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</blockquote></div>
</blockquote></div>
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<a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev</a></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Michael Terner</font></div><div><a href="mailto:ternergeo@gmail.com" target="_blank"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">ternergeo@gmail.com</font></a></div><div><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">(M) 978-631-6602</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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