<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">I hope that <div><blockquote type="cite"><div><br></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div>It pains me to say it, but we might be better off de-emphasizing<br>FOSS4G-the-international-event and trying instead of space regional<br>events regularly around the calendar</div></blockquote><div><br></div>Doesn't happen until after FOSS4G 2013 :)<br><div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><font color="#999999">_____________________</font><br><div class="moz-signature"><div class="moz-signature"><div class="moz-signature"><div class="moz-signature"><div class="moz-signature"><div class="moz-signature"><font color="#999999" face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><font color="#999999"><b><br>Steven Feldman</b></font><br>_____________________<br></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></span></span></div><div><div>On 18 Jun 2012, at 17:18, Paul Ramsey wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 5:08 AM, Steven Feldman <<a href="mailto:shfeldman@gmail.com">shfeldman@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote type="cite">If there are regional events in every continent except for the continent<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">where the global event is being run we may risk diluting interest in the<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">global event.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">We will have the global FOSS4G in Europe in 2013 (either UK or Finland will<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">host) we would expect to see less delegates from outside of Europe if there<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">are North American, Asian and other regional events.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Perhaps a compromise would be to ensure that the timing of regional events<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">is as close as possible to 6 months away from the global event?<br></blockquote><br>That's always a risk, but the reality is that the vast majority of<br>FOSS4G attendees are from the local region, and only a small slice are<br>international. So we really are effectively serving a much larger<br>population with regional events. In some ways (watch this rhetorical<br>bend) dilution is actually a net positive, because it keeps the<br>same-old-same-old highly rated software talks from clogging up the<br>agenda leaving little space for quirky local topics.<br><br>But I digress.<br><br>I've been encouraging the regional organizers to try and keep as much<br>schedule space between their event and mid-September as possible. This<br>I think helps the international travellers make schedule time to<br>potentially attend two events in a year. It does lead to some awkward<br>moments though, like FOSS4GNA this year coming just 6 months *after*<br>the last event in NA, the Denver conference. All in all though,<br>because we were serving a market (DC) that itself couldn't all get<br>even so far away as Denver, we ended up serving a wider group.<br><br>So I think on balance the regional thing is serving us very well. It<br>pains me to say it, but we might be better off de-emphasizing<br>FOSS4G-the-international-event and trying instead of space regional<br>events regularly around the calendar so it's possible for some<br>in-demand speakers to hit 2-3 regional events, while still allowing<br>more travel-constrained local delegates the option of having a regular<br>event.<br><br>So many options, but unfortunately there's no slam dunk way of knowing<br>what is "best".<br><br>P.<br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>