<div dir="ltr">Alex,<div><br></div><div>As a goal to differentiate different bids I 100% agree.</div><div><br></div><div>Sadly, fact of the matter is that nobody else has expressed any interest. Sometimes it takes the prodding of someone else stepping up to spur on a group to come together. Barring that, we are already one year from the ideal target dates for an NA event. This is already pushing the envelope for planning an event like this.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I think given the rational for the density of Feds and the halo effect that has in DC that 2015 would actually be a prime year to bring this back to DC having had the 2014 Global Event in Portland and the 2013 Event in Minneapolis. I think there is enough specific pull to DC that every third year is not too much. I would like to see this event reach Mexico/Canada as well and it might be good to start trying to groom a city (or cities) to try to explore a 2016 bid now.</div>
<div><br></div><div>David<br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 4:41 PM, Alex Mandel <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tech_dev@wildintellect.com" target="_blank">tech_dev@wildintellect.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Yes and no. I was at the DC Fossg4NA. Location did matter for the set of<br>
attendees there, but choice of location also prevents attendance. If the<br>
goal is penetration into the Federal market, DC is important. If the<br>
goal is to foster Foss4g around North America then it needs to move<br>
around so that people in small non-profits, state agencies, tech<br>
start-ups can also make it. Also it's not just travel restrictions but<br>
price - DC isn't the cheapest place to fly or stay depending on dates.<br>
<br>
Basically, there are some states with plenty of Federal employees<br>
(regional staff) and plenty of State employees who also face travel<br>
restrictions. There's almost 0% chance a state employee from California<br>
can get to DC for a conference. Not sure what the situation for New<br>
York,Texas, Colorado, Oregon, Washington are either. That's a huge chunk<br>
of potential missing. That doesn't even cover Canada or Mexico, which I<br>
can't really speak for at all.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Alex<br>
<div class=""><br>
<br>
On 04/04/2014 02:31 PM, Jody Garnett wrote:<br>
> The travel restrictions offer quite a strong direction don't they? Do we<br>
> have anyone who can speak about the previous FOSS4G-NA event?<br>
> --<br>
> Jody<br>
><br>
> Jody Garnett<br>
><br>
><br>
> On Sat, Apr 5, 2014 at 8:02 AM, Andrew Ross <<a href="mailto:andrew.ross@eclipse.org">andrew.ross@eclipse.org</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
>> Hello Everyone,<br>
>><br>
>> Please excuse the cross post between OSGeo's discuss & conference_dev<br>
>> lists as well as LocationTech's discussion list. I'm hoping to enable<br>
>> inclusive discussion about an idea.<br>
>><br>
>> Bit of background, this coming May (19-21), LocationTech Summit is<br>
</div>>> co-hosted with Location Intelligence in Washington D.C.<<a href="http://www.locationintelligence.net/" target="_blank">http://www.locationintelligence.net/</a>>.<br>
<div class="">>> Travel restrictions for Federal Government employees for instance meant<br>
>> holding this in D.C. was important in 2014.<br>
>><br>
>> We have started planning for 2015, and I wanted to reach out and see if an<br>
>> idea might be of interest to the greater community.<br>
>><br>
>> The idea is to co-host LocationTech Summit, FOSS4G North America, and<br>
>> EclipseCon next year in the spring.<br>
>><br>
>> For those that haven't been:<br>
>><br>
</div>>> - EclipseCon is a great developer conference & covers topics that I<br>
<div class="">>> feel may be a really nice complement such as Science, Internet of Things,<br>
>> Automotive, Software development best practice, and more. While there are<br>
>> some awesome talks in the area, it's not just about the IDE. :-)<br>
</div>>> - FOSS4G NA is the regional sibling of FOSS4G Global, also a great<br>
<div class="">>> developer conference, and focused on geospatial technologies. It is a must<br>
>> attend event if you're into web mapping or looking for open source GIS<br>
>> solutions.<br>
</div>>> - LocationTech Summit is new (first one this May), similar to FOSS4G<br>
<div class="">>> however perhaps has a stronger focus on high performance geoprocessing<br>
>> technologies and new technologies like GeoGit for instance.<br>
</div>>> - My feeble attempt at contrast aside, I think these last two will<br>
<div class="">>> see a lot of the same speakers & audience.<br>
>><br>
>> A few thoughts:<br>
>><br>
</div>>> - We believe a combined event could likely be done to prioritize<br>
<div class="">>> camaraderie which is so important for open source projects & community.<br>
>> i.e. avoid anyone feeling lost in a huge event.<br>
</div>>> - We feel the mutual outreach to people across communities would be<br>
<div class="">>> really useful, interesting, and spark wonderful ideas we can't predict.<br>
</div>>> - The logistical work can be done by full time conference organizers<br>
<div class="">>> who organize EclipseCon each year. The program is up to the communities to<br>
>> set.<br>
</div>>> - For those seeking suppliers, partners, & customers, this should make<br>
>> for more opportunities.<br>
>> - Profit sharing with significant participating groups is doable.<br>
<div class="">>> We're glad to help figure out a fair and amicable solution.<br>
</div>>> - Ensuring each group are well served is a priority of course. We<br>
<div class="im HOEnZb">>> think this combined event might attract people who might not otherwise come<br>
>> to any of them. But we'll have to try and see.<br>
>><br>
>> Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Is this a good idea? Interested?<br>
>><br>
>> Kind regards,<br>
>><br>
>> Andrew<br>
>><br>
<br>
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