<div dir="auto"><div>Hi all<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">-1 for altering pricing at this point.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Why?</div><div dir="auto">- speaking personally, I prefer to offer a speaker discount, not free attendance.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">- taking Dar as an example, I took a lot of time with my small team finding money to come. I gave a workshop to 20 people, and was able to reach a lot more (apparently people liked it). </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Overall it cost us around $6000.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">...which is likely a lot less than we'd pay for professional super targeted marketing to governments and research agencies, plus face to face networking over the week, plus opportunities to discuss the creation of new business and research funding.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">So while I paid full price to register and actually spent more time wrangling finances than preparing a workshop, it's still an amazing value proposition.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In a non business perspective, don't forget that papers, presentations and workshops are the currency of academia and not-for-profit sector - there is always a benefit far beyond the financial cost of attendance.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">By focusing on the tree in the open source community, we tend to forget the forest.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">- we have already spent vast time on pricing, we made a decision, and it is extra effort (which is in short supply) to change. Especially since we would need to explain to all the sponsors why we changed things.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">- but what about less privileged people? I hear you say... Well we have the TGP for this, and having a talk or workshop in the pipeline is a good lever. We also have community tickets - again having a talk in the pipeline is extra weight. ...and we should look at the demographic of who has already sent in proposals. I think we don't really need to subsidise the cohort we have.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Ok that's long enough. Back to Zanzibar things and off a terrible phone keyboard ;)</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Perhaps the next committee will decide differently, for now let's keep it real simple.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Cheers</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Adam</div><div dir="auto"><br><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="auto">--<br>Dr. Adam Steer<br><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adam_Steer">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adam_Steer</a><br><a href="http://au.linkedin.com/in/adamsteer">http://au.linkedin.com/in/adamsteer</a><br><a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0046-7236">http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0046-7236</a><br>+61 427 091 712<br>skype: adam.d.steer<br>tweet: @adamdsteer</div></div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Mon., 3 Sep. 2018, 05:21 Daniel Silk, <<a href="mailto:dwsilk@gmail.com">dwsilk@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I think offering the ticket for free further complicates things since we have an existing community contributor ticket at $150<div><div><div><br></div><div>Like, does a workshop presenter spend significantly more time preparing a workshop than a committee member spends organising the conference? Or than someone who has contributed to FOSS4G software or OpenStreetMap data? I think if we were up front about it, it would be no problem, but if we're changing it this late in the piece then I think we should set it at $150.</div><div><br></div><div>We're also changing the value proposition for sponsors which makes me a little uncomfortable, but given how supportive everyone has been, I don't think we'll have any trouble.<br></div><div><br></div><div>+1 for $150 for workshop presenters and $300 for helpers.<br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 1:28 PM Cameron Shorter <<a href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">cameron.shorter@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>I'm in favour of supporting our workshop presenters, who will
need to put in a significant amount of effort to put together
their workshops - much greater than the value of a registration
fee.</p>
<p>If budget allows it, I'd be inclined to suggest workshop
presenters be offered either:</p>
<p>1. To be able to sign up to the conference for free.</p>
<p>2. Decide to dedicate their fee toward the good mojo fund. (The
slight rewording to potentially help presenters sell the concept
to their employer, and also to have the presenter/employer
recognised in conference credits). <br>
</p>
<p>I'll leave it up to John to decide whether he wants to adjust the
motion, or feels it should be left as is.</p>
<p>Cheers, Cameron<br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="m_3555427834913936382m_-2455755430959992254moz-cite-prefix">On 3/09/2018 9:39 AM, John Bryant
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Thanks Trisha, I'm splitting this out into a
separate thread as a motion.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Just having a look at the workshop presenters, I think
there are at most 6 people to whom this would apply - others
have already registered as sponsors, committee members, or
already qualify for the CC discount. So, in theory, the actual
maximum impact on the budget is quite small, probably on the
order of $500-750.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>We should also consider offering the $300 presenter rate to
some workshop helpers, within limits (max one per workshop?).
This might incur a few hundred extra dollars in budget
adjustment.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Some of the presenters may have their registration paid for
by their employer, and may not care about the extra discount,
especially if it means redoing paperwork. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I'm pretty comfortable projecting that we'll surpass our
target of 90 workshop registrations, so some of the projected
budget surplus is directly related to the success of the
workshop program. Re-investing some of this surplus back into
the people providing invaluable content seems positive to me.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>It would take extra effort to communicate this with the
presenters and make sure they're clear on what's on offer.
Trisha, sounds like you're willing to take this on?<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>So, to be clear, I'll phrase this as a motion:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><b>Motion: to offer workshop presenters the option of
registering for the conference at the Community Contributor
rate ($150), and to offer workshop helpers the option of
registering at the current Workshop Presenter rate ($300).
The expected total cost of this adjustment is estimated to
be in the range of $1000.</b></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I'm comfortable supporting this proposal. +1 from me.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>John</div>
<div><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>
From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Trisha
Moriarty</strong> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:moriar1y@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">moriar1y@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2018 at 17:30<br>
Subject: Re: [FOSS4G-Oceania] * Important - budget update
*<br>
To: foss4g-oceania <<a href="mailto:foss4g-oceania@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">foss4g-oceania@lists.osgeo.org</a>><br>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Its good to see the budget summary info, thanks John.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I agree with Cameron principles and the seed fund is
important, but I would like to see this year's events
benefit as much as possible as well.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>So as an idea, in light of the surplus, could we
increase the discount on the conference ticket rate for
presenters. Currently the presenter ticket is $300.
Could we lower it to the community ticket rate $150. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>A number of the presenters already have access to
sponsor or community ticket rates, so the impact on
budget would be for approx. 10 tickets $1500</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Only 2 have actually purchased their presenter rate
tickets, so I was about to send out reminders to the
others to register.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I feel the presenters are making a very valuable
contribution to the conference, and this could be one
way to demonstrate the community's appreciation.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>But I realise this is going backwards on a decision
and it will be a bit messy offering refunds for the
presenters who have registered, but I thought it still
worthwhile putting the question out there.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">On Sun, Sep 2, 2018 at 8:04 AM Cameron
Shorter <<a href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">cameron.shorter@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Thanks John for the summary. It will be helpful
for making decisions later.</p>
<p>Talking to the principles of how we manage the
surplus, I think:</p>
<p>* Honour our agreement with SSSI, and ensure we
continue to make our maximum budgeted surplus and
SSSI is paid the agreed 50% of this for the risk
they took in backing us.</p>
<p>* The rest of the surplus should be put toward
community value, whatever we decide that to be.</p>
<p>* We should invite SSSI to contribute to the
discussion about how the surplus is spent, which
might include reserving some of the surplus for
next year. <br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="m_3555427834913936382m_-2455755430959992254m_-1503211305611545411m_4911882411109166977m_-7741177400504240568m_6148693826246847832m_-4680145721043950168moz-cite-prefix">On
1/09/2018 12:44 PM, John Bryant wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><b>TL;DR: based on conservative
assumptions, in a 200 attendee projected
budget, we are currently looking at a $30k+
surplus.</b></div>
<div><br>
</div>
Hi team,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>As we push towards the event (80 days to
go!), I want to provide an update on our
financial position, as I think it will be
important to have this in the front of our
minds. There will be some financial decisions
to make in the upcoming weeks, and we need to
have this as context for this decision making.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>To date, we've operated with a fairly lean
approach, budgeting conservatively, and making
only modest adjustments to our budget. In our
agreement with SSSI, we committed to aim for a
surplus of $3k-$10k, and in fact have
consistently guided our budget to a surplus
more in the $15k-$20k range, to accommodate
our uncertainty.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Despite this constraint, we've done a great
job of planning an exciting & interesting
event, and our success on this front can be
measured in part by our significant over
achievement in the sponsorship area, and the
high probability that we'll significantly
exceed our target of 150 attendees. So, good
job, us!</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>But my point here, rather than to
congratulate, is to raise awareness that <b>we
are currently sitting on a much larger than
expected surplus</b>. I wanted to understand
this surplus better, so I set up a new 200
attendee scenario in our <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14yHWdvEPxshBSBgxjc4vWgJlg0Svk8Qg0G-D3kF-siM/edit#gid=1274394515" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">budget
worksheet</a>. If there are any doubts
whether we can reach 200, keep in mind we're
already over 125 regos sold or committed, 11
weeks out, without even announcing a program
or going into a heavy promotion phase.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This scenario is based on what I consider
to be realistic & conservative assumptions
(<i>listed in the worksheet, I'll repeat them
here</i>). I don't want to prejudice our
future discussions by including specifics like
TGP & videorecording in these assumptions,
we need to discuss these in a separate thread,
but I include them as examples of significant
expenditures we could add to our budget, and
still have a large surplus.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div><b>Assumptions for 200 scenario:</b><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>200 conf regos<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>150 half day workshop regos<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>120 dinner tickets<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>CC tickets won't be taken up as much as
expected</div>
<div>increase student regos<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>no additional sponsorship<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>increase to TGP expense<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>increase to keynote travel expense<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>increase to paid staff expense<span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></div>
<div>include $5000 for swag</div>
<div>include $4000 for video recording</div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Even with all of these assumptions, which I
consider to be generally erring on the side of
caution, <b>we are looking at a $30k+ surplus</b>,
which is large. See the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14yHWdvEPxshBSBgxjc4vWgJlg0Svk8Qg0G-D3kF-siM/edit#gid=1274394515" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">budget
worksheet</a> for the detailed scenario (<i>extra
scrutiny would be very welcome</i>).</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Recall that part of our partnership
agreement with SSSI is that we share 50% of
the surplus with them, so at present we don't
have the option of simply retaining the full
surplus for future years. However, I hope we
can open a discussion with SSSI and see if
there is appetite for investing part of any
unexpected windfall into future events. But
clearly, we need to honour the agreement we
have in place, and respect our partner's
wishes on how they wish to proceed on this
front.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>So, as we go forward over the next 11 weeks
and careen to the finish line, I suggest we
need to keep this budget surplus in mind.
We've had many discussions where we've opted
out of doing things because we haven't felt
like we could justify the cost, but I argue at
this point that we need to adjust our thinking
a bit on this front. The money is coming from
the community (sponsors and attendees), and I
feel we owe it to the community to make wise
decisions on how we spend this money, while
ensuring the best event possible. This doesn't
mean we start spending like sailors, of course
(no offense to sailors!), but I suggest we
have latitude to spend some money on things
that will benefit the community and the event.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I suggest we don't raise specific motions
on expenditure in this thread, rather if there
are specific motions arising, they should be
raised in separate threads.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thoughts?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>jb</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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M +61 (0) 419 142 254</pre>
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Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant
M +61 (0) 419 142 254</pre>
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