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<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Hi <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Maybe it's not clear enough in the Prospectus for 2008 but it <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>is</span></i> there, that ANY level of support would
be accepted and is up for discussion. It can be 'in-kind' or financial. In-kind
could be volunteering, loaning computers, whatever. Some of these items are
listed. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Then there’s also the option of purchasing an exhibition stand
(about USD1500 for 3x3m early bird with discount). There is a discount for NGO
and government and educational institutions. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Do you have anything in mind? Who are the small players and what
amounts would they like to offer? And what are they looking for in return? We
can then look at including clearer options in the Prospectus. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>Gavin <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>2008 conference chair<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>----------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Dear conference
committee,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Last year I
commented to some people that FOSS4G2007 sponsorship was out of price for small
companies and that this was in my opinion a bad thing since small organizations
could not show their support for the event by sponsoring it. It was agreed that
our community is for the most part constituted of individuals and small
organizations and we said at the time that we'd try to do better in future
years.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Well, I came
across the FOSS4G2008 sponsorship doc and the situation doesn't seem to have
improved:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><a
href="http://conference.osgeo.org/foss4g2008/docs/FOSS4G2008sponsorshipandexhibitorprospectus15Feb08.pdf">http://conference.osgeo.org/foss4g2008/docs/FOSS4G2008sponsorshipandexhibitorprospectus15Feb08.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>If I read this
right, the lowest sponsorship level costs 40,000 ZAR, which would be about 5k$
(is that right?)... about the same price range as FOSS4G2007 if I remember
correctly, so there is no room for the small players this year either.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>What's the plan
for 2009? Have we tought about making room for lower levels of sponsorship?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>I have heard the
whole argument about the lower levels of sponsorship diluting the value of the
higher levels... but come on, this is not the Google/Autodesk annual meeting...
let's try to be creative and try to give the small players a chance to get their
logo up there and show their support for the event and OSGeo as a whole
(FOSS4G2006 could do it so that's not impossible).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Daniel<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>--<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Daniel Morissette<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><a
href="http://www.mapgears.com/">http://www.mapgears.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Conference_dev
mailing list<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><a
href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=black face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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