[Board] Event Owner for FOSS4G

Sun Sep 7 13:59:48 PDT 2008

+1 from me also. Tim's attendance kills many birds with one stone, as
a 2009 delegate to speak at the plenary is also needed.

P.

On Sun, Sep 7, 2008 at 1:48 PM, Robert Bray <robert.bray at autodesk.com> wrote:
> I for one support this proposal. Tim will make a great spokesperson in Tyler's absence and I like the continuity it offers for next year's conference.
>
> Bob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Arnulf Christl (OSGeo)
> Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 2:40 PM
> To: board at lists.osgeo.org
> Subject: [Board] Event Owner for FOSS4G
>
> Board,
> I propose to fund the flight and overnight stay in Cape Town for Tim
> Bowden so that he can take on some of the jobs that Tyler can not because
> he is not there. Please take the time to read through the following thread
> to find out what this is all about.
>
> I think that we should make this a precedence. In future this could mean
> that officers of OSGeo - for example board members, committee chairs, etc.
> may receive travel funding / expenses if they request for it and they are
> fully engaged as OSGeo staff at the destination. This would move some
> pressure off Tyler and help OSGeo a lot appearing professionally in more
> locations. In most cases we should obviously choose someone nearer (here a
> Cape Town local) but unfortunately I do not know anybody and we are
> already  short in time. In this special situation I think that Tim would
> be ideal. We would also profit from having him as a liaison to the next
> conference in Australia. And so on. There are many more good arguments,
> read Cameron's mail.
>
> I myself will unfortunately have less time in Cpae Town that I can spend
> at the OSGeo booth because my partner Peter will not be able to come to
> Cape Town so that I will be there alone (and we have a company booth).
> Additionally Tyler will not be there and I have agreed to fill in some
> slots and functions that he left open. So realistically the OSGeo booth is
> not well managed.
>
> I know that this (funding travel etc.) is a hot topic and needs a lot of
> attention and that it is not something that we should rush about and so
> on. In this special case I am inclined to simply go ahead, do it and
> discuss how to make it a good process afterwards.
>
> Please advise how we should go ahead.
>
> I will try to be on IRC and Skype on Monday as of 16:00++ UTC if you think
> it helps to chat or call.
>
> I have talked with Tim and he has sent me a list of good arguments in
> several mail threads describing the potential policy and governance
> implications. As these come in a conglomerate of privately sent mails I
> cannot simply forward them to this list without asking Tim but I am sure
> that he will send them to you directly if you request for them.
>
> Best regards,
> Arnulf.
>
> Sorry for this messy message, I am slightly overworked and still not up to
> speed.
>
> ---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
> Subject: Re: [Marketing] Event Owner for FOSS4G
> From:    "Tim Bowden" <tim.bowden at westnet.com.au>
> Date:    Fri, September 5, 2008 08:27
> To:      "Arnulf Christl" <arnulf.christl at wheregroup.com>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Arnulf,
>
> Is this option being actively investigated, or did it turn out to be a
> case of turning over a corpse?  Flights are getting limited and the cost
> looks like going up soon.  The travel agent says there are very limited
> seats available at AU$2,400 (abt US$2,000).  I can make a booking, but
> will have to pony up with some cash within 24hrs of doing so to keep it.
>
> Regards,
> Tim
>
> On Wed, 2008-09-03 at 16:41 +0200, Arnulf Christl wrote:
>> Cameron Shorter wrote:
>> > Tyler,
>> > I'd like to strongly recommend Tim Bowden for the OSGeo Booth
>> > coordinator role.
>>
>> Tim,
>> what do you say?
>>
>> If you are interested I will talk to OSGeo Finance and see whether we
> can bend Tyler's travel costs to your name and make you the official
> OSGeo Event Owner for FOSS4G 2008. This would mean that you are sort of
> hired by OSGeo to represent, man and manage the booth. I say "sort of
> hired" because I think OSGeo never did this before so we are creating a
> precedence here. But I think it is a good one as we are running short on
> staff everywhere and volunteers are cool but they are even better if you
> can pay them - at least a bit.
>>
>> But before I continue down that road please confirm whether you are
> actually available and would be willing to do what Cameron suggested.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Arnulf.
>>
>> > He did a very good job setting up the OSGeo stand at the WALIS
>> > conference in Western Australia last year and he is an entertaining and
>> > passionate OSGeo salesman.
>> >
>> > Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to scrape funds together for
>> > FOSS4G2008 (he is a 1 man company and can't justify the expense). But
>> > with elementary expenses paid, he would be there like a shot.
>> >
>> > Financially, he doesn't cost much. Perth is not far from South Africa,
>> > so flights should be less than for others, and a few beer boxes are
>> > sufficient for accommodation.  (He'd drink the beer first).
>> >
>> > And most importantly from my point of view, we would really like to have
>> > someone from the Australian FOSS4G2009 committee on the stand, so that
>> > we can promote FOSS4G 2009, and Tim is just the man for the job.
>> >
>> >
>> > Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:
>> >> As discussed a while back at one of our last meetings, I was trying to
>> >> line up someone to help be the event owner for FOSS4G - to help
>> >> organise and coordinate OSGeo's marketing through the booth, etc.
>> >> Everyone I talk to who is going to be at the event only has limited
>> >> amount of time to commit, or cannot help organise before the event.
>> >>
>> >> So I started to talk to a few people who I have worked with at
>> >> previous events and who might be more likely to attend if they had a
>> >> free conference pass and a small budget to offset some of their
>> >> costs.  The free pass wasn't really enough for anyone I spoke to.
>> >> Since it looks like I won't be able to attend, it will be critical to
>> >> have someone who can do the planning and delivery of the event, but
>> >> still have some support from me when needed.  Some of my own travel
>> >> budget could be used to help cover some of the costs but ultimately it
>> >> would be general marketing costs for OSGeo. [1]
>> >>
>> >> This is the one event that I believe is important enough to make sure
>> >> we have a full time booth staffer and planner/coordinator available.
>> >> Volunteers certainly are still needed to do it right, but unless there
>> >> is one person to go to, the whole effort can fall apart.  Ideally
>> >> there'd be two people, but I won't push it this year ;-)
>> >>
>> >> I would like to propose a budget of $3500 to cover our presence there:
>> >>
>> >> * $1000 - handouts, collateral, shirts, banners, table cover, etc.
>> >> With new branding where possible.
>> >> * $500 - on-site booth costs for maintenance, upgrades, equip rentals,
>> >> etc.  Like video displays, extra chairs, cleaning...
>> >> * $1500 - costs for staffing, travel and food costs, etc.
>> >> * $500 - miscellaneous - some buffer room for unexpected items.
>> >>
>> >> Think of it as a delegation exercise for me, I would easily spend that
>> >> in my own staff time, travel costs and merchandise, etc. if I was going.
>> >> Sound reasonable?
>> >>
>> >> Tyler
>> >>
>> >> [1] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Marketing_Budget_2008
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Marketing mailing list
>> >> Marketing at lists.osgeo.org
>> >> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing
>> >
>> >
>>
> --
> Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you recognize a mistake
> when you make it again.
>
>
>
> --
> Arnulf Christl
> http://www.wheregroup.com
>
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