[Board] My concerns with Student Awards (was: Student Awards - Inputs needed from the community)

[Jeroen Ticheler]

Hi Suchith, hi all,

First of all thanks for putting so much effort in this Suchith! I think it makes a lot of sense to award good work of a student, a teacher or another type of professional using OSGeo / FOSS4G software.

My concern with the direction currently taken is that the prizes are suddenly A LOT of prizes. We go from 0 to 10+ prizes and from a budget of 0$ to something 5 digits. We also run the risk of awarding modest achievements because we have a lot of money & prizes and lack serious competition for them because they are so many. I think it is of higher value if the number of competitions is (very) limited (at least in this startup phase) and competition is fierce so win it. I doubt that throwing lots of prize money around will work in a positive way.

For me (and GeoCat) another concern is that the prize I proposed originally is diluted a lot in value. We do sponsor OSGeo Foundation, FOSS4G conferences, local chapters and local events. The prize is something new and it feels uncomfortable to "pay double"; directly through the proposed prize and indirectly as OSGeo sponsor.

Let me put some pro's and con's of keeping it small at first below:

Pro's:
- More attention can be given by the judging committee
- High profile for the winner(s)
- Gain experience with establishing a good competition
- Safe money that could be invested in code sprints, other marketing, professionalizing OSGeo, etc
- Keep high value for sponsors (yes, also for e.g. GeoCat)

Con's:
- Local events may have no competition unless they find their own sponsors and set up their own competition and judging committee (actually I consider the last part as something positive, since there will be more dedication to ensure a successful competition is all resources are local. Both the organizing committee and the sponsors have more incentive to make it a success)
- Potentially less local event options to fund a competition

It is important to me the committee and the Board discuss the above. An overly enthusiastic start of competitions is IMHO a threat to its success. I therefor propose to start small and after some time (some years!?) evaluate and possibly expand.

Thanks,
Jeroen

ps. Let me add that I was moving houses and wasn't able to read all communication on this, so I may miss things.

____________________________________________________
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Jeroen Ticheler
GeoCat bv
Veenderweg 13
6721 WD Bennekom
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)6 81286572
http://geocat.net

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