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

[Suchith Anand]

Hi Jeroen,

Thank you for your inputs and suggestions  . I also agree on your suggestion that we should start small and then expand BUT we should START.

So, let is plan to start this with three main FOSS4G events (FOSS4G Global, FOSS4G Europe and FOSS4G NA)  and learn from the experiences and then expand this.

So i request the community and the Board to discuss this and then decide how to proceed but START we must on this. As i told before , this is the first time we are doing this, so it will be a learning experience for all (Board, Committee and LOCs) but we must learn and improve as we go.

Best wishes,

Suchith


________________________________________
From: Jeroen Ticheler [jeroen.ticheler at geocat.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2015 8:10 AM
To: Suchith Anand
Cc: board at lists.osgeo.org; ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org
Subject: My concerns with Student Awards (was: Student Awards - Inputs needed from the community)

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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