[Board] [OSGeo-Conf] FOSS4G Boston Travel Grants ~ IMPORTANT request

[Jody Garnett]

We covered this in last months board meeting, so far we need volunteers
willing to take part.

You many not be specifically happy with the direction thus far (travel
grant fund available to all osgeo events, focused on diversity, event
organizers apply similar to code sprints).

I have draft I am working on based on discussion thus far (using code
sprint guidelines as a starting point).
​
 Travel Grant Guidelines
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jYDOd87redxMHwT-xURcBrD7xwOeAPdVVLWZtIbM7-w/edit?usp=drive_web>
​

--
Jody Garnett

On 3 May 2017 at 07:59, Steven Feldman <shfeldman at gmail.com> wrote:

> I fully support Michael’s request.
>
> It is time for OSGeo to establish a transparent policy on travel grants,
> to fund them and most importantly to administer them
> ______
> Steven
>
>
> On 3 May 2017, at 13:56, Till Adams <till.adams at fossgis.de> wrote:
>
> As you all can see we've been very busy assembling our program (225
> accepted talks <http://2017.foss4g.org/accepted-presentations/>, out of
> 423 submitted) and rounding out the sponsorship for the conference (>$200k
> of commitments <http://2017.foss4g.org/sponsor/>). And now, with 2 weeks
> to go before the Early Bird expires, registration is starting to pickup
> with ~200 registrations processed.
>
> And, with registration on people's minds we have started to get the
> inevitable requests for financial support (e.g., and accepted speaker who's
> company cannot pay; graduate students looking for support; etc.) and we
> expect those requests to continue. The Boston LOC (BLOC) would dearly like
> to have a "Travel Grant Program", but as was pointed out in earlier threads
> (I believe by both Steven Feldman and Jody Garnett) it is difficult for the
> host LOC to run such a program. For instance:
>
>    1. We do not yet know our financial condition. With registrations
>    being notoriously late, we won't know if/how much $'s are available for
>    such a program for some time.
>    2. Administering such a program takes time, and our primary focus is
>    on producing the conference and the workshops.
>    3. Decisions on criteria for choosing recipients and the amount of
>    individual grants can be delicate and the criteria/objectives may differ
>    between the BLOC and OSGeo
>
> As such,* the BLOC would like to make a formal request that OSGeo
> establish and administer a travel grant program for the Boston 2017 event*.
> We would gladly collaborate and help advertise the program (e.g., on our
> website and through referrals), but we would concur that this program
> should be established and funded by OSGeo. We have high hopes that the
> proceeds from Boston will reimburse OSGeo's investment in subsidizing
> attendance from certain communities. And, we too will be looking to offer
> other opportunities for financial support through our volunteer program,
> and potentially a "need-based" registration discount (if our Early Bird
> registrations give us increased confidence in our financial success).
>
> Thank you in advance for considering this request. Please let us know if
> you have any questions.
>
> Sincerely, MT & the BLOC
> --
> *Michael Terner*
> *Executive Vice President​ & Chair FOSS4G Boston 2017​*
> Applied Geographics, Inc.
>
>
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