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

Thu May 4 23:31:00 PDT 2017

Excellent, so would the idea be to update the conference committee mandate
then?

Or would the conference committee set this up as indicative (for program
visibility and sponsorship)? ... similar to how the website/rebranding is
being taken on as a one-off by the marketing committee.

That is a bit of a strategic question so it may require thought / planning.

On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 11:19 PM Till Adams <till.adams at fossgis.de> wrote:

> Hi Jody,
>
> I would propose to post this responsibility to the ConfCom. Some of the
> past chairs already were involved in such kind of decisions.
>
> Till
>
>
>
> Am 04.05.2017 um 17:07 schrieb Jody Garnett:
>
> Thanks Till, can you dive into that draft document and come back here with
> feedback?
>
> One open question is who should take the responsibility for approving
> event applications. Should the board handle it like code sprints, is the
> conference committee interested in the responsibility, do we want a new
> committee with yourself as chair? Etc ...
>
> If there is a dedicated group then it would open up a few alternate
> approaches to the one proposed.
> On Wed, May 3, 2017 at 11:32 PM Till Adams < <till.adams at fossgis.de>
> till.adams at fossgis.de> wrote:
>
>> I raise my hand as volunteer.
>>
>>
>> Till
>>
>>
>>
>> Am 03.05.2017 um 18:10 schrieb 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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>>
>>
>> --
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
>
> --
--
Jody Garnett
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