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

Fri May 5 08:28:30 PDT 2017

Perfect, thanks for hustle on this one Till.
On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 11:36 PM Till Adams <till.adams at fossgis.de> wrote:

> Dear Jody,
>
> in the moment this is my suggestion, so the opinion of just one member of
> ConfComm. I call up a vote in ConfComm, so we have a decision. Afterwards,
> we can discuss your thoughts.
>
>
> Till
>
>
> Am 05.05.2017 um 08:31 schrieb Jody Garnett:
>
> 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> 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
>
>
> --
--
Jody Garnett
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