[Board] Request for seed funding for FOSS4G-NA 2019

Thu Sep 6 12:48:29 PDT 2018

Hi Maria, well stated points below, which I think summarise many of the 
points raised on email lists to date.

Many, but not all of these points are collected in our FOSS4G Handbook 
under https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_Handbook#Finances

You might want to add a few points in there. Collating this information 
centrally helps us refine the ideas over time rather than relying on our 
collective memory, and it helps new people get up to speed fast.

On 6/9/18 6:56 pm, María Arias de Reyna wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Right now there is money to lend 20k. Not in the initial budget for
> this year, but the money is on the bank. So the decision would be if
> we want to prioritize this investment instead of others (existing or
> future). Remember this is the year when the main FOSS4G don't give any
> funding back. Which I don't think it will be a problem, as FOSS4GNA is
> important to our community and should be helped. But I wanted to say
> this explicit so it is clear that we are not just lending money
> blindly.
>
> I am happy to give seed funding to events, this is really something we
> can do and will make a difference to many LOCs. But, of course, we
> need to setup some requirements for this. Not saying that you don't
> fit on them, but it is something we should discuss, specially if we
> want to extend this seed funding to other events that request it. It
> won't be nice if some other regional event come and then we ask them
> more than we ask you :) Is this the first time a regional event ask
> for funding? I don't remember any previous one.
>
> So, about requirements: what is the planning to return the money? Are
> you going to share the profit (if any) with OSGeo? I think it makes
> sense to ask for a returning percentage of the profit to have more
> money in the bank and be able to help more events. I understand some
> conferences will be even and have no profit, but those who have profit
> can help growing the community. Maybe a 30~50% of profit back to
> OSGeo? So at least half of it can be saved for future FOSS4GNA events.
>
> Other thing I would request is that you share statistics and knowledge
> after the event. For example, if you experiment with new ways to
> attract people, did it work? Are demographics balanced? Was it more
> business, user, developer oriented? What did people enjoy more that
> can be reused for other events? Did something fail that could be
> organized on a better way? Did you have unexpected budget changes?
> What percentage of the budget did go to what (catering, venue,
> communications,...)? In summary, any info that can help us organize
> better events. I understand there are details we can't disclose, but
> anything that can be shared, please, share it.
>
> And, of course, as sometimes people go to FOSS4G and they don't know
> what OSGeo is, I would request that OSGeo has a special place in the
> conference. Not only a booth, but also that it should be explicitly
> mentioned and explained in (at least) opening and closing. This can
> help us growing the community and keep them engaged the whole year,
> not only for one conference.
>
> Did I miss something important?
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 6, 2018 at 10:34 AM Cameron Shorter
> <cameron.shorter at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Jeffrey, Jody,
>>
>> I'd suggest looping in the OSGeo Conference committee (conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org) on wider FOSS4G-NA topics such as these, as hopefully there should be useful opinions and support from within the community.
>>
>> (You'd get supportive feedback from me in the first instance).
>>
>> Cheers and good luck, Cameron
>>
>>
>> On 6/09/2018 4:13 AM, Jeffrey Johnson wrote:
>>
>> The total venue cost is $40k total with no requirements to commit to a hotel block at catering. They require a 1/2 deposit so $20k would be better. Not sure if that much budget would be available?
>>
>> Happy to discuss at the IRC meeting.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 11:09 Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Thanks Jeff,
>>>
>>> We can of course amend our budget to help (kind of thought we had until next year but opportunity waits for no one).
>>>
>>> 10k seems ... a bit low. Your venue must indeed be inexpensive.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 8:59 AM Jeffrey Johnson <ortelius at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi Folks,
>>>>
>>>> Our San Diego Local Organizing Committee would like to request seed
>>>> funds for FOSS4G-NA 2019 which we are organizing for mid-april next
>>>> year. The past few years have seen this event organized by
>>>> LocationTech and with a professional conference organizer, and while
>>>> we will strive to put on a really great event, we are going to try to
>>>> be budget conscious and run a more grass roots event. We have a great
>>>> location on Mission Bay in SD that imposes very few restrictions on
>>>> what we can and cant do, giving us alot of freedom to do things a bit
>>>> differently than they have been done before.
>>>>
>>>> We are shooting for an overall budget of $150k-200k and expecting 500+
>>>> people. I'm not quite sure the level of seed funding provided in the
>>>> past for these types of regional events, but we would like to ask for
>>>> $10k if possible.
>>>>
>>>> Do let me/us know if you have any questions/concerns that can be
>>>> answered and hope to see some of you in April next year.
>>>>
>>>> Jeff & Rob (SDLOC Co-chairs)
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Board mailing list
>>>> Board at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>>> --
>>> --
>>> Jody Garnett
>>
>>
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>>
>> --
>> Cameron Shorter
>> Technology Demystifier
>> Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant
>>
>> M +61 (0) 419 142 254
>>
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-- 
Cameron Shorter
Technology Demystifier
Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant

M +61 (0) 419 142 254