[OSGeo-Conf] Who's Got Next?

[Frank Warmerdam]

Paul Ramsey wrote:
> I think we should be explicit, and try to get bids from particular
> regions on a schedule: Europe, North America, Other. I apologize to
> Other in advance, but if FOSS4G is going to be the "meeting of the
> tribes" we need to hold it closer to the tribes more often, and the
> tribes are mostly in Euro/NA.

Paul,

I do think that region is playing a factor now.  Given strong bids from
several locations, I was inclined to lean towards a large community that
hadn't had a FOSS4G for a while.  However, we might have done ourselves
a disservice if we had suggested that 2009 should be europe or north
america after having 2008 in south africa as this would have discouraged
australia who we ended up selecting.

It would be nice to offer some hints to bidders on which way things
are leaning location wise, and certainly I've done this informally when
asked (speaking only for myself of course).  But there are many subjective
factors, and it is hard to put something in the RFP that may not ultimately
reflect the subjective decisions the voters make at the end of the process.

I will say that I wonder if we could make the RFP process somewhat lighter
for bidders.  After site selection there is often a lot of tinkering done
with format, budget, and program - partly as influenced by the OSGeo
conference brain trust (those with past experience, and contributing to
the future conferences).  I'm not sure just how detailed we need the RFP
responses to be.  Mostly, I want to know that we have a significant number
of competent people behind the bid, and that the proposed site doesn't
have any insurmountable problems (facilities, costs, etc).

I do hope that the bidders who didn't win will consider this a dry run for
a future bid.  I certainly found all the bids quite compelling.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | Geospatial Programmer for Rent