[OSGeo-Conf] The Funding Problem

[Helena Mitasova]

On Oct 5, 2008, at 8:33 PM, Paul Ramsey wrote:

>>> No, what is "the funding problem" and what would a solution look  
>>> like?
>>
>> I think that Markus refers here to the relatively high cost of  
>> registration
>> and travel for the more formal type of conference.
>
> Given airfare and the cost of rooming in any location for a full week,
> I think the issue is travel. The registration cost of FOSS4G remains
> low enough that the idea that it is a serious impediment I think is a
> red herring.
>
>> How about doing an "OSGeo world conference" every other year with  
>> cheaper
>> less formal conferences between - these could even been regional/ 
>> continental
>> to minimize travel cost.
>
> Again, I really fail to see that FOSS4G is so punitively expensive. It
> is certainly punitively far away, but we have only ourselves to blame
> for that.
>
> If people start popping up and offering to organize and host a North
> American or European "technical get together" I don't think anyone
> will seriously tell them "no". About the only pointed comment I can
> imagine would be "hold it in the spring so it's not directly next to
> FOSS4G".
>
> But people aren't offering to put these things on, that I have seen?
> I'm more concerned that, globally, we'll run out of FOSS4G hosters in
> the next couple rounds. We're not exactly beating back the hordes from
> the gates, begging to be allowed to host conferences.
>
> Anyways, this is the origin of my (received-as-hostile) comment to
> Markus that, if he is not seeing what he wants in the current set of
> conferences, to step up and put on one he wants to see. I wanted to
> see FOSS4G put on in a particular way, because I thought doing so
> would establish a model that others would then want to follow, so I
> got it and put it on. Just like in the software, the idea is "show me,
> don't tell me".
>
> A cheap, regional, technically oriented conference can be put on right
> now, and we don't need to muck w/ FOSS4G to do it. Pick some dates in
> the spring, and put it on.

we have actually discussed the feasibility to organize regional OSGeo
right before (or after) NCGIS conference sometimes in future.
It is in late winter / early spring every other year (2009, 2011, etc.)
but it remains to be seen whether we have enough resources to
ever do it.

> It won't interfere unduly with FOSS4G and
> if that kind of thing is roaringly successful we might find ourselves
> stopping the FOSS4G train because the other conferences are so darn
> good. Show us.

But this was exactly my concern - that doing regional and world  
conferences
in a single year will dilute them (I am assuming that most people  
will come
only to one) and we may not have a winner and both may die out (I am
getting too pessimistic here probably, we already have plenty of smaller
project focused conferences in the same year).

Helena


>
> P.
>
>> Many organizations have a big world congress once in 3-4 years
>> and annual regional conferences in between, but we are small so we  
>> can have
>> the
>> world conference more often.
>> This would avoid having two conferences in one year and splitting the
>> community
>> and it should provide both the worldwide  meeting and the more  
>> informal one.
>> And of course, the world congress would still have space for the  
>> "working,
>> coding
>> meetings" along with keynotes, business and technical sessions and
>> everything
>> that belongs to a more formal congress.
>>