[OSGeo-Conf] Re: Selecting a perpetual FOSS4G PCO?

[Daniel Ames]

Well they say there's no such think as a new idea... Good job and good luck
with the decision on the question of a permanent PCO.

For what it's worth (and having organized and co-organized several
conferences) I think it's an excellent idea.

- Dan

--------------------------
Daniel P. Ames, Ph.D. PE
Associate Professor, Geosciences
Idaho State University - Idaho Falls
dan.ames at isu.edu
geology.isu.edu
www.mapwindow.org



On Sat, Aug 20, 2011 at 8:09 AM, Jeff McKenna <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com
> wrote:

> That is exactly what the OSGeo Conference Committee is Dan. You might not
> be aware of the committee, so you can check out its members at
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/**Conference_Committee<http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Conference_Committee> Actually now the committee is in the final stage of the 2012 bidding
> process (http://www.osgeo.org/**conference/rfp/<http://www.osgeo.org/conference/rfp/>
> ).
>
> -jeff
>
>
>
>
> On 11-08-20 12:18 AM, Daniel Ames wrote:
>
>> Tyler and Cameron, I suggest you form a "blue ribbon panel" of the
>> conference chairs from each of the past conferences and ask them to
>> study this issue and make a recommendation.
>>
>> - Dan
>> --------
>> Daniel P. Ames Ph.D.
>> Idaho State University Dept. of Geosciences
>> dan.ames at isu.edu <mailto:dan.ames at isu.edu>
>>
>> --------
>> Sent from my Droid
>>
>> On Aug 19, 2011 3:11 PM, "Tyler Mitchell" <tmitchell at osgeo.org
>> <mailto:tmitchell at osgeo.org>> wrote:
>>  >
>>  >> Jeff, Arnulf and myself have been approached by an international
>> consortium of Professional Conference Organisors (PCOs), offering to
>> take over the hosting of FOSS4G around the world for us.
>>  >
>>  > Hi Cameron,
>>  >
>>  > I have also been approached, informally, by some of our past
>> organisers who are plugged into these kinds of international consortiums
>> and can work with others around the globe on our behalf - e.g. Sea to
>> Sky who ran FOSS4G 2007 was interested. GITA from this year would be
>> interested as well. I assume 2008 Tour Hosts, etc. would be too. I like
>> the idea of having a dedicated PCO. It would make a serious change to
>> the way bids are prepared each year, which would need to be considered,
>> but also think it would help lower the barrier to LOCs that may be
>> intimidated.
>>  >
>>  >> I believe that we have reached the point with FOSS4G that it would
>> make sense to have a paid staff role, or a partner organisation,
>> dedicated to managing the hosting of FOSS4G, this providing continuity
>> of knowledge about FOSS4G from city to city.
>>  >
>>  > It would be great to hear about what isn't working well, beyond just
>> the lessons learned we capture on the wiki. We know that, for example,
>> it takes PCO (companies) a while to get up to speed with our way of
>> running things - e.g. community voting for presentations, specific
>> timelines, system requirements. Much of which is smoother if they ran it
>> a second time.
>>  >
>>  > I wonder how this would shake out financially - annual retainer
>> needed, bridge funding throughout the year required? How do we make it
>> profitable yet easy to run and without making major impact on your
>> current budget. Did you have any gut feel on that side of it?
>>  >
>>  >> This would help reduce the very high learning curve that each LOC
>> faces when running FOSS4G, and will allow us to set up websites and
>> infrastructure which is passed on.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > The approach so far has been that OSGeo Board has a rep on the LOC,
>> OSGeo conference committee chair is on the LOC and OSGeo staffer is on
>> the LOC. It would be worth reviewing how well this is working at the
>> moment so we can see where the holes are. These roles have been adapted
>> over the years to help pass on that knowledge and continuity that you
>> mention, so I think it's a good place to start. e.g. are there areas
>> that these roles are not covering off well enough that a PCO might do
>> better; are there some "business systems" steps for FOSS4G planning that
>> need to be documented to improve things, etc?
>>  >
>>  > Count me in for further discussions on both aspects!
>>  >
>>  > Thanks for bringing it up - it's been on my mind too.
>>  >
>>  > Tyler_________________________**______________________
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