[OSGeo-Conf] Re: [Board] Proposal/thoughts for a FOSS4G Advisor Role

[Cameron Shorter]

I've read through this thread and my sentiments are very similar to 
Peter Batty's. Like Peter, one of the things I missed most when we were 
organising FOSS4G 2009 was experience from previous conferences.
Paul Ramsey (chair of FOSS4G 2007) did weigh in sometimes and his advise 
was hugely valuable (along with his Lessons Learned), but beyond that, 
we re-learned many things again the hard way.

I've added comments to the wiki for the FOSS4G Advisor Role.
In particular:
* I think this role should be supporting local FOSS4G events as much as 
the international event. The transition to many local events will reach 
an order of magnitude more people than the international event, and as 
such should be encouraged. They will also be experiencing different 
opportunities and challenges, as they will often be smaller with less 
access to OSGeo celebrities, and as such would probably benefit more 
from an advisor role than the international events.

* I think the most effective way to help many events is to start adding 
to a FOSS4G Cookbook. If a FOSS4G adviser's key role is to share 
knowledge between events, then I would expect they would be a key 
contributor to such a Cookbook.

* I didn't feel a need for advice related to the venue that an external 
advisor would have significantly helped with, and as such don't see 
funding a pre-visit to the conference venue as a priority.


On 23/11/2011 9:54 PM, Seven (aka Arnulf) wrote:
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> Hi,
> I forward this to the conference committee because I think it should be
> aware of the discussion. Please read the mails on the board archive
> starting here:
> http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2011-November/009180.html
>
>
> Wrt this section from Peter's mail:
>
> On 22.11.2011 21:37, Peter Batty wrote:
>> But at the same time I was also surprised at the amount of stuff we had
>> to reinvent within the LOC, and was frustrated that on several occasions
>> I received input on important items when it was way too late to change
>> things (which is why I think the cookbook / template is so important - I
>> think the LOC should have flexibility to deviate from that as it makes
>> sense, but having this to make sure things don't get missed is important).
> I very much support creating a template or handbook for FOSS4G
> conferences. This has been discussed before and there is already quite a
> lot of material available, check lists, lessens learned, etc. which
> could be compiled into a handbook.
>
> We did this [1] two years ago for the German language FOSSGIS conference
> and it has since been a great help for the LOC.
>
> Compiling such a handbook while doing it would be a great deliverable
> which I would also like to see on the list of tangible benefits from a
> paid position.
>
> Best regards,
> Arnulf
>
> [1] http://www.fossgis.de/konferenz/wiki/Handbuch
> An English translation (more or less readable, created using Google
> Translate) is available here (the linksstill hop back into the German
> version...):
> http://arnulf.us/publications/fossgis_handbook.html
>
> - -- 
> Exploring Space, Time and Mind
> http://arnulf.us
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-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Solutions Manager
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

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