[OSGeo-Conf] FOSS4G rotation - proposal and vote

[Gavin Fleming]

+1

On 21/04/2013 00:51, Cameron Shorter wrote:
> OSGeo Conference committee:
>
> I trust that there has been sufficient time for anyone with an opinion 
> regarding foss4g rotation to air it, and I'd like propose a vote in 
> order to test/confirm that we have reached a rough consensus.
>
> I propose that the international FOSS4G rotation policy be defined as 
> per:
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_Cookbook#City_Selection
>
> (text copied below)
> The regions FOSS4G rotates through are:
>
>     Europe
>     North America
>     Rest of world
>
> This is caveatted by the OSGeo Conference committee feeling confident 
> that the proposed city/region will attract the majority of the 
> international FOSS4G audience.
>
> So our rotation policy is:
>
>     Strong preference is given to the region which hasn't had FOSS4G 
> for 2 years
>     We next consider the region which had FOSS4G 2 years ago
>     Only as a last resort would we consider a region which had FOSS4G 
> last year
>
> ------------
> Could all current conference committee members please vote. Past 
> member votes would also be welcomed.
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Conference_Committee#Current_Members
>
> Current Members
>
>     Thierry Badard
>     Lorenzo Becchi
>     Peter Batty
>     Gavin Fleming
>     Dave McIlhagga
>     Helena Mitasova
>     Claude Philipona
>     Venkatesh Raghavan
>     Paul Ramsey
>     Cameron Shorter
>
> Past Members
>
>     Allan Doyle
>     Olivier Ertz
>     Alain Grignon
>     Luc Maurer
>     Daniel Rappo
>     Dave Patton
>     Rafael Medeiros Sperb
>     Jeff McKenna
>     Arnulf Christl
>     Markus Neteler
>     Frank Warmerdam
>     Steve Lime
>
> On 13/04/13 07:24, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>> In the last board meeting, the question was raised about global 
>> FOSS4G rotation.
>>
>> we currently have a 3 way rotation policy: Europe 2013 / North 
>> America 2014 / Rest of world 2015
>>
>> It has been suggested that we should revisit this rotation policy, 
>> and consider:
>>
>> Europe / North America / Europe / North America
>>
>> Reasons:
>> * Previous global FOSS4G events have attracted more people and been 
>> more lucrative in Europe / North America
>> * Europe/North America could be argued to be less financially risky. 
>> Our one cancelled FOSS4G was in China in 2012.
>> * FOSS4G (global and regional) events traditionally draw half their 
>> attendance from the local region. Europe and North America both have 
>> large populations with established OSGeo communities.
>>
>> I'm in favour of continuing our current 3 way rotation, on the 
>> proviso that there are proven OSGeo communities outside of NA/Europe. 
>> By proven, I'd suggest that we would consider regions which have 
>> already successfully staged a FOSS4G regional event (or similar) and 
>> who can put together a compelling justification that they can attract 
>> comparable attendees and sponsors to Europe/North America.
>>
>> Looking at: http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Live_GIS_History
>> I see that there have previously been regional FOSS4G events in:
>> Argentina
>> India
>> Korea
>> Malaysia
>> Japan
>>
>> So for 2015, I'd suggest that our FOSS4G pre qualification should 
>> invite responses from "rest of the world" and Europe, but we should 
>> give a preference to "rest of world" assuming they can provide a 
>> compelling proposal which is likely to attract similar success to 
>> past European and North American conferences.
>>
>> Generalising the rule. Our rotation policy should be:
>>
>> * We give a strong preference to a region which hasn't had FOSS4G for 
>> 2 years
>> * We next consider the region which had FOSS4G 2 years ago
>> * Only as a last resort would we consider a region which had FOSS4G 
>> last year
>>
>> Regions are considered as: Europe / North America / Other locations
>>
>
>

-- 
regards

Gavin

Gavin Fleming
http://afrispatial.co.za
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