[OSGeo-Conf] Question Period: Dublin proposal

[Jeff McKenna]

Hi Peter and Dublin team,

Thanks for your detailed proposal, here are my questions and comments on 
your full proposal:

- I am captivated by your FOSS4G logo on the opening page of the 
proposal.  The "Open Doors" theme and explanation are a wonderful fit 
for the true spirit of FOSS4G.

- also I am happy to see "presented by OSGeo" there directly on your 
opening page as well.

- Section 1: Great to see a headshot image of the chair.  Actually this 
was done well by both teams (what better way to get to know team members 
than a small image beside their descriptions).

  - I really like this section, which shows the vision by the chair.  I 
also agree that FOSS4G should be more inclusive towards the future of 
the community, the students and the children.

- Section 2: Interesting to read about the Health Atlas Ireland (I tried 
to actually see it in action, but every link I tried required a login).

- Section 3: Wow, how nice to see a summary of the main points of the 
proposal in 3 concise pages.

   - thank you for including a proposed timeline of important dates.  (I 
wonder why this isn't actually a requirement in the RFP, I'll note this 
for future calls)

- Section 4: I like that you focus on providing space for Birds of 
Feather sessions, and a non-sit-down Gala event.

   - the community weekend is a great idea.  I would think that the best 
time for this is before the event (as your local team and most FOSS4G 
community members will be exhausted by the end of the week).

   - wonderful that you will work with the GeoForAll community and plan 
to create a new lab.

   - the "what Success will look like" section is superb, as it is great 
to read about your team's goals for FOSS4G.  I especially like the plan 
to make all materials including workshop materials made available as 
soon as possible.

   - I like reading that your team realizes how serious the 
responsibility to host FOSS4G is to OSGeo.

- Section 5: there are multiple venues proposed, and I did notice in the 
budget that you are planning on providing a shuttle from hotels to the 
venue, and also a help desk at the airport.  Can you maybe elaborate a 
little more on these plans for transportation around to the venues?

   - the CCD venue looks to be a wonderful location to host FOSS4G.  Did 
you have any direct discussions with the CCD staff (such as about our 
tech requirements), or visit the venue in person?

   - wow I love seeing a map of the locations (we are geospatial right 
ha), instead of me having to try to figure out that myself.  And a 
working mapping application showing the locations! 
http://www.peterm7.com/foss4g2016/ (I had to turn on the OSM layer to 
see building names)

   - great to see that the OSGeo AGM, Sol Katz Award, and Board of 
Directors F2F meeting are factored into your plans (often I have to 
bother the local committees later on to remind them of these)

   - I think it is important to provide discount accommodation options 
for FOSS4G, so I am glad to read that you are in discussions with 
Universities for on-campus options.

- Section 6: I think the addition of committee members that have hosted 
international events is important (Maria, Marco with this year's 
FOSS4G-Europe event will be invaluable)

   - I worry that the local committee doesn't have enough representation 
from SME / industry. You mention the OpenApp team, and I am surprised 
that no one from their team is included in the local committee.

   - it's good that you have a backup plan for the conference chair 
(this has actually happened in a past FOSS4G, so having someone ready to 
step up into that role is a good thing)

   - I am very happy to hear of your plans to form an OSGeo local 
chapter (http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Ireland), and also work with the 
existing UK chapter.  In fact I've today requested to the OSGeo systems 
team that an "Ireland" mailing list be created for you.

   - I like your plan to work with OSGeo throughout, and provide the 
OSGeo Board monthly updates (I have started to do this with the Seoul 
team, and I feel that this should be a requirement for all FOSS4G events).

- Section 7: I am not so sure the budget should assume 1,000 attendees 
only.  I would be good to also account for less, such as numbers for 
600, 800, and 1000 attendees.  I do value your passion and goals for 
1,000 though.

   - I don't see any proposed expenses for Workshop machines (this is 
often a major expense).  I wonder if, as a worst case scenario, you 
could provide an estimated budget that includes costs for hosting the 
workshops at the CCD venue (will be very pricey, compared to a 
university setting, but you can later examine the university option). 
Or, outline costs for the university hosting the workshops and providing 
the machines and tech support.

   - nice to see including costs of onsite first-aid.  This should 
really be a requirement in the RFP for venue.

   - great that you included sending a rep to FOSS4G-Seoul in your cost 
estimate (no better way to learn than to be there in Seoul and speak to 
that local committee and attendees).

Section 8: I like that you are including the handover to FOSS4G 2017 
team in your program, as these 10 minutes or so are super important.

   - wonderful plan to have the first Irish chapter meeting on Day 1 !

   - I don't see any issues with the proposed dates of August 15-20th.

   - the plan to co-host with the IRLOGI community is a great idea. 
This would really boost the local community involvement in FOSS4G. 
Wonderful.

- Section 9: Thanks for describing and choosing a PCO.  I like that they 
provide a working like to their proposed registration/abstract system 
(https://b-com.mci-group.com/Registration/DynamicRegistration/DynamicRegistrationPage.aspx?EventCode=DEMO2014&SiteCode=DEFAULT)

   - Oh, great to see that you will be trying to translate event 
materials into several languages.

   - thanks for following along the OSGeo Diversity / Code of Conduct 
discussions.


Thank you again for this detailed proposal.


-jeff