[OSGeo-Conf] Comments on Boston 2017 proposal

Michael Terner mgt at appgeo.com
Tue Nov 3 09:59:52 PST 2015 

Dear Jeff:
Thanks so much for your thoughts, observations, advice and questions. We
greatly appreciate your input. Below and in-line (and in blue text) you
will find some answers to the questions you've interspersed as well as "our
take" on some of your ideas. Here goes:

On Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 2:27 PM, Jeff McKenna <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com>
wrote:

> Dear Michael and BLOC team,
>
> Thank you for your proposal for Boston, Mass.  Here are
> some comments from me, that I hope will help you in this final stage and
> beyond:
>
> - thank you for including a Vision Statement for the local team.  It is
> nice to read that the OSGeo foundation plays such an important part in that
> vision.
>
> - I think your inclusion of a promotional video really helps get a sense
> of the community.  As you know, the FOSS4G 2016 team really hit a home run
> with their own promotional video (
> http://2016.foss4g.org/index.php/promotion-video.html)
>
> - thanks for describing the full BLOC team, it seems like a wide
> representation of the local community
>
> - I like that you are already thinking of leaders for subcommittees. One
> that is often forgotten, yet is very important, is a subcommittee for
> managing Volunteers.  Roles such as room monitors, workshop monitors are a
> great way to give local students a chance to network and experience the
> event, but someone needs to manage this.  Please consider this important
> role in your plans.
>

​
​BLOC: ​
Great point. We will definitely add that to the list.​



>
> - You have strong letters of support, including several from the community
> sector.
>
> - I think your choice of going with a local PCO is very smart, as this
> will give you a boots-on-the-ground edge that is needed for so many months
> in advance of the event.
>
> - You get strong bonus points from me for the section on working in
> partnership with OSGeo.  This proposal gives me a sense that you value the
> importance of the foundation.  I like your idea of an executive committee,
> as well as OSGeo being a "presenting sponsor".
>
> - Regarding the workshop locations, will you be providing transportation
> to these offsite venues?  (such as transit passes)
>

​
​BLOC: ​
We have not gotten to this level of detail, but the workshop locations are
all an easy public transportation ride from one another and the conference
hotel. There wouldn't be any other transportation offered, but transit
passes would be a feasible and affordable option. Subway fares are between
$2.10 - $2.65 each way
​; and a daily pass is available for $12.​
​
​
​

>
> - I like that you target some workshops for high school and undergraduate
> students
>
> - Your proposal mentions a welcome event on the Wednesday, but also
> mentions the same event for the Tuesday.  In my opinion, having such a
> gathering place on the Tuesday night is as important as the official
> welcome party on Wednesday.  Maybe you could simply "recommend" Tuesday
> arrivals meet at the Harpoon Brewery, and then have the official welcome
> party there on Wednesday.  Often many LOCs mistakenly do not recommend a
> meeting place for the early (and workshop) arrivals on that Tuesday.
>
> ​BLOC: ​
Since we are at the planning stage, the details can certainly​

​evolve. Here's what we were thinking even if we inadvertently used
overlapping language. In short, it's two distinct events:

   - ​*Welcome party/gathering* on *Tuesday* night at the Harpoon Brewery
   for workshop attendees and early arrivers
   - ​
   ​
   ​"*Welcome social*" (or perhaps better named "*First night social*")
   immediately following the first day's program,
   ​on *Wednesday*, ​
   and on-site at the World Trade Center.​


-  Thank you for listing the possible themes for the presentations, for
> technical and academic and social
>
> - I like your idea of early-bird registrants getting a free gala pass
>
> - regarding budget, have you also planned for some possible travel grants,
> to allow some underfunded participants to attend?  I believe FOSS4G Seoul
> had 10 recipients of these.
>

​
​BLOC: ​
We have budgeted complimentary passes for this purpose, but we do not yet
have a cash set-aside ​for this
​kind of program
. We believe it is a good and worthy idea and will try to work it into the
budget.


>
> - thank you for specifying the possible sponsor packages and benefits.
>
> - regarding conflicting events and timing, I think this discussion has
> already been handled on the mailing list.  However I would have liked the
> proposal to list the conflicting September events, for the reason to move
> to August.  (like I said, you can ignore this comment from me, as you have
> likely already answered that publicly)
>

​BLOC: Thanks for recognizing our earlier comments on the list, but I can
offer a little further elaboration on September specifically (and if you
look at Attachment 2, last page of the proposal you'll see the conflicts
that occur in October). The conflicts with September were less about other
geo events/conferences and more about conflicts with the academic school
year (as several BLOC members and prospective attendees are in academia)
and religious holidays.

   - School start-up:  August 28 – September 8, 2017
   - Islamic New Year:  September 21, 2017
   - Rosh Hashanah: September 21–22, 2017
   - Eurogeography: September 29–30, 2016
   - Yom Kippur: September 30, 2017
   - Ashura: September 30, 2017​



Thank you once again for the time you put into carefully reviewing our
proposal and providing these good questions and helpful suggestions.

MT & the BLOC​



Thanks again for your proposal.
>
> -jeff
>
>
>
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-- 
*Michael Terner*
*Executive Vice President*
617-447-2468 Direct | 617-447-2400 Main
Applied Geographics, Inc.
24 School Street, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02108
www.AppGeo.com

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