[OSGeo-Conf] OSGeo Booth

Tue Sep 1 16:45:36 PDT 2015

I completely agree that the booth requirement should be included in RFP. Same with the advances and guarantees.

Helena

P.S. Any news on where FOSS4G NA will be held?

> On Sep 1, 2015, at 6:50 PM, Eli Adam <eadam at co.lincoln.or.us> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Sep 1, 2015 at 1:50 PM, Steven Feldman <shfeldman at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Jeff
>> 
>> This shouldn't be a touchy subject. It should be a mandatory requirement on bidders for a FOSS4G
> 
> I consider it already an unwritten requirement.
> 
>> 
>> My suggestion - the organisers should provide a space of similar size and specifications to that offered to top level sponsors in a prominent location. OSGeo should be responsible for fitting out the stand and staffing it
> 
> An overly large booth is a drawback, not an advantage.  You want a
> "full" booth.  You can make it full with furniture, displays, people,
> etc.  Empty booths look bad.  OSGeo should be provided with a booth of
> size and space that they can appropriately fill.  I recall the 2011
> OSGeo booth looking great in Denver; large, prominently visible at the
> end of the hall, a default hangout location for people (I think that
> it had couches), busy, full, etc.
> 
>> 
>> If the conference committee agree we can make this a requirement for bidders for 2017 (and we can request it from 2016 as part of the guarantee agreement)
> 
> Agree.  Let's have time to discuss it a while then if everyone agrees
> (or those who voice an opinion support it), I'll update the 2018 RFP
> and commit to SVN.  I think that this has been a unwritten requirement
> that was never formalized.  I'm trying to add all the unwritten
> requirements to the RFP as written requirements so we don't have
> surprises with unwritten requirements.
> 
> 
>> 
>> I suggest that we also require bidders for 2017 and beyond to provide details of any advances and guarantees that they require with supporting schedules as part of their proposals
> 
> Agree.  If others agree, then we can add this to the RFP as well.
> 
> 
>> 
>> Regards
>> Steven
>> 
>> 
>> +44 (0) 7958 924101
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On 1 Sep 2015, at 21:36, Jeff McKenna <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hello Conference Committee,
>>> 
>>> I would like to discuss something, that, in all honesty is a very touchy subject, as there never seems to be a good time to discuss this (I may offend current local committees, past local committees).  So, this is a disclaimer: In this message I am not referring to any past or current FOSS4G.  I am merely needing to explain the issue, so we can possibly handle this for future events.  And I realize that the experienced Conference Committee members will know the best way to handle this from now on.
>>> 
>>> Each year I must contact the FOSS4G local committee and ask about an OSGeo booth.  Now, the local committee has to please its sponsors and attract more sponsorship revenue and there is a lot of pressure on them for this reason.  (OSGeo is never classed as a sponsor) Yet, here is OSGeo, the host of the event, the foundation who awarded the team the event, the foundation who provided the necessary seed money a year in advance, the foundation who gave the local committee the spotlight, and so on...asking for a booth as well.
> 
> So long as sponsors are not stuck in a "bad" booth, I don't think that
> they care what booth OSGeo has.  I would avoid giving OSGeo the "best"
> booth in whichever class selected.  That way you can point out to
> people who complain about their booth that we selected a "worse" spot
> for our own booth.  Also, with last minute sponsors signing up it is
> very helpful to have one flexible booth.  In addition to a booth,
> OSGeo can get visibility in non-booth ways, like logos on signs, etc.
> Where you put OSGeo logos is not limited.  Again Denver did a great
> job of this in 2011, very visually prominent and large and full but at
> the end of the hall so to get there must walk by all the other booths.
> 
>>> 
>>> On my (OSGeo) side, I want a large prominent booth; I do not want OSGeo to be given a small booth away from the main exhibition area, facing a wall etc.  In fact, sure, I want OSGeo to have a double-booth, we want to be seen, to show that 'hey yes we are hosting this event, we are great, we do great things'.
>>> 
>>> The reality is that there is no requirement to give OSGeo a booth, as it is not mentioned in the FOSS4G RFP.
>>> 
>>> If it is not in the RFP (and here is where my tongue gets tied always) should I be asking the OSGeo Board for approval to become a platinum sponsor, of our own event, so we can get a great booth?  Imagine that reaction.   Then, what happens is I instead ask for a booth to the local committee, and they often do their best to give OSGeo a booth.
>>> 
>>> My question is: should the OSGeo Conference Committee be including the OSGeo exhibition booth as a requirement for hosting FOSS4G, by adding this to the RFP; or should the OSGeo Board be looking at ways to become platinum sponsors for FOSS4G as well?
>>> 
>>> I really feel that this should (well it is) become a requirement.  If it is written in the RFP then this pressure is removed.
> 
> 
> RFP requirement makes sense to me.
> 
>>> 
>>> Does the OSGeo booth hurt the event's bottom line? (less sponsor space etc., less sponsor revenue)  Yes this does open a can of worms, back to the focus/priority/goal of FOSS4G. And I also am acutely aware of OSGeo's lack of marketing committee and materials (it is funny how I/we are asking for great booth space, and yet we don't have professional marketing materials, I realize the irony here).  Even still, this needs to be discussed openly.
> 
> No, an OSGeo booth does not hurt the bottom line.  It is not going to
> impact the price of the space in any noticeable way and so long as it
> is planned for, then it does not displace paying sponsors.
> 
>>> 
>>> But I feel that it is the OSGeo Conference Committee that can solve this.
> 
> We can probably solve getting the booth.  Filling it with people and
> marketing material is another matter.  In 2014, the LOC recognized
> that our local chapter was fully busy with FOSS4G and sent a call out
> to our two neighboring chapters (and OSGeo discuss) to run the booth.
> That mostly worked.
> 
> Eli
> 
>>> 
>>> Thanks for understanding,
>>> 
>>> -jeff
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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Helena Mitasova
Professor at the Department of Marine, 
Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences
and Center for Geospatial Analytics
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8208
hmitaso at ncsu.edu
http://geospatial.ncsu.edu/osgeorel/
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