[OSGeo-Conf] [Board] FOSS4G Boston Travel Grants ~ IMPORTANT request

Till Adams till.adams at fossgis.de
Thu May 4 23:37:02 PDT 2017


Dear Jody,

in the moment this is my suggestion, so the opinion of just one member
of ConfComm. I call up a vote in ConfComm, so we have a decision.
Afterwards, we can discuss your thoughts.

Till

Am 05.05.2017 um 08:31 schrieb Jody Garnett:
> Excellent, so would the idea be to update the conference committee
> mandate then?
>
> Or would the conference committee set this up as indicative (for
> program visibility and sponsorship)? ... similar to how the
> website/rebranding is being taken on as a one-off by the marketing
> committee.
>
> That is a bit of a strategic question so it may require thought /
> planning.
>
>
> On Thu, May 4, 2017 at 11:19 PM Till Adams <till.adams at fossgis.de
> <mailto:till.adams at fossgis.de>> wrote:
>
>     Hi Jody,
>
>     I would propose to post this responsibility to the ConfCom. Some
>     of the past chairs already were involved in such kind of decisions.
>
>     Till
>
>
>
>     Am 04.05.2017 um 17:07 schrieb Jody Garnett:
>>     Thanks Till, can you dive into that draft document and come back
>>     here with feedback?
>>
>>     One open question is who should take the responsibility for
>>     approving event applications. Should the board handle it like
>>     code sprints, is the conference committee interested in the
>>     responsibility, do we want a new committee with yourself as
>>     chair? Etc ...
>>
>>     If there is a dedicated group then it would open up a few
>>     alternate approaches to the one proposed.
>>     On Wed, May 3, 2017 at 11:32 PM Till Adams <till.adams at fossgis.de
>>     <mailto:till.adams at fossgis.de>> wrote:
>>
>>         I raise my hand as volunteer.
>>
>>
>>         Till
>>
>>
>>
>>         Am 03.05.2017 um 18:10 schrieb Jody Garnett:
>>>         We covered this in last months board meeting, so far we need
>>>         volunteers willing to take part.
>>>
>>>         You many not be specifically happy with the direction thus
>>>         far (travel grant fund available to all osgeo events,
>>>         focused on diversity, event organizers apply similar to code
>>>         sprints).
>>>
>>>         I have draft I am working on based on discussion thus far
>>>         (using code sprint guidelines as a starting point).
>>>>>>          Travel Grant Guidelines
>>>         <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jYDOd87redxMHwT-xURcBrD7xwOeAPdVVLWZtIbM7-w/edit?usp=drive_web>
>>>>>>
>>>         --
>>>         Jody Garnett
>>>
>>>         On 3 May 2017 at 07:59, Steven Feldman <shfeldman at gmail.com
>>>         <mailto:shfeldman at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>             I fully support Michael’s request. 
>>>
>>>             It is time for OSGeo to establish a transparent policy
>>>             on travel grants, to fund them and most importantly to
>>>             administer them
>>>             ______
>>>             Steven
>>>
>>>
>>>>             On 3 May 2017, at 13:56, Till Adams
>>>>             <till.adams at fossgis.de <mailto:till.adams at fossgis.de>>
>>>>             wrote:
>>>>
>>>>             As you all can see we've been very busy assembling our
>>>>             program (225 accepted talks
>>>>             <http://2017.foss4g.org/accepted-presentations/>, out
>>>>             of 423 submitted) and rounding out the sponsorship for
>>>>             the conference (>$200k of commitments
>>>>             <http://2017.foss4g.org/sponsor/>). And now, with 2
>>>>             weeks to go before the Early Bird expires, registration
>>>>             is starting to pickup with ~200 registrations processed.
>>>>
>>>>             And, with registration on people's minds we have
>>>>             started to get the inevitable requests for financial
>>>>             support (e.g., and accepted speaker who's company
>>>>             cannot pay; graduate students looking for support;
>>>>             etc.) and we expect those requests to continue. The
>>>>             Boston LOC (BLOC) would dearly like to have a "Travel
>>>>             Grant Program", but as was pointed out in earlier
>>>>             threads (I believe by both Steven Feldman and Jody
>>>>             Garnett) it is difficult for the host LOC to run such a
>>>>             program. For instance:
>>>>
>>>>              1. We do not yet know our financial condition. With
>>>>                 registrations being notoriously late, we won't know
>>>>                 if/how much $'s are available for such a program
>>>>                 for some time.
>>>>              2. Administering such a program takes time, and our
>>>>                 primary focus is on producing the conference and
>>>>                 the workshops.
>>>>              3. Decisions on criteria for choosing recipients and
>>>>                 the amount of individual grants can be delicate and
>>>>                 the criteria/objectives may differ between the BLOC
>>>>                 and OSGeo
>>>>
>>>>             As such,*the BLOC would like to make a formal request
>>>>             that OSGeo establish and administer a travel grant
>>>>             program for the Boston 2017 event*. We would gladly
>>>>             collaborate and help advertise the program (e.g., on
>>>>             our website and through referrals), but we would concur
>>>>             that this program should be established and funded by
>>>>             OSGeo. We have high hopes that the proceeds from Boston
>>>>             will reimburse OSGeo's investment in subsidizing
>>>>             attendance from certain communities. And, we too will
>>>>             be looking to offer other opportunities for financial
>>>>             support through our volunteer program, and potentially
>>>>             a "need-based" registration discount (if our Early Bird
>>>>             registrations give us increased confidence in our
>>>>             financial success).
>>>>
>>>>             Thank you in advance for considering this request.
>>>>             Please let us know if you have any questions.
>>>>
>>>>             Sincerely, MT & the BLOC
>>>>             -- 
>>>>             *Michael Terner*
>>>>             /Executive Vice President
>>>>             ​ & Chair FOSS4G Boston 2017​
>>>>             /
>>>>             Applied Geographics, Inc.
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>             _______________________________________________
>>>             Board mailing list
>>>             Board at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Board at lists.osgeo.org>
>>>             https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>>>
>>>
>>
>>     -- 
>>     -- 
>>     Jody Garnett
>
> -- 
> -- 
> Jody Garnett

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