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

Till Adams till.adams at fossgis.de
Thu May 4 23:43:14 PDT 2017


my vote is +1

Am 05.05.2017 um 08:37 schrieb Till Adams:
> 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> 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> 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> 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> 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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>>>>>             (AppGeo)._______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>             _______________________________________________
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>>>>             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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