[OSGeo-Conf] FOSS4G 2021 Buenos Aires BID - Full proposal

Tue Dec 3 06:22:37 PST 2019

Dear Michael,

sorry for the delay in our response.

The answers to your questions are uploaded to the wiki.

Cheers

Malena

El lun., 2 dic. 2019 a las 12:11, Malena Libman (<malena.libman at gmail.com>)
escribió:

> Dear Michael,
>
> thank you for your questions and observations!
>
> The BALOC will be responding ASAP.
>
> Cheers
>
> Malena
>
> El dom., 1 dic. 2019 a las 17:45, michael terner (<ternergeo at gmail.com>)
> escribió:
>
>> Malena and the BALOC:
>>
>> (Also posted to the Wiki
>> <https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Q%26A_Stage_2_Buenos_Aires#Michael_Terner>.)
>>
>> Excellent, and well thought out proposal. I appreciate your efforts to
>> innovate. Below are a few questions and a couple of comments that refer to
>> the dialog in other question threads.
>>
>> Due to the fact that sponsorship is such an important part of the budget,
>> ranging from providing 24% to 36% of expected revenues, I have several
>> questions in this area. While the amount of sponsorship revenue you are
>> seeking may be "typical", due to your lower costs the *percentage* of
>> revenue from sponsorship is higher than typical. Indeed, it is at the
>> “base, break-even scenario” where sponsorship would provide ~36% of
>> revenue. To the sponsorship questions:
>>
>>    - *When you talk about outreach to companies, you state you will
>>    “contact local and regional companies. We will start with those that have
>>    already sponsored previous FOSS4G events.” Is there any plan for outreach
>>    to companies that aren’t “local and regional” and might include
>>    international companies? Do you have a sense of how many “local and
>>    regional” companies have sponsored “previous FOSS4G events”? Have any of
>>    these companies previously sponsored the global conference?*
>>
>>
>>    - *Can you elaborate on the “foyer in the CEC” that will be used for
>>    the sponsor booths? Will this foyer be connected/adjacent to the main hall
>>    and/or eating areas? Such an arrangement can help to create more natural
>>    encounters with the sponsor community vs. having to travel to a specific
>>    location to find the sponsor exhibits.*
>>
>>
>>    - *What are the number of sponsor booths/exhibits you’re expecting to
>>    accommodate? Based on the budget spreadsheet it looks like you’re expecting
>>    10 “exhibition stands” from sponsors. The proposal indicates there will
>>    also be 10 table top exhibitions for the Silver sponsors. Is it accurate
>>    that the exhibit area is expected to accommodate 20 sponsors with a mix of
>>    table top exhibits and exhibition stands? Have you spoken to any
>>    representative sponsors about their exhibiting expectations? I might
>>    observe that some Silver Sponsors - who could be paying $5,000 USD - may
>>    have a reasonable expectation of having more than a table-top exhibit.*
>>
>>
>>    - *Can you elaborate on how many, if any, “free conferences passes”
>>    will be included at each level of sponsorship from Diamond - Supporter?*
>>
>> Non-Sponsorship questions:
>>
>>    - *Can you elaborate on the phrase “82.11 The estimated change for
>>    2021 by the Argentinian Government”? Fully understanding that exchange
>>    rates can be very difficult to predict does your budget change (for
>>    better/worse) if this exchange rate is not achieved/is exceeded (noting
>>    that the current exchange rate is ARS ~$60 = USD $1)?*
>>
>>
>>    - *Pleased to learn that you will be using a “Professional Conference
>>    Organizer” (also referred to as the “Productora del Evento”) and that you
>>    have worked with them previously. Can you elaborate on their role and
>>    responsibilities (e.g., will they be doing banking? Contracting?
>>    Registration? Audio/visual? Etc.)?*
>>
>> Relevant observations:
>>
>> *Steven relayed that the typical "advance" from OSGeo was $40,000 USD. I
>> can report that Boston received a $70,000 advance, and that we modeled our
>> "ask" on previous conferences. I also know that Dar es Salaam did not seek
>> any advance. So from my vantage, the number has moved around a bit.*
>>
>> *As someone whose attendance will likely be funded by a corporation, I
>> would strongly +1 both Steven's and Paul's suggestions that the semantics
>> of registration costs matter a great deal. For me, it would be more
>> difficult to get an expense reimbursement/approval for a "voluntary higher
>> cost contribution" than it would be to simply pay a higher advertised fee.
>> I think both notions of having an advertised market price with multiple
>> options for "need-based discounts" (Steven) and/or a "corporate rate"
>> (Paul) would make sense and would help with revenue, while providing
>> flexibility for need-based discounts.*
>>
>>
>> Congrats on getting the proposal and best of luck!
>>
>>
>> MT
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 30, 2019 at 8:23 AM Malena Libman <malena.libman at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Eli and CC,
>>>
>>> please find the answers to the latest questions in the Wiki.
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Malena
>>>
>>> El vie., 29 nov. 2019 a las 15:15, Malena Libman (<
>>> malena.libman at gmail.com>) escribió:
>>>
>>>> Hi Eli,
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for your questions, will let you know as soon as we upload
>>>> the answers
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>>
>>>> Malena
>>>>
>>>> El vie., 29 nov. 2019 a las 14:50, Eli Adam (<eadam at co.lincoln.or.us>)
>>>> escribió:
>>>>
>>>>> BALOC,
>>>>>
>>>>> In the schedule it appears as if the code sprint is essentially the
>>>>> same time and duration as the conference.  This is further explained
>>>>> about having mentoring sessions available.
>>>>>
>>>>> Some projects use the code sprint not only to write code but as high
>>>>> bandwidth face to face interaction about making project decisions.
>>>>> Finding a time that everyone can meet from a project during the
>>>>> sessions could be difficult (many of these people will also be
>>>>> presenting sessions).
>>>>>
>>>>> Before eliminating the separate-day code spint, can you poll this
>>>>> list, https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/tosprint ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe I've misread this, but it seems that the vast majority of the
>>>>> conference (workshops, sessions) is taking place at the law school.
>>>>> Is that correct?  Is the large venue being used for more than Opening,
>>>>> Closing, AGM, and Lunch?  If the large venue is only being used for
>>>>> Opening, Closing, AGM, and Lunch, can other venues but explored for
>>>>> those functions?  Does the Law school have any larger spaces?  It
>>>>> seems like a large expense and high risk for minimal use.  Maybe I've
>>>>> misread it.
>>>>>
>>>>> On the wiki in short form, here,
>>>>> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Q%26A_Stage_2_Buenos_Aires#Eli_Adam
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks, Eli
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Nov 29, 2019 at 4:21 AM María Arias de Reyna <
>>>>> delawen at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Hi,
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Questions and answers posted on the wiki page.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On Thu, Nov 28, 2019 at 11:34 PM Malena Libman <
>>>>> malena.libman at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> > >
>>>>> > > Hi Paul,
>>>>> > >
>>>>> > > Thanks so much for your questions, we are working on the answers
>>>>> and will upload them to the wiki.
>>>>> > >
>>>>> > > cheers
>>>>> > >
>>>>> > > Malena
>>>>> > >
>>>>> > > El jue., 28 nov. 2019 a las 19:14, Paul Ramsey (<
>>>>> pramsey at cleverelephant.ca>) escribió:
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >> Hello All,
>>>>> > >> Your proposal is very nicely structured and well done!
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >> - Your plan to scale back facilities in the event of shortfall in
>>>>> registrations is wise. A question on that: what are the deadlines for
>>>>> cancellations? How much of the deposit will they retain? Unfortunately you
>>>>> will not have a clear feel for potential attendance until the early bird
>>>>> registration period closes, which can be only a few months before the final
>>>>> date. At some point, the venue will ask for full payment. Do your schedule
>>>>> points for things like early bird line up with your decision points for
>>>>> things like venues?
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >> - If you'll excuse my language, the facility prices you quote
>>>>> seem very "international", that is, they would be not surprising in any
>>>>> other major global city. At the same time, the entry fees seem very low,
>>>>> compared to the general foss4g trend. I see that the A/B and food costs are
>>>>> lower than I would "expect", have those been validated in the marketplace?
>>>>> Generally expensive venues have exclusive catering arrangements with firms
>>>>> that are equally expensive, are you allowed to use your quoted catering in
>>>>> the venues you have chosen?
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >> - How much of your $122K in budgeted sponsorship is "sure"
>>>>> already? That is, have the government corporate sponsors of this proposal
>>>>> made some kind of non-binding statement of interest in sponsorship?
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >> - Not a question, but one way of squaring the "can afford it"
>>>>> pricing problem is an "individual" rate vs a "corporate" rate. The
>>>>> community pgcon.org conference in Ottawa uses this construction.
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >> Thanks again for a great proposal.
>>>>> > >>
>>>>> > >> P
>>>>> > _______________________________________________
>>>>> > Conference_dev mailing list
>>>>> > Conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>> > https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Conference_dev mailing list
>>> Conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Michael Terner
>> ternergeo at gmail.com
>> (M) 978-631-6602
>>
>
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