[OSGeo-Conf] TGP's in 2019

Mon Feb 11 10:30:24 PST 2019

A solution to this is more local conferences, but that pump needs to be
primed. I would also disagree that we're forcing women to do anything. From
Dar es Salaam, we actually ran two rounds of the TGP as we felt that we
didn't get the best results the first time around. By running two rounds,
we massively increased the number of women that applied and recieved grants
(I'm in the process of drawing the stats on this - but from memory about
20% in the first round were women - but after hammering it in the second it
went up to 80%). We also directly adjusted our grant amounts based on
location to foster non-flying options... our second round attendees
actually commandeered a bus and effectively had a FOSS4G Dar caravan from
Kamapla, Uganda, through Nairobi, Kenya onwards to Dar. I guarantee this
bus wasn't eco-friendly and it would have been safer to fly (which is
another consideration!). We also basically offered a free ticket to those
that came back to us and said "I can get there, but can't afford the
conference fee" - in East Africa, bus and a hostel was around $150, we
spent the majority of the money (~100 TGP awardees) on local, non-plane
travel too.

We need to be also cognizant that video recording is challenging on two
points - firstly, do the areas where we want impact have the bandwidth to
download/view them and is anyone watching them? One of the decisions I made
in the chair* was to commit the money that would have gone to video
recording to the TGP. This increased networking opportunities for those
that have never been to a FOSS4G to engage with our community. I look to
future events and if they are like the male dominated events that I
attended when I started off in my career I severely doubt we'll have any
change with the broader issues that we face. Some points distilled here:

   - Efforts need to be made, made again, and then redoubled to increase
   diversity. If that means 80% of the first round is by men, then go again.
   We didn't make as good as an effort the first time around. Part of round
   two was having a dedicated TGP Director, not spread between people;
   - We need to be in places were we aren't currently - if we're not, then
   what's the point?;
   - We need to consider the circumstances of many in developing economies.
   We cannot presume or let our privilege get in the way of unleashing the
   true potential with whoever is out there. Networking is and becoming part
   of the community I would place above content and if this means supporting
   airplane travel, so be it - also see [1]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 11:34, Steven Feldman <shfeldman at gmail.com> wrote:

> I 10,000% are with Mark free increasing diversity and encouraging
> underrepresented groups.
>
> We get the most bang for our buck by helping more people who live
> relatively near whose costs of travel will be lower and who also may be
> able to travel by train but that should not be our main driver
>
> Steven
> 07958 924 101
>
> On 11 Feb 2019, at 18:06, Mark Iliffe <markiliffe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I would counsel that we prioritise grants to those where we are
> underrepresented in both economic and gender terms - see the OECD
> Development Assistance Countries list [1]. While trains can be useful in
> the short term, we need to really consider the balance between being
> environmentally conscious and bringing those from the frontier of where we
> need to be and have the most impact. This will be achieved through
> empowering those through the TGP.  In less diplomatic terms, if we're not
> going to hold conferences with more regularity in SSE Asia, Latin American
> and the Caribbean, and Africa, we need to facilitate their travel to Europe
> and North America - that will mean flights 99% of the time.
>
> Just my $0.02...
>
> [1]
> http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/DAC_List_ODA_Recipients2018to2020_flows_En.pdf
>
>
> On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 10:13, Jonathan Moules <
> jonathan-lists at lightpear.com> wrote:
>
>>  >  Any comments on this or ideas on how to define a decision process?
>>
>> I'd suggest one criterion for the decision is to prioritise sustainable
>> forms of transport. I.e. flying would be last, trains first.
>> For official EU numbers:
>>
>> https://www.eea.europa.eu/media/infographics/co2-emissions-from-passenger-transport/view
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Jonathan
>>
>> On 2019-02-08 14:07, Till Adams wrote:
>> > Dear CC!
>> >
>> > We just got the confirmation from the board, that we have 25k US $ in
>> > 2019 for our Travel Grant Programmes.
>> >
>> > The idea is, that we want to dedicate 50-60% of this to the TGP of the
>> > global event (so this year for Bucharest - in case they apply for a TGP
>> > ;-)).
>> >
>> > The idea for the rest of the money is to give out a call to the
>> > community, that regional events can apply also for some TGP funding,
>> > given that they accept the application criteria (as defined in [1]).
>> >
>> > I'd like to push out that call quite fast and give a 3 or 4 week
>> > timeframe for organizers to apply. This gives every event owner the same
>> > chance and we do not have a "first comes, first serves" - which
>> > definetely would prefer events, that takeplace earlier in the year... .
>> >
>> > In case we have more requests than money, we need a clear and
>> > transparent decision process, which is the main task I fear.
>> >
>> > Any comments on this or ideas on how to define a decision process?
>> >
>> >
>> > So far, I wish you all a nice weekend!
>> >
>> > Till
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > [1] Steven and John Bryant workd hard on a draft of the application
>> > criteria
>> > (here
>> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kzu9z_4BRMzCc5y9SsE7--GnShL30kPGnh7gXlqJspQ/edit?usp=sharing
>> )
>> > It will go live on the OSGeo wiki over the weekend.
>> >
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