<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">I’m trying to formulate a response to this, but it ties into an e-mail that I owe this list, but haven’t had time to send because I’ve been busy finalizing the conference preparations. Also, I’m well into my third pint this evening, so it’s probably not the best time. :)<div><br></div><div>While I agree the early bird discount is important for the reasons you state, there actually aren’t that many commitments that can be avoided after the deadline. Frankly, the only significant contracts unsigned by our early bird deadline of June 15th were the catering contracts. Though admittedly, that’s a substantial portion of the budget – if we were on that red line, we’d be jettisoning coffee breaks like ballast in a sinking ship.</div><div><br></div><div>I think right now the quickest thing I can say is that OSGeo has so far shown minimal interest in actually taking responsibility for FOSS4G. If OSGeo is going to increase the demands made on the committee, OSGeo needs to be stepping up and taking a more hands-on approach to conference organization. </div><div><br></div><div>For the record, I believe OSGeo needs to step up and take such a more hands on approach. I’d love a chance to talk about in person at the board meeting.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://SotM.us">SotM.us</a> runs very different, and I know from talking with the organizers that it was a challenge to break-even this year. The difficulty is that as conferences get bigger, they get more expensive to put on (primarily because the supply of possible venues shrinks very rapidly, and the per attendee costs go up substantially). They also get logistically more challenging, and having dedicated resources, either employee or outsourced, can vastly decrease the workload on the LOC. Frankly, unless something changes on this front, it’s just a matter of time until there’s another 2012. To be honest, I’m not sure <a href="http://SotM.us">SotM.us</a> would have been a success if Mapbox hadn’t devoted significant employee resources to making sure it was (as they have for the past three <a href="http://SotM.us">SotM.us</a> conferences). Conferences take huge numbers of hours to organize. The inefficiency introduced by having someone re-learn the job every year is substantial, wasteful, and incredibly risky.</div><div><br></div><div>Anyway, I’m supposed to be on vacation.</div><div><br></div><div>Greetings from Yellowstone,</div><div><br></div><div>Darrell</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><div>On Aug 13, 2014, at 13:41, Cameron Shorter <<a href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com">cameron.shorter@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">
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I'm open to the idea of providing benefits to osgeo charter members,
but suggest having an early bird discount apply to all ticket
categories. I'd suggest something like a 5% discount for charter
member tickets instead.<br>
<br>
Note: conferences organisors need to decide whether they will also
give such a discount to professional bodies as well (such as
professional institute of surveyors). Such organisations often
aggressively request a discount for their members in return for
publicising foss4g to their membership.<br>
<br>
There is a very important reason conferences have a early bird
discount. It means that conference organisors get an early
indication of the number of attendees coming to the conference. This
helps significantly with regards to making financial decisions about
the conference. In particular, it enables organisors to decide to
cancel the conference before having to lock into key financial
commitments and potentially sending OSGeo bankrupt. This was very
important for us in FOSS4G 2009, the year of the global financial
crisis, when registrations were much lower than expected. At the
early bird deadline, we were aware that we had enough people
attending that we would loose less money by going ahead than if we
cancelled, so we went ahead. Without that confidence, we likely
would have decided to cancel the conference. (In the end more people
did register, and we were just able to make a modest profit.)<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 14/08/2014 4:56 am, Kate Chapman
wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">Hi All,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I think the comparison between the SotM model and the
FOSS4G model is interesting, but it is important to think
about the financial objectives of each conference. My
understanding was that FOSS4G provides most of the funding for
OSGEO over the year, this isn't the case for SotM. Though
successful sponsorship programs could possibly make up the
difference between the discounted tickets. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>One note, I've worked for a few organizations that have
paid my ticket for SotM. I've also paid the mapper price
myself previously as well. I would have not been able to get
them to pay for FOSS4G though. Some of you may have noticed I
have given a workshop every year I've attended FOSS4G. I would
not be able to attend otherwise. Not that it is conceivable
for everyone to give a workshop to be able to attend. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Best,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-Kate</div>
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<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 11:46 AM,
Daniel Kastl <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:daniel@georepublic.de" target="_blank">daniel@georepublic.de</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
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<div>SotM finances are based on the expectation
that most people attending will be ‘mappers’
who pay the lower rate, I doubt they make much
money from the business tickets. </div>
<div><br>
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<div>Hi Steven,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I agree that SotM is a bit extreme in the price
difference. It doesn't need to be that much. But I
can speak for SotM Tokyo, where I was involved, and
there were more business tickets sold than I
expected and they made up a large share of the total
revenue through ticket sales.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>My main point is, that for delegates, who get
paid the conference by their employer, a slightly
higher price doesn't really matter (it's just a
fraction of the total cost anyway), because they
just pass the costs to the employer. For the
employer it has a value, if one can see the company
name on the badge.</div>
<div>But someone from nearby for example or tries to
keep the travel costs low and takes a holiday to
attend FOSS4G, such a discounted community ticket
makes a difference, whether the person is a charter
member or not. </div>
<div>I think we should strengthen the value of the
community, not the "club" of charter members. ;-)</div>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<div><br>
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<div>Daniel</div>
<div> </div>
</font></span></div>
<div class="">-- <br>
<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse">Georepublic
UG & Georepublic Japan<br>
eMail: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:daniel.kastl@georepublic.de" style="color:rgb(66,99,171)" target="_blank">daniel.kastl@georepublic.de</a><br>
Web: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://georepublic.info/" style="color:rgb(66,99,171)" target="_blank">http://georepublic.info</a></span></div>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Cameron Shorter,
Software and Data Solutions Manager
LISAsoft
Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,
26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009
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