[OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS4G2010: Good, Bad and the Ugly

Thu Sep 16 15:31:46 PDT 2010

This thread is turning into mainly discussing the T-shirts etc.

My 6½ euros :

the T-shirt this year seemed to be of awful quality -- I'm quite sure you
should never wear it or wash it, if you'd want the logo to remain (I did not
buy it though, so I'm not talking from experience). I've preferred to spend
double the amount, on a Barcelona tourist T-shirt with a print that looks to
be much more durable.

Then, some people received a FOSS4G-branded USB-memory-stick, but not all.
As far as I can tell you received it if you were considered to represent a
sponsor, and/or if you gave a presentation -- but not a tutorial. Now this
8GB USB stick was actually done quite nicely -- a small thingy with
conference logo, the contents of the Live Floppy, and room to spare. Still
-- how much does it cost to produce a thingy like that ? Not more than a few
euros, I don't think. Could easily be included as a nice goodie just for
everyone attending, I would think, compared to the conference fee. Actually
useful and, as opposed to those DVDs, re-useable. No need to make a
distinction between people who receive it, and who don't.

Otherwise : I enjoyed the conference, but I was rather surprised at the
unavailability of WIFI connections. In my opinion this is *really not OK* ;
the venue should have unlimited WIFI access, no matter if there are 500 or
1000 or 2000 attendees. For me and my colleague this meant that we spent
most of the time away from the venue, as we were preparing things for a
presentation and we needed internet to do it. Also, even the wired internet
in a tutorial room turned out to be flaky (just stopping). I would say to
future FOSS4G organizers : make this a top priority in your venue selection
and do not accept anything that does not offer the best. Last year in Sydney
there was not any problem with this, in my recollection.

One last point : why was it so short? 2 days and some hours, from offical
opening to closing. Can't we have like 4 days or so? Is this to economize on
costs? I'd say there are always creative ways around that. If the FIRA would
be too steep to rent for so long, why not open on Barceloneta Beach, or
something? We'd have more of an ice-breaker at the same time, too. In any
case, I think just a bit more time would have been nice.

That's it .. let's all go for maintaining and improving this wonderful event
that is FOSS4G !

Kind regards
Heikki Doeleman

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 10:37 PM, Daniel Ames <dan.ames at isu.edu> wrote:

> >From the the point of view of someone processing travel through the
> university travel office, having the "swag" as part of the registration bill
> is MUCH better.
>
> We can claim reimbursement for "registration" but not for individual
> goodies, like a t-shirt. So really, being honest about it, I much prefer to
> have the swag cost built in. That goes for special tours and dinners as
> well..
>
> @LausanneFans the Lausanne T-Shirt was the best conference T-shirt I ever
> got. It's got this unique soft texture that always gets me a snuggle from my
> sweetheart when I'm wearing it. Maybe all you Europeans have softer shirts
> than us?
>
> - Dan
>
> On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 8:31 AM, Ravi <ravivundavalli at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Though I was not there, but for this discussion, would not have got the
>> feel.
>> Venkatesh, keep it going.. This is a good feed back for future event
>> planners.
>>
>> The 'bad', I found is the best for DOs' and DONTs for the future.
>>
>> Ravi Kumar
>>
>> --- On *Thu, 16/9/10, Paolo Corti <pcorti at gmail.com>* wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: Paolo Corti <pcorti at gmail.com>
>>
>> Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] FOSS4G2010: Good, Bad and the Ugly
>> To: "OSGeo Discussions" <discuss at lists.osgeo.org>
>> Cc: "Jeroen Ticheler" <jeroen.ticheler at geocat.net>
>> Date: Thursday, 16 September, 2010, 6:15 PM
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 12:42 PM, Mateusz Loskot <mateusz at loskot.net<http://mc/compose?to=mateusz@loskot.net>>
>> wrote:
>> > On 16/09/10 09:13, Jeroen Ticheler wrote:
>> >> On 15 sep 2010, at 11:38, Venkatesh Raghavan wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> d) Had to pay for FOSS4G2010 T-Shirt
>> >>
>> >> I very much supported this idea of paying for the shirts! How many
>> >> T-Shirts end up being unused? It makes a lot of sense from an
>> >> ecological / sustainability point of view to not just give away for
>> >> free.
>> >
>> > I second Jeroen's opinion here.
>> > The price was 5 EUR per t-shirt making it affordable.
>> >
>> > Best regards,
>> > --
>> > Mateusz Loskot, http://mateusz.loskot.net
>> > Charter Member of OSGeo, http://osgeo.org
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Discuss mailing list
>> > Discuss at lists.osgeo.org <http://mc/compose?to=Discuss@lists.osgeo.org>
>> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>> >
>>
>> In my opinion: no problem to pay, but it would make more sense if it
>> would have been in a better material.
>> I think it could be sold for even more than 10-15 EUR, but the quality
>> should be good ;)
>> As it was written in a previous email, this kind of stuff (t-shirts,
>> bags...) make an impressive marketing when used in social events, so
>> it would make a big difference if the t-shirt life is longer.
>> P
>>
>> --
>> Paolo Corti
>> GIS Architect and Developer
>> web: http://www.paolocorti.net
>> twitter: @paolo_corti
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
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>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> Daniel P. Ames, Ph.D. PE
> Associate Professor, Geosciences
> Idaho State University - Idaho Falls
> amesdani at isu.edu
> geology.isu.edu
> www.mapwindow.org
>
>
>
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