[OSGeo-Discuss] [OSGeo-Conf] regional conferences

[Steven Feldman]

I hope that 
> 
> It pains me to say it, but we might be better off de-emphasizing
> FOSS4G-the-international-event and trying instead of space regional
> events regularly around the calendar

Doesn't happen until after FOSS4G 2013 :)
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Steven Feldman
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On 18 Jun 2012, at 17:18, Paul Ramsey wrote:

> On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 5:08 AM, Steven Feldman <shfeldman at gmail.com> wrote:
>> If there are regional events in every continent except for the continent
>> where the global event is being run we may risk diluting interest in the
>> global event.
>> 
>> We will have the global FOSS4G in Europe in 2013 (either UK or Finland will
>> host) we would expect to see less delegates from outside of Europe if there
>> are North American, Asian and other regional events.
>> 
>> Perhaps a compromise would be to ensure that the timing of regional events
>> is as close as possible to 6 months away from the global event?
> 
> That's always a risk, but the reality is that the vast majority of
> FOSS4G attendees are from the local region, and only a small slice are
> international. So we really are effectively serving a much larger
> population with regional events. In some ways (watch this rhetorical
> bend) dilution is actually a net positive, because it keeps the
> same-old-same-old highly rated software talks from clogging up the
> agenda leaving little space for quirky local topics.
> 
> But I digress.
> 
> I've been encouraging the regional organizers to try and keep as much
> schedule space between their event and mid-September as possible. This
> I think helps the international travellers make schedule time to
> potentially attend two events in a year.  It does lead to some awkward
> moments though, like FOSS4GNA this year coming just 6 months *after*
> the last event in NA, the Denver conference. All in all though,
> because we were serving a market (DC) that itself couldn't all get
> even so far away as Denver, we ended up serving a wider group.
> 
> So I think on balance the regional thing is serving us very well. It
> pains me to say it, but we might be better off de-emphasizing
> FOSS4G-the-international-event and trying instead of space regional
> events regularly around the calendar so it's possible for some
> in-demand speakers to hit 2-3 regional events, while still allowing
> more travel-constrained local delegates the option of having a regular
> event.
> 
> So many options, but unfortunately there's no slam dunk way of knowing
> what is "best".
> 
> P.

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