[Foss4g2008loc] Feedback from GISSA National Council meeting on 4 Oct

[Dave McIlhagga]

Hi Gavin,

Re. the delegate number ranges (Break Even - 600, plan space for  
1000) is this for the full conference ie. GISSA and FOSS4G2008 or for  
just FOSS4G2008 alone?

The reason I ask is that I'd be a bit concerned if we could be  
assured of getting 600 attendees for FOSS4G2008 alone - and given  
that OSGeo is financially backing the event (without a lot of cash  
tolerance for potential losses) we need to be cautious in this regard.

Dave




On 10-Oct-07, at 3:00 AM, Gavin Fleming wrote:

> I gave brief feedback from FOSS4G2007 to the GISSA National Council  
> and asked for their comments on FOSS4G2008 organisation:
>
> An idea was proposed for blending proprietary and FOSS talks: have  
> themed rooms where delegates know certain streams or cross-cutting  
> content like FOSS will be presented. Previous suggestions include  
> having streams containing FOSS, though not necessarily keeping them  
> in the same room, or randomly interspersing talks with FOSS content  
> throughout a topic stream and just identifying them with some flag.  
> The point was also made that many delegates will see a talk for the  
> application, not for the tools used, i.e. to them it's not  
> important whether FOSS or proprietary GIS was used.
> The marketing message must be open and inclusive. While we may run  
> a formal FOSS vs proprietary debate, confrontation is not the  
> message. Most debate will occur in the presentations and corridors  
> anyway.
> Re topics, it was suggested that we add topics for business and  
> government delegates (pretty much what is being discussed on OSGeo- 
> Discuss at the moment) such as
> FOSS GIS migration strategies
> FOSS GIS business case, FOSS vs proprietary TCO, etc.
> It was advised that we aim to break even with 600 delegates but  
> plan space for 1000 delegates.
> Carrin would send a letter to GISSA members and vendors advising  
> them of the conference and asking them to plan for the time and  
> budget to attend.
> A request was made to boost the academic component of the  
> conference. i.e. improve the options available to those who want  
> peer review and publication of their papers. Antony Cooper will  
> participate in this.
> Local Cape participation in the LOC should be boosted. So far Inge  
> is the main person on the ground there. Russell Hope might want to  
> get more involved and Derek Clarke will be approached (Gavin will  
> approach Derek)
> The whole Council asked to be placed on the LOC mailing list.
> In the development of an agreement between GISSA and OSGeo we need  
> to clarify respective risks, contributions and benefits and draft  
> the agreement accordingly.
> Gavin
>
>
>
>
>
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