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

[Gavin Fleming]

Hi Dave

 

We're treating the conferences as one ('FOSS4G 2008 incorporating GISSA
2008'). Our numbers are based on AfricaGIS 2005 which was a joint GISSA
conference that pulled 800 people, 600 from SA and 200 from the rest of
the world. If for FOSS4G2008 we attract 200 from Europe and North
America, 200 from 'the rest of the world' and 600 from SA again, we
should be fairly confident of the numbers. That's why we plan to be
covered even if only 600 attend, which we think is unlikely. In terms of
marketing, for those outside SA it can be treated as 'FOSS4G2008 with
extras'. The joint aspect will be marketed in SA. 

 

Re financial backing, so far GISSA is taking all the risk and we have no
backing from OSGeo other than statements in the RFP to the effect that
OSGeo would provide bridging finance (which did not come about and
shouldn't be necessary now) and that OSGeo would cover or share losses
if they should occur. That is why we are drafting an agreement with
OSGeo to cover these bases more formally. 

 

regards

 

Gavin

 

________________________________

From: Dave McIlhagga [mailto:dmcilhagga at dmsolutions.ca] 
Sent: 10 October 2007 04:16 PM
To: Gavin Fleming
Cc: foss4g2008loc at lists.osgeo.org
Subject: Re: [Foss4g2008loc] Feedback from GISSA National Council
meeting on 4 Oct

 

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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