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

[Dave McIlhagga]

Hi Gavin,

Thanks for the clarification -- that now makes perfect sense.

Dave


On 10-Oct-07, at 10:29 AM, Gavin Fleming wrote:

> 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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