[Marketing] OSGeo sponsorship/participation in WhereCampEU

Mon Feb 1 06:36:10 EST 2010

Hi Arnulf et al,

Apologies- I had formed the impression that OSGeo might consider sponsoring suitable events for the sake of profile-raising in a new area, but if that's not the case, then I totally understand.

I should also have made it clearer what I meant by feeling happier promoting OSGeo if it were sponsoring the event. Whenever I do any events in the UK, I *always* make sure I have some leaflets and business cards, and I *always* take the opportunity to spread the word, when appropriate. However, in the past when I have asked about putting up a stand or even having an informal lunch-time meeting, I have been told that OSGeo would need to sponsor the event to have that privilege. Since conferences cost money to put on, and other not-for-profits don't get the same treatment, I can understand conference organiser's unwillingness to extend some sort of special favour to us. They could well end up losing the sponsorship of other organisations if it came out that they were letting people exhibit without paying, after all.

So what I meant was that I would feel uncomfortable doing more than my normal stealth promotion, unless there was some sort of sponsorship in place. 

On other subjects, I would very much like to get some more printed material and a banner, for those events, such as the OSGIS conference in Nottingham in June, where OSGeo has a much higher profile role. So I'm very reassured that I could get printing costs refunded for that, and I'll get moving on it as soon as I can do.

All the best

Jo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Arnulf Christl" <seven at arnulf.us>
To: "Joanne Cook" <j.cook at oxfordarch.co.uk>
Cc: "marketing" <marketing at lists.osgeo.org>
Sent: Wednesday, 27 January, 2010 09:52:06 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: Re: [Marketing] OSGeo sponsorship/participation in WhereCampEU

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Joanne Cook wrote:
> Dear Marketing List,
> 
> I'm writing to ask if OSGeo would like to sponsor WhereCampEU,
> http://wherecamp.eu/blog/. It's in London on March 12th-13th. I have
> created a "proposed event" wiki page for it:
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/WhereCampEU.

Jo,
thanks for your initiative. Would you be interested in leading the
effort? It is the first thing that we need to find out (you already sort
of suggest this). If there is no one with the hat on it will not work.

> I'm not involved in it in any way, other than as an attendee, but I
> think it would be a good conference/event in terms of raising OSGeo's
> profile in the wider geo-community in Europe and particularly in the
> UK. It's already gathering a lot of interest amongst the blogs and
> twitter. The great and good (and hip/cool) of the UK geo crowd will
> be there, and most of them will not have had much exposure to OSGeo
> (unless they've seen me speak).

Cool, then continue to spread word. If you need printable stuff this
list will know where and what status they are in. If you need to get
print costs refunded that is not a problem. Same applies for a banner.
If WhereCampEU allows you to get one up then order it and give it to
folks who want to use it elsewhere. In Germany we have now already two
pop up banners and serveral table cloths plus one 5 by 3 meter black
cloth with (unfortunately the old) logo.

> Sponsorship seems reasonable, and you get a logo on their website and
> t-shirt, as well as a free ticket. The specific page on sponsoring is
> here: http://wherecamp.eu/blog/2010/01/wherecamp-eu-needs-you/

OSGeo does not in general pay for it's presence at conferences, trade
fairs, events, etc. but it is invited.

I am somewhat at a loss at how (or whether at all) WhereCampEU is
organized, how much it costs,  etc. so it is unclear to me what would be
a reasonable effort. From all that I can tell right now it seems to be
deliberately low key.

> As I said, I will be attending (I managed to get a free ticket when
> they released some in December), so will be happy to do what I can
> for OSGeo regardless of the decision on sponsorship- although I'd
> feel happier taking along some marketing material if OSGeo was
> sponsoring :-).

Hm. Why would that make you feel better? If OSGeo were a business and
had a plan on making money for profit, fine. But OSGeo does not make any
profit, instead it is a member driven melting pot for geo, spatial and
FOSS folks. One of it's tasks is to spread word and if folks like to
help then they should not object to having some """marketing"""
material. Does that make sense? Do you have any reason to perceive OSGeo
as a business?

Best regards,
Arnulf.

> Feel free to get in touch if you need more information
> 
> Jo
> 

- --
Arnulf Christl

Exploring Space, Time and Mind
http://arnulf.us
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-- 
-----------------------------------------------------
Joanne Cook
Senior IT Support and Development
Oxford Archaeology (North)
01524 880212
http://thehumanjourney.net

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