[OSGeo Oceania] [FOSS4G-Oceania] Good Mojo funds

[John Bryant]

There's no need to restrict the use of the fund to travel, and with less
than 10 weeks to go, there is not enough time to mobilise a single region
wide travel grant program in time for the event.

There are quite a few potential activities that fit under the purposes of
the program, I've already mentioned a few. I think hub managers should be
encouraged to be creative and act locally.

Re: whether travel should be encouraged, let's not dismiss it as a
possibility in some areas. For example, here in WA we are fortunate to have
a very low COVID case load, and the WA government is heavily promoting
regional travel. Helping someone out with a few bucks for fuel to drive to
Perth doesn't present any higher risk than what we're already doing:
bringing people together, which is something we don't take lightly. In both
cases we'll be guided by health authorities and our own best judgement.

I believe there was something like $8800 in the Good Mojo fund last time I
checked. Time is short, and we need lead time to make sure we're making
such investments wisely, clearly stating our aims and ensuring we are
helping the right people. The sooner we know if it's possible, the more
likely it will be to happen.

Thanks


On Tue, 22 Sep 2020, 7:00 pm Alex Leith, <alexgleith at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey folks
>
> I think this is a complex topic, because there’s a serious question in my
> mind about the ethics of encouraging travel in this time of global pandemic.
>
> I wholeheartedly encourage the purpose of the travel grant program, which
> is to encourage diversity and inclusion, but we do need to think carefully
> about it.
>
> Financially, there’s funds there and the parent organisation, OSGeo, has
> been very supportive of our requests for support in the past too.
>
> Plus there’s the implementation of the grants process, so that we can try
> to be balanced across Oceania, if we do proceed with a program.
>
> I think we should carefully address the question of whether we should be
> encouraging travel first. And after that, if we choose to proceed, we can
> talk about how we implement it.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Alex
>
> On Tue, 22 Sep 2020 at 8:10 pm, Jonah Sullivan <jonahsullivan79 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks for bringing this up John.
>>
>> I agree, the Good Mojo fund is meant to make the conference more
>> accessible and more representative of our region.
>>
>> In the past two years 20 people were enabled to attend the conference and
>> side-events:
>> In 2019 <https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_SotM_Oceania_2019#Good_Mojo>,
>> 13 people
>> In 2018 <https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_SotM_Oceania_2018#Good_Mojo>,
>> 7 people
>>
>> The Good Mojo program is related to the OSGeo Travel Grant Program
>> <https://www.osgeo.org/initiatives/foss4g-travel-grant-program/>, which
>> has similar aims: "to facilitate accessibility and diversity at our global
>> and regional FOSS4G events".
>>
>> I think these traditions should continue, and I'm sure our parent
>> organisation (OSGeo) would endorse this position as well.
>>
>> I request the OSGeo Oceania board to consider how to use Good Mojo funds
>> to support this event and the broader community.
>>
>> On Mon, 21 Sep 2020 at 17:39, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, I think there are substantial funds left in the Good Mojo fund from
>>> the last 2 conferences. The funds were contributed by sponsors & attendees
>>> for use in community goodwill activities related to the conference, like
>>> travel grants, women's breakfast, childcare, etc.
>>>
>>> Can we access these funds for Good Mojo activities at the hub events?
>>> I'm thinking of some free registrations, maybe a bit of travel assistance,
>>> a breakfast, maybe some extra environmental initiatives, stuff like that.
>>>
>>> I guess this is ultimately a question for OSGeo Oceania as the holder of
>>> the Good Mojo fund. But I think we're meant to ask Jonah first.
>>>
>>> So, Jonah? What do you think?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> John
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>>
>>> FOSS4G-Oceania mailing list
>>>
>>>
>>> FOSS4G-Oceania at lists.osgeo.org
>>>
>>>
>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/foss4g-oceania
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
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>>
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>>
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>>
>> --
> Alex Leith
> m: 0419189050
>
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