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

Tue Sep 22 20:46:02 PDT 2020

I asked recently about financial support for hubs. I was told [1]:

I think when it comes to financial management, that this really needs to be
managed by the conference committee as a conference budget concern that is
approved by the Board. Requests to the board from each hub will just get
chaotic.

I'm asking for OSGeo Oceania to give the conference committee the ability
to do this.

I see that the budget has only earmarked $1000 out of the $8800 fund for
this year's conference, but it's commented "*Reduce expenditure as online
2020 conference*". As it's no longer an online-only event, I remain hopeful
that the full amount will be made available. This is now a large event,
with ~10 hubs, and a huge opportunity to make a big impact across our
region.

The Good Mojo fund is made up of contributions from people and orgs over
the last couple of years, in good faith, with the expectation it would be
used to enhance the event's diversity and sustainability. I encourage the
board to decide promptly to enable this to happen.

[1]
https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/foss4g-oceania/2020-September/001480.html

On Wed, 23 Sep 2020 at 11:03, Alex Leith <alexgleith at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey John
>
> I won't speak for Jonah, who can represent the Conference Committee.
>
> But for OSGeo Oceania, we have a public budget, here:
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cbd3Rt5R688qrZ3eTCHxpRZ8HbII358_1UARf3m5qBs/edit#
>
> This does have money earmarked for Good Mojo, which you are welcome to put
> in an application to spend. And, although it hasn't been communicated,
> there are budget lines for microgrants and community support and outreach,
> which could be allocated towards conference-related activities. But I'm
> pretty aware that we live in uncertain times, and I would like our
> organisation to exist long into the future and I don't think that there's a
> guarantee that we'll have an in-person conference next year still, which
> means our expected income may not happen. So I don't want to go spending
> our whole budget too actively,
>
> Anyhow, your original question is 'can we access Good Mojo funds' and the
> answer is 'yes', it just needs to be justified.
>
> Cheers,
>
> On Wed, 23 Sep 2020 at 11:45, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I propose that OSGeo Oceania empower the conference committee to use the
>> Good Mojo fund as it sees fit, with minimal criteria: facilitating
>> diversity and inclusion at the conference, and basic financial oversight.
>>
>> The conference committee can then put specific initiatives in place, by
>> approving specific requests from hubs and taking suggestions from the
>> community.
>>
>> I think Martin's suggestions are good ones, and the LOC and hubs are best
>> positioned to decide if it's the best way to include people in their local
>> communities.
>>
>> On Wed, 23 Sep 2020 at 07:57, Martin Tomko <tomkom at unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
>>
>>> My thoughts would be to facilitate remote participation to those who can
>>> demonstrate that they have a sub-par internet connection, on top of some
>>> support for any fees levied by local hubs to those that can not afford it.
>>>
>>> I think that there is a significant disparity in internet access quality
>>> in the region, and sometimes this can be lifted by paying for a better
>>> connection. So this sponsorship could help to get a better access to people
>>> in regional areas, possibly ( such as reimbousing a month of faster
>>> internet, or a sim card).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My 2c,
>>>
>>> Martin
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From: *Oceania <oceania-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> on behalf of John
>>> Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com>
>>> *Date: *Wednesday, 23 September 2020 at 12:13 am
>>> *To: *Alex Leith <alexgleith at gmail.com>
>>> *Cc: *"oceania at lists.osgeo.org" <oceania at lists.osgeo.org>,
>>> foss4g-oceania <foss4g-oceania at lists.osgeo.org>
>>> *Subject: *Re: [OSGeo Oceania] [FOSS4G-Oceania] Good Mojo funds
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>> FOSS4G-Oceania mailing list
>>>
>>> FOSS4G-Oceania at lists.osgeo.org
>>>
>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/foss4g-oceania
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Alex Leith
>>>
>>> m: 0419189050
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>> Oceania mailing list
>> Oceania at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania
>>
>
>
> --
> Alex Leith
> m: 0419189050
>
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