[guadec-list] Weekly meeting log (13/feb)



qgil: 20h UTC - time to start the weekly meeting. fsmw, halfline,
jordim, josep, juanjo, Puaff, tavon, toniher, vuntz, zwnj are invited to
participate
qgil: an whoever comes  :)
tavon: :)
halfline: qgil: i'll just quietly idle
fsmw: hi
qgil: active participants, can you send a :) as tavon, just to know who
we are in he meeting
qgil: or a "hi" like fsmw
qgil: - Sponsors' brochure and strategy - GUADEC Budget - post-beta
website - Early birds: sponsored participants, discount package, special
visa needs... - ...?
qgil: do you want to add a point to the agenda?
qgil: is it there a point you'd like to discuss first?
qgil: alright
qgil: Sponsors' brochure and strategy
qgil: well, first I need to apologize
qgil: for not having done he 'homework' on time
qgil: I still need to write something like the final version to be
eidted bu a native English speaker
qgil: and the  translate/adapt into Spanish
qgil: (i had some trouble organising my agenda, could be an elegant way
to explain my problems last week)
qgil: but anyway, this needs to be done
qgil: on Thursday we'll have a logo
qgil: the rest whould ther before
qgil: should
qgil: about the strategy
qgil: hum
qgil: last week we improvised here a chat
qgil: where some interesting names of Spanish sponsors came around
qgil: Javi, Devin and me will work on them
qgil: then we have the international ones
qgil: primarly the advisory board members and also some big players i.e.
Nokia and Google
qgil: we need to see who contacts them
qgil: altough
qgil: I think it is more important to know who is the right person to
contact in these organisations
fsmw: who made contact with them at last guade?
qgil: AFAIK Dave did some work, but AFAIK traditionally this is
something that was done by Tim
qgil: dunno he details though
qgil: don't know the details, though
fsmw: as i remember nokia contact us
qgil: but I think it's healthy for the GNOME Foundation that they trust
the organisation and not just some members
fsmw: so will be necessary to know who's the contact there
fsmw: i agree
qgil: it's also healty also it's healthy for the GNOME Foundaton to have
somewhere "here" the knowledge of who is who
qgil: instead of this being something relying in some people's personal
contact
fsmw: how?
qgil: (which is normal, but then we see what happen, one is busy, the
other left and... the contacts are like gone)
qgil: Luis Villa has been talking since ages about a CRM
qgil: which is the tool used precisely for this
Devin [Devin 112 Red-83-36-50 staticIP rima-tde net] ha entrat a la sala.
mode (+o Devin ) per OuComBalla
qgil: but well, we are not going to make the CRM a dependency for the
sponsorship strategy
fsmw: ok i got your point
qgil: otherwise we won't get any GUADEC sponsor before 2007  :)
fsmw: but may be we can't track our contacts, as i saw there should be a
simple crm module for drupal
qgil: but we need to make sure this time that the contacts we are
stabilishing are recorded somewhere een if it's in a .txt file
qgil: in order to transfer this knowledge either to the CRM
fsmw: yes that's what i mean
qgil: or at leats to the next GUADEC organisers
tavon: CivicSpace released their CivicCRM for drupal
qgil: I know I know.......
tavon: it's for 4.6.5
Devin: a CRM for sponsors?
fsmw: Devin, a crm to manage contacts
Devin: how many sponsors are we going to have?
Devin: :?
Devin: 10-15-20? 30? 40?
Devin: a gnumeric file should be enough
fsmw: that's not the point, the point is that sponsors make personal
contact nor organization contacts
fsmw: so if we can use gnumeric and record that, is enough
Devin: even the wiki shoul be enough
Devin: we can have a page for every "contact"
Devin: and update the log on it
qgil: Devin, right before you came we were alking that we had almost no
information of the contacts done in previous years
qgil: that the Foundation needed to have this knowledge instead of just
some people tat might be busy, go elsewhere... with their contacts
qgil: this is why the CRM stuff came in
Devin: we can make a "call for contacts" with a url on the wiki
qgil: not to solve he sponsors problem
Devin: if u install a crm
Devin: ppl need to learn how to use the crm
qgil: I was only saying that Luis Villa had bees asking for a CRM for
ages, that's all
qgil: let's forget the CRM now ok? I was just giving some background
information
fsmw: yes
fsmw: ok
qgil: BTW, and just for the record:
http://gnomedotorg.ourproject.org/index.php?q=civicrm
qgil: so
qgil: we need to record the contact information this time
qgil: this is something generally provate, no public wiki page can do
this work
qgil: but keeping track of the contacts shouldn't be difficult
qgil: since we are going to contact... how many sponsors?
qgil: 50 the most?
Devin: if we are lucky :P 50
qgil: for instance, Javi has started contacting possible sponsors
qgil: and I have asked him to CC me or keep track of that, in order to
avoid the same problem repeating again
qgil: 50 to contact, who knows how many successflly
Devin: i have been reading the mail list, but we really need the final
brochure
qgil: even an email sent without response is an important piece of
information we shouldn't lose
DevinNotHere Devin
Devin: i have been talking with maybe-sponsors, but we need some real
info to get in contact with them
***qgil send the log of the first minutes to Devin
Devin: and a "final web" ;D


qgil: oops, do you read me now?
Devin: yes
mode (+o qgil ) per OuComBalla
Devin: :)
fsmw: yes, we do
Devin: dont paste large texts
qgil: the last I saw was Devin: and a "final web" ;D
Devin: or u will be "killed"
Devin: then u got it all
qgil: I think it was the big copy&paste done to you
qgil: sent to you, did you get it?
qgil: oook, another lesson learnt
qgil: well, we will need then somone sending the whole log because mine
is broken now
Devin: no, i will read it later, i suppose there's news about it :)
Devin DevinNotHere
Devin: <Devin> and a "final web" ;D
Devin: * qgil has quit IRC (Excess Flood)
Devin: <Devin> c&p sux :P
Devin: <fsmw> why Excess Flood?
Devin: * qgil has joined #guadec
Devin: <qgil> oops, do you read me now?
Devin: u now have the full log
qgil: ok
fsmw: so?
qgil: back to sposnors strategy
qgil: Javi, Devin and me need to work on the Spanish ones
qgil: Dave, me and someone with contacts (unnamed) need to work on the
advisory board and other big players
qgil: however, I think t is more important to know who to contact than
need the right person to contact them
qgil: (this is what I was saying before the CRM discussion started)
qgil: I'll talk to Dave about this, with a proper brochure and the GNOME
project behind I need we can go and contact those orgs
qgil: we "only" need to know, if possible, the right person to contact
fsmw: yes and we're back at the same point, so should be good asking to
last organizers who got those contacts
qgil: Dave know this answer, I guess
qgil: anything elase about sponsors?
qgil: Javi and me are going to meet on Wed in Málaga
qgil: ok: budget
qgil: we need one
qgil: :)
qgil: it's my responsibility and I've been promissing it for weeks
qgil: instead of trying to deliver the perfect bidget I'll do a first
approach and then integrate improvements
qgil: so at least we desatascamos esto
qgil: (how you say desatascamos in English?
qgil: "unblock"
tavon: I still don't get it... but let's move on
qgil: we seem to have guaranteed 10.000$ (or was €) for sponsoring
travel and expenses of some participants
fsmw: from who?
qgil: this is what we are going to start discussin in the "early birds"
point of the agnda
fsmw: tavon, qgil say that he'll made a simple budget, instead a perfect
budget, to avoid get stucked at this point
qgil: I mentionit now because it's the only amount that is kind of defined
tavon: ahh
tavon: thanks :)
qgil: it is based in what was spent last year in Stuttgart
qgil: seems to be a fair amount
qgil: if we have a big demand and a good revenue from sponsorship then
we can reconsider it
qgil: but as an initial reference it is useful
qgil: think that since infrastructure & equipment is mainly covered by
the Generalitat-Vilanova agreement
qgil: sponsored travel & accommodation is possibly the next big chunk of
the budget
qgil: I could ba also a good chunk, but GUADEC covers only my travel
expenses and some sandwiches
qgil: since my time is paid directly by the Generalitat
qgil: anyway, I need to reflect the basics of all this in a budget
qgil: I fear I'll miss some important chunks in the first version but
surely other will find out
qgil: questions / comments about the budget?
qgil: - post-beta website
qgil: so
qgil: we have a web theme for Drupal 4.7 to be ported to 4.6 and polished
qgil: tavon: your turn  :)
tavon: well.. all I have to say about that is that the theme is actually
mostly 4.6 compatible
tavon: i'll be starting the bulk of the customization this week
qgil: can I install it as it is?
tavon: I have a pretty solid 4.6 version
qgil: as optional theme I mean, leaving the current one as defalt
tavon: i'll need to tweak it today, but I can get you a version to
upload by tomorrow
tavon: right
tavon: you can install it as an optional theme which people can select
to view it in their account settings
qgil: ok
tavon: most of the customization is dependent on the content... e.g. if
you want a different color/sized block in a weird position, you have to
explicitly tell me b/c I need to create custom CSS and template files
qgil: I think that now that we have not just a web theme
qgil: but also a web theme designer  :) it's the right moment to start
implement nice -looking and really functional stuff
tavon: having said that, I'd like to present some IA/Wireframe work by
next week's meeting so that we can visualize/consider how to organize
the site
tavon: right
qgil: people like Murray, Glynn etc have comments and concerns about the
site
qgil: I'm sure that once we have the theme there other will test and
bring ideas
tavon: I'd like to hear their opinions and comments, especially when I
present some IA work
qgil: good
tavon: most definately
qgil: yes, until now some suggestion of the improvement were dependant
of the theme anyway
qgil: so I didn't want to spend more time on he current Pushbutton one
qgil: and my answer was like "yes, we leave this until we have the final
theme"
qgil: well, now we have it
qgil: for instance, http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=326471
qgil: Printer-friendly links shouldn't be necessary
qgil: or Glynn's http://www.gnome.org/~gman/blog/13022006
tavon: one question... even though I've submitted a functional theme, is
the look&feel pretty much set in stone?
qgil: "The website is a little hard to navigate still"
***tavon copies the urls onto his notecards
qgil: no no
qgil: nothing is set in stone, although me need to start sompromising
firmly to thigs such a look & feel, a primary nav bar...
qgil: why?
tavon: there are some "variations" to the horizontal header/navigation i
have in mind...
qgil: present them, if you convince, you win
tavon: different color schemes which might work better with the
presented logos and overall framing of the site
tavon: i'll make sure to have mockups before I implement anything
qgil: people love mockups  :)
qgil: ok, then...
qgil: can we say that on Thursday with the logo decided
qgil: we can offer the new web theme as optional in the user profile?
qgil: then we start testing and integrating the most sensible suggestions
qgil: and in 1-2 weeks we put the optional as default and forget Pushbutton?
qgil: improvements and enhancements can be done from that point as well,
of course, but at least we will have a consolidate website, not beta anymore
qgil: also about he website, fsmw wat about online registratio
qgil: n
***tavon makes note of the deadline
qgil: fsmw: have you seen the current profiles? they already have imput
fields for the data you requested for the registration form
fsmw: qgil, there was a mockup for registration pages, but i need to
define what fields to include and how we'll recorded
qgil: as we discussed in the past, I think that the registration needs
to be a step further in the website registration
qgil: connected to the Paypal framework
Puaff: good night all
qgil: and the other payment options we define
fsmw: we'll we use paypal?
qgil: have you time o discuss this until the end in the mailing list or
in a chat only for this?
qgil: paypal framework includes credit card payment
fsmw: i'll be here for one our
fsmw: hour
qgil: we are also going to allow bank account transfers
fsmw: i must admit that i didn't review those frameworks
qgil: authorize.net was also in consideration
qgil: I think it would be good that you have first a look into that to
know better what can and can't be done
fsmw: but i guess that is not necessary to make people get registered at
drupal
qgil: otherwise we keep discussin gon the abstract
qgil: and we need to have some functionality soon
qgil: fsmw: we have already 130 people registered to the sitea dwe
haven't even started
qgil: "make people registered at drupal" is just a way to see it
qgil: you request name and email for registering to GUADEC, and this is
what drupal needs to have you registered as a website user as well
qgil: we have discussed it already
fsmw: ok, so we need only a payment form
qgil: yes, and drupal has an ecommerce module (already installed)
qgil: a paypal framework...
qgil: so, please, can you have a deep look at it and come with a
specific proposal?
tavon: there is a module that works with the paypal framework which
automatically give paid users an assigned role automatically
fsmw: ok i will, is there a deadline?
tavon: I've looked at it but haven't tested it extensively
qgil: deadline... we were talking about January when it was december  :)
Devin DevinNotHere
qgil: fsmw, tavon and Devin . the registration seems to be a touhg bone
and I think it would be great if you would collaborate aggregating your
skills on Drupal & PHP
qgil: in fact I think most of the bone is not on programming itself but
on making the registration a smooth and simple process
qgil: can we discuss it in the mailing list?
qgil: until we get a screen by screen process agreed, and then we implement
fsmw: qgil, i'll look at drupal modules, the key problem there is how to
organize info to send a paypal, i did it last year so i need to know how
to gather this from a form in drupal
qgil: shouldn't be complex
qgil: fsmw: eCommerce module and paypal framework taces care of hat
tavon: fsmw: look at the paypal_subscription module
fsmw: yes i know
qgil: anything else about website?
Devin DevinNotHere
qgil: oh Devin, yo saw that we are going to leave 4.7 for later
qgil: also... is anybody runnign cron.php manually?
qgil: also... dod anyone change the default theme to Bluemarine this
weekend? I had to change it back to pushbutton...
qgil: misteries... :)
tavon: :/ sounds weird
tavon: is there a problem if somebody runs the cron.php manually?
tavon: not that I did it or anything...
qgil: no no, just curious
tavon: :)
qgil: I have sent a request to the sysadmins weeks ago to check the cron
entry I have
qgil: to see why it was not working automatically
qgil: I had no response and in the meantime I'm running the cron manually
qgil: but in the past days cron is activated without me doing anything,
and I don't know if it's the cron working again or someone just running
it manually
qgil: about the web theme change... well, there are not many users with
permissions to change it but there are some
qgil: roles and permissions is something that also need to be polished
in the no-more-beta site
qgil: ok
qgil: Early birds: sponsored participants, discount package, special
visa needs...
qgil: it's time to start thinking about people that eed sponsorship to
come to GUADEC, people with special visa needs and those wanting to book
in advance to get pbetter prices
fsmw: qgil, do we have access to admin the site?
qgil: you have
fsmw: humm
fsmw: to admin modules for sample?
qgil: you have  :)
fsmw: ok
fsmw: sorry for interruption
qgil: you got them at the very beginning, to investigate the Drupal
insights, remember?
qgil: early birds
qgil: the thing is that people with special needs will have their
problems solved better if we have time to work in advance
qgil: I don't now how did things work in prevous GUADECs
qgil: but the most sensible to do IMO is to compromise
fsmw: qgil, but is very hard to figure out those topics if we don't have
a budget
qgil: to solve or try to solve anybody's needs through requests done
before a kind of deadline
qgil: after that deadline... we can't compromise
qgil: fsmw: this works the other way round as well, it's difficult to
set a budget is we don't know those needs
fsmw: chicken&egg
qgil: this is why we could make a call for people needing some kind of
sponsorship
josep ha sortit de la sala (quit: Me'n vaig).
qgil: I mean, if you want to come to GUADEC and you have special need
you know this already
qgil: if you are not following the GUADEC site, gnomedesktop, planet
gnome... and you have no friends following these channels
qgil: and forwarding you the call for papers
qgil: ...
qgil: so the proposal is to mae this call for sponsorship right now
qgil: this way we can budget it better and we can cover it with cheaper
prices for flishts and accomodation
qgil: so, with the same money we can cover more people's expenses now
than in april-june
fsmw: ok i got it
qgil: making the call in feb 15th with a frst deadline on March 1st and
a extended one on March 15st we can act much better
qgil: from that point... it will depend on the resources available
qgil: (anyay will depend on the resources available, but this is why I
mentioned those 10.000 $/€ we could define as initial / assured budget)
fsmw: will be there discounts for people who pay early?
qgil: also, doing this in advance will allow us to "negotiate" better
this sponsorshio
qgil: I mean, if GUADEC is sponsoring someone's travel and accomodation,
fully or partially, it makes sense to request some kind of active
involvement i.e, in the organisation
qgil: discounts to early bords will be done anyway yes
qgil: birds  :)
qgil: those who register earlier get benefited from two things
qgil: one is they are helping us planning in advance and they are paying
giving to GUADEC's organisation, this is something we appreciate and
this is why we make a dscount on registration
qgil: another one is that hotels, hostels etc also have generally better
prices for thos booking in advance
qgil: or those booking as a bog group
qgil: this is why we can also offer better accomodation prices to early
birds, just for the same beds
qgil: about visa special needs it is clear: dealing with the UE if you
come from certain countries takes time and bureaucracy
fsmw: ok
qgil: so, questions/comments about this?
qgil: what do you think the criteria to accept sponsorship requests
should be?
fsmw: btw, there's no paypal_Subscription module installed, instead
there's only a paypal module
fsmw: qgil, i guess that is important to get a task force, and many
people who request sponsorship is happy to help at GUADEC
qgil: fsmw: since you mention it, eCommerce was installed to see if it
fulfilled the registration process needs - waiting for your fedback on
this  :)
fsmw: ok, let me look at the ecommerce module
qgil: "happy to help" should be a primary factor, yes
qgil: In addition, Foundation member could also be a +1
qgil: the list can be a good place to get ideas about this
qgil: it is important for us to have a list of objective points
fsmw: yes, and last year people from sponsors company get a discount too
qgil: so we don't need to decide between Mr A and Ms B based on personal
factors i.e. she is involved in the same projects as me and she rocks
qgil: yes, sponsors is already defined
qgil: and discounts are different than sponsored people
qgil: but discounts need to be defined as well, yes
qgil: so... anything else?
fsmw: last year was differente types of registration fees depending on
your affiliation
fsmw: student, pro, foundation's member
fsmw: will be the same for this year?
qgil: we should start using the same regstration scheme as in Stuttgart
and only discuss if it needs any improvement
qgil: no need to reinvent anything here
qgil: we need to discuss if the base registration fee is the same
qgil: considering that we have 7 days of activities instead of 3
qgil: if there are different fees for people attending the 3 core days
only or the whole week...
qgil: we haven0t discussed this
qgil: 1h28 of meeting
qgil: so... anything else? :)
fsmw: no, is enough
qgil: ok, thanks for your participation :)
qgil: 5
qgil: 4
qgil: 3
qgil: 2
qgil: 1
qgil: eof

-- 
Quim Gil - http://desdeamericaconamor.org

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