Re: Call for comments on where to have GUADEC in 2007

[Dave Neary <dneary free fr>]

Hi,

Baris Cicek wrote:
> On Thu, 2006-05-18 at 11:18 +0200, Dave Neary wrote:
> 
>> I certainly agree that we need to consider the financial risk of a
>> conference, but GUADEC is cheap, and could even be cheaper.
> 
> Why cheaper?

In the past we have spent money badly, and not managed the budget very
well. For example, last year in Stuttgart, we ended up paying €18,000
for facility extras, in a facility where the rental was paid for. And
almost €4,000 on food (sandwiches, coffee, fruit juices). That's close
to the entire cost of the summit.

A conference in a university this year will avoid a lot of those
equipment rental issues.

If you look at the facility we had last year, I think everyone can agree
that is wasn't suitable to our needs (for our ambitions, perhaps).

So I do think that we should be spending money wisely around GUADEC -
building up our presence with the local free software community and
getting new contributors - did anyone notice how few people from
Stuttgart were there last year? Or Norwegians the year before?

Reaching outside that audience is best accomplished by ensuring a
presence of GNOME at other conferences - and not just IT conferences. So
the money we make from GUADEC can be spent on plane tickets or train
tickets or transport costs for the event box or whatever, rather than
splashing out on a conference which will never have mainstream appeal
until GNOME itself has mainstream appeal. The snake is eating its tail.

> From what I have seen we have more sponsors than previous years. We
> should have more sponsors next year, with increasing credentials for
> sponsors. (More financial burden to them). 

Yes, I agree - GUADEC is gaining in stature, we're getting sponsors
excited about the conference, and we're making (and keeping) good
contacts for the future. All good, will get better. But having lots of
money doesn't have to mean spending lots of money.

This year, the conference will make a profit, since the foundation isn't
spending any money on the organiser's salary (Quim is being paid
part-time by the Generalitat, although he's the first 60 hour part-timer
I've ever seem), and we have worked hard to keep costs down, outside of
bringing people to the conference (and we're spending more than ever on
that).

I'd like to see us keep up that rhythm and start building up money we
can spend on improving GNOME's mainstream presence throughout the year.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
David Neary
bolsh gimp org