Re: Sponsorship for hackfests

[Dave Neary <dneary gnome org>]

Hi,

Philip Van Hoof wrote:
> Push for it, in a much more formal way. Don't just request them. It's
> the foundation's money: you can request things like this. We voted for
> you people so that you can.

It's been a while since anyone voted for me, mind :) (Note: this is also
me, active foundation mamber, suggesting that people don't need to be
elected to the board to be interested in helping the foundation -
there's lots to do).

> You are already planning to start paying a sysadmin.

I'm against this particular expense, I don't think we can afford it.

> In a similar way
> I'm guessing you can pay a journalist writing the articles and editing
> the interviews.

Budget = trade-offs. More money for paying people = less money for
air-fares.

> Don't pay them unless you have your interviews. You can even make a
> contract that says that. I also don't see what would be wrong with
> making clear agreements with participants. Especially not if every
> participant knows why the agreement is made. If the context of the
> agreement is reasonable, most of them will (I think) agree.

You may have missed the recent animated debate on the sponsorship
agreement which Stormy drafted for travel sponsorship? Adding extra
conditions to being reimbursed is likely to have people up in arms. The
role of the foundation is to help the GNOME project to function and
develop as much as possible.

I'm not completely against something like this, but I don't think it's
politically or practically feasible.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
dneary gnome org