Re: [guadec-list] Terms and conditions for registration

[Dave Neary <bolsh gnome org>]

Hi,

Germán Póo-Caamaño wrote:
> The discussion was about the registration fee, not the travel
> sponsorships.  So, this is the last thing I will answer.

It was in that context I was speaking. I hope you don't mind me replying
again - I feel quite misunderstood, so it seems I haven't explained well
up until now.

> I have heard other versions as well, such as, people who do not work in
> the desktop, hence there is not budget for them to attend to GUADEC, but
> they are GNOME contributors in their spare time. Also, I have heard that
> some companies have a number of slots available for hackers to attend to
> GUADEC (limited funds), so, it is not possible to pay all of them.
> 
> So, you can not extrapolate that comment to the whole community.


> Personally, I do not like your idea of banning people (directly or
> indirectly) for sponsorship because they work for a company who develop
> GNOME.  Simply it does not makes sense.

This is not my idea, and I don't like you saying that it is.

My idea is to tell people that GUADEC is not a free conference. And if
someone says that that will prevent them from attending, offer to make
an exception for them.

My point is that €100 less spent registering for the conference is €100
less for the travel budget. And that if you *are* working for a company
on GNOME, then your first request should be to your employer, before you
ask the GNOME Foundation to help pay your way.

If you ask, and your request is declined, then of course, your
application will be judged on its merits (and among those merits is,
IMHO, whether you can afford to may part of your costs yourself).

>> I would just remind these people that attending GUADEC provides enormous
>> value to your employers, that the work you do during the week is work,
>> even if you enjoy it, and that the results of GUADEC make themselves
>> felt right up to the Semptember release (and I have data to back this
>> up) - so you should have no qualms asking your employer to pay your way,
>> or register you for the conference at the appropriate level, rather than
>> cheating the foundation of a few euros on the grounds that you're
>> sponsoring.
> 
> Nobody is cheating and nobody from the community should feel that for
> requesting sponsorship to attend to GUADEC or a hackfest.

Here is where I feel the most misunderstood.

Take these two phrases together:

1. I have heard (of one former sponsor) that there were unofficial
instructions to certain employees to register for the €0 rate because
"we already support the GNOME Foundation, and why should we pay twice"

2. You should have no qualms asking your employer to pay your way, or
register you for the conference at the appropriate level, rather than
cheating the foundation of a few euros on the grounds that you're
sponsoring.

Note in the first statement - not "we can't afford to", not "if you
don't do that, you can't go", just "we don't want to pay". And I stand
by my statement that this is cheating the foundation of a few euros by
registering a professional as a hobbyist or even for "€0".

>> Maybe I'm being a bit hard - I know that companies have travel budgets
>> to respect, and that those budgets have been cut drastically over the
>> past two years, but at some stage, like I said, the conference costs
>> money & needs to be paid for, and I don't want to see some companies
>> taking advantage of the generosity of others, or reducing our travel
>> budget for people who couldn't afford to come otherwise.
> 
> What are you talking about? Nobody is taking advantage of the generosity
> of other.

If one company plays by the rules and registers their employees at the
pro rate and another does not, then the latter is taking advantage of
the former.

>  You can not treat as cheaters the companies who sponsor
> hackfests and GNOME events because they can not send all their employees
> who want to attend to GUADEC.   The employees that are not send by their
> employers are not less contributors because they work for a company.
> 
> Everybody who need sponsorship is welcomed to apply for it. It is up to
> the Travel Committee to decide who and how will get sponsored at the
> end.  The process is clear.
> 
> You must learn to trust people. GNOME is people.

"GNOME is people" has become the Win Every Argument thing to say...

The burden of getting someone to GUADEC is not ours to bear. It is
theirs. We can help, and that's great, but we have an obligation to help
as many people as possible, and those who will provide the greatest
value to the conference especially, and to do that people need to bear
some of the financial burden.

I'll say the same thing to you that I said to Diego, Germán, if you turn
this into the Big Bad Dave who is grabbing money wherever he can, you're
only polarising the discussion, and avoiding the tough budgetary choices
we have - the end result will be a smaller travel budget & fewer people
helped in the end.

Anyway - I'm not going to be the bad guy to get beat up on any more on
this thread.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
dneary gnome org