[IAEP] XOCamp fundraising (and, please sign up to donate)

[Jameson Quinn]

It's getting to be time to buy tickets for XOCamp 2, which is in under a
month now. Those of us who'd like to come from far away would love to know
whether we can get some financial support for our journey. However,
the relevant
wiki page <http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XOcamp_2/Fundraising> is somewhat
out-of-date. When I asked today on IRC:

[13:45] <cscott> yes, but both SL and OLPC have issues with actually being
the coordinating party; there are tax implications
[13:45] <cscott> it might even be best if someone not affiliated took on the
coordination
[13:46] <cscott> poke bernie hard about it; he's a little more empowered to
act on behalf of SL than I am to act on behalf of OLPC
[13:46] <cscott> and i'm sure that if you volunteer to help w/ the
coordination, it would be appreciated

So bernie, consider this a hard poke. Others who'd be willing to donate,
consider this a request to add your pledge to the wiki page. Anyone outside
SL/OLPC but inside the US who can do the actual money coordination (funnel
money through checks and/or paypal, devote some time to handling the issues
involved) please step forward. And in general, this is also me volunteering
to take some tasks: if someone will explain to me how the money part works,
I would be happy to do a fundraising post for OLPC News, to blog it on the
planet, to keep the wiki up-to-date, and/or to be in charge of contacting
people.

As for a mechanism for distribution, I propose the following. 50% of the
money would be divided equally between applicants, and 50% would be divided
proportional to any remaining travel costs. We can also ask people for whom
it is not the single primary reason for the trip to please take only half of
the money. I think that anybody who's going to come to Boston specifically
to attend XOCamp, from more than 500 miles away, should be funded, whether
or not they are signed up as speakers. I don't see enough benefit in trying
to divide people by merit or need for it to be worth the drama. (And I say
this as an applicant who's about average in most regards; I can't even think
of any plausible proposal that would benefit me specifically).

Cheers,
Jameson
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