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

[Edward Cherlin]

On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 3:11 PM, David Farning <dfarning at sugarlabs.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM, Jameson Quinn <jameson.quinn at gmail.com> wrote:

>> ...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.
>
> Thanks for stepping up!  You are now the official point of contact for
> Sugar Labs at the up coming event:)
>
> Some thoughts. Sugar Labs held SugarCamp last month.  At that event
> Sugar Labs struggled with many of its hard problems.  I expect that
> OLPC will be looking at some of its hard problems this time around.  A
> full week of hard problems is really long.
>
> From an SL point of view let's turn this into a fun community
> engagement event.  In stead of talks, let have work shops and work
> sessions were we focus on engaging the community.  Then, we will be
> freshed enough to listen or participate in OLPC talks that pertain to
> us.

I found the workshops the most wearing last time. The talks,
especially those by people from outside, were varied and refreshing,
because we got to hear about things happening in the field, rather
than not happening among ourselves. But no matter how you slice it, we
have to face the hard problems long enough to get somewhere.

> I can help you through the Sugar Labs stuff.  Paul Frields, of Fedora
> Fame, will be the best resource on how to run a successful event.

I have been on staff at conferences and conventions. I'm willing to be
Border Collie to make sure that things get done on time, which is to
say shortly _before_ the attendees need whatever it is, but only if I
can actually find out who is supposed to do what, when. Bernie, this
particularly means you. Delegate. Don't make me chase you around. Let
me chase them. And get somebody else to make the food arrangements _in
advance_. Whoever does the food, talk to me about vegetarian and vegan
food. Yes, Virginia, there _is_ vegan pepperoni.

Jargon File:

ANSI standard pizza: /an´see stan´d at rd peet´z@/

[CMU] Pepperoni and mushroom pizza. Coined allegedly because most
pizzas ordered by CMU hackers during some period leading up to
mid-1990 were of that flavor. See also rotary debugger; compare ISO
standard cup of tea.

First thing: When are the first and last sessions going to be? I
missed part of the last day of Sugar Camp due to incomplete
information.

> david
>
>> 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.

I would just pay all travel costs and food and be done with it, and
see about some sort of low-cost, close-together group lodging, except
for people who can find free crash space and prefer that. What else do
people need? Anybody know of a big house we could take over? With good
bandwidth?

>> 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.

Last time I got part of my travel paid for a gig the week before, so
I'm fine with that.

>> 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

-- 
Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) is my name
And Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination.
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/User:Mokurai