OK. It seems that Sugar Labs is willing to <a href="http://sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs/Donate">receive donations</a> to the travel fund. That would make such donations tax-deductible. I also got a couple of +1's to my 50/50 disbursement plan: half the money split equally, half of it split proportionally to remaining direct travel expenses (ie, plane/bus/train tickets). I am also taking the liberty of assuming that people can put up the money and then get reimbursed at the event. If I'm wrong -- if there is anybody who cannot afford to buy a ticket, but could with some help -- please respond to me soon. There are currently $3150 of <a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/XOcamp_2/Fundraising#Donations">pledges and donations</a> on OLPC's wiki. There are 6 requests for funds there, and one other that I know of (aa, that's you). Average travel cost is currently around $685. Let's say that there will be 9 people receiving partial travel scholarships, and that the average travel cost will stay about the same (aa's expensive Uruguay flight and two cheap domestic ones). That would mean that the average subsidy would be about $350, or $175 + 1/3 of remaining costs. I suspect that these are relatively conservative assumptions, so you can reasonably hope for more, but you should not, of course, absolutely rely on even this much. This prospect is clear enough to make the difference for me; I can't really afford full price, but hoping for this I will buy my ticket soon. I think that since Sugar Labs is willing to take tax-deductible contributions for this, it should be relatively easy to fundraise another couple of thousand dollars, which would leave participants paying at most a small amount without too much risk of having money left over to refund to people. If anybody reading this is a regular contributor to OLPC news, that would be a good place for us to ask for money; if nobody steps forward, I guess I'll do that next week. Also, fundraise with your organizations if possible - any first-world organizations which care about sugar should be able to add a few hundred to the pot. Please, anybody making a donation for this purpose, note it on the wiki (link above) with the words "donated to Sugarlabs". Otherwise, the donation will just get lumped in with other sugarlabs donations. Have I missed anything? Jameson <div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 5:11 PM, David Farning <<a href="mailto:dfarning@sugarlabs.org">dfarning@sugarlabs.org</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="Ih2E3d">On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 4:19 PM, Jameson Quinn <<a href="mailto:jameson.quinn@gmail.com">jameson.quinn@gmail.com</a>> wrote: > 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 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. </div>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 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. david <div class="Ih2E3d"> > 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 > </div>> _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > <a href="mailto:IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org">IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org</a> > <a href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep" target="_blank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep</a> > </blockquote></div>