On Tue, Aug 30, 2005 at 09:49:44AM +0100, MJ Ray wrote: >Matthew Garrett <mgarrett@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote: > >> To the best of my knowledge, Debian-UK has never hosted an event (the >> closest you could possibly argue is the annual Debian UK barbeque, which >> is something that's pretty much entirely unrelated to the Debian-UK >> society) > >DUS takes the profit or loss on the barbecue and it's held at the >DUS treasurer's house. Other events with beers and food seemed to >be intended, although I don't know if DUS has funded any yet. *sigh* I'd better explain, in case people accept some of Mark's snide crap as the truth. The "barbecue" mentioned has become an annual event hosted by me (Steve McIntyre) personally at my house in Cambridge each August. Attendees are normally a mix of UK DDs, UK Debian users and random geeks from the Cambridge area. This weekend past saw the fourth such event. It was never anything to do with the Debian UK Society at any stage (and in fact happened 3 times before the D-UK stuff even started). This year we decided to hold the D-UK AGM at the barbecue, purely for the sake of convenience - many of the UK DDs would already be there. (The AGM itself was a 5-minute affair; the minutes are online in our wiki.) In terms of money, attendees pay a small amount of money (ten pounds or so) to cover the cost of food / drinks / charcoal for the party. In the past 3 years of the BBQ, there has once been a surplus of funds. In that case, the surplus was added to Debian funds in the UK as it was easier to do that than to return small amounts of money to lots of people. In the other 2 years, costs have slightly exceeded input and I have paid the difference out of my own pocket as the host. This year, people suggested that D-UK might subsidise the event by a *small* amount if there was another shortfall. In fact, we have about five pounds spare that I will put into D-UK funds shortly. At other events (e.g. the annual UK Linux Expo), we normally make a point of having a small get-together once the event has finished. For the last few years, up to about 100 pounds has been earmarked for buying food and drinks for the volunteers who have worked on the Debian stand. Those volunteers have already paid their own travel and/or accommodation costs to come and promote Debian at the show; the food and drinks are considered a token "thankyou" to these people. >> and does not speak at events (though some of its members do). > >It gets as close as any organisation does, with speakers >listed as "Debian-UK" rather than anything else. Where, precisely? To the best of my knowledge, people have simply represented "Debian" at various events / conferences. Anything else is most likely a mistake. We are _not_ trying to promote Debian UK as an entity separate from Debian, and that has never been the aim. >> I'm sorry, I'm not able to find a single instance of money being spent >> on member training. [...] > >Apologies, it's not in those reports but the message >http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/08/msg00278.html >claims DUS funds that (non-exhibiting attendance at conferences >is often classed as training/continuing personal development by >other businesses). Bully for them. Conference trips that have been paid for from Debian UK funds: * Debconf 3 travel (Scott James Remnant, as he already mentioned) * Dpkg conference (Scott again) * GNOME foundation meeting, representing Debian (Matthew Garrett) * Several DPL trips (Martin Michlmayr) All of these reimbursements were explicitly authorised by the DPL (tbm for the first 3, Branden for the latter). In each case, the money would have come from SPI funds but it's easier / cheaper to use money already in the UK. -- Steve McIntyre, Cambridge, UK. steve@einval.com "C++ ate my sanity" -- Jon Rabone
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