[Debconf-team] budget status (was: Re: Status on Brandts Hotel)
On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 08:13:22PM -0400, Richard Darst wrote:
> agreed. see last budget thing in irc... (search "surplus" our "net") but
> let's try to cut costs wherever we can. we are deep into the dc11
> surplus. maybe negotiate flexibility?
>
> 10k or 5k more would require thought...
Here is what I found from IRC:
19:07 < darst> dc12_net = -21k$ + 3-5k$(more attendee fees?) +
food_cost_savings + "other costs"_inaccuracies
dc12_net = dc12_income - dc12_expenses. So dc12_net=0 would be
cost-neutral and all dc11 surplus would be available for dc13.
dc12_net does *not* include the dc11 surplus of about 25 kUSD. The
meaning of the dc12 surplus is that we *really* don't want dc12_net to
be less than -25 kUSD.
surplus_for_dc13 = dc12_net (which is negative, remember) + 25 kUSD
This is using all costs in budget-estimate.ods. This is actual costs
for seminole, and the previously predicted costs from brandts. If the
new hotel plan costs 2.4 kUSD more, subtract that from dc12_net also.
As you can see, we are using up most of the surplus. We still have
enough room to increase hotel costs a little bit. *BUT* as I have
said before, historically those extra savings add up a _lot_, far more
than one would expect. This is the way most past conf surpluses
happened, *not* by spending less than is available.
Still, everyone should be in full-on "penny-pinching" mode. a) Try to
reduce food costs as much as possible via good application of a meal
ticket system. b) try to negotiate with hotels to be able to reduce
costs from things like people not showing up or leaving early (big
one! maybe booking extra seminole rooms will provide a chance to
negotiate better terms). c) Registration team, try to collect the
attendee fees I emailed you about (about five people who slipped
through the cracks, sponsored but not asked to pay - this is on top of
the amount listed above). d) I heard some merchandising ideas, but
that's probably more trouble than it's worth e) good old fashioned
reducing amenities we can't afford - depending on what you all think
is called for.
I would try to keep producing updated budget estimates, but it's hard
to get good data to base that on. Good recordkeeping is where it's
at.
Let me know if you have any questions or I can help anyhow.
- Richard
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