Re: [Debconf-team] DC14: parallel activities for families with kids
Hey,
2013/8/19 Patty Langasek <harmoney@dodds.net>:
> On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 01:23:03PM -0400, Daniel Kahn Gillmor wrote:
>> On 08/19/2013 11:32 AM, Hector Oron wrote:
>> I plan to attend DC14, and i also want to help with this. While
>> external sites sound great for specific outings, I think having a
>> kid-friendly space available within or near the conference is important.
>
>> If we want to do this well, it'd be nice to get an understanding of
>> which kids might be attending, how old they will be at the time of DC14,
>> and what sorts of things they're interested in. All kids are different,
>> and a childcare space for a half-dozen three-year-olds is a very
>> different space than one for two 10-year-olds.
>
> Definitely. We will also probably need to see if waivers need to be drawn
> up, if parents will be with their children the whole time, or if they need
> to leave the children with others so they can attend sessions, etc. Daniel
> and Hector, do you mind leading the charge on gathering this information?
Thanks for the offering.
[..]
>> To any debian parents who would like to bring their kid(s) but aren't
>> sure if that will work out: what kind of support would be most useful to
>> you and your kids?
I would like to propose an alternative planning parallel to DebConf.
For example, if you look at FOSDEM conference they have offerings like
sightseeing to the spouses/partners of FOSDEM visitors.
< https://archive.fosdem.org/2013/practical/sightseeing/ >
I do not think we should provide any child-care ourselves, unless
planned in the schedule because some parallel event (i.e. nice dinner)
is happening, but provide alternative activities options. I assume we
are not to provide childcare for kids, so they leave unattended, some
adult(s) responsible(s) should be taking care of them.
As any other conference, challenges might be when trying to find:
* accomodation
* food
* travelling
Providing some service which enables this group to organize themselves
and some indoor space for activities and gathering might be more than
enough. Something like a kid-hacklab.
Also, I am unsure of which impact can it cause, maybe the number of
families attending is really irrelevant. We won't have real numbers
until penta re-confirmation, maybe an initial estimation can be done
at registration time.
2013/8/20 martin f krafft <madduck@debconf.org>:
> I think what you need is a closed area with toys and maybe an adult
> for every 5 kids to watch over them. There ought to be at least one
> person with professional background who knows what to do in case
> something unexpected happens, but much can be done with volunteers
> from DebConf, and I'd volunteer a bit. I love kids. ;)
+1
> The one thing I'd like to see is not to get into insurance/liability
> hell. With that I mean that we shouldn't prepare ourselves, but that
> we should make sure that parents who leave their kids with us must
> know that there won't be any liability for anything but stupidity or
> carelessness. If they don't like that, let them keep their kids.
> I know that I don't want to submit our Veronika to a shelter with
> airbags on all sides, but rather have her learn from any interaction
> and mistakes she makes.
Sure, I would also like DebConf to stay off insurance/liability hell
and have none responsability.
> also sprach Steve Langasek <vorlon@debian.org> [2013.08.20.0227 +0200]:
>> We can make sure to look into this question closer to the time.
>> In any case, there are lots of food options around in the city as
>> well, so if for some reason we can't accomodate kids in the
>> cafeteria there will be no shortage of other options.
>
> I'd just not raise an expectation that kids are catered for.
> Veronika eats everything we eat, but some parents are very picky.
> Those should not be discouraged from taking care organising
> something themselves. Giving the impression that we'll cater for
> them is not going to work, and I don't think we even want to
> consider it. We already have enough of a challenge with all the
> flavours of the adults…
I agree on not considering catering for kids.
>> WRT extra fees, the idea that seems to be preferred by many who've
>> been discussing this so far is to self-organize, with parents
>> sharing childcare duties in a rotation. IMHO that seems a lot
>> simpler than trying to hire licensed child care professionals, not
>> to mention cheaper, while still making it possible for most of the
>> parents to participate in the conference most of the time.
>
> My words. However, I think it would be good to have one person on
> permanent duty. That does not have to be a professional. Over here,
> such a role is often fulfilled by elderly women for their
> experience, who can easily handle up to five kids themselves. Maybe
> that's an option.
DebConf could provide information to gather that group and enable them
with space and tools to self-organize themselves.
Not sure it counts as a global agreement, but I think we are pretty
much in-line. As an action for this thread to no evaporize I would
propose to set goals, and plan & schedule to accomplish those goals.
Cheers,
--
Héctor Orón -.. . -... .. .- -. -.. . ...- . .-.. --- .--. . .-.
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