On 2014-05-04 22:21, Steve Langasek wrote:
And the budget prudentlyincludes a $3k allowance for "unforeseen expenses". Is there something else you think we should be doing to ensure that we are *not* in the situation of having to cancel the dinner and lose our deposit? Have there been problemsin the past of sponsors not following through on their committments?
No, I don't have other specific suggestions: I think the appropriate things are already being done. The risks are at acceptable levels, but they still exist.
Yes, there have been issues getting money from sponsors. Mostly issues in that respect have been over cashflow rather than income, and where that happens we should be able to "borrow" from other Debian funds, but there's nevertheless a risk that an "agreed" donor would fail to pay.
A bigger issue in the past have been unexpected costs, on a level significantly above a $3k allowance. Those don't necessarily arise from bad planning; they can also arise from suppliers changing the terms we believed had been agreed. And of course could also arise e.g. from suppliers going bust or just pulling out.
Even where we feel we have written evidence on our side, we are unlikely to have time or much desire to pursue legal action against a donor or supplier which has a different view of what has been agreed.
-- Moray