also sprach Lucas Nussbaum <leader@debian.org> [2015-03-11 18:53 +0100]:
> > Do you have a maximum amount of Debian funds you can allocate to
> > bursaries to do their work when they have sighted the
> > applications in April? Or a target?
>
> No, not really. I'm really open to hearing what they think.
Ok.
My task is to get a budget approved and my deadline is February, so
I am late. I have a vested interest to move this forward now,
especially since we have some decisions to make in March, e.g. the
conference dinner needs a dry signature by the end of this month
(before bursaries can start).
I interpret your statements to mean that we should not include any
Debian funds in the budget at this point, but that you're willing to
engage with bursaries to assess needs once those are known and work
with them to ensure that the needs and goals are met.
Therefore, I have committed a new budget (proposal), with — in the
worst case only — 15k less for travel sponsorship, but enabling conf
dinner¹ and a basic day trip.
Here's my rationale:
The previously allocated, worst-case travel sponsorship of 30k is at
the lower end but definitely comparable to previous years
(unfortunately, no numbers exist about how money was actually used).
I think Debian can easily allocate 15k to DC15, especially if such
funds go exclusively towards funding travel of people wishing to
attend.
Any additional Euro Debian is willing to allocate once the bursaries
data are known will go toward increasing the amount of travel
sponsorship, as well as the rate of sponsored people, which is
currently at 35 % (i.e. 1 out of 3 people gets room&board paid for).
If we manage to reach our fundraising goals, then the travel
sponsorship budget accounted for out of our own income increases to
30k, so Debian's 15k will push it to 45k EUR, which is the highest
it's ever been.
Furthermore, I am reasonably confident that the budget is planned
"conservatively" and the outlook is green, such that we will be able
to repay those advances by Debian, and contribute out of our own
strength towards meeting one of the DebConf goals and getting (even)
more people involved.
At the same time, we are ensuring that we can move on towards what
some consider important and "not-so-optional" stuff, e.g. conf
dinner and day trip without entering risks that could later cause
problems or discussions, at least.
¹) The conf dinner is a tradition by now and we must not forget that
the majority of DebConf attendees fund their own attendance. Plus,
it's an important event for the local team with high motivational
value, and people are already working on it. So while we're
definitely making sure to stay within reasonable bounds in terms of
costs and what we offer, I don't think the conf dinner is to be
considered entirely optional anymore, as long as it stays well
grounded. Our idea for DC15 is just that, regionally typical too,
and promising to be a memorable evening.
Hoping this makes sense and can be agreed upon,
--
.''`. martin f. krafft <madduck@debconf.org> @martinkrafft
: :' : DebConf orga team
`. `'`
`- DebConf15: Heidelberg, Germany: http://debconf15.debconf.org
DebConf16: Cape Town: https://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf16
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