also sprach Franziska Lichtblau <rhalina@old-forest.org> [2014-08-12 16:14 +0200]:
> I'm very unsure if the level of visible incorporation of sponsors
> into DebConf proposed in the current draft is really what we want.
Just a quick note up front: I just wrote down ideas. I am not saying
this is what we have to do. They are proposals, and I welcome the
dialogue you started!
That said, I believe the proposals are good, so I will argue all in
favour of them, as you would expect. If we end up deciding against
any of it, I'll just pout for months and become really obnoxious
towards all of you! ;) </joke class="bad">
also sprach Margarita Manterola <margamanterola@gmail.com> [2014-08-12 16:21 +0200]:
> > * having a sponsor opening the conference dinner with a few words
> > * having a sponsor opening the cheese&wine party with a few words (after an
> > opening by christian)
>
> I think both of these are too much, I would prefer this to be:
> "Conference dinner, sponsored by Foo", "Cheese and Wine party,
> sponsored by Bar", with no opening words in either, just a banner.
Keep in mind that we need a sponsor to pay for these entirely to
avoid any risks of having the tax authorities claim that treating
attendees to lobster and caviar might not be serving the public good
— which is not always how things were done in the past (the lobster
I mean).¹
¹) we could try to do things like they were done in the past, but
the safer way is not to, and we should try while we can.
Given that we're asking for quite a bit of money (e.g. 10k and up
for a decent conference dinner), I don't think showing our
appreciation towards the sponsor by letting them say a few words and
getting a round of applause is asking too much.
I don't think it's too much of a burden on our attendees. We are
talking about 2–3 minutes of time before they get to enjoy better
food, thanks to the sponsors. I think it's even been done before,
e.g. at DC11 and others.
This is not a commercialisation of the conference, this is just
a minor increase in visibility. We don't give the sponsors real
influence, nor will we allow sales pitches. We just let them appear
in person for a very brief moment. And collect applause.
We don't have to mention this in the text and just prepare for when
sponsors ask (what will we say then?)… I just think that listing it
as a benefit right up-front is going to make the sponsoring
opportunity look more exciting.
You know how I feel about DebConf: I think there's more potential in
this conference. We can attract more people, beef up the offerings,
sponsor more travel, provide better food and social activities,
possibly even child care, etc.. This should be our goal, and I think
we should pursue anything that leads this direction which does not
negatively affect the spirit of the conference.
… and none of what I proposed will negatively affect the conference,
I think. Do it a year or two, and noone will even notice anymore,
(after the initial wave of *outrageous disgust* by all the
bikeshedders has subsided.)
> > * Incorporating a hardware infrastructure sponsors name into the
> > wifi ESSID
>
> I think this is too much and would feel too invasive for
> attendees.
*Really*? I was even thinking that this is a joke seeing how most of
us would see the ESSID once only… but sure, we can also just put
a sponsor logo on a captive portal landing page, or affix logos
elsewhere for visibility.
--
.''`. martin f. krafft <madduck@debconf.org> @martinkrafft
: :' : DebConf orga team
`. `'`
`- DebConf14: Portland, OR, USA: http://debconf14.debconf.org
DebConf15: Heidelberg, Germany: http://debconf15.debconf.org
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