Re: DebConf16 brochure review
Hi Justin
On Sun, Oct 4, 2015 at 12:48 PM, Justin B Rye <justin.byam.rye@gmail.com> wrote:
> Bernelle Verster wrote:
>> We plan to finalise this and send it out to sponsors today, or early
>> tomorrow, so I fear there really is not much time.
>>
>> Edits listed at [1], brochure can be found at [2].
>
>> [2] - https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/debconf-data/dc16.git/tree/design/Design/Sponsor%20Brochures/3%20oct/DebConf_Brochure_3oct15_lowres.pdf
>
> That brochure URL crashes Iceweasel repeatedly, here, so I tried wget
> instead. I ended up with a file claiming to be a 96MB .pdf, but
> actually consisting of a web page that w3m couldn't cope with either.
>
> If I was a developer I might see how to check it out using git, but
> I'm not going to be able to help with this unless you can show me the
> actual *text* that needs reviewing.
OK, good to know for future reference. The document is currently in a
pdf, and may have changed from the txt file I had initially
(attached). I can give a link to it in dropbox perhaps?
For future reference, what is the ideal?
* text in a tex tfile (.txt, .odt etc)
* webpage
* paste board
* other?
Bernelle (not a Debian or even computer person, at all... but learning :) )
> --
> JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
> sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
Final sponsor brochure content.
17aug15
[todo] team page? Addendum - selected teammembers.
images:
UCT (currently on brochure draft)
pic with all the different logo T-shirts
pic with people hacking..
diversity pics
Include beautiful image of NEB
Sponsorship Brochure
for the 17th Annual
Debian Conference
Cape Town, South Africa, 2 July – 9 July 2016
With 300 participants projected, we expect that the first DebConf in Africa will provide an intense working environment, and will lead to major advances for Debian and for Free Software in general.
We invite you to join us and support this event!
This brochure contains information on sponsorship opportunities for DebConf16. Please get in touch via email to thandi@debconf.org to explore the opportunities on offer.
WHY SPONSOR DEBCONF?
Thank you for your interest in DebConf, the annual conference of the Debian Project.
Why Sponsor DebConf?.
"DebConf is of incredible importance to our community. We work around the clock from all parts of the world, and personal interactions and friendships forged at DebConf have a noticable impact on the quality of our work, and the motivation of our volunteer contributors" — Neil McGovern, Debian Project Leader (DPL)
The Debian Project is an association of volunteer individuals who have made common cause to create an operating system comprised entirely of Free Software. Debian is used in numerous businesses, NGOs and the public sector world-wide. It serves as the basis of other GNU/Linux distributions, such as the popular Ubuntu, and Tails, the operating system in use e.g. by the journalists responsible for the NSA revelations.
DebConf has taken place every year since 2000 in a different country. Like the Debian Project, it is organised entirely by volunteers and run on a not-for-profit basis. Video streams of several presentations are made available in real-time and archived for public consumption. Apart from presentations and workshops, the conference goal includes providing space and infrastructure for attendees to collaborate and discuss.
This year, DebConf16 is taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, for the first time on the African continent. Proposals for DebConf in 2017 are expected from Montreal/Canada, Cambridge/United Kingdom, Paris/France, Prague/Czech Republic and Karlskrona/Sweden.
Read on for all the information regarding sponsorship of DebConf16. There are different levels of sponsorship, ensured to meet your budget and match the level of visibility you would like to reach among our participants and in the media.
On page 7<CHECK>, we describe the benefits associated with each of these levels, as well as giving a few ideas about the additional exposure that’s possible through sponsoring individual components of our conference. These include a job fair, allowing you to advertise your job openings and engage in direct dialogue with our participants.
DebConf is organised on a non-profit basis, and all the organisers work as volunteers without compensation. Your contribution makes it possible for us to bring together a large number of Debian contributors from all over the globe to work together, help each other, learn from each other, and forge friendships that facilitate the remote collaboration our project sees during the remainder of the year.
Being the first DebConf in Africa extends the reach of the Debian community even further. It is an opportunity you cannot afford to miss!
We would like to thank you in advance for your support. If you have any questions or ideas to discuss, we look forward to reading your message to sponsors@debconf.org and to working with you!
— The DebConf16 team
<image of team>
subscript: DebConf is a global adventure. The team is composed of local representatives, as well as members from around the world, in both active and advisory capacities. The specialist teams are equally widely distributed, and it is impossible to credit all the contributors here. Some teammembers are highlighted here, just to put a human face to the event.
DEBIAN
<quote box>
"Debian is a bit like a huge telecommuting organization and it’s my opinion that any such organization should try and ensure its members actually spend some time together on a regular basis. It improves the ability to work remotely an amazing lot if you can actually put a face to the entity you’re emailing/IRCing and have some sort of idea where they’re coming from because you’ve spent some time with them, whether that’s in talks or over dinner or just casual hallway chats....DebConf [is] one of my must-attend yearly conferences." - Jonathan McDowell
The free operating system
Debian is an operating system consisting entirely of Free and Open Source Software. The Debian project is dedicated to remaining 100% free and to being a responsible “citizen” of the Free and Open Source Software ecosystem. Our priorities are Free Software and our users and our strict guidelines serve as an example for many other projects.
The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of the largest and most influential Free Software and Open Source projects. Thousands of volunteers from all over the world work together to create and maintain Debian software.
Available in 70 languages, and supporting a huge range of computer types, Debian calls itself the “universal operating system”.
Find more information about Debian at http://www.debian.org/.
Debian is Universal, Debian is choice
Debian is known for its adherence to the Unix and Free Software philosophies, and for its extensiveness — the current release includes over 43,000 ready-to-use software packages built from nearly 20,100 source packages for more than ten computer architectures, ranging from the more common Intel 32-bit and 64-bit architectures to ARM (cellphones and tablets) and the IBM S/390 (mainframes). Besides the well-known Linux kernel, it also supports the FreeBSD kernel.
A Large, distributed, and non-profit project
The Debian Project’s key strengths are its volunteer base, its dedication to the Debian Social Contract, and its commitment to providing the best, universal operating system. Debian is produced by over a thousand active developers spread across the globe, many of whom volunteer in their spare time. Outside of DebConf, most communication takes place on the Internet in mailing-lists and Internet Relay Channel (IRC) chat-rooms.
Unlike all other Linux distributions of similar size, Debian is an independent non-profit organisation not under the influence of a commercial entity. Debian’s dedication to Free Software, its non-profit nature, and its open development model make it unique among Free Software distributions.
A pillar for free software
Debian’s high quality standards and its strict adherence to policy makes it a preferred choice for derivative works. Currently, over 130 actively developed operating systems build on Debian, including the widely popular Ubuntu and Linux Mint distributions, LiMuX, and Knoppix. More specialised derivatives range from grml (optimised for system administrators) to Tails (optimised for privacy). The free and open nature of Debian makes it particularly suitable to education, and as such Debian runs in hundreds of schools thanks to SkoleLinux. It also powers gaming platforms with SteamOS, and has been deployed by public institutions such as the cities of Munich and Vienna, and the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
The Debian Project takes pride in being built upon by others, and we work actively with the teams behind derivative distributions to maximise the gains for all.
DEBCONF
Debian Annual Conference
<quote>
"Most conferences have several strong talk tracks and you end up spending a lot of time sitting in talks wondering when they’ll be over. At DebConf, there’s an entirely different dynamic, with a strong focus on what they like to call “the hallway track”. Everyone here wants to either talk about building cool stuff, or sit down and actually build some cool stuff. A large number of the talks are just launchpads for informal Q&As or actual hack sessions." - Tianon [http://deb.li/jOTG]
DebConf is the annual conference for Debian contributors and users interested in improving Debian. At it's core, DebConf is a conference: an academic gathering structured around a set of peer-submitted, peer-selected talks. The conference structure is a combination of concurrent scheduled talks, plenaries, hacking time and ad-hoc sessions. Then there are also BoFs - “Birds of a Feather” - meetings, which are informal gatherings of people sharing a common interest.
DebConf talks and discussions are important opportunities to raise new proposals for development, to inform other contributors about technical advances they can build on in their own work, and to manage the wide cooperation required for each new Debian release. DebConf is about sharing with peers rather than rating them. A defining characteristic of DebConf is that the Talks Team does not formally approve or reject talks. Instead, we select talks that fill the tentative schedule, while taking care to leave enough space for people to propose other talks that were initially submitted, or even for last-minute ideas. This ensures up-to-date relevance to attendees.
<quote>
"As Debian is such a diverse project, each project member has a very distinct set of skills, and it is very common to see groups of jaw-dropped, eye-opened people looking at a colleague doing what he or she thought was most natural." - Gunnar Wolf
Previous Debian conferences have featured speakers and attendees from all around the world. DebConf15 took place in Heidelberg, Germany (15-22 August 2015), and was attended by close to 500 participants from more than 35 countries. DebConf12, the first DebConf in the Southern Hemisphere, took place in Managua, Nicaragua, with 176 attendees.
DebConf usually has in the region of 85 scheduled talks; some of the thematic tracks at previous DebConf's include technical themes like “Debian in the Cloud”, “Validation and Continuous Integration”, “Security”, “Packaging and Tools” and "Building and Porting" as well as socially minded themes like "Community Outreach" and tracks aimed at promoting wider involvement in Debian. This is in addition to DebianDay, aimed towards the general public.
Thanks to our sponsors, participation, accommodation, and meals are free of charge for qualifying Debian developers and contributors who apply for bursaries, allowing talented and employable developers to attend. In addition, a limited amount of travel cost subsidies are available, to bring contributors who would not otherwise be able to attend. The organisation of DebConf itself is entirely volunteer-based.
DebConf16 will take place in July 2016 at the University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, nestled on the slope of Table Mountain, a world heritage site. Cape Town was voted top tourist destination 2014 by Times magazine. The university’s New Engineering Building offers a spacious, open, yet affordable environment with a spectacular view for plenary discussions and presentations, as well as informal workgroup meetings. Accommodation for participants will be available on-site to maximise participant interaction.
Debian Day 2 July 2016
The Saturday before DebConf is called Debian Day, and is targeted at the general public where events of interest to a wider audience are offered, ranging from topics specfic to Debian to a wider appreciation of the open and maker movements. Although organized separately from most of DebConf, with a more publically minded brand, the talks that are presented here are managed using the same infrastructure. Debian Day is a great possibility for interested users to meet our community, for us to widen our community, and for our sponsors to increase their visibility. A job fair (see below) will be arranged too, in case you are looking to recruit!
Depending on interest and funding, there will be hands-on workshops interspersed with relevant talks by local groups like Arduino Cape Town on the Sunday for interested members of the public to get their hands dirty with Debian.
Live worldwide video streaming
Since DebConf4, all official talks are accessible as live streams and their recordings can be downloaded for viewing during or shortly after the conference in the Debian Meetings Archive [1 - http://video.debian.net]. Those watching talks live also have the opportunity to submit their own questions to the DebConf speakers via IRC. We thank our Platinum and Gold sponsors by inserting their logos into the video streams.
DebCamp team sprints: 26 June - 1 July
Many attendees find it hard to find uninterrupted time to work on Debian in their regular schedule, and value DebConf as a period when they can put aside their other usual responsibilities and focus on Debian work. The DebCamp period of DebConf is provided specifically to enable this uninterrupted work.
After working together remotely during the rest of the year, many teams (about a third of the conference attendees) use the opportunity of DebConf to come together for in-person collaboration, to tackle tough issues, and to drive big changes. We will provide the venue and infrastructure for such team sprints — we call it DebCamp — during the week before DebConf.
Anyone visiting the hacklabs during DebConf, at almost any time of day or night, will find people engrossed in work on Debian—some silently by themselves typing, others peering at computer screens in pairs, and others sitting in a ring arguing out the technical details of a design.
<BOX>
DEBCONF AND DEBIAN
The bigger picture
The benefits that DebConf brings to the Debian Project as a whole, and the larger Free Software community, are nicely summarised by the following comment:
This is the kind of peer-to-peer networking that makes open source conferences [. . . ] worthwhile.
It wasn’t a teacher/student relationship. It was two hackers sharing knowledge with each other.
[. . . ] The knowledge they shared will, no doubt, improve Debian — and by extension will help
improve GNU/Linux for everyone, whether they use Debian (or a Debian derivative), SuSE, Fe-
dora, Gentoo, Mandriva, or any other distribution.
Robin “Roblimo” Miller, Newsforge
</BOX>
Knowledge sharing
DebConf helps share the knowledge and experience of individual developers with the entire community. It also helps promote enthusiasm for specialised areas of development, and encourages discussions about Debian’s future enhancements.
As most major conferences, DebConf tries to provide participants with a talks schedule in advance, to help plan which of them to attend. This is done by having a talks team review submissions and rate them on three main vectors (relevance, actuality and acceptance), and pre-scheduling the best rated ones. However, talk submission is not closed until practically when the conference is over — This leads to a fairly good and attractive schedule to be produced by the talks team, with many spaces available for ad-hoc scheduling.
<quotes for boxes>
"DebConf is for sure the best conference I have ever attended. The technical and philosophical discussions that take place in talks, BoF sessions or even unplanned ad-hoc gathering are deep. The hacking moments where you have a chance to pair with fellow developers, with whom you usually only have contact remotely via IRC or email, are precious." - Antonio Terceiro [http://deb.li/ixFE0]
"That’s the great thing about DebCamp & DebConf: collaborating in real-life & real-time, from quickly asking a question over sitting together to think about solutions for a problem to “just” chatting & thereby developing ideas for the future." - Gregor Herrmann at DebConf13 [http://info.comodo.priv.at/blog/debcamp_2013.html]
"I really like that DebConf, as well as being a formal conference on top, is really an un-conference underneath, with new BoFs and things popping up on the schedule all week long. You can even have completely unscheduled meetings that somehow get just the right mix of people to make something awesome happen... But one thing we know is we enjoy our little slice of the year where kilts and coding are equally unremarkable, where problems that seem intractable online somehow solve themselves in person, where we come away with ideas for an entire year and memories for a lifetime." - Joey Hess – Debian Developer [http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/best_DebConf_ever/]
Project Synergy
DebConf gives contributors a chance to meet face to face, socialise, and brainstorm new ideas. As a result people leave DebConf with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for Debian and its goals. New ideas and systems that Debian implements often originate in an informal session at DebConf.
<quote>
"As Debian Account Manager, DebConf is a priceless opportunity for me to handle sensitive matters face to face, in an appropriate setting. Over time there will be several such issues accumulating that cannot easily be handled via email." - Enrico Zini, Debian Developer
Table
Contribution (ZAR); <R 20,000 R 20,000 R 50,000 R 100,000 R 200,000
Contribution (USD/EUR); <2,000 2,000 5,000 10,000 20,000
Category; Supporter Bronze Silver Gold Platinum
Logo in the list of sponsors web page
√ √ √ √ √
Microblog your involvement with your logo on our website
√ √ √ √ √
Logo on all web pages, with link
√ √ √ √
Post on a job wall located at a central location
√ √ √ √
Access to swag bags and raffle*
√ √ √ √
Logo in “thank you” Linux Magazine ad
√ √ √
Space at our job fair
√ √ √
Logo printed on conference t-shirts/giveaway
√ √ √
Logo printed on conference bag
√ √
Logo printed larger and in superior position
√ √
Logo on all video streams, during breaks
√ √
Logo on banner in conference lobby
√ √
Logo on banner behind talk podiums
√
Name & description in conference press releases
√
45-minute slot for a Free Software-related talk
√
* All sponsor-provided content and initiatives must be coordinated with our organising team.
Currency exchange rates may vary.
Please contact us if you have further ideas on contributing to this event.
Job postings and job fair
DebConf attracts some of the smartest Free Software hackers from around the globe, many of whom are always on the lookout for new challenges. We provide our sponsors the chance to reach out to Debian contributors, derivative developers, upstream authors and other community members. As a Platinum, Gold, or Silver sponsor, you can use the job fair on the opening weekend as opportunity to present yourself as an employer and engage in direct dialogue with potential job candidates.
We invite all our sponsors to post job offerings to our job wall.
Swag bags and raffle prizes
In addition to your logo on the attendees’ conference bags (Gold level), we also invite you to distribute marketing materials and other goods in the bags if you support us at Bronze level or above. 1 (footer: All sponsor-provided content and initiatives must be coordinated with our organising team.)
If you have smaller quantities of hardware to give away or you want to create some buzz about your device at the conference, you could provide us with one or more items which we will include in a raffle for attendees, obviously mentioning you.
Diversity Outreach programme
We are planning to reach out to groups who would otherwise be less likely to attend our conference, in an effort to increase diversity among our attendees and benefit the conference in that way. If you are interested in this effort, we would love to hear from you.
Another idea we had is hosting satellite conferences in sponsor venues across the world. These 'mini-DebConfs' is intended to be interactive, rather than passive viewing. If you are interested in this effort, we would love to hear from you.
Additional sponsorship opportunities
In addition to the standard benefits listed above, as a Bronze sponsor or higher, you might be interested in other opportunities to further increase your visibility in a unique way. Choosing to sponsor a specific component of the conference means that your name will be prominently associated with that aspect of DebConf.
If you are interested in discussing the following sponsorship opportunities, or any other ideas you may have, please contact the sponsorship team at sponsors@debconf.org to discuss pricing and other details. We will be happy to listen to your individual ideas and wishes for how to make the conference an unforgettable event for our participants. (footer: All sponsor-provided content and initiatives must be coordinated with our organising team.)
Note that some of these opportunities may only be available for a limited time.
Staff a showcase booth during opening weekend
As a Platinum or Gold sponsor, you may set up your own booth and present your business during that weekend. While we cannot allow any sales activity, this is nevertheless a great chance for you to showcase your involvement with Debian and Free Software. This requires advanced planning with the appropriate people in your company to be successful.
Sponsored child care
As part of Debconf's diversity statement, families are welcome at DebConf. The child care includes activities suited to our youngest attendees' needs.
Conference dinner
A formal dinner midway through DebConf allows the attendees to let their hair down (or do it up), come together over a special meal and enjoy a social evening. This dinner could happen at the venue in the form of a braai, or at an external location with catered food — we’ll be happy to work with you to find an arrangement that appropriately communicates your message.
Day-trip
Mid-way through the conference, following intense and long days of collaborative hacking and discussions, we take our attendees on a trip for a day to clear their minds. We explore sights or nature in the vicinity of the venue: walks, museum visits, sightseeing tours, and sporting activities — there are ample possibilities for you to help us create an unforgettable experience for our attendees. The day trip is a great productivity booster, and a healthy, much-needed break which will be remembered by attendees for years.
Cheese and wine party
Our guests come from all over the globe, and inter-cultural exchange is a fantastic asset for the conference. We celebrate this diversity by inviting attendees to bring wine and cheese from their parts of the globe. We would love for you to join us!
Snacks and Beverages
Three meals a day are not always enough for those who work long hours. While we have already negotiated group discounts at the snack bar, we invite one of our sponsors to subsidise the prices for food and drinks, up to a fixed limit if desired, in return for appropriate recognition. We are considering the presence of food trucks, and can investigate the possibility of facilitating branding these with your brand.
<BOX>
Sponsorship Assets
In the words of past sponsors
<Quote>
There are as many reasons to sponsor DebConf as there are reasons Debian developers spend their time fixing bugs, improving the overall system, and helping its installed base. In the words of some of our past sponsors:
<Quote>
Sponsoring DebConf has benefited Bytemark in two ways: 1) it puts our brand in front of exactly
the right crowd and 2) it allows Steve, the Debian developer on our staff, to keep in touch with
the project that we rely on so heavily. We support DebConf because it supports us.
Matthew Bloch, Bytemark Hosting
<Quote>
DebConf is the annual conference for one of the largest Open Source projects. By annually spon-
soring DebConf, credativ helps to keep this important conference successful. Being present at
DebConf enables us to connect, stay in touch and collaborate with some of the brightest minds
in the industry, both at a management and technical level.
Michael Meskes, credativ GmbH
<Quote>
Sponsoring DebConf helps us to get the recognition we need from inside the Debian Project. It is
astonishing how many potential employees, partners and even customers are aware of our spon-
sorship activities at DebConf. We even got a couple of exciting job applications only through
DebConf.
Peter Ganten, Univention GmbH
The need for sponsorship
DebConf has evolved from its humble beginnings in Bordeaux, France (2000) with 30 attendees and virtually no budget, to the past five years where participation was above 300 attendees, on average, with budgets in the lower six-digit figures (USD).
The conference is still organised entirely by volunteers without compensation. The Debian Project does not engage in commercial activities and depends solely on donations from users and benefactors.
DebConf draws much of its strength from the diversity of its participants: DebConf is among the most diverse of the Free-Software ecosystem, with more than 30 countries represented each year, and a solid commitment to gender diversity, with around 10% of attendees identifying as female. (footer: [http://www.debian.org/vote/2012/vote_002]).
Perhaps the most important aspect of DebConf is that we want to give as many people the opportunity to attend — not just those that are nearby and can afford it — because it benefits the conference, every attendee, and ultimately Debian and the Free Software community.
We expect between 200 and 350 attendees in Cape Town. While it is true that the Southern tip of Africa is a bit far to travel for European and US attendees, the economic location, a passionate and experienced team and our status as a world-class tourism destination may help to boost the numbers.
We trust that our sponsors will help us achieve the upper end of this goal, to enable attendees from all over the world to be a part of this event.
All funds raised for DebConf will be used towards this goal. DebConf16 is organised through a German non-profit association (“DebConf e.V.”). Any surplus after the conference will be used for funding future Debian Free Software activities.
Invoice and tax-deductable donations
As a sponsor, you will receive an invoice from one of our fundraising entities, specifying the sponsorship level and associated benefits. The invoice explicitly lists sales tax (VAT) where appropriate. Depending on your situation, sponsoring DebConf may thus be a normal business expense.
We are also happy to receive donations to our registered not-for-profit entity in the US (Software in the Public Interest (SPI), Inc.) if desired. We’ll gladly issue receipts for such donations, which may be tax-deductible (check with your tax advisor for details). Please keep in mind that within South Africa we cannot offer any benefits or marketing services in return for donations, except for including you in our lists of sponsors and our displays of sponsor logos.
More about DebConf
For more information about DebConf, the final reports from our past conferences illustrate the broad spectrum, quality, and enthusiasm of the community at work:
http://media.debconf.org./reports
For further details, feel free to contact us through sponsors@debconf.org, and visit our website at http://debconf16.debconf.org
Thank you for taking the time to read this brochure. We hope to hear from you soon!
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