Getting DebConf attendees reimbursed quickly for travel costs

[Richard Darst <rkd@zgib.net>]

Hi,

One of my goals to help DebConf attendees get reimbursed quickly for
their approved travel sponsorship costs.  There are two parts to this:

- Getting reimbursement forms in from attendees quickly.  It is
  DebConf's job to do this quickly, and I am working with various
  teams to make sure that we get all the forms *during* DebConf this
  year.

- Getting money in from sponsors to be able to have money to send out
  again.  This can sometimes take months after DebConf, though we
  should be in a better than normal position this year.

One possibility to work around the second problem is to use general
Debian funds as a buffer.  We could reimburse attendees from Debian
general funds, and then in a month or two, replenish Debian funds from
our sponsor money.

I am watching DebConf finances closely enough that I think that we
could track and manage such an arrangement.  Thus, my question to you
all is:

--> Is this worth pursuing?

I do *not* know what Debian's non-DebConf assets are, and where they
are.  Before anyone agrees to this idea, of course we must know the
details of where money is money is and how much buffer we have (of
Debian funds, but also sure enough that we will get sufficient sponsor
money) that this is fiscally responsible.

If this is something which people would generally like if it was done
in a financially responsible way, I will investigate the Debian money
situation and make another report - I don't even know if I would
recommend this plan until I learn more.  Only after I have a full
report would I expect any kind of final approval.

Any feedback, from either the Debian side or the DebConf side, is
welcome.

Thanks,

- richard

-- 
| Richard Darst  -  rkd@          -  boltzmann: up 703 days, 19:05
|            http://rkd.zgib.net  -  pgp 0xBD356740
| "Ye shall know the truth and -- the truth shall make you free"