GUADEC Committee: 28 November 2011 Meeting

Meeting Information

IRC channel: irc://irc.gnome.org/#guadec

Time: 16:00 - 17:30 UTC

• 08:00 Los Angeles/San Francisco
• 11:00 Boston/Montreal/New York
• 16:00 London
• 17:00 Berlin/Madrid

Agenda

1. Status from local team
2. Review unfinished items from previous meetings

   • Press release draft at https://etherpad.igalia.com/guadec-2012-press-release

   • Special topics/tracks at GUADEC
   • Has report from DS been received/reviewed?
3. Sponsors
   • Discuss remaining steps to finish the brochure
   • Create/manage a list of potential sponsors
   • Who will approach potential sponsors, and how?
4. Other items

Meeting Minutes

Attending

• Bob Murphy (bobert)
• Brian Cameron (yippi)
• Chema Casanova (txenoo)
• Dave Neary (dneary)
• Karen Sandler (karenesq)

Summary

Local Team Update

txenoo said there wasn't much new since there had only been one week between IRC meetings. He then reported on the cost and amenities of the accomodations through the university, which everyone thought sounded great.

Infrastructure

After some discussion of the difficulties in getting control of the guadec.org domain, txenoo contacted the #sysadmin IRC channel, and got a fast solution. Shortly thereafter, 2012.guadec.org was working as a web site, and as of today (29 Nov) has content related to the 2012 GUADEC.

Keynotes

dneary suggested based on his experience with earlier GUADECs that it would be best to start contacting keynote speakers immediately, since they tend to book up early. He also shared lists of potential speakers from several past GUADECs. Much further discussion of keynote speakers.

2013

The board hasn't decided yet on whether it prefers that 2013 will be a GUADEC or a DS. Discussion continued on event organization and how things went at the 2011 DS.

Sponsors

Andreas Nilsson has volunteered to do the layout on the sponsor brochure. karenesq mentioned that one sponsore has already asked about cost levels. During the 7 November meeting, sponsorship costs were tentatively set at (Euros) 35k, 20k, 10k, 5k, 1k. Those are in the brochure draft text, and just need board approval. There was also some further discussion on discounts.

Hackfests

yippi proposed a Desktop Collaboration Hackfest during GUADEC to engage people from other desktops, X server, etc.

Action Items

None.

IRC Log

[08:01am] bobert: Hello all!
[08:02am] txenoo: hi everybody!
[08:03am] karenesq: hi bobert, txenoo!
[08:04am] karenesq: (and dneary!)
[08:05am] bobert: Let's get started. How are things going for the local team?
[08:06am] txenoo: This week we don't have really too much new in the advance of the local team because of the change of date, the bi-weekly meeting of the local team will be in 5 hours
[08:07am] txenoo: we have new photos from the venue that could be used in the sponsor brochure and the website
[08:08am] txenoo: and that we have the information of the costs of the accomodation
[08:09am] bobert: That's excellent news!
[08:09am] txenoo: On the other side we have enabled two weeks ago the guadec-planning@lists.gpul.org
[08:10am] txenoo: https://filetea.me/t1s9dc19
[08:10am] txenoo: Here you have the offer of the halls of residence
[08:10am] txenoo: it is in spanish
[08:10am] txenoo: but prices could be reviewed 
[08:12am] karenesq: txenoo: are they consistent with what was in the bid proposal?
[08:12am] txenoo: prices are in the expected range
[08:13am] txenoo: the cost of a double room is 48,21€
[08:13am] txenoo: so sharing a double room for 7 days would be 168€/person
[08:14am] dneary: txenoo, Are there plans to get a conference website online at the same time as the conference?
[08:14am] txenoo: An individual room for 7 days would be 220.15€
[08:14am] dneary: It could have the same information, would be nice for sponsors to have some visibility about conference, previous editions, etc
[08:15am] bobert: The room prices look good. They're a little more expensive than the brochure, but a lot less expensive than a hotel.
[08:15am] bobert: brochure -> proposal
[08:16am] karenesq: txenoo: and there's wireless internet at the accommodations too?
[08:16am] txenoo: yes the accomodation includes
[08:16am] txenoo: daily cleaning of the rooms
[08:16am] txenoo: access to the swiming pool and gym
[08:16am] txenoo: Wifi connection
[08:16am] txenoo: and bus transport service to the city center and special services to the university
[08:17am] bobert: That sounds great!
[08:17am] dneary: It does
[08:17am] karenesq: very cool!
[08:18am] txenoo: there are common areas where hacking could be done during the nights
[08:19am] txenoo: During our visit to the facilities we thing that it satisfies our needs for the conference
[08:20am] txenoo: In anycase other options would be available for people that would prefer and hotel in the city centre
[08:21am] txenoo: At this moment we will try to review the best way to organize the bookings and how to deal with the payment of the attendants
[08:22am] txenoo: dneary: as conference website you refer a place were previous editions would be available ? Today i expect review the content structure for the website 2012.guadec.org 
[08:24am] dneary: txenoo, I meant, something at guadec.org with information on next year's edition.
[08:24am] txenoo: On our side there are no more news
[08:25am] dneary: It still points to 2nd Desktop Summit
[08:25am] txenoo: dneary: we are waiting for this  https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=662047 
[08:25am] dneary: It should go online before you start talking to posters - even if it's a minimal website with 2 pages info + lins to previous editions
[08:26am] bobert: Getting control of guadec.org has been a battle.
[08:26am] dneary: txenoo, Good to know - what needs to be done to close that bug, and who can do it?
[08:26am] dneary: bobert, Maybe that's an issue where karenesq could do some digging & help?
[08:26am] txenoo: dneary: we have setup http://guadec.gpul.org to start working in this
[08:26am] dneary: txenoo, Cool
[08:27am] txenoo: dneary: i'll be trying again at #sysadmin
[08:27am] dneary: txenoo, YTou'll have lots of thongs to publish from doing the brochure and from the proposal
[08:27am] dneary: Don't forget guadec.org as well as 2012.guadec.org
[08:27am] dneary: And ask for 2011.guadec.org to point to the DS site, while you're at it
[08:28am] bobert: It's not entirely clear who exactly has control of the guadec.org domain, and attempts to contact the people who seem to have control... well, they haven't responded to emails, etc.
[08:28am] txenoo: dneary: we think that we want 2012.guadec.org working since now and www.guadec.org the day we publish the press release
[08:29am] dneary: txenoo, Yes, sounds OK. Although I don't think a lot of people will notice if guadec.org starts working earlier 
[08:29am] dneary: txenoo, Thanks for the update!
[08:30am] dneary: txenoo, Do you have someone inviting keynotes yet?
[08:30am] dneary: (some keynotes need really early invitations if you hope to get them)
[08:31am] txenoo: dneary: jjsanchez has getting in touch people involved in the program committee several weeks ago
[08:32am] dneary: txenoo, So - you're expecting the program committee to take care of inviting keynote speakers?
[08:32am] txenoo: we would like to get an initial feedback of the areas of interest
[08:33am] karenesq_ joined the chat room.
[08:33am] txenoo: the inviations and management would be done from our side
[08:33am] karenesq_: sorry, laptop problems
[08:33am] karenesq_: (I missed the last almost 10 minutes)
[08:33am] txenoo: but it is real that we haven't started working in a list of possible candidates
[08:34am] dneary: txenoo, Are you aware of the invitation lists from previous years?
[08:34am] txenoo: i didn't know
[08:34am] dneary: txenoo, I'd be happy to introduce you to speakers I've invited previously
[08:34am] txenoo: where is that information available ?
[08:34am] bobert: dneary: Are those available?
[08:34am] dneary: txenoo, Google Docs
[08:34am] dneary: bobert, Sure
[08:34am] karenesq left the chat room. (Ping timeout: 600 seconds)
[08:34am] dneary: bobert, Not sure who has access right now...
[08:35am] dneary: Can you put your google IDs here, and I'll add you all straight away?
[08:35am] bobert: bobertmurphy@gmail.com
[08:35am] txenoo: txenoo@gmail.com
[08:36am] txenoo: dneary: thanks it is really good to have that previous information
[08:36am] bobert: Yes, thank you!
[08:37am] dneary: karenesq_, ?
[08:37am] karenesq_: dneary: google@punkrocklawyer.com
[08:37am] karenesq_: sorry was catching up - thanks txenoo!
[08:38am] dneary: karenesq_, You have a Google account?
[08:38am] dneary:
[08:38am] karenesq_:
[08:40am] dneary: OK - last 3 years, you're all CCed
[08:40am] dneary: Before then, I used email
[08:40am] dneary: See guadec-planning archives from 2009 and 2008 for the lists we brainstormed
[08:41am] dneary: In 2006, Quim invited 2 of the keynotes, and I invited the others (Walter Bender, Kathy Sierra, Simon Phipps and another I can't remember)
[08:41am] dneary: And in 2007, I helpedd Paul Cooper with some last minute keynotes for B'ham.
[08:43am] dneary: Ah yes - that was the year I invited Stormy and Doc Searls
[08:43am] bobert: Those are very wide-ranging lists!
[08:44am] dneary: bobert, Yeah
[08:44am] dneary: I hang out some 
[08:45am] dneary: Sorry - 2009 was GCDS, so you have that. 08 was on the mailing list
[08:46am] txenoo: Good news 2012.guadec.org has been setup now 
[08:46am] dneary: That was Istanbul: Matt Well, Leisa Reichelt, Eric Sink, Chris Blizzard, Alp Toker
[08:47am] bobert: txenoo: Wonderful!
[08:47am] dneary: txenoo, Great!
[08:47am] bobert: dneary: Reading those gives me crazy ideas, like Charles Stross.
[08:47am] txenoo: Today #sysadmin has given me a fast answer to the bug 
[08:47am] karenesq_: as someone who's been getting a few keynote requests these days, I think we should try to think creatively about who to invite - I'm struggling to find different things to say 
[08:48am] dneary: We've been thinking of inviting Ben Hammersly for years
[08:48am] dneary: I was thinking this year might be the opportunity
[08:49am] dneary: My keynote process has generally been to think by category, by relevance of message & relevance of GNOME to that person, look for recommendations & referrals (eg: Claire Rowland was a recommendation of Ivanka Majic last year), and think of budget and sex balance also
[08:50am] dneary: It's almost always easier to think of prominent men in a field than prominent women, but I've always found our women keynotes to be inspiring, and a very high standard
[08:51am] karenesq_: great idea regarding Ben Hammersly.
[08:51am] dneary: Anyway - I would recommend that you think about keynotes sooner rather than later, and have someone who will take charge of invitations ASAP
[08:51am] dneary: Esp. for the people who won't have heard much about GNOME before
[08:52am] bobert: That sound like wisdom from a person who's been there. 
[08:52am] karenesq_: agree dneary, with all of your points. I'm happy to do the invitations if that makes sense, of course 
[08:52am] dneary: And I've always found that an informal, personal, short email to gauge interest is the best approach - lots of time to give them more information when they say "maybe - do you have any more information?"
[08:53am] dneary: (and I should have said "prominent American men" there too)
[08:53am] txenoo: ok, so we should create our list of possible keynotes and think about people that could give inspiration to current challenges GNOME project has.
[08:53am] karenesq_: I assume we usually pay for keynote speaker travel?
[08:53am] dneary: It's easier to convince someone to take a 2 hour plane ride than a week on the other side of the atlantic
[08:53am] dneary: karenesq_, Yes, travel & accommodation
[08:54am] yippi joined the chat room.
[08:54am] dneary: karenesq_, I like to have keynotes met by volunteers at the airport, but that doesn't always work out
[08:54am] dneary: Last year we had some concerns about responsibility if volunteers drove their own cars on conference business, so we paid for taxis
[08:55am] dneary: And I'd really like to get someone from Ideo if we can! Been trying for 4 years
[08:56am] karenesq_: it would be great if we could have an accessibility related keynote
[08:56am] bobert: Hmm. I know some folks at ideo - at least, if they're still there.
[08:57am] dneary: karenesq_, It might be good to ask Joanie to be one of the technical keynotes
[08:57am] dneary: karenesq_, Or we could invite Glenda Watson Hyatt?
[08:58am] karenesq_: Liz Henry's 2009 oscon keynote was so inspiring
[08:58am] karenesq_: great idea
[08:59am] dneary: karenesq_, I wasn't there 
[09:01am] karenesq_: anyway, I guess we should pick this up in a collaborative document or something - we've got a lot to go on
[09:01am] bobert: True
[09:02am] txenoo: A new etherpad ? or something like google docs ?
[09:04am] bobert: I think either one would work - whatever is best for the local team, I'd say.
[09:04am] karenesq_: either! both are owned by google, no? 
[09:05am] txenoo: the difference is who owns the data 
[09:05am] bobert: etherpad has been open-sourced, and igalia is hosting an etherpad site - that's where the press release draft is
[09:06am] karenesq_: agreed 
[09:06am] txenoo: ok
[09:06am] txenoo: i'll create a new pad
[09:06am] karenesq_: bobert: is that a segway to the next agenda item?
[09:07am] bobert: Heh. Speaking of which, it looks like we have a few things to fill in on the press release.
[09:07am] txenoo: https://etherpad.igalia.com/guadec-2012-keynotes
[09:08am] txenoo: if you prefer we can set it up password protected 
[09:08am] karenesq_: I rewrote a little of the press release for readability, but I think we're mostly waiting on quotes
[09:09am] txenoo: i'll made a reminder to the faculty dean
[09:10am] bobert: Okay, good. It looks like much of what needs to be filled in should come from the local team.
[09:11am] bobert: Let's plan on reviewing this again in two weeks. If possible, I think it would be best to issue the press release shortly after that.
[09:12am] txenoo: The website and contetns should be ready at that date
[09:12am] bobert: Great!
[09:13am] yippi: I think an a11y-related keynote would be great
[09:14am] bobert: karenesq, do you know if the board has had a chance to review the report from the DS yet?
[09:14am] bobert: Or what the thinking might be for 2013 re GUADEC versus DS?
[09:15am] yippi: I wouldn't describe the situation as "versus". 
[09:15am] bobert: True enough. 
[09:15am] yippi: The board has been considering what to do about the Desktop Summit going forward.  However, no real decisions have been made.
[09:15am] karenesq_: bobert: I don't think any decisions have been made yet
[09:16am] yippi: I think the main concern is that for the Desktop Summit to be successful, there needs to be a good amount of collaboration and collaborative activities planned.
[09:17am] yippi: It is not clear if the measurable collaborative results of the Desktop Summit are so great.
[09:18am] yippi: For example, it was really hard to get many GNOME volunteers to help out with even organizing the last Desktop Summit.
[09:19am] yippi: People like Lennart and Ekaterina did a great job, but there were only a few dedicated volunteers.
[09:19am] bobert: I wasn't there in Berlin - how about the sessions? Was there a lot of overlap, or was it more like two conferences that happened to be held in the same place?
[09:19am] yippi: There would need to be a more clear drive in the GNOME community to make collaboration happen for the event to have a good future.
[09:20am] yippi: Overall, the conference was run well, people seemed to think.
[09:20am] yippi: People seemed to like the talks and the balance between the communities.
[09:20am] yippi: however, there were issues like the fact that we didn't have a GNOME party because nobody stepped forward to organize one.
[09:21am] yippi: some people seemed to think that the fact that there wasn't a GNOME party negatively affected the ability of GNOME people to socialize effectively
[09:21am] yippi: but, I don't think they realized that nobody stepped up to help.
[09:21am] teuf: yippi: maybe many people didn't realized more help from volunteers was needed?
[09:22am] yippi: and that is just an example.  There were a lot of examples of things that the KDE volunteers did where we didn't help much.
[09:22am] yippi: This caused some problems like the fact that the registration system was KDE's.  Many GNOME people didn't like this, but nobody from GNOME stepped up to help make it better.
[09:23am] yippi: It is true that the GNOME Foundation could be more effective at getting volunteers engaged and aware of how they can help.
[09:23am] dneary: yippi, That's not quite true
[09:23am] bobert: Do you know when the board might make a decision? I'm asking because if we're going to have a GUADEC in 2013, it would be best to do the call for proposals from potential sites as soon as we can.
[09:23am] dneary: yippi, There was no GNOME party because there was no sponsor for it, as I understand it
[09:24am] yippi: The GNOME Foundation could have sponsored a party if there were people wanting to make it happen.
[09:24am] dneary: yippi, I think that Chris from Openismus did a great job organising the parties
[09:24am] dneary: (that was something that a GNOME guy did)
[09:24am] yippi: Yes, the parties were well run, and KDE was good about compromising with us to make the parties more general.
[09:24am] yippi: But, some people complained that the GNOME community couldn't have their own party.
[09:24am] dneary: yippi, I don't recall ever having seen a lack of organising manpower as the reason for not having a GNOME party
[09:25am] dneary: I wasn't even aware it was an issue people had brought up
[09:25am] yippi: people complained to me after the event about this.
[09:25am] yippi: i don't think people thought it was an issue beforehand.
[09:26am] yippi: so perhaps it isn't the best example, but it is true that there were not as many volunteers helping as we would have liked.
[09:26am] dneary: yippi, Check mailing list archives for the reasons why the party didn't happen - that's not how I remember it
[09:26am] dneary: I could be wrong of course
[09:26am] bobert: I'd like to wrap up this meeting in about five minutes - I have to leave to catch a plane.
[09:26am] yippi: i said you were right, the main reason the party didn't happen was because no sponsors wanted to pay for one.
[09:27am] yippi: however, if there had been a real desire to have a party amongst the community, one could have been put together.
[09:27am] dneary: Sure
[09:27am] yippi: and it seemed that many Foundation members felt they would have prefered to have one after they experienced the event.
[09:28am] dneary: The organising team last year was a little unusual - a lot of stuff happened in local meetings so I don't know all of the debate & decisions
[09:28am] bobert: Let's talk a bit about sponsors. Andreas Nilsson has volunteered to do the layout on the sponsor brochure.
[09:28am] txenoo: bobert: that's nice 
[09:29am] txenoo: we have some pending decisions about the sponsors levels
[09:29am] yippi: so i guess the point of this discussion is that the GUADEC organizing committee probably could provide some useful input about whether we should have future Desktop Summit events.
[09:29am] karenesq_: one sponsor has laready asked me to give them a number regarding sponsorship levels
[09:29am] bobert: I'd like to have the wording finalized at our next meeting in two weeks so Andreas can get to work.
[09:30am] bobert: karenesq_: Lovely!
[09:30am] yippi: There needs to probably be a stronger sense of commitment towards organizing collaborative events, and the committee could weigh in on this.
[09:30am] bobert: We had a tentative set of sponsorship levels that got a consensus in one of our recent meetings - it's in the minutes.
[09:31am] yippi: For example, if collaborative events are felt to be important, we could plan some activities in 2012 to keep the spirit alive.
[09:31am] bobert: I think we need to get board sign-off on those levels. Also, we need to decide if/what discounts should be for repeat sponsors.
[09:31am] txenoo: and we have to review the proposal of discounts to previous sponsors and an extra one to increase there sponsorship level
[09:31am] yippi: in past years, the committee put together the brochure, and the board approved the levels once it was clear from the brochure.
[09:33am] yippi: but we don't have to do it the same way every year.  Is the brochure ready?
[09:33am] bobert: http://live.gnome.org/GUADEC/GUADEC-2011-1107 - Tentatively set sponsorship cost levels at (Euros) 35k, 20k, 10k, 5k, 1k
[09:33am] bobert: yippi: Not yet. The text is almost ready, just needs some final polishing.
[09:34am] bobert: If you'd like to review it, the text is at http://piratepad.net/4kQiFcpPjm
[09:34am] yippi: if you think there is value in having the board approve the sponsor levels before the brochure is ready, you can ask the board to approve.
[09:34am] yippi: however, weren't you also going to offer various discounts or additional perks?
[09:34am] yippi: it might be easier to clarify all that in the brochure, and review it once.
[09:37am] bobert: Those amounts are already in the brochure draft text
[09:37am] bobert: It seemed like the favorite discount idea the last time we discussed it was a 6% discount if an organization had sponsored before, and a 10% discount if they increased their sponsorship level.
[09:38am] bobert: I'll add some text to that effect to the brochure draft.
[09:39am] txenoo: we should decide the reference GUADEC we use so that discount would be considered
[09:39am] txenoo: just last DS or include the 2010 GUADEC ?
[09:40am] bobert: I agree - it should probably be 2010 GUADEC, I'd think.
[09:40am] bobert: Or maybe the higher of the two.
[09:40am] txenoo: bobert: i think that makes sense
[09:40am] bobert: Okay, good. I'll add some text to that effect.
[09:41am] bobert: Let's wrap up now. I have to head for the airport pretty soon - off to A Coruña for the WebKitGTK hackfest 
[09:41am] karenesq_: thanks bobert, have a great trip!
[09:41am] bobert: Thank you all for an excellent meeting, and I hope to see you all in two weeks!
[09:42am] txenoo: bobert: i didn't know you where coming to coruña  i can show you the venue during this week on thurday or friday 
[09:42am] txenoo: as i'll be at Coruña that days.
[09:42am] bobert: txenoo: Cool! I will look forward to it - I'll be staying at the Hotel Avenida, right near Igalia.
[09:45am] yippi: I do think there would be value in organizing a Desktop Collaboration Hackfest during the GUADEC event.
[09:46am] yippi: The board has been discussing doing such a thing to try and help keep a healthy focus on collaborative Desktop Summit sort of activities.
[09:46am] txenoo: it makes sense having a parallel event like that
[09:47am] yippi: i think so too, however it would require some effort to engage people from other desktops, Xserver, etc. to attend that Hackfest.
[09:48am] yippi: But, that would probably increase the value of the event overall, to have some collaborative activities going on
[09:51am] txenoo: yippi: we would need the feedback from the other desktop communities in order to verify it they are interested
[09:53am] yippi: txenoo, possibly.  it would certainly help to have some sort of official support and recognition, and help advertising the event.
[09:54am] yippi: however, most hackfests only have 10-20 people, so it might not be that impossible to organize an event by just calling out for interested people, if enough people were interested.
[09:54am] txenoo: that would be an option
[09:54am] yippi: if we were to do this, one question that we would need to consider would be how much travel sponsorship The GNOME Foundation might be willing to contribute.
[09:55am] yippi: Though we could just tell people to fill out the form, and we could also just approve the ones that seem sensible.
[09:55am] yippi: but, getting some travel budget up front might help to organize a few key people to attend.
[09:56am] yippi: for example, it might be useful to get some key Xserver people to attend who could help with getting touch-screen and other GNOME Shell features working better.
[09:56am] txenoo: probably this could be managed as the other hackfest are being organized and we could provide the venue
[09:57am] txenoo: define the scope of the hackfest, chose relevant people for the topic and sent the proposal to the gnome foundation board
[09:58am] txenoo: there are enough arguments to push this kind of proposal