GUADEC Committee: 12 December 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. Document Review
  2. Sponsors
    • Create/manage a list of potential sponsors
    • Who will approach potential sponsors, and how?
  3. Local Team Status
  4. Date for next meeting
    • With the holidays coming up, should we do next week (19 December) or after New Year's (9 January)?
  5. Other Items

Meeting Minutes

Attending

TBD

Summary

TBD

Action Items

TBD

IRC Log

- Monday, 12 December 2011, 17:04 -
txenoo: hi
williamfromtexas: hi
yippi: hi
txenoo: we are waiting for Bob
yippi: ok
karenesq: let's maybe give him another minute and then start without him
karenesq: ?
txenoo: ok
williamfromtexas: i'm checking the press release
karenesq: looks like the press release is getting polished :-)
williamfromtexas: which organizations are Francisoc Javier Tsao Santin and Jose Maria Casanova from?
teuf: hello
teuf: probably won't attend the whole meeting
txenoo: williamfromtexas: we are both from the main organizer that is GPUL
williamfromtexas: k thx
txenoo: i'm also member of University, GNOME HISPANO and Igalia
karenesq: hi teuf 
karenesq: so looks like we can publish the press release this week? thanks for getting the quotes in!
txenoo: the website is available too
txenoo: http://www.guadec.org/
karenesq: looks
txenoo: we should just review the information according to the press release and the sponsors brochure
williamfromtexas: nice
karenesq: is it just me or is the picture of the tower a bit blurry?
txenoo: it is a bit blurry, photos are under revision, but we wanted to have at least some so we can publish the website.
williamfromtexas: in the press release, should we still cite karen as contact? on the website it lists jose and francisco... should probably be a contact@guadec.org address?
txenoo: we could request and alias
williamfromtexas: enquiries@guadec.org maybe .. and we still need a sponsors@guadec.org for the sponsor brochure
karenesq: an alias would be preferable, I think
txenoo: but i would prefer not waiting for it in order to publish the website and the press release
karenesq: agree txenoo, we should publish very soon
txenoo: i'll fill just now a bug in the bugzilla
yippi: the website does look nice
txenoo: i will point the contact to the mailing list we have already created
karenesq: great, are we otherwise ready on the press release?
txenoo: yes
williamfromtexas: yes
karenesq: we'll clean up some typos and give our last reads during/after this meeting :-)
txenoo: i would just substitute de [DATE] for the Call for contributions
txenoo: by an undetermined date, probably January
txenoo: the constitution of the program committee isn't going as fast as expected
karenesq: how does "early in 2012" sound?
txenoo: jjsanchez has contacted with several people involved in last years CFP and currently we don't have a volunteer to leader this task inside GNOME community.
txenoo: i like early 2012 :-)
karenesq: txenoo: that's a problem!
karenesq: who led last year's CFP?
teuf: wasn't it mezcalero ?
teuf: (Lennart Poettering)
txenoo: I think it was lennart
karenesq: ah
karenesq: do you know if it always changes every year?
karenesq: hopes Bob is ok
txenoo: he said that if we don't find nobody else he is willing to fill in
karenesq: oh great so at least we have a back up plan
txenoo: i'm talkin about Lennart
karenesq: yep!
karenesq: who else have we asked?
txenoo: jjsanchez talked to bastien last week and he proposed to talk to michael meeks
teuf: I could do it too if you don't find anyone else
karenesq: did Lennart have any suggestions as to who else would be good at it
teuf: ah yeah mmeeks would be great for that
karenesq: will ping bastien and ask if he's made progress on that
txenoo: this last movement was 8 days ago
teuf: txenoo: vuntz would be good for that too
teuf: dunno if he'd be willing
txenoo: karenesq: jjsanchez contacted to Michael, but it was Bastien suggestion
karenesq: oh great
karenesq: txenoo: did we hear back from him?
yippi_: what is CFP?
txenoo: karenesq: no news, if there were i would have heard somethg :-)
karenesq: vuntz is also a good suggestion
txenoo: Call for Papers -> in guadec case it would be Call for Contributions 
teuf: I can ask him if you want
karenesq: do we need to wait until we hear back from Michael or can we ask them both in parallel?
txenoo: teuf: i'll report to jjsanchez the suggestion so he could contact him if it is possible
teuf: txenoo: is he doing that by email or on IRC ?
txenoo: teuf: both of them 
yippi_: when you say you need a leader for CFP, do you mean to review the submissions that we receive?
yippi_: just to send out the call probably doesn't require much leadership
teuf: sounds better if there's agreement from the leader about the deadlines, the way to apply, ...
txenoo: yippi_: to form a person responsible of distributing the evaluation of the contributions and to help in the elaboration of the document
txenoo: of the CFP
txenoo: it will be easier to build a review committee later
teuf: txenoo: do you know how papers will be submitted ?
txenoo: but we think that it would be better having someone in control of the whole process since the beginning 
karenesq: txenoo: I agree, but yippi_ has a good point the if we have trouble finding someone right away we shouldn't let the timing slide too much
txenoo: from Lennart  suggested that  "The CFP really should be written by the paper committe"
txenoo: so i think that CFP should be published in January
txenoo: so proposals could be sent until middle March and having an answer to speakers in April
txenoo: so speakers would have 3 months to organize their journey.
yippi_: right, we can do the call before we have a leader to review the responses.
txenoo: yippi_: that would be the Plan B
yippi_: it might be easier to pick a leader, actually, once it is more clear what the proposed papers tend to focus on.
txenoo: and we should simply rewrite and update previous calls
karenesq: we should try very hard to stick to this schedule: http://live.gnome.org/GuadecPlanningHowTo
karenesq: which has the CFP coming out by the end of January
txenoo: karenesq: i agree 
karenesq: it would be great if we could have a committee in place sooner rather than later. We should definitely ask folks we think would be good, but we shouldn't hold up the timing for it either
txenoo: our next steps in local team work regarding the website are CFP, Registration and Accomodation management
dneary: karenesq, I'm a fan of paper committees which are made up of connectors - people who know a lot of what's going on in GNOME
karenesq: we also need to start inviting keynotes, as dneary suggested last meeting
karenesq: dneary: that sounds good. do you have any suggestions?
dneary: karenesq, It's a way to avoid having parts of the project under- or over-represented
dneary: karenesq, I'd encourage vuntz, now that he's not on the release team or board
dneary: karenesq, And teuf, who's been great in the past
dneary: A French conspiracy :-)
dneary: And federico, if he's willing
dneary: And perhaps Alberto Ruiz?
dneary: (these are just off the top of my head)
karenesq: great!
teuf: wasn't aruiz burnt out after some guadec ?
dneary: Also someone like Colin Walters or Richard Hughes
dneary: teuf, He was very heavily involved in Gran Canaria
dneary: I'm hoping that "just" being on the program committee 3 years later (for another Spanish GUADEC) might be tempting to him
dneary: But they're just ideas
dneary: You can probably expect one or two people to say no
karenesq: txenoo: do you know if jjsanchez contacted anyone else?
karenesq: good suggestions, dneary
txenoo: most of the people confirmed that were interested of supporting in the review process
txenoo: but we still net the person that would take the role that Bob is doing in this meetings. Make sure that the committee is working and deals with deadlines
karenesq: I guess we should make sure that we identify that person by the next meeting, and if not we have to start putting together a CFP anyway
txenoo: but we have a backun :-)
txenoo: backup
karenesq: :-)
teuf: is next meeting next week or in january ?
dneary: karenesq, txenoo: Ideally you'll have someone on the team who takes on the role
dneary: Once you have your team it'll be pretty obvious who's doing that job
karenesq: dneary: so you don't identify a leader in advance?
karenesq: teuf: do you think December 26 won't work?
dneary: karenesq, All depends. I asked teuf to lead the team one year, and he recruited the others
karenesq: I think we should have another meeting this year if at all possible
dneary: One year I invited ppl to the team, and ended up leading the team myself 
dneary: I won't be around for another meeting this year
txenoo: karenesq: 26 is ok
dneary: Going to Ireland next week, no internet in Mayo yet
karenesq: wow, dneary, sounds amazing
karenesq: I like the idea of asking folks to be on the committee asap, even if we can't identify a leader
karenesq: has jjsanchez been asking folks about that?
teuf: karenesq: ah dunno, it was one of the points raised for the meeting in Bob's email
txenoo: i'll ask
teuf: that's why I'm asking
teuf: will be in the train on the 26th
dneary: txenoo, If he isn't keep us posted, because someone should start getting a team together
txenoo: as a committee won't have work until April it isn't a problem now.
yippi_: i won't be available on the 26th for a meeting either.
dneary: txenoo, Well, there's the call for papers, and reviewing proposals
dneary: OSCON's closing its call for proposals now (just to give an example)
dneary: So while the schedule won't be printed until April, there's a couple of month's work leading up to that
txenoo: dneary: that's why the process or reviewing starts in March
dneary: txenoo, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't follow you there...
txenoo: we could write just now the CFP
karenesq: OSCON closes in mid January. Desktop Summit last year closed in March, for reference
txenoo: it doesn't involve a lot of work, and we have experience writing this kind of documents
karenesq: It's a good idea to have something ready to go, that the team can work from
teuf: txenoo: pick the one from the previous years
karenesq: I think our bigger obstacle is finding the right team to put in place
teuf: txenoo: but is there some webapp in place for proposals?
txenoo: Lennart recomended that in the past there were problems because the review team wasn't involved in the writing of the CFP, that's we would prefer involving this people and create this team earlier.
dneary: teuf, txenoo: In previous years, we've used Drupal's content proposal system. There have been negative remarks about it from organisers.
txenoo: teuf: we would like to review the fields to collect of the proposals with this team too
dneary: but it's definitely better than doing it by mailing list, which is what we did before
dneary: I'd be almost happy using a Google Docs form for proposals, except that it'd be sending the wrong message...
txenoo: dneary: my proposal for this year is http://indico-software.org/
dneary: txenoo, And it includes a content proposal and review system?
txenoo: it includes a basic sistem
teuf: I've got to leave now, bye
txenoo: because guadec committe isn't as formal as other conferences it doesn't need too much complex system
williamfromtexas: ciao
txenoo: there are academical systems that we used in the past for GUADEC-ES that we propose not using at GUADEC 
dneary: OK
dneary: Night all
dneary: I also have to go
txenoo: we don't have blinded review or complex systems for Peer review of the proposals
karenesq: should we maybe move onto the sponsorship brochure, as the meeting has gone on pretty long?
williamfromtexas: bye
karenesq: night, dneary!
txenoo: bye
yippi_: bye
txenoo: karenesq: i would prefer having the sponsor brochure reviewed so we can sent it to the board
karenesq: txenoo: great. I'll take another look at it after this meeting (it's been a little while since I have). Can everyone else do the same?
yippi_: is there a link to the sponsor brochure?
txenoo: do you receive feedback about the platinium sponsor ammounts ?
williamfromtexas: http://piratepad.net/4kQiFcpPjm
txenoo: It is a pity that Bob didn't come today, because last week we have visited the venue with him
karenesq: ah! how was the site visit? hadess went to, didn't he?
yippi_: the brochure doesn't seem to mention any sort of discounts.  
txenoo: karenesq: yes
yippi_: Are we not giving discounts or improved sponsorship levels to long-time sponsors?
txenoo: Yes we agreed about that in last meeting
karenesq: would someone volunteer to update the brochure with what we agreed at the last meeting? :-)
williamfromtexas: i missed the last meeting but i can review the minutes and do that this week
williamfromtexas: when does this have to be previewed by the board?
txenoo: 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. 
karenesq: williamfromtexas: we should get it reviewed as soon as we can so that we can start asking sponsors :-) Can we do it this week?
yippi_: the brochure should be updated so the sponsorship arrangements are pretty solid before the board reviews, since that is one of the important things for the board to approve.
txenoo: [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.
williamfromtexas: i can do it this week, will shoot for tomorrow
txenoo: we would use as reference for the discounts GUADEC 2010 and DS 2011
williamfromtexas: by the way, any anouncements for the twitter sphere? i have the guadec account sitting open, unsure if i should be tweeting digital news, gnome news or only event news
txenoo: williamfromtexas: we have integrated this account with the website
txenoo: could we sent the sponsor brochure to the board, Bob has more information about the brochure design, and extract of his conversation with andreasn is available at the etherpad chat.
karenesq: so let's check with bobert. 
karenesq: we have major action items for this week of finalizing the press release (which we should do after this meeting today)
karenesq: updating the brocure, which williamfromtexas and/or bobert will do
txenoo: about the press release we finally have the quotes
karenesq: and reaching out to folks regarding the papers committee
karenesq: txenoo: right! I think the release can use a couple of reads to clean it up, make sure it reads well and there are no typos
karenesq: I think we should publish it tomorrow morning if possible
karenesq: I can put it up on gnome.org and dent/tweet from the gnome accounts
txenoo: karenesq: that would be nice :-)
karenesq: sounds like december 26 won't work, does december 19 work for those that are still here?
williamfromtexas: it will be busy but i think i can make it
txenoo: it works for me
karenesq: cool, we'll probably have to check with others in another format :-)
karenesq: it could be good to have the next meeting in a week anyway to make sure we wrap up our outstanding items!
txenoo: karenesq: could you ping me when we have the final version of the press release in order to publish it in the front page of the guadec.org website ?
williamfromtexas: cool, will make sure to be here :-)
karenesq: so was Bobert taking care of saving the log and making minutes?
txenoo: we could simply propose the meeting for next week in the mailing list
karenesq: txenoo: sounds good
karenesq: txenoo: great idea
txenoo: if it is impossible attending to many people we check for a new date. The sooner the better.
txenoo: I'll sent know the proposal and i will update the wiki with today log
williamfromtexas: question for the repeated sponsor discount
karenesq: oh great!!! thanks, txenoo 
williamfromtexas: all sponsors ever, or those from the past 3-5 years, or those from the last event?
txenoo: last 2 events
williamfromtexas: k. i will post to the list when i've made the discount item final
karenesq: williamfromtexas: awesome, thanks!
txenoo: i'll try to solve the issues regarding the mail aliases :-)
karenesq: ok, I'm going afk to eat breakfast now (I'm on the west coast this week) but I'll be around here. 
karenesq: thanks for attending everyone!
williamfromtexas: cheers!
txenoo: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=666017

GUADEC/2012/Minutes/2011-12-12 (last edited 2013-07-08 18:50:56 by EkaterinaGerasimova)