Here is a new draft bid process with minor modifications based on comments in this thread. While this is now a suggestion rather than mere description, it's not intended to be a rigid set of rules. Please read it and make suggestions for improvements!
This bid process presupposes a couple of new stages separate from the bid process itself, which I would also like to hear comments on: Before the venue bid process - DPL delegates DebConf Committee Chairs to lead the DebConf organising process - Committee Chairs recruit additional committee members from those with a long-term interest in helping organise DebConf: for example, one or two organisers from each year's DebConf local team should be invited to join the committee after that DebConf is finished. DebConf venue bid process (draft proposal) Modifications to this process should be agreed with the competing bid teams. If bid teams miss announced deadlines, this should not immediately disqualify them, but bid teams' apparent organisational skills, ability to work together effectively, and redundancy in case of absence, should all be taken into account during the decision process. - Bid teams are invited to describe their proposals at DebConfN-2. This is not a hard requirement, but is helpful to everyone working on DebConf. Bid teams themselves can benefit from this as a milestone to encourage progress, and as an opportunity to gather comments and suggestions before their proposals become too firm. - Bid teams submit proposals before the end of that year. Teams are free to submit additional materials, but the core of a bid is a set of responses to the location checklist (http://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/LocationCheckList). Bids should be posted to the DebConf wiki, and announced on the DebConf mailing list. - Once a bid has been posted, everyone is encouraged to read the checklist responses, and to ask questions about them on the debconf-team list. Bid teams should give any additional information requested (perhaps updating their bid pages in the wiki). Bid teams remain free to change aspects of their bids in response to questions and suggestions, but at this stage details should be researched immediately for any new proposals, so that it remains possible to see full and accurate bid information, including costs. - Dates and times for the venue decision meetings are arranged by the DebConf Committee, in consultation with the bid teams. The date, time, and procedure should be announced well in advance of the meeting, along with a list of the current members of the DebConf Committee. - Before venue decision meeting 1: Bid teams send a status update to the mailing list, including again pointers to their materials (their completed checklist, any other team website, etc.). - Venue decision meeting 1: * Questions to teams, if there are still unanswered issues. * Questions from teams about the process, and about what others suggest they try to do on any uncertain aspects or potential problems. - After venue decision meeting 1: Bid teams answer questions on the mailing list, where they weren't already answered during the meeting. (E.g. more specific cost details that had been missing.) Others raise any new questions or ask for clarifications as necessary. - After venue decision meeting 1: If any DebConf Committee members feel that none of the bids are ready, they should explain on the debconf-team list what problems they see and how they could be addressed. If there is a widespread feeling among Committee members that none of the bids are ready, the second decision meeting should be delayed. - Before venue decision meeting 2: Bid teams again send status updates, with pointers to any additional materials since the first meeting. - Before venue decision meeting 2: Bid teams prepare: * A description of how their bid meets each of the points on the priority list (http://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/PriorityList). * A description of the weak points in their own bids. * A description of the strong points in other bids. Bid teams may opt to keep these materials private until the second decision meeting. - Venue decision meeting 2: * Quick introduction from each team, and quick questions to each team -- ideally by now everyone should already be clear on the bid statuses. * Bid teams post links to the materials they have prepared describing how their bid meets points on the the priority list, the weak points in their own bids, and the strong points in other bids. * Then we work through the priority list, considering areas where bids are stronger than each other. This stage is intended to ensure that no important topic is missed, but even if there is agreement on each bid's advantages, coming to a decision isn't simply a mathematical calculation: some aspects are more important than others. There should be an agreed time limit for discussion of each point. * There is a period of chaired discussion of the competing bids' merits, with opportunity for anyone present to speak, during which the meeting chairs seek consensus on a decision. The DebConf Committee members should participate in this discussion. There should be an agreed time limit on the discussion. * The DebConf Committee members are asked to vote to decide which bid to take forward. If there is already clear consensus, this may simply mean voicing their assent to the apparent decision. If there are still more than two bids in contention, a formal vote (using Debian's normal voting methods) may have to be run after the meeting, but the vote should be held and the result announced as soon as possible. Committee members who are part of a bid team should announce this on the debconf-team mailing list in advance of the meeting, and abstain from voting. - We thank all the bids for their hard work, and begin a new phase of hard work with the winning bid. - The winning team participate in organising DebConfN-1, before we all turn our attention to DebConfN itself. -- Moray _______________________________________________ Debconf-team mailing list [email protected] http://lists.debconf.org/mailman/listinfo/debconf-team
