Christine and all, I am a managing director for a software company. In my daily job we have a planning process that starts in september and ends in december. January we start the year and we have budget set aside for all the activities planned for the year (plus 10% I set aside for tactical activities). I think we should start with a plan, that way the decision of whether to participate or not and who, would have already been taken at the moment of approving the budget. Gian
On Sun 10/01/10 18:35 , "Christine Louise Beems" [email protected] sent: > I'd like to (if at all possible) pull this thread together with all the > other various requests for funding but not in context of 'approving' (or > disapproving)... only as an open forum for discussing what 'we' (the > Community) agree to as appropriate expenditures from our marketing > purse. > That is, in terms of adopting a marketing plan this seems a vital > consideration because there are many, many, many 'right' (correct, good and > proper) ways and things upon which one can spend money, thus unless this > resource is limitless allocation decisions must be made. > > And I agree very much with Florian, that 'trust among > leadership/volunteers' is essential for any organization to exist, let alone > thrive. > > Still, in context of developing an organization with a 'high trust > culture', there are certain fundamental 'controls' or 'guidlines' which > leadership > must adhere to and (if necessary, hopefully gently and politely) 'enforce' > in order to demonstrate 'trustworthyness' in terms of allocating resources > from the coummunity purse to any various or particular project. > > Yet the fact is that until such standards (controls, guidelines) are agreed > upon by community consensus, it is impossible for leadership to demonstrate > trustworthyness in the administration of community goods. > > Thus the critical importance of deliberately thinking these things through > and arriving as some sort of general agreement which outlines the > 'appropriate uses' of the marketing budget and prioritizes expenditures of > resources in context of our overarching strategic marketing plan. > > Point of reference -- In the mainstream commercial/industrial universe, > there are only 2 acceptable types of expenditures from a 'marketing > budget'. The project and it's related costs (be these travel, brochure > production, > website development, newsletter distribution, etc.) *must* seek to either > intice new customers or reward existing customers -- and optimally it must > do both of these at the same time. > > And while there are many various elements of the mainstream > commercial/industrial universe that I personally believe should be > abandoned, I also believe there are certain practices which work rather > well, with the qualitative judgement here being pronounced with respect to > 'How well does the policy (standard, guideline, control) serve to empower > the well-being of the whole?' With 'the whole' in this instance being > already clearly defined as 'the strategic marketing of OOo'.... > > Again, just my 3cents. However, I will share that my (strong) opinions are > the derivatives of 40+ years of hands-on participation with various 'good > works' groups (including government) as a volunteer -and- an equal number > of for-profit organizations in a paid-professional capacity. And still, that > and $1-US will get you a cup of regular coffee at McDonald's everywhere... > . ~Christine > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Florian Effenberger" floeff@ > openoffice.org>To: > [email protected]>Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 8:43 AM > Subject: Re: [marketing] Virtual conferencing system Was: [Funding request > for a Visual Identity meeting in Hamburg] > > > > Hi Alexandro, > > > > first of all, thanks for agreeing to the funding of > the meeting. I hope > that we can go on with the process now and that > nobody is upset. In good > faith, I just booked the hotel and the train, so > prices don't explode. :-)> > >> I rather move the conversation to a new thread, > about the discussion>> on face to face vs virtual meetings. Is easy to > say that face to face>> is better, is harder to justify who should be > involved into this face>> to face and why. Does his tittle makes him > eligible just because he is>> the lead, or his nearbyness is the main factor > that can make him>> viable for him even if he/she is not the best > person just because>> "face to face is better". > > > > Well, in the past we never judged a funding request > by the title or role > of a person. Sure, we checked who requested the > funding, but we never > looked at titles to base our decision on. I agree > that often people with > titles/roles request funding, but that's mostly due > to the fact that > active people usually hold these "jobs" inside the > project, and therefore > also have to request funding quite > often.> > > While I agree that some sort of "controlling" is > important, I also would > like to think about trust. Most is based on trust. > When we as budget > holders get asked for travel funding for a specific > event in a foreign > country, we normally don't know much about it -- > neither the country, nor > the event, and also not about local prices. I have > to trust the people > when they tell me this event is important and they > have long and expensive > flights. Of course, I do some checking, but without > trust, it wouldn't > work. > > > > I also see that we are in a slightly different > situation, all of us. While > I enjoy living in Germany, thus being able to > attend many events, having > quite cheap transportation and lodging costs > compared to other countries, > and lots of OOo stuff is going on there, I see > that > others who live far > away have it much harder, and their demands and > needs are quite different.> > > On the other hand, some people enjoy a good income > or getting funded by > their employer, while for me paying a trip to > Hamburg means spending more > money than I have in one month. No cinema, no > going > out etc. for one > month. I think we should try to accept, respect and > understand everyone's > situation. > > > > I also see that there are many different views on > various topics. It's no > secret that I'm in favor of having even *more* > personal meetings, because > to my experience, it helps a lot. I also accept > that others cannot make it > due to time reasons, or do not want to because of > carbon footprint and > saving the environment. Everything is a valid > reason.> > > We all work on the same common goal, and some work > one way, others choose > another way. I think it can't harm to work on > things in parallel and > again, trusting people. When I think it's important > to have some face to > face meetings or attend several events, I wish for > some trust. The same is > true when others have different requirements. We > are a project full of so > many different people, so one opinion might not fit > everyone.> > > I'm talking openly because we're an open source > project and we should > decide on our goals, ways and also money together. > As said, the budget is > not my budget, it is our budget. > > > > Openly said, and I see that this might not be ok > for everyone, my wishes > for the future would be: (Not for me personal, but > for everyone in the > project) > > > > - Being able to attend more events and present > ourselves> - Being able to have more face to face meetings > when needed> - But also investing in a conferencing > infrastructure to save money and > carbon footprint, as well as enable people > living > far away to join> > > This is only my idea, and I'm sure not everyone is > happy with it. :-) > However: The marketing project, IIRC, will most > likely have the > responsibility of a much larger travelling budget > this year, assigned by > the council, so let's spend it wisely. > > > > I still have the feeling that by being able to > attend more things in > person (again, not myself, but many people inside > the project), we can > gain a lot of attention. Look how often other > projects meet -- it doesn't > do them any bad, but the opposite. It might not > work for us, but I have > this feeling, and I guess it is worth a > try.> > > Ok, so much for today. :-) I'd love to keep up this > discussion and also > talk about it at our planned phone > conference.> > >> Then there is the question of price, how expensive > is expensive, for>> people be very concern with price on paying a > company to provide>> infrastructure, we are very loose to grant travel > budgets. example,>> nothing wrong on having 2 600 euros meeting a year > but we would think>> that is too expensive to pay 12000 euros to a > company for virtual>> services. > > > > At the moment I think it would, yes. 12.000 € a > year is 1.000 € per month. > Looking at how many conferences we are likely to > have at the moment, this > would mean several hundred € per conference. Way > too much, IMHO.> > > I asked various times who would be generally > interested in conferences, > without knowing details of technical > implementation > yet. Roughly about 20 > people replied. For spending 12.000 € a year, > that's too less...> > >> The other issue is that we see no problem wasting > money on>> transportation companies, but how about spending > money on our own OOo>> people. I would like to discuss paying for a > ticket vs buying a SIP>> phone, Webcam, USB professional microphone for a > project lead or>> Marcon. > > > > As said, for me, it wouldn't help, as you would > have to buy me a complete > office where I could work without being > disturbed... others have no > internet connectivity, so it doesn't help for > them. > I even know of some > ISPs who block VoIP. Everyone has different > requirements, and we should > have an open ear for them. > > > >> I much rather spend money in Sophie, Eric, or John > than in Luftansa or>> ibis... but that's just me. > > > > This comparison is wrong. We're not talking about > Sophie, Eric or John, > we're comparing snom, Grandstream, AT&T with > Lufthansa and IBIS. It's all > a point of view... > > > > Again, please let's continue this discussion and > check what everyone's > needs are. > > > > Florian > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------> To > unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]> For additional > commands, e-mail: [email protected]> > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
