Below are my notes from the Guadec planning meeting that took place on
the 3rd March. Please feel free to comment on any of the points made. I
will also be sending out the draft budget in a separate e-mail.
-Thomas
GAUDEC Planning Meeting Notes
=============================
3rd March 2007
Attendance
----------
Bastien Nocera
Paul Cooper
Ross Burton
Rob Bradford
Thomas Wood
Finances
--------
* Paul has spoken to an accountant in Birmingham and he has advised
we set up a limited company to deal with the funds.
* The main reasons for the limited company were:
o Limited liability for those people involved
o Clearer tax rules
o No income tax to deal with
o Offers a more transparent way of doing things with well
known rules and procedures
o Public records, and many accountants offer an audit service.
* The disadvantages were than we would need to charge and pay VAT
if the turnover was more than 61k, which is likely.
* Paul pointed out that it was unlikely the accountant would have
suggested any other option, but it is still a good option since it
provides a well known framework.
* Setting up the limited company will cost about £200
* The accounting will likely cost 12-14k
* An audit would cost around £370-400
* The accountant would also be able to deal with vat returns.
* The reporting period is February to February.
* We were advised to submit accounts every month, rather than hold
them until the end of the year.
* We will have to charge VAT to sponsors and attendies, because we
are providing a service to both within the UK. This is regardless
of what form of organisation we are. It was agreed that VAT would
be included in the current sponsorship prices.
* There is the possibility of gaining vat exemption, but it is not
a certainty.
* Two people are required to set up the limited company, and Paul
and Bastien volunteered. They will meet in Birmingham in the next
two weeks to organise signatures and a bank account.
* We were advised to invoice only in Stirling, so as to simplify the
records for tax reasons in the case of fluctuations in exchange
rates.
* We need to ask the accountant about payment systems, and find out
what various banks charge as fees for swift transfers etc.
Budget
* We looked at the final draft of last year's budget and used it as
the basis for this years budget
* We decided not to budget for accommodation or catering, except
for lunches (core days only).
* Preliminary suggestion for registration prices was £80 for
corporate registrations, £40 for normal registration, and £20 for
concessions.
Call For Papers & Scheduling
----------------------------
Papers
* 11 papers have been submitted so far, and the quality is very
high.
* 36 papers in total will be needed.
* A last minute rush is expected.
Scheduling
* We would like to have a day of workshops and tutorials
* Possibility of a "GNOME Love Day" to include team meetings on:
o Bugsquad
o UI Design
o Accessibility
o Translations
o New contributors (GNOME Love project)
* We will need to ask people to run the tutorials and workshops
* Possibility of producing printed developer material since both
GNOME developer books are now out of print. Perhaps look into
printing
the recently completed architecture overview.
Keynotes
* Progress has stalled somewhat
* No further responses since last meeting
* Need to ask board for help
Materials
---------
Preliminary costs
* Bags - £6.65 ( for runs of more than 250)
o Will be getting a samples to test
o Do we even need a bag? It was decided that if possible we
may not want to include a bag as part of the attendee items.
* Polo shirts - £10
* T-shits:
o £4.23 - one colour print
o £5 - 4 colour print
* Will only be giving one t-shirt away free this year (the Guadec
t-shirt with sponsor logos)
* Possibility to sell other GNOME t-shirts
* Further ideas were discussed, and we will get quotes for:
o Stickers - sheet of different stickers would be nice
o Badges - approximately 20p each
o Lanyards - about £1 each)
o Badge holders - about 30p each
* Mugs are £1.50 for 1 colour, and £2.40 for 4 colour
* Custom USB drives are about £11 with a 4 colour print
* GNOME Beer mugs?!
* We would definitely like to include stickers, badges and usb
sticks as attendee items.
* A budget of no more than £20 per person was agreed.
Print
* We will need to produce:
o A programme
o Attendee badges
o Booklet/Brochures
o Banners (for main stage, and if possible something to attach
to railings or signs for outside).
Community
---------
* Various things we could get members of the community involved in:
o Website - could still do with some help to clean up various
parts of the website
o Graphic Design (badges, t-shirts, programme, badges, etc)
o Promotion (putting up posters in universities, talking to
local lugs)
* We will need more volunteers for the events as stewards and other
helpers.
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