>From my point of view I think it would be very valuable to use this money to get the developers together for a hackathon type event.
This project is currently populated by a large number of individuals from a single company and a large number of individuals who probably feel they are insignificant. On top of that there are people from the old structure who likely feel disenfranchised. It would be great to have an event that brought all these people together. The issue is organising such an event. It's not trivial, there needs to be sufficient momentum in the community to make it happen. I, as a member of ComDev and ConCom, and as a mentor of this project, will help. I have extensive experience of putting events on, of all sizes, here in the UK. I can also assist those wishing to host in their own back-yards. But we need commitment from a few PPMC members to be sure it will work (and to get the backing of ConCom). I would suggest that the proposal to take to the board and committees should say that the focus of all activities from this money will be to get developers together. It is hoped that an AOO meetup will be organised through (ConCom) with travel assistance available for those who need it (via TAC). It is not necessary, in my opinion, to commit to doing an event, but I am happy for you to say you have my commitment to support it - if we can add a few other PPMC members names that would be great. If the PPMC has the energy and wants to turn this into a user focussed event with a developer event co-located then this would also be good *but*, be aware that user focussed events are *much* more difficult to organise. I am *not* volunteering to help with this part of things. I will (with my ConCom hat) support such an event, but count me out of the organising team. Ross On 12 February 2012 03:07, Pedro Giffuni <[email protected]> wrote: > > --- Sab 11/2/12, Wolf Halton <[email protected]> ha scritto: > >> On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 5:20 PM, >> Gavin McDonald <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > I'm happy to answer any Travel Assistance (TAC) related >> questions. >> > >> > At this stage, I don’t see any reason why as a one >> off funds cannot >> > be added to the TAC budget and held in reserve for ASF >> sponsored >> > OOo related events. >> > >> > HTH >> > >> > Gav... >> >> Seems like a good start. Thanks, Gavin >> >> Does anybody think it makes more sense to divide the >> money into >> equal chunks, or just drop it into Travel Assistance as >> Gavin suggests? >> > > First of all, thanks to Wolf for taking the initiative > in solving this issue. Anything related to money, and > especially donations, is something that tends to be > delicate. > > My understanding is that we are talking about something > around 20K US$. While it is good money, I think keeping > it for one purpose like travel assistance will give > better results than splitting into different needs. > > I also think we shouldn't underestimate the value of > getting to actually see the faces of other developers > and talking over ideas. Getting some guys, that otherwise > would never go to any event, to meet in an ApacheCon > would be an excellent use for this money. > > This said: yes, I am biased, I like to travel even > if ApacheCons are not usually in the Bahamas ;). > > Pedro. > -- Ross Gardler (@rgardler) Programme Leader (Open Development) OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
