Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi, Stormy Peters wrote: > I believe you can legally sign with a web form too. If you want the > psychological impact of signing, that's different. > > I'm not an attorney, but I talked to one about web forms a while back. > The trick to make it legally binding is to make sure you can associate > the email address/login/person with the person that filled out the web > form. That's why all the web services you sign up for send you an > email that you then have to click through. But I don't think you're > worried about the legal side as much as the making sure they know what > they agreed to, right? Yes - in short, what I think is useful is an explicit contract between the foundation and the person being funded. Not contract in the legal sense of signed in blood, but in the sense of an a priori agreed set of terms involved, so that there's no confusion a posteriori. Cheers, Dave. -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
I believe you can legally sign with a web form too. If you want the psychological impact of signing, that's different. I'm not an attorney, but I talked to one about web forms a while back. The trick to make it legally binding is to make sure you can associate the email address/login/person with the person that filled out the web form. That's why all the web services you sign up for send you an email that you then have to click through. But I don't think you're worried about the legal side as much as the making sure they know what they agreed to, right? Stormy On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 3:25 AM, Dave Neary wrote: > Hi, > > I of course have no problem with a web form for requesting sponsorship, > but I would like to see us have, like the Linux Foundation, something > that people sign which lists the obligations they have in return for > travel support (actually attending, for example - I don't want to see us > reimbursing people for empty plane seats). > > A written agreement is also important for the person who is travelling, > since it commits the foundation to reimbursing and states before the > trip what will be reimbursed, when. > > If there had not been some contentiousness in the past on what was > covered and what wasn't, and when reimbursement would happen, this might > not be necessary. Doing this informally in the past has, however, > resulted in problems, which we should try to avoid in the future. > > Cheers, > Dave. > > > Davyd Madeley wrote: >> On Tue, 2009-02-10 at 14:08 -0700, Stormy Peters wrote: >>> You can find the missing attachment (the application form for travel >>> assistance) at >>> http://live.gnome.org/Travel?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=gnome_travel_subsidy.odt. >> >> The obvious question: why isn't this a web form? >> >> It would be possible to knock up a little web management UI console >> whatsit that fed these requests directly into a queue thing where they >> could be scored by the Travel Committee. >> >> I'm happy to volunteer to whip something up to implement this. >> >> --d >> > > -- > Dave Neary > GNOME Foundation member > dne...@gnome.org > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi, I of course have no problem with a web form for requesting sponsorship, but I would like to see us have, like the Linux Foundation, something that people sign which lists the obligations they have in return for travel support (actually attending, for example - I don't want to see us reimbursing people for empty plane seats). A written agreement is also important for the person who is travelling, since it commits the foundation to reimbursing and states before the trip what will be reimbursed, when. If there had not been some contentiousness in the past on what was covered and what wasn't, and when reimbursement would happen, this might not be necessary. Doing this informally in the past has, however, resulted in problems, which we should try to avoid in the future. Cheers, Dave. Davyd Madeley wrote: > On Tue, 2009-02-10 at 14:08 -0700, Stormy Peters wrote: >> You can find the missing attachment (the application form for travel >> assistance) at >> http://live.gnome.org/Travel?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=gnome_travel_subsidy.odt. > > The obvious question: why isn't this a web form? > > It would be possible to knock up a little web management UI console > whatsit that fed these requests directly into a queue thing where they > could be scored by the Travel Committee. > > I'm happy to volunteer to whip something up to implement this. > > --d > -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Tue, 2009-02-10 at 14:08 -0700, Stormy Peters wrote: > You can find the missing attachment (the application form for travel > assistance) at > http://live.gnome.org/Travel?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=gnome_travel_subsidy.odt. The obvious question: why isn't this a web form? It would be possible to knock up a little web management UI console whatsit that fed these requests directly into a queue thing where they could be scored by the Travel Committee. I'm happy to volunteer to whip something up to implement this. --d -- Davyd Madeley http://www.davyd.id.au/ 08B0 341A 0B9B 08BB 2118 C060 2EDD BB4F 5191 6CDA ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Fri, 2009-02-20 at 11:20 +0100, Dave Neary wrote: > [..] > I think, nevertheless, that it is essential that the board not push the > entire responsibility for reimbursement policy to a nominated travel > committee - it's the board's role to guide the travel committee on how > they should make choices, when choices are to be make, and to suggest > sensible defaults for when someone contacts the foundation for a travel > subsidy. Shirking that responsibility is setting the travel committee up > to fail, as they will have an very difficult job.. I think there is a rule/policy missing here. Who will review the sponsorship applications coming from members of that committee? In such case, I suggest the committee receives the application, ask for the information missing and put everything in order to finally send it to the board for a final review/decision. I would be willing to volunteer if this issue were clear and if there is is no room for misunderstanding about sponsorships requested by the committee itself (specially if the committee would formed by people who live so far that their requests could be high also). On the other hand, for newcomers and/or contributors who works in Gnome but still doesn't feel part of Gnome, I think it could be added a statement like: "Having the support of a Gnome developer for your application is a plus." > > I -personally- expect the real improvements and savings to be in the > > enhanced speed of the process (hence earlier bookings of tickets), > > having all the tickets bought with enough anticipation should save us > > a considerable amount already. > > Personally, I expect the biggest improvement to be the community being > much more aware of how our money is being spent, and encouraging greater > use of our resources outside of just GUADEC. In that matter, having a committee doesn't make it clear, it just increase the perception of transparency. To really make it clear, at least it is necessary to make public the detail of the sponsorship (by item) in each event. Personally, I don't have any concern about transparency or how the funds are spent. IMVHO, the main concerns are the delay and having a good estimation of cash-flow :-) -- Germán Póo-Caamaño Concepción - Chile http://www.calcifer.org/ -- Germán Póo-Caamaño Concepción - Chile http://www.calcifer.org/ signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi, Diego Escalante Urrelo wrote: > Summarising all the discussion a bit: > - a travel committee is suggested to take out the huge work of > processing sponsorship applications from the GUADEC committee Also (perhaps principally?) to provide consistency, transparency, and fiscal responsibility (balancing the budget). And ensure that people understand taht travel assistance is not GUADEC-only. > - conditions and obligations by both parties will be clearer (we > won't cover your new shin pads for the FreeFA cup, you must present > clear tickets) ...you must turn up and participate, you should write some kind of post-conference report/blog entry on your participation. > Regarding the % or 200€ thing: > - we can agree that the people that *should* get a 100% coverage is > people that deserve it or really need it > - we can't leave out people asking for 100% just because they are > not crucial people in GNOME; it would kill the involvement of new > people I like KDE's formulation (http://ev.kde.org/rules/reimbursement_policy.php): Amount * The KDE e.V. usually reimburses up to 80% of the travel expenses for the cheapest reasonable way, subject to availability of funds. This covers transport like air fares or train tickets. * If needed the KDE e.V. will additionally reimburse up to 80% of accommodation costs for the cheapest reasonable accomodation, subject to availability of funds. * In circumstances, where a contributor cannot even afford the remaining 20% (this usually only applies to people from outside Western Europe and North America), KDE e.V. can even pay 100% of your travel expenses. I also like the idea, if there is a consensus on this issue, of assigning 25% of the travel budget for an event to "outreach" - funding students, GSoC participants, and generally newcomers to the community - people who are, for the moment, peripheral contributors. That means that, for GUADEC, with a €30,000 travel budget for the time being, you're setting aside €7,500 for people who (for wont of a better way to put it) not materially improving the conference by their presence. I think, nevertheless, that it is essential that the board not push the entire responsibility for reimbursement policy to a nominated travel committee - it's the board's role to guide the travel committee on how they should make choices, when choices are to be make, and to suggest sensible defaults for when someone contacts the foundation for a travel subsidy. Shirking that responsibility is setting the travel committee up to fail, as they will have an very difficult job.. > I -personally- expect the real improvements and savings to be in the > enhanced speed of the process (hence earlier bookings of tickets), > having all the tickets bought with enough anticipation should save us > a considerable amount already. Personally, I expect the biggest improvement to be the community being much more aware of how our money is being spent, and encouraging greater use of our resources outside of just GUADEC. Cheers, Dave. -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On 2/18/09, Bruno Boaventura wrote: > On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 6:38 AM, Alberto Ruiz wrote: > > Note that I'm not against a generalized co-pay policy, I'm just > > concerned about making it a rule set to stone that would have an > > impact on our ability to foster future contributors. > > > That's my position too. Co-pay policy is great, however, what we have > to think about students is: they have other costs with food and > transport (depending the place, can be > 200 EUR for a week). > Summarising all the discussion a bit: - a travel committee is suggested to take out the huge work of processing sponsorship applications from the GUADEC committee - a more formal process would be installed: a form to be filled, deadlines to get a reply, etc; - conditions and obligations by both parties will be clearer (we won't cover your new shin pads for the FreeFA cup, you must present clear tickets) Regarding the % or 200€ thing: - we can agree that the people that *should* get a 100% coverage is people that deserve it or really need it - we can't leave out people asking for 100% just because they are not crucial people in GNOME; it would kill the involvement of new people We could remove the fixed/default %-200€ policy and of course leave the travel committee with the faculty to ask people if they could be able to afford an ammount of the trip if they see it as a reasonable thing to ask. Just like it is done now. I -personally- expect the real improvements and savings to be in the enhanced speed of the process (hence earlier bookings of tickets), having all the tickets bought with enough anticipation should save us a considerable ammount already. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 6:09 AM, Dave Neary wrote: > Hi Bruno, Hey, Dave! > You are making an assumption of unlimited funds! I'm not disagreeing out of the co-pay policy, I'm just thinking that we don't need fixed values to do this. The committee can treat each case separately. > Do you remember how much it cost you to get to Istanbul, Bruno? With > accommodation, perhaps €1000? Baris told me that last year we funded > people for $60,000 - which covered travel and accommodation for... > flights for 27 people, and accommodation for 35 people. Do you think > that perhaps we could have used this money more efficiently to benefit > 60 or 70 people? I remember. It was ~1,500 EUR (hey, I'm from Brazil). I think we can pay for the people who can't pay (and of course, deserves it). Bruno ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 6:38 AM, Alberto Ruiz wrote: > Note that I'm not against a generalized co-pay policy, I'm just > concerned about making it a rule set to stone that would have an > impact on our ability to foster future contributors. That's my position too. Co-pay policy is great, however, what we have to think about students is: they have other costs with food and transport (depending the place, can be > 200 EUR for a week). Bruno ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
If paying for food is a hardship for many attendees (and I know eating out all week gets expensive) we could do other things like: - request break/lunch sponsorships (we've specifically not done this in the past in favor of getting other things funded or getting cash that we could spend on travel reimbursements) - look for more options like apartments where people would have access to kitchens But this is a tangent from the travel committee proposal ... Stormy On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 3:24 PM, Ruben Vermeersch wrote: > What would be nice is to know how much an average day at GUADEC will > cost. Yes, you have flights and hotel costs. > > But there's more: food (what's the price of a cheap but survivable > restaurant in Gran Canaria?), public transport (atleast two tram rides > every day in Istanbul, plus a 15 min walk in the burning sun if you > didn't take the bus). These are all small extra charges (not that small > in the case of restaurants), but multiply that by 8 or 9 for the whole > week and it suddenly gets a quite substantial amount of money, > especially if you can't send the bills over to the company. > > At the advice of Dave, I've booked my plane ticket early*, yet I'm now > hearing everywhere that it's extremely touristic over there, leaving me > with fear that just the cost of staying alive there might already be > very substantial. > > That being said, having a small contribution from our side is perfectly > reasonable, but let's keep the big picture in mind: there's more to it > than just airplanes and hotels. > > Ruben > > > * and thus "cheap", hoping to increase my chances of foundation > sponsorship. > > On wo, 2009-02-18 at 09:56 +0100, Johannes Schmid wrote: > > Hi! > > > > > (If you feel strongly that it is a good idea, now is the time to speak > > > up.) > > > > > I think it's a good idea except for students! > > > > Regards, > > Johannes > > ___ > > foundation-list mailing list > > foundation-list@gnome.org > > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list > > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
What would be nice is to know how much an average day at GUADEC will cost. Yes, you have flights and hotel costs. But there's more: food (what's the price of a cheap but survivable restaurant in Gran Canaria?), public transport (atleast two tram rides every day in Istanbul, plus a 15 min walk in the burning sun if you didn't take the bus). These are all small extra charges (not that small in the case of restaurants), but multiply that by 8 or 9 for the whole week and it suddenly gets a quite substantial amount of money, especially if you can't send the bills over to the company. At the advice of Dave, I've booked my plane ticket early*, yet I'm now hearing everywhere that it's extremely touristic over there, leaving me with fear that just the cost of staying alive there might already be very substantial. That being said, having a small contribution from our side is perfectly reasonable, but let's keep the big picture in mind: there's more to it than just airplanes and hotels. Ruben * and thus "cheap", hoping to increase my chances of foundation sponsorship. On wo, 2009-02-18 at 09:56 +0100, Johannes Schmid wrote: > Hi! > > > (If you feel strongly that it is a good idea, now is the time to speak > > up.) > > > I think it's a good idea except for students! > > Regards, > Johannes > ___ > foundation-list mailing list > foundation-list@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi, One other thing, then I'll make my peace. Bruno Boaventura wrote: > I'm with Claudio on this issue. Last year I could not go to GUADEC if > I had to pay 200 € (wait to be reimbursed has been difficult). GUADEC > should be a special case. A person who shall rename nameless (unless he wants to pipe up) said to me when we exchanged emails on this previously: "it's really nonsensical to me if a longtime maintainer who is speaking at the conference would have to pay out of his pocket, while someone who barely contributes to GNOME and mostly is going to GUADEC to have a good time gets sponsored. Because that's what I've seen happen a lot in the past." He also said: "being employed should not be a disadvantage when it comes to community inclusion". So, to summarise, students want to come for free, core hackers (even those working for companies investing in GNOME) want to be considered for sponsorship if their company won't pay for them to go. Obviously, invited keynotes will have travel covered. This is the reason why the foundation, which has a €300K annual budget, is spending over €150K on its annual conference these days. It's the reason why we don't offer any travel assistance for the Boston Summit as a matter of policy (one I disagree with, by the way). It's the reason why, when raising more than double the money of Akademy last year, we were left with a smaller surplus to carry over to other activities. What I want is a reasonable travel policy. One where we fix ourselves budgets for travel and stick to them. Where we're transparent about publicising who we sponsor and how much they are sponsored for. Where the foundation and members of the community who get funding are accountable. Especially in a period where we're likely to have some trouble raising money for the next couple of years, I want us to be fiscally responsible, and also socially responsible to the community. OK - perhaps the travel guidelines that were proposed aren't perfect, but the idea, in case everyone missed it, is to delegate travel requests to a committee, who will apply guidelines from the board, and who will independently manage a budget, and who will publish the expenditure reports afterwards. That's a *very* positive change. I also think that formalising the principle that people participate in the costs of travel is a positive change, and it's not totally out of left field - this is the system that KDE has had in place for years, and is why they fund travel for more people than us, while spending less money. http://ev.kde.org/rules/reimbursement_policy.php Cheers, Dave. (Disclosure: last year I gratefully received €361 for my plane ticket, at a time when I'd just created my company & wasn't making any money yet) -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Wed, 2009-02-18 at 10:09 +0100, Dave Neary wrote: > Hi Bruno, > > Bruno Boaventura wrote: > > I'm with Claudio on this issue. Last year I could not go to GUADEC if > > I had to pay 200 € (wait to be reimbursed has been difficult). GUADEC > > should be a special case. > > You are making an assumption of unlimited funds! > > This year, we have allocated a provisional travel budget of €30,000 - it > may go over that, butu this is our provisional budget. > > Do you remember how much it cost you to get to Istanbul, Bruno? With > accommodation, perhaps €1000? Baris told me that last year we funded > people for $60,000 - which covered travel and accommodation for... > flights for 27 people, and accommodation for 35 people. Do you think > that perhaps we could have used this money more efficiently to benefit > 60 or 70 people? For reference in 07 we spent around 36,000 GBP on travel and hotels for 52 people - which was 6K over our budget, partly because we'd secured more sponsorship and partly because I found it hard to say no to so many cool people. I'm glad I'm not on the travel committee. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but does DebConf not do a similar things, ie. have a travel subsidy (with a contribution from the attendee) rather than full sponsorship. Why not just make this a clearly optional part of the form, e.g. Total estimated cost of travel & accommodation: Total contribution from applicant (recommended smaller of %15 or 200Eu): Total request for subsidy (difference of the above): or similar but with better wording. Paul > So which has more value? Being able to cover 30 people, or being able to > cover 40 people, because we ask people to pay what they can afford when > we agree to fund them? > > Cheers, > Dave. > -- Intel Open Source Technology Centre http://oss.intel.com/ ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Wed, 2009-02-18 at 10:09 +0100, Dave Neary wrote: > Hi Bruno, > > Bruno Boaventura wrote: > > I'm with Claudio on this issue. Last year I could not go to GUADEC if > > I had to pay 200 € (wait to be reimbursed has been difficult). GUADEC > > should be a special case. > > You are making an assumption of unlimited funds! > > This year, we have allocated a provisional travel budget of €30,000 - it > may go over that, butu this is our provisional budget. > > Do you remember how much it cost you to get to Istanbul, Bruno? With > accommodation, perhaps €1000? Baris told me that last year we funded > people for $60,000 - which covered travel and accommodation for... > flights for 27 people, and accommodation for 35 people. Do you think > that perhaps we could have used this money more efficiently to benefit > 60 or 70 people? > > So which has more value? Being able to cover 30 people, or being able to > cover 40 people, because we ask people to pay what they can afford when > we agree to fund them? Certainly it is a trade-off, and I'm not sure if those numbers are comparables at all. The same 30 people are not included in the group of 40, they may be 10, 15 or 20 in common. Personally, I'm not in a position to say which one is better. Some people are not aware of the value of their contributions and they only realize it once there. Afterwards, I see them increasing their contributions, became part of other teams and even became part of the board. I personally I've encouraged people to try their best to attend, specially when they didn't think their contribution worth to ask for any kind of sponsorship. I'm for sure you support case-by-case if asked. But, it is not enough. IMVHO, it should be clear for everybody they can ask. It's a matter of communication, not intentions. Also, I would suggest to the Travel Committee to try to work with deadlines. I know it depends on approval of abstracts, getting sponsors and so on, people need to be aware if they could attend and when they should expect the refund. At last but not least, don't think that people who gets 100% of travel/accommodation funds don't make a sacrifice, just to stay there: * some of them will spend more than € 200 (visa fees, local transportation, foods), so you are asking for extra € 200. The self nominated "Cheap Bastards" group exists for a reason (almost truth, almost joke), they can eat only baguette + watter/coke the whole conference just because it is the cheapest and/or affordable food. Even though, it could cost more than € 200 in total. * some of them will attend using their holidays, or asking permission without earning anything those days. * € 200 are not the same for East-Europeans or Latin-Americans than North-Americans or West-Europeans. Kind regards, -- Germán Póo-Caamaño Concepción - Chile http://www.calcifer.org/ signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
2009/2/18 Sven Herzberg : > Am Dienstag, den 17.02.2009, 21:35 -0300 schrieb Bruno Boaventura: >> Hey Stormy, Dave and Claudio! >> >> >> Seriously, I don't like this. Telling a student who's been contributing >> >> on his free time to the project that he needs to request special >> >> consideration if he can't afford those 200 € could even cause him not to >> >> apply at all. >> >> >> >> I think GUADEC is a special kind of conference in the sense it needs to >> >> be inclusive, specially for people who is not so integrated in the >> >> community and for whom attending may have a huge impact on their >> >> involvement. Maybe hackfests and other local conferences may suit better >> >> for the approach you propose, but definitively not GUADEC. >> >> I'm with Claudio on this issue. Last year I could not go to GUADEC if >> I had to pay 200 € (wait to be reimbursed has been difficult). GUADEC >> should be a special case. > > I totally agree here: I got an invitation of Tim Ney in 2003 to get to > GUADEC Dublin, the foundation covered all of my expences for GUADEC in > Kristiansand, they paid all but the fuel for my Stuttgart trip and they > paid the accomodation and flight for my Vilanova trip. > > None of these 4 trips would have been possible with having to pay 200 > EUR for each trip. Especially students are _very_ short on money, so > maybe we should separate students from other people regarding the way > the y are treated, but I'm all with Claudio and Bruno in this > argumentation. I prefer to have 30 students who cannot affort to pay > anything at GUADEC than 90 who can pay 200 EUR (making up numbers here > to show how I think). Note that I'm not against a generalized co-pay policy, I'm just concerned about making it a rule set to stone that would have an impact on our ability to foster future contributors. > Regards, > Sven > > ___ > foundation-list mailing list > foundation-list@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list > -- Un saludo, Alberto Ruiz ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Am Dienstag, den 17.02.2009, 21:35 -0300 schrieb Bruno Boaventura: > Hey Stormy, Dave and Claudio! > > >> Seriously, I don't like this. Telling a student who's been contributing > >> on his free time to the project that he needs to request special > >> consideration if he can't afford those 200 € could even cause him not to > >> apply at all. > >> > >> I think GUADEC is a special kind of conference in the sense it needs to > >> be inclusive, specially for people who is not so integrated in the > >> community and for whom attending may have a huge impact on their > >> involvement. Maybe hackfests and other local conferences may suit better > >> for the approach you propose, but definitively not GUADEC. > > I'm with Claudio on this issue. Last year I could not go to GUADEC if > I had to pay 200 € (wait to be reimbursed has been difficult). GUADEC > should be a special case. I totally agree here: I got an invitation of Tim Ney in 2003 to get to GUADEC Dublin, the foundation covered all of my expences for GUADEC in Kristiansand, they paid all but the fuel for my Stuttgart trip and they paid the accomodation and flight for my Vilanova trip. None of these 4 trips would have been possible with having to pay 200 EUR for each trip. Especially students are _very_ short on money, so maybe we should separate students from other people regarding the way the y are treated, but I'm all with Claudio and Bruno in this argumentation. I prefer to have 30 students who cannot affort to pay anything at GUADEC than 90 who can pay 200 EUR (making up numbers here to show how I think). Regards, Sven ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi Bruno, Bruno Boaventura wrote: > I'm with Claudio on this issue. Last year I could not go to GUADEC if > I had to pay 200 € (wait to be reimbursed has been difficult). GUADEC > should be a special case. You are making an assumption of unlimited funds! This year, we have allocated a provisional travel budget of €30,000 - it may go over that, butu this is our provisional budget. Do you remember how much it cost you to get to Istanbul, Bruno? With accommodation, perhaps €1000? Baris told me that last year we funded people for $60,000 - which covered travel and accommodation for... flights for 27 people, and accommodation for 35 people. Do you think that perhaps we could have used this money more efficiently to benefit 60 or 70 people? So which has more value? Being able to cover 30 people, or being able to cover 40 people, because we ask people to pay what they can afford when we agree to fund them? Cheers, Dave. -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi! > (If you feel strongly that it is a good idea, now is the time to speak > up.) > I think it's a good idea except for students! Regards, Johannes signature.asc Description: Dies ist ein digital signierter Nachrichtenteil ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 8:33 PM, Stormy Peters wrote: > Ok, since almost all the comments so far have been very much against the > co-pay idea, and the GNOME Foundation is here to support the GNOME project > and its members, I think it's not a good idea. > > (If you feel strongly that it is a good idea, now is the time to speak up.) If it's a question of being able to have more people get assistance to go to these events then I really don't see why there is much controversy. Stormy has mentioned that the rules won't be set in stone and case-by-case decisions are possible. Furthermore, the vocal student segment had their concerns assuaged by Stormy in her previous post. A 200 euro copay is pretty reasonable when you consider the total cost of getting someone to a gnome convention. Since cost is becoming more of a concern perhaps setting GUADEC in less exotic places might help assuage the pain for future meetups. Les ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Ok, since almost all the comments so far have been very much against the co-pay idea, and the GNOME Foundation is here to support the GNOME project and its members, I think it's not a good idea. (If you feel strongly that it is a good idea, now is the time to speak up.) Stormy On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 5:39 PM, Bruno Boaventura wrote: > On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 9:30 PM, Alberto Ruiz wrote: > > I have to point out here, that when I got sponsored in Vilanova, my > > contributions weren't that many to the point that I felt kind of > > guilty. But the fact that I was there really boost my enthusiasm, > > involvement and I felt committed to the project since then. We have to > > think in sending students to GUADEC as an investment. > > The same for me, Alberto! GUADEC really boost my enthusiasm. > Now, I can die for GNOME! :-) > > My 200€ :-) > > Bruno > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
I feel strongly that students should be covered completely. I'd suggest that as a standard policy whatever we decide on the 200. Stormy On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 5:39 PM, Bruno Boaventura wrote: > On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 9:30 PM, Alberto Ruiz wrote: > > I have to point out here, that when I got sponsored in Vilanova, my > > contributions weren't that many to the point that I felt kind of > > guilty. But the fact that I was there really boost my enthusiasm, > > involvement and I felt committed to the project since then. We have to > > think in sending students to GUADEC as an investment. > > The same for me, Alberto! GUADEC really boost my enthusiasm. > Now, I can die for GNOME! :-) > > My 200€ :-) > > Bruno > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 9:30 PM, Alberto Ruiz wrote: > I have to point out here, that when I got sponsored in Vilanova, my > contributions weren't that many to the point that I felt kind of > guilty. But the fact that I was there really boost my enthusiasm, > involvement and I felt committed to the project since then. We have to > think in sending students to GUADEC as an investment. The same for me, Alberto! GUADEC really boost my enthusiasm. Now, I can die for GNOME! :-) My 200€ :-) Bruno ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hey Stormy, Dave and Claudio! >> Seriously, I don't like this. Telling a student who's been contributing >> on his free time to the project that he needs to request special >> consideration if he can't afford those 200 € could even cause him not to >> apply at all. >> >> I think GUADEC is a special kind of conference in the sense it needs to >> be inclusive, specially for people who is not so integrated in the >> community and for whom attending may have a huge impact on their >> involvement. Maybe hackfests and other local conferences may suit better >> for the approach you propose, but definitively not GUADEC. I'm with Claudio on this issue. Last year I could not go to GUADEC if I had to pay 200 € (wait to be reimbursed has been difficult). GUADEC should be a special case. Bruno ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
2009/2/17 Claudio Saavedra : > El mar, 17-02-2009 a las 15:32 -0700, Stormy Peters escribió: >> I think the 200 € was intended to apply to GUADEC. GUADEC is most of >> our travel money. But it could be set on a case by case and could even >> be lowered or waived on a case-by-case basis. > > Seriously, I don't like this. Telling a student who's been contributing > on his free time to the project that he needs to request special > consideration if he can't afford those 200 € could even cause him not to > apply at all. I have to point out here, that when I got sponsored in Vilanova, my contributions weren't that many to the point that I felt kind of guilty. But the fact that I was there really boost my enthusiasm, involvement and I felt committed to the project since then. We have to think in sending students to GUADEC as an investment. For professionals that are not sponsored by their employers it might be a different issue though. My 2 cents. > I think GUADEC is a special kind of conference in the sense it needs to > be inclusive, specially for people who is not so integrated in the > community and for whom attending may have a huge impact on their > involvement. Maybe hackfests and other local conferences may suit better > for the approach you propose, but definitively not GUADEC. > > On the other hand, case-by-case basis are going to slow things a lot and > make even more difficult to get decisions right on time for those who > simply can't afford a participation. > > If in Vilanova, a 200 € participation would have been requested, I > couldn't have afforded it and I don't think I would have dared to ask > for a special consideration (I wasn't too involved at that time to feel > I would have "deserved" it), so I wouldn't have attended GUADEC. And I > have to say that not attending would have made a huge difference in the > way I see the GNOME community and project. I'm sure I'm not the only one > with these feelings. > > Claudio > > -- > Claudio Saavedra > > ___ > foundation-list mailing list > foundation-list@gnome.org > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list > -- Un saludo, Alberto Ruiz ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi Claudio, Claudio Saavedra wrote: > El mar, 17-02-2009 a las 15:32 -0700, Stormy Peters escribió: >> I think the 200 € was intended to apply to GUADEC. GUADEC is most of >> our travel money. But it could be set on a case by case and could even >> be lowered or waived on a case-by-case basis. > > Seriously, I don't like this. Telling a student who's been contributing > on his free time to the project that he needs to request special > consideration if he can't afford those 200 € could even cause him not to > apply at all. > > I think GUADEC is a special kind of conference in the sense it needs to > be inclusive, specially for people who is not so integrated in the > community and for whom attending may have a huge impact on their > involvement. Maybe hackfests and other local conferences may suit better > for the approach you propose, but definitively not GUADEC. What this comes down to, is what's the role of the foundation? I think the role of the foundation is to support as much as possible as many developers as possible in the GNOME community. With a limited budget, the calculation is simple. The dollars only go so far. And if the choice is between helping a lot of people a little, or a few people 100%, I prefer to do the former. What Stormy's proposed (with my input, among others) is a way to have some baseline for the participation which is reasonable for an international flight. She's said that the baseline shouldn't be an absolute obstacle to getting subsidised. But the reality is the one I outlined: with a limited budget, the goal should be to help more people a little, rather than help a small number of people a lot. I have the exact opposite opinion of you when it comes to hackfests, by the way: in that case, we are gathering key people together, asking them to take time out of their schedule for the greater good of the community, and travel to work on a community project. I can't imagine going to ask someone to come to a meeting without being prepared to cover travel expenses. On the other hand, for GUADEC, the people who are requesting funding are coming to the foundation, and asking for help. In that situation, I think it is entirely reasonable that the requester pay part of their way. Especially for people who are, in your words, not so integrated in the community - I'd prefer to ensure the presence of a contributing hacker than use limited foundation funds for outreach and recruitment for our one annual conference. Cheers, Dave. -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
El mar, 17-02-2009 a las 15:32 -0700, Stormy Peters escribió: > I think the 200 € was intended to apply to GUADEC. GUADEC is most of > our travel money. But it could be set on a case by case and could even > be lowered or waived on a case-by-case basis. Seriously, I don't like this. Telling a student who's been contributing on his free time to the project that he needs to request special consideration if he can't afford those 200 € could even cause him not to apply at all. I think GUADEC is a special kind of conference in the sense it needs to be inclusive, specially for people who is not so integrated in the community and for whom attending may have a huge impact on their involvement. Maybe hackfests and other local conferences may suit better for the approach you propose, but definitively not GUADEC. On the other hand, case-by-case basis are going to slow things a lot and make even more difficult to get decisions right on time for those who simply can't afford a participation. If in Vilanova, a 200 € participation would have been requested, I couldn't have afforded it and I don't think I would have dared to ask for a special consideration (I wasn't too involved at that time to feel I would have "deserved" it), so I wouldn't have attended GUADEC. And I have to say that not attending would have made a huge difference in the way I see the GNOME community and project. I'm sure I'm not the only one with these feelings. Claudio -- Claudio Saavedra ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Claudio, I think the 200 € was intended to apply to GUADEC. GUADEC is most of our travel money. But it could be set on a case by case and could even be lowered or waived on a case-by-case basis. (If we adopt it.) Stormy On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 2:44 PM, Claudio Saavedra wrote: > El mié, 11-02-2009 a las 18:05 +0100, Dave Neary escribió: > > Hi, > > > > Jason D. Clinton wrote: > > > What should people who want to apply for Gran Caneria GUADEC do at > > > this point? Also, it seems like anyone who might ask for help at some > > > point in the future would be someone who shouldn't sit on the > > > committee (to avoid accusation of COI). > > > > We haven't finalised registration yet - which we probebly should before > > opening up to sponsorship requests (only because handling this by email > > would be a mess & run the risk of falling through the cracks). > > > > We also need to make a couple of decisions on the budget, so that we > > know how much money, at a minimum, we have to spend on travel. > > Unfortunately, that's dragging on a bit, par for the course, but I'm > > trying to get at least a low-ball figure everyone can agree to so that > > we can get started. > > > > The travel form from Stormy is also clearly suitable for GUADEC - I > > anticipate that when we get a finalised agreement in place, we'll have > > sorted out budget concerns to my satisfaction, and if there isn't fast > > enough progress on a registration system, we should just proceed with > email. > > And do you also plan to request the 200 € participation for GUADEC? That > would most probably leave many students without the opportunity to > participate. I expect this rule not to apply for GUADEC, specially since > the next one is already in a extremely touristic and therefore expensive > location. > > > Claudio > > > > -- > Claudio Saavedra > > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
El mié, 11-02-2009 a las 18:05 +0100, Dave Neary escribió: > Hi, > > Jason D. Clinton wrote: > > What should people who want to apply for Gran Caneria GUADEC do at > > this point? Also, it seems like anyone who might ask for help at some > > point in the future would be someone who shouldn't sit on the > > committee (to avoid accusation of COI). > > We haven't finalised registration yet - which we probebly should before > opening up to sponsorship requests (only because handling this by email > would be a mess & run the risk of falling through the cracks). > > We also need to make a couple of decisions on the budget, so that we > know how much money, at a minimum, we have to spend on travel. > Unfortunately, that's dragging on a bit, par for the course, but I'm > trying to get at least a low-ball figure everyone can agree to so that > we can get started. > > The travel form from Stormy is also clearly suitable for GUADEC - I > anticipate that when we get a finalised agreement in place, we'll have > sorted out budget concerns to my satisfaction, and if there isn't fast > enough progress on a registration system, we should just proceed with email. And do you also plan to request the 200 € participation for GUADEC? That would most probably leave many students without the opportunity to participate. I expect this rule not to apply for GUADEC, specially since the next one is already in a extremely touristic and therefore expensive location. Claudio -- Claudio Saavedra ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
You just need to let the committee know that you need to be reimbursed quickly and come to an agreement before hand. While it takes time for everyone to get their receipts in and us to reimburse them, we can make arrangements beforehand to accommodate people that have a specific need. (Knowing what you need ahead of time, getting your receipts in quickly, and making sure your estimates match what you asked for all help!) Quicker turnaround and being able to accommodate people are some of the things we hope the travel committee will be able to address better. Stormy On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 10:41 AM, Hubert Figuiere wrote: > Stormy Peters wrote: > > Proposed policy: Total transportation and lodging minus €200 or 15% > > (which ever is greater.) The amount to be agreed on before hand > > between the travel committee and the traveler. Documented on the > > application form. > > > > Please let us know your thoughts or if you'd like to help out on the > > travel committee. > > What about "cash-flow" > > If you demographics for travel assistance is people that don't have much > fund, they requiring them to pay upfront the airfare several month in > advance to eventually partially reimburse them later isn't very useful. > Cash-strapped is cash-strapped. > > Not to be picky or antyhing but if today I'm offered to get sponsored to > go to a conference but have to pay upfront and wait several month to get > reimbursed, I'd refuse. > > Just giving my feedback. > > Hub > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Stormy Peters wrote: > Proposed policy: Total transportation and lodging minus €200 or 15% > (which ever is greater.) The amount to be agreed on before hand > between the travel committee and the traveler. Documented on the > application form. > > Please let us know your thoughts or if you'd like to help out on the > travel committee. What about "cash-flow" If you demographics for travel assistance is people that don't have much fund, they requiring them to pay upfront the airfare several month in advance to eventually partially reimburse them later isn't very useful. Cash-strapped is cash-strapped. Not to be picky or antyhing but if today I'm offered to get sponsored to go to a conference but have to pay upfront and wait several month to get reimbursed, I'd refuse. Just giving my feedback. Hub ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi, Jason D. Clinton wrote: > What should people who want to apply for Gran Caneria GUADEC do at > this point? Also, it seems like anyone who might ask for help at some > point in the future would be someone who shouldn't sit on the > committee (to avoid accusation of COI). We haven't finalised registration yet - which we probebly should before opening up to sponsorship requests (only because handling this by email would be a mess & run the risk of falling through the cracks). We also need to make a couple of decisions on the budget, so that we know how much money, at a minimum, we have to spend on travel. Unfortunately, that's dragging on a bit, par for the course, but I'm trying to get at least a low-ball figure everyone can agree to so that we can get started. The travel form from Stormy is also clearly suitable for GUADEC - I anticipate that when we get a finalised agreement in place, we'll have sorted out budget concerns to my satisfaction, and if there isn't fast enough progress on a registration system, we should just proceed with email. Short answer, wait a week or two. Cheers, Dave. -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 3:08 PM, Stormy Peters wrote: >> Current policy: Transportation and lodging only. >> >> Proposed policy: Total transportation and lodging minus €200 or 15% >> (which ever is greater.) The amount to be agreed on before hand >> between the travel committee and the traveler. Documented on the >> application form. What should people who want to apply for Gran Caneria GUADEC do at this point? Also, it seems like anyone who might ask for help at some point in the future would be someone who shouldn't sit on the committee (to avoid accusation of COI). ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
Hi Stormy, Nice work! Stormy Peters wrote: > == Travel Policy Proposal == > > Travel reimbursement policy proposal. Currently, the GNOME Foundation's > general policy is to reimburse travel and lodging. It has been proposed > to have the sponsored travelers pay some of the costs. By doing so, > people would be encouraged to spend money wisely and it would enable us > to fund more people. Exceptions could always be made on a case by case > basis (like maybe for students) or on an event basis (like for a > particular hackfest.) > > Current policy: Transportation and lodging only. > > Proposed policy: Total transportation and lodging minus €200 or 15% > (which ever is greater.) The amount to be agreed on before hand between > the travel committee and the traveler. Documented on the application form. The principle of a €200 participation when the foundation has been sollicited seems like a good one to me. The foundation should have as its goal to be an enabler for as many people as possible, and making foundation funding a travel subsidy rather than covering 100% of expenses seems like a good idea for me. Of course, this is when someone asks the foundation to pay for their ticket - and nothing prevents the board from waiving some of this and paying on a need basis, or covering expenses in situations where the foundation is specifically asking someone to travel (if they're a key person for a hackfest, or if they're traveling at our behest to speak at a conference or organise a stand). Cheers, Dave. -- Dave Neary GNOME Foundation member dne...@gnome.org ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
You can find the missing attachment (the application form for travel assistance) at http://live.gnome.org/Travel?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=gnome_travel_subsidy.odt. Stormy On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 1:53 PM, Stormy Peters wrote: > The GNOME Board of Directors is proposing a GNOME Travel Committee to > handle travel assistance for GNOME developers traveling to events. The > GNOME Foundation supports the GNOME project and one important way of > doing that is sponsoring contributors to travel to GNOME events like > conferences and hackfests. The sponsored travel is meant to help those > that would like to attend GNOME related events but are unable to do so > for financial reasons. All GNOME contributors are always encouraged to > apply. > > The GNOME Travel Committee would ensure that all requests and > reimbursements are handled in a timely and consistent manner. > > Two things in this email: > 1) Proposal for a travel committee (with attached form - thanks to the > GNOME.Asia planners for the first draft of the form!) > 2) Proposal to change standard travel reimbursement policy to 85% of > costs or total costs minus €200. > > > == GNOME Travel Committee Proposal == > > Here's how the new travel committee would work. (Open to comments.) > When a new event is planned: > > * The event planners will indicate to the travel committee what their > travel budget is and if there are any special circumstances like > invited speakers or a specific attendee that they would like to make sure > comes. > * The travel committee puts out a notice to the foundation-list > announcing that they are now taking applications for travel assistance > and stating a deadline for applications. > * Developers who would like sponsored travel apply by filling out the > application form (see attached form) and emailing to > travel-l...@gnome.org (not created yet.) > * At the deadline, the travel committee will weigh in on all the applications. > * Two weeks after the application deadline, the travel committee > should notify all applicants of whether their travel has been approved > for sponsorship or not, the amount of sponsorship, and point all > approved applicants to the policy for reimbursement and the deadline > for submitting expenses. > * After the event, all sponsored developers should submit their travel > reimbursement form with receipts within 2 weeks. (Receipts sent after > this date may not be reimbursed and will definitely take more time to > approve.) > * Checks should be mailed within four weeks after the expenses deadline. > > == Travel Policy Proposal == > > Travel reimbursement policy proposal. Currently, the GNOME > Foundation's general policy is to reimburse travel and lodging. It has > been proposed to have the sponsored travelers pay some of the costs. > By doing so, people would be encouraged to spend money wisely and it > would enable us to fund more people. Exceptions could always be made > on a case by case basis (like maybe for students) or on an event basis > (like for a particular hackfest.) > > Current policy: Transportation and lodging only. > > Proposed policy: Total transportation and lodging minus €200 or 15% > (which ever is greater.) The amount to be agreed on before hand > between the travel committee and the traveler. Documented on the > application form. > > Please let us know your thoughts or if you'd like to help out on the > travel committee. > > Thanks, > > Stormy > > -- > Stormy Peters > Executive Director > GNOME Foundation > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
GNOME Travel Committee & Travel Policy: A proposal for consideration and feedback
The GNOME Board of Directors is proposing a GNOME Travel Committee to handle travel assistance for GNOME developers traveling to events. The GNOME Foundation supports the GNOME project and one important way of doing that is sponsoring contributors to travel to GNOME events like conferences and hackfests. The sponsored travel is meant to help those that would like to attend GNOME related events but are unable to do so for financial reasons. All GNOME contributors are always encouraged to apply. The GNOME Travel Committee would ensure that all requests and reimbursements are handled in a timely and consistent manner. Two things in this email: 1) Proposal for a travel committee (with attached form - thanks to the GNOME.Asia planners for the first draft of the form!) 2) Proposal to change standard travel reimbursement policy to 85% of costs or total costs minus €200. == GNOME Travel Committee Proposal == Here's how the new travel committee would work. (Open to comments.) When a new event is planned: * The event planners will indicate to the travel committee what their travel budget is and if there are any special circumstances like invited speakers or a specific attendee that they would like to make sure comes. * The travel committee puts out a notice to the foundation-list announcing that they are now taking applications for travel assistance and stating a deadline for applications. * Developers who would like sponsored travel apply by filling out the application form (see attached form) and emailing to travel-l...@gnome.org (not created yet.) * At the deadline, the travel committee will weigh in on all the applications. * Two weeks after the application deadline, the travel committee should notify all applicants of whether their travel has been approved for sponsorship or not, the amount of sponsorship, and point all approved applicants to the policy for reimbursement and the deadline for submitting expenses. * After the event, all sponsored developers should submit their travel reimbursement form with receipts within 2 weeks. (Receipts sent after this date may not be reimbursed and will definitely take more time to approve.) * Checks should be mailed within four weeks after the expenses deadline. == Travel Policy Proposal == Travel reimbursement policy proposal. Currently, the GNOME Foundation's general policy is to reimburse travel and lodging. It has been proposed to have the sponsored travelers pay some of the costs. By doing so, people would be encouraged to spend money wisely and it would enable us to fund more people. Exceptions could always be made on a case by case basis (like maybe for students) or on an event basis (like for a particular hackfest.) Current policy: Transportation and lodging only. Proposed policy: Total transportation and lodging minus €200 or 15% (which ever is greater.) The amount to be agreed on before hand between the travel committee and the traveler. Documented on the application form. Please let us know your thoughts or if you'd like to help out on the travel committee. Thanks, Stormy -- Stormy Peters Executive Director GNOME Foundation ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
