[CREATE] Pitching a community-funded conference

[Dave Neary]

Hi,

Jon Phillips wrote:
> What is the specific amount that has been raised and that needs to be
> raised, and by when?

This is all very subjective.

There is a base amount you need to host the conference - this is
essentially the cost of insurance, security, a meal, badges, posters,
drinks during the day... the minimum organisation you want to have. For
Lyon, this cost was €3,000, including the dinner on Friday.

The major cost of Lyon was travel expenses. Overall, the conference
budget for 2006 was just over $20,000 (which, at an exchange rate of
$1.20 to €1, worked out at around €18,000 - today that would be €13,000).

I don't know what sponsors Kamila has lined up, there are 2 who have
committed verbally to supporting the conference, but who people have had
trouble getting in touch with. If we get those, then there's less pressure.

Kamila can tell you how much has been raised so far.

> All these ideas are good. The event is just very soon...I think pulling
> this data together will be useful as well.

I agree. I've been pitching this as "we need $20,000 to guarantee the
minimum, or we can't run the conference". If we get one sponsor for
$10,000 (and I was talking to someone today on the subject) then we're
healthier, and that $10,000 I was mentioning from the community makes us
viable.

I didn't pick the figure from thin air. In 2005, I got a paypal account
created for the GIMP developers with the GNOME Foundation, and we
launched an appeal for funds to get people to the 2005 GIMP developers
conference, which was held at GUADEC in Kristiansand. We raised $13,000
in 6 weeks, without pushing it very hard.

> Of course...but just to be clear...LGM2008 goes on regardless, right?
> This is money for travel, etc, right? Or is it for actual operation of
> the event?

Ask Louis & Kamila - I was called in on something of an emergency
mission, and I've been slightly overstating the situation the conference
is in, I hope - after all, several of the projects have travel funds for
just such a situation. I imagine the conference is on, but without much
money for travel, the number of people there will be pretty drastically
reduced.

> We could do a community campaign through http://pledgie.org/ for a
> certain amount and then should get a corporate match.

Good idea.

> Who has been asked, and/or where is this documented? I'll see how I can
> help...

I don't know who was asked before I got here, I've been talking to IBM,
the Linux Foundation (and Jim Zemlin did the rounds of much of his
membership), Hammerhead, Dreamworks, and have been following up contacts
with HP and Intel. I'd love to try to get more into hardware (Canon,
Fuji, wacom, ...) but I have little to no contacts there, and it would
take weeks to get in the door and make the case to budget holders.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary
dneary at free.fr
Tel: +33 9 51 13 46 45
Cell: +33 6 77 01 92 13