[LGM] Notes from the LGM2014 decision meeting, Saturday at 16.00 UTC

Sun May 12 09:20:53 PDT 2013

2013/5/12 Gregory Pittman <gpittman at iglou.com>

> On 05/12/2013 02:11 AM, Femke Snelting wrote:
>
>> Yesterday we held an IRC meeting to prepare a decision for the venue of
>> LGM2014. Most people with voting rights for this year, were present. We
>> decided that we would not try to come to a conclusive decision right there
>> in order to give venue promoters a chance to respond to questions, and
>> participants in the meeting time to discuss with their own networks. We
>> agreed that it was important to create as much platform for our decision as
>> possible.
>>
>> Three proposals were discussed:
>>
>> Montreal http://libregraphicsmeeting.**org/lgm/?page_id=158<http://libregraphicsmeeting.org/lgm/?page_id=158>
>> Medellin http://libregraphicsmeeting.**org/lgm/?page_id=154<http://libregraphicsmeeting.org/lgm/?page_id=154>
>> Leipzig https://docs.google.com/**document/d/1eGA-Fb-**
>> b2v3IRVNZ52L6_PPyqk_**DPbaDCTYK4mjW8HQ<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eGA-Fb-b2v3IRVNZ52L6_PPyqk_DPbaDCTYK4mjW8HQ>
>>
>> After going through each venue we concluded that "we have 2 viable
>> locations: Leipzig and Montreal. The chief negatives are 1) do we have 3
>> LGMs in a row in the EU? or 2) do we have yet another LGM in Montreal?"
>> (thank you Gregory Pittmann ;-)).
>>
>
Hi,

I was also very pleased by our meeting and I thank everyone who
participated! :-)

I am ready to put more energy at refreshing the Montreal bid. In order to
do so, I have a couple questions that I would be glad if they’d be answered.

1. The physical building seems to be more important than the meeting
itself. Can you develop that idea so I can get to know just how deeply this
is going to be a red flag on Polytechnique? As I mentionned on IRC, the
rooms are lended to us for the duration of LGM, for free. Of course we
cannot paint the walls but we can use them, put posters and in a way, make
it ours. There will certainly be limits to respect but within reasonable
limits we can make the space to our taste and feel at home.

Note: I was under the impression that proper space and proper equipment
*with* adequate bandwidth and wi-fi was of upmost importance. In Madrid,
the walls and windows were great but the internet connexion was not. So,
what’s more important? The beauty of the site, or the usability? Or both?
Just as an example, we could install a large tent and have LGM there as
long as there would be internet access, would we all be happy? :-)

2. The fact that we’ve been to Montreal already 3 times seems to be a
blocking argument against the city. I have the same question as #1 about
that. If this is a blocking issue, there is not much we can do about it. Is
this a criteria?

3. Femke mentionned on IRC "Louis_D: i'm worried that in the three lgms
i've participated in in montreal, there were no presentations of local
designers/artists using floss; ginger coons as the single exception." It’s
an interesting concern but I wonder if this concern is also a blocking
issue. We can wonder on who has control on who uses what tools to
accomplish their job! All of the graphic art schools in Canada teach the
use of proprietary software. I was invited to participate in the
development of the DTP program in the schools of Quebec a couple years ago
(the program is revised periodically and lasts for years) and when I raised
the possibility of teaching FLOSS all I got was eyebrows raised and
question marks in the eyes of everyone around the table. Events like LGM
can draw the attention on FLOSS and this is what I’ve been working on here
for years. I was on the Board (sorry for that word but this is the reality)
of AQUOPS which is the largest non-profit association of teachers using IT
tools in the class and while we did have a clear position on FLOSS, the
annual colloquium we put together each year with over 800 participants has
still only a small percentage of FLOSS tools showed up and discussed about.
However the government of Quebec recently voted a law in favor of FLOSS and
we’ll see the benefits of that in the coming years but not instantly as one
can imagine. So, back to the original concern, I have to wonder about just
how much this is a blocking issue on the Montreal bid? Is that a criteria?
And how can it be one for new bids? Will we need to secure this before the
bid is actually on the table? Should we favor cities where we are certain
to find people who know FLOSS or are we open to the idea of taking the
challenge to make unaware people more aware of what we do?

4. Just how important is the fact that we have access to students’
residences is a concern I do have for the benefits of the younger among us
who have a tight budget and who cannot afford a hotel room even when they
share it. As a record, 21 people rented a room at the residence in 2011.
(And to answer a possible side question, there are *lots* more rooms in
that tower and there are other towers too at walkable distance). So, if
this is also raised as an important issue (maybe even blocking issue) then
we need to address the same concern to any possible venue. Is this a
criteria?

Note: Maybe this didn’t occur to all, including some of the newcomers, but
I have to make a clear statement. I am an organiser. I have embraced the
FLOSS cause and especially in my field of expertise, the graphic art world.
I am contributing to the Scribus project since 2004 and while I acknowledge
there is still a long way to go, I am proud of what we’ve done over the
last decade. I have participated *actively* in *all* the LGM since #1 in
Lyon. I have locally and remotely helped the organisation every year after
2006. I put every effort to make that a successful event. I only do it
because it’s part of my life and it touches just about every aspect of what
I find interesting in life. I have no other benefit than making friends and
pushing hard on developing the awareness of FLOSS wherever we can, and
learn and share. For me, being the local organiser is a lot of work — let’s
face it, it’s hundreds of hours. I have nothing to gain personally from
organising the LGM *in Montreal*. I do it for you guys. I don’t do it for
myself. I am not sad going home with a "we picked another city than
Montreal" like Sirko seems to think! In fact, it’s a lot more fun for me to
travel around! But, I am thinking of all those people who are not present
but could have been if we do it in North America. It’s a far less long trip
for people coming from South America as well. Montreal *is* geographically
well situated. What can I do? (The big inevitable con is we have a hard
winter but we do have a warm spring!) So, enlarging LGM and putting energy
on the organisation is the most important thing for me. I hope the message
clearly gets across! I am not a fly-by-night. I am a hard worker and a
doer. I make things happen and I am very happy to give a hand so we’re sure
LGM will happen in the best possible way, *no matter where LGM is
organised.* I just don’t want to spend so much time at explaining myself
and explaining just how I can organise the event after having organised it
three times, unless it really is needed! :-)

*Most important*

About "refreshing", I was asked the same thing when we got to organise 2011
(third time in Montreal). So we did. We organised 3 days of pre-LGM
activities including a lively 5-to-7 peanuts & beers and short talks with a
local FLOSS organisation (Koumbit), 2 days orf workshops with a local
organisation (Studio XX) located on Plateau Mont-Royal, a very interesting
visit of the Graphic Art Institute including their ink lab, a very lively
hacking evening at Python Montreal, a very interesting opening cocktail and
visit at the Montreal Printing Museum located in Old Montreal on the
premises of the oldest printing shop still active in the province and
probably in the whole country! Then we had our 4-day LGM with lots of
space, auditorium, classrooms and large room for workshops and meetings,
improvised or scheduled, power, bandwidth, residences, a dedicated space in
the cafeteria with a large 6 meters banner to clearly mark the place and be
together at lunch time, a bit aside of the regular Polytechnique students
and teachers crowd. And we did have a big party with music and lots of good
food, downtown Montreal with free food and free beer! I guess that was ok!

To the question, can we deliver? I think the answer is yes!

*Can we refresh?* I think the answer is, again, yes :-)

Do we have a plan to do so? Yes.

Will it work? Is it doable? Absolutely!

What else do we need?

Cheers!

Louis

>
>> Participants in the meeting showed interest in holding an LGM in Latin
>> America, but since the Medellin promoter was not present at the meeting,
>> many important questions remain to be answered at this point.
>>
>> Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 15 at 16.00 UTC - this
>> meeting should lead to a decision.
>>
>> Notes from the meeting at: http://titanpad.com/ajsOqb9Wpu
>>
> I would add that this was a friendly meeting, and we appreciated the input
> from all who were able to attend on #lgm. Since we all recognized that
> there are key elements which must be included in a proposal, I think we can
> say that there is now something of a template to show what is needed in
> future proposals -- see the above links as examples. At the moment, the
> Leipzig and Montreal proposals demonstrate all the necessary basic
> elements, and we'll see if further information is coming for the Medellin
> proposal.
>
> Greg
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