[LGM] Update on reimbursement process for 2014

Sat Jan 25 10:05:12 PST 2014

2014/1/25 Louis Desjardins <louis.desjardins at gmail.com>

> 2014/1/25 Michael Schumacher <schumaml at gmx.de>
>
>> On 25.01.2014 12:47, Louis Desjardins wrote:
>>
>> Hi Louis,
>>
>
> Hi Michael,
>
>>
>> > a) For the return ticket to the airport (which I think is the only case
>> > that could occur as we wouldn’t reimburse a taxi or a costlier shuttle
>> > and people travelling by train will be at walking distance), I guess
>> > it’s possible to buy a round-trip ticket. And here we speak of 4-6 €.
>>
>> note that some people prefer to not use trains in foreign countries or
>> cities - for various reasons: fear of getting lost, safety concerns,
>> general uneasiness with public transport. They may arrive also at
>> unusual hours, for example, where the audience in these options is hard
>> to tolerate.
>>
>
> That’s a good point.
>
>>
>> I can understand that you want to want to prevent spending too much on
>> this part of trip, especially if there are multiple options for
>> transport. It is just that some people might take this into
>> consideration - a 35 euros cab ride they have to cover themselves may
>> not prevent them from attending by itself, but it'll add up (and I'm not
>> referring to money alone).
>>
>> It may help a bit if the ticket and trip that will be reimbursed is made
>> as clear as possible - maybe someone from the locals can help, and a
>> "get this ticket for x euros, take that train in that direction,
>> disembark at station to get to the venue" is specified.
>>
>
> This would be a very good info to put on the website.
>
> To the local organisers: can we put that on the to-do list to be done a
> couple weeks prior to arrival?
>
>>
>> > b) Access to a scanner is a good idea but most people use their phone or
>> > their camera to "scan" their documents.
>>
>> Maybe. Please do a few test runs of the reimbursement form when used
>> from phone browsers. It seems to work in general, but I didn't try to
>> submit anything. Make sure that the average quality is sufficient for
>> your needs, unless this has been well tested last time already.
>>
>
> This was tested over years and works well. I can hardly remember if we had
> one or two cases where the picture would not frame the whole ticket (!) and
> had to be redone! ;-)
>
>>
>>
>> > c) Closing on the last day allows us to announce at the closing meeting
>> > what to expect as a percentage of their expenses. Hopefully, 100% like
>> > previous years, but we make no promises!
>>
>> Depending on how much that is, you're going to send people home with a
>> feeling that they will have to cope with only x% of reimbursement.
>> Of course, this has to be balanced with the uncertainty of not knowing
>> how much will be reimbursed at all, but I'm not sure if this is what
>> attendees may want to be reminded about at exactly this time...
>>
>> Announce that you want to do this as early as possible, and do not give
>> attendees the impression that it may be their fault it can't be done if
>> they are unable to hand in their documents in time (see below, too).
>>
>> And... um.. how are you going to announce how much will be reimbursed,
>> if the form is going to be online until 23:59:59, but the closing talk
>> will be earlier? This is as if you have an implicit deadline set at e.g.
>> noon of that day.
>>
>
> Good point. I was thinking that unless we’d be *very* tight on budget, we
> could announce something nonetheless because we’d have some money left for
> the next year. If it was too tight, then no announcement. As we get more
> input from the sponsors and as the Pledgie campaign really takes-off, we’ll
> approach the comfort zone!
>
>>
>> > Again, I thank you for your input and I hope to read your further
>> comments.
>> >
>> > Opening the form for an extra week should not hurt that much. My own
>> > enthusiasm at solving that issue led me to that idea!
>>
>> I understand that you want to put some mild pressure on people, to help
>> them to avoid procrastination. At the same time, the "submit until that
>> date, or else" message this form sends right now may make some people
>> unsure - especially if they know that they will e.g. be unable to
>> provide the documents until after a few additional days, or have time
>> constraints - maybe have to leave LGM early to attend another obligation?
>>
>
> I get your point. I’ll make that as comfortable and welcoming as possible
> (even through mild pressure!). I thought it was already but you raise a
> good point.
>
>>
>> Please make it obvious that they can contact you with such issues. In
>> particular, make sure that there are links to the contact page in the
>> relevant section (right now there is only a "see contacts" text there.
>>
>
> Good eye! :-)
>
>>
>> On the contacts page, please indicate that your mail address is
>> spam-proofed, what people have to do to make it work, and that the
>> +1xxxx thing after it is your phone number. Please specify whether the
>> ext. means people can and have to dial it, or whether they'll have to
>> ask a dispatcher to put them through to this extension - I assume the
>> former, but was wondering why it is written in this format.
>>
>
> I can do that as well but it’s the first time that I am aware of this.
> I was not aware that this format would not be readily understandable.
> Are you sure I need to explain that the email is spam-proofed? Anyway, I
> can add this info, no issues.
>
> Finally, thanks a lot for your input. I will extend for one week after LGM
> leaving room for most of the people and will add a sentence to make it
> clear that if for some reason this delay is too tight, people only have to
> contact me directly and attach their documents. For the record, I’ll file
> the form myself from the admin side.
>
> Please get back to me if anything. We still have time for polishing the
> edges and this is also why I started to work on this at this point in time.
>
> And don’t hesitate to correct my phrasing where it needs to be!
>

Hi Michael,
Hi all,

Following up on this thread I have updated the Contact and the
Reimbursement pages accordingly.

http://libregraphicsmeeting.org/2014/contacts/

http://libregraphicsmeeting.org/2014/reimbursement/

If anything, please get back to me!

Thanks again and have a good day/evening!

Louis

>
> Cheers!
>
> Louis
>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Michael
>> GPG: 96A8 B38A 728A 577D 724D 60E5 F855 53EC B36D 4CDD
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>
>
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