I hope that > > It pains me to say it, but we might be better off de-emphasizing > FOSS4G-the-international-event and trying instead of space regional > events regularly around the calendar
Doesn't happen until after FOSS4G 2013 :) _____________________ Steven Feldman _____________________ On 18 Jun 2012, at 17:18, Paul Ramsey wrote: > On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 5:08 AM, Steven Feldman <shfeld...@gmail.com> wrote: >> If there are regional events in every continent except for the continent >> where the global event is being run we may risk diluting interest in the >> global event. >> >> We will have the global FOSS4G in Europe in 2013 (either UK or Finland will >> host) we would expect to see less delegates from outside of Europe if there >> are North American, Asian and other regional events. >> >> Perhaps a compromise would be to ensure that the timing of regional events >> is as close as possible to 6 months away from the global event? > > That's always a risk, but the reality is that the vast majority of > FOSS4G attendees are from the local region, and only a small slice are > international. So we really are effectively serving a much larger > population with regional events. In some ways (watch this rhetorical > bend) dilution is actually a net positive, because it keeps the > same-old-same-old highly rated software talks from clogging up the > agenda leaving little space for quirky local topics. > > But I digress. > > I've been encouraging the regional organizers to try and keep as much > schedule space between their event and mid-September as possible. This > I think helps the international travellers make schedule time to > potentially attend two events in a year. It does lead to some awkward > moments though, like FOSS4GNA this year coming just 6 months *after* > the last event in NA, the Denver conference. All in all though, > because we were serving a market (DC) that itself couldn't all get > even so far away as Denver, we ended up serving a wider group. > > So I think on balance the regional thing is serving us very well. It > pains me to say it, but we might be better off de-emphasizing > FOSS4G-the-international-event and trying instead of space regional > events regularly around the calendar so it's possible for some > in-demand speakers to hit 2-3 regional events, while still allowing > more travel-constrained local delegates the option of having a regular > event. > > So many options, but unfortunately there's no slam dunk way of knowing > what is "best". > > P.
_______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
