All,
While I'm hugely in favour of mutual respect, and I personally
co-authored the OSGeo Code-Of-Conduct, I feel that OSGeo shouldn't aim
to be a forum for human rights. (There are other places for this).
Our primary focus should be on supporting the creation of great OSGeo
code, and supporting the communities doing this.
Having a Code-Of-Conduct in place is a small part of supporting a
community, and we should refer to it in cases where conversations or
interactions deviate from good behavior, but I'm hopeful that we can
leave it at that, and focus our time on our core code writing passions.
Warm regards, Cameron
On 30/05/2016 7:30 pm, Marc Vloemans wrote:
Thanks Andrea,
You are quite right, unfortunately. Sharing and discussing experiences
and insights on this could come across as negative.
The same happened when I read an earlier discussion on a Code of
Conduct for conferences. Frankly I was abhorred that such code was
deemed necessary. Until I realised that I was perhaps ignorant (living
in Amsterdam is such a privilege).
Can I invite you to share your list-of-thoughts regarding potential
pitfalls for a Conference at least with me (marcvloemans1[at]gmail.com
<http://gmail.com>)? It would be such a shame if we unintentionally
overlook the obvious!
Cheers,
Marc Vloemans
Op 30 mei 2016 om 03:49 heeft Andrea Ross <andrea.r...@eclipse.org
<mailto:andrea.r...@eclipse.org>> het volgende geschreven:
Marc,
I started to write a whole bunch of thoughts related to this but
instead decided against as I felt it was stating the obvious and I
didn't want the thoughts to be perceived as negative.
The essence was that these things you have listed are great, and
they help keep things from being screwed up, but they're not the hard
work that it takes to really make a difference. So good, but so much
more is needed.
Kind regards,
Andrea
On 28/05/16 11:26, Marc Vloemans wrote:
Dear all,
To build upon the positive results as mentioned in the thread below,
I invite anyone to supply any suggestion that may support the LOC
FOSS4G 2016 in Bonn Germany, regarding diversity related policies
during the actual Conference. Either directly to me or via this list.
As LOC we strive to be aware that public policies and personal
experiences vary per continent, region, country and/or province.
However, living in Western-Europe we sometimes are unaware how
fortunate we are! That could hinder us in anticipating potential
fears, uncertainties and doubts that visitors to Bonn may have.
For starters, please note the following from
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Germany :
"Germany has become the first country in Europe to enact a law that
allows German citizens to choose to neither identify as male or
female on their birth certificate, which has been said to
specifically benefit hermaphrodites
<https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphrodites> and intersex
<https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex> persons."
Unfortunately same sex marriage is still 'under construction', but
that does not reflect negatively on a number of laws protecting the
rights of the LGBTI community (including registered partnership).
Best regards and hopefully we meet in Bonn,
Marc Vloemans
Vriendelijke groet,
Marc Vloemans
Op 28 mei 2016 om 03:04 heeft Andrea Ross <andrea.r...@eclipse.org
<mailto:andrea.r...@eclipse.org>> het volgende geschreven:
Dear Kristin, Everyone
The sex/gender split was similar for FOSS4G NA 2016 as FOSS4G NA
2015. In the range of 25 to 30 percent women for both speakers and
attendees. We don't ask people their gender as part of submitting
or registering, so this is obviously a best effort from having met
a number of folks, and discretely Google-stalking them just a little.
We probably had a record high number of trans people participate,
despite North Carolina's HB2. Also because of HB2, many LGBT people
reached out to me before the conference to understand what was
being done, and to help decide whether to boycott or not. We are so
grateful that so many did not boycott, and came anyway. It was a
moving experience for me to learn how big the LGBT part of the
community is and get a bit of the sense of how important the work
they're doing is.
Also, I want to call out the exemplary work of the Raleigh
Convention Center. They really went above and beyond to ensure our
attendees were safe and comfortable. So far as I know, there were
zero instances of harassment of LGBT people. Laurie Okun from the
Convention Center in particular was a superstar and so impressive &
professional from our first contact when trying to assess Raleigh,
through the chaos that HB2 inflicted, and to the post-conference
follow-up. We are grateful.
So many good things to note. I also want to note that it is still a
mostly white conference. So the job is not done, and there's still
much more important work to be done.
Kind regards,
Andrea
On 27/05/16 17:28, Kristin Bott wrote:
Thanks for sharing the synopsis; I'm especially encouraged by (1)
gender (identity) parity in the planning committee (2) strong
presence of female-identifying folk at the conference and (3)
continued financial support for attendees.
I'd be curious what the gender split was across attendees v.
speakers -- possibly something worth tracking across years of
conferences to get a sense of any shifts in attendee demographics.
cheers -
-k.bott
On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 7:09 AM, Mark Lucas <mluca...@mac.com
<mailto:mluca...@mac.com>> wrote:
I had the pleasure of serving as the OSGeo representative for
the 2016 FOSS4G NA conference selection and planning. I
thought the team did an excellent job in selecting, planning
and running the conference. The team made the decision to not
pursue a 2017 NA conference so as not to compete for resources
with the OSGeo international conference. Our efforts will
focus on 2018 planning and selection for the next NA regional
conference.
On a personal note I was initially concerned about how the
relationship with Location Tech and OSGeo would evolve. Our
teaming has resulted in yet another successful conference that
I believe plays to the strengths of both organizations. I was
very pleased with the openness and collaboration that I witnessed.
— Mark
The synopsis from Andrea Ross is included below:
FOSS4G NA 2016 Synopsis (please feel free to re-use this data)
*
The conference ran from May 2-5, at the Raleigh Convention
Center, in Raleigh North Carolina. The code sprint &
unconference ran May 6 & 7 at Red Hat’s headquarters, a
few blocks from the convention center. A Tour of the NCSU
OSGeo Research and Education lab took place on May 6th.
*
The conference featured 1 day of workshops, 3 days of
sessions, a code sprint, an unconference, and social
events every night. There were 93 full length (35 minute)
sessions, 36 short length (15 minute) sessions, 10
workshops, and 3 keynotes. This represented an increase in
full length. The rooms were generally always near full or
slightly overflowing for particularly popular talks,
despite them being big rooms.
*
The conference grew by 33% . There were 558 attendees.
This level of increase is very positive, when so many
other conferences are in decline.
*
Like 2015’s team, 50% of the 2016 committee were women.
Also like 2015, a significant proportion of speakers and
attendees were women (in the 30% range), which is great to
see.
*
23 people were at the conference who wouldn't have
otherwise been without the financial support we gave them.
*
From the attendee survey, people were clearly thrilled
about the conference... 99% positive feedback. (n=102).
The one negative response said they were disappointed
there was no lunch served. We’re not sure how they missed
it! The venue, the strong program, and the positive &
supportive atmosphere were the things people commented
(positively) on most.
*
People loved the keynotes, and especially Tamar Cohen's
entitled Extreme Mapping.
*
The video recordings of sessions are being uploaded to
Youtube, with dozens up, and more each day.
*
90% of sponsors rated the value excellent. 10% rated it
very good. The layout of the conference was especially
appreciated as it meant plenty of traffic for sponsors at
all times.
This year’s conference was produced by Andrea Ross and the
team at the Eclipse Foundation, the same as 2015. Sarah
Cordivano served as Community Chair. Rob Emanuele was Program
Committee Chair, repeating the same role he performed in 2015.
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