thanks Jon for the detailed description Luigi Pirelli
************************************************************************************************** * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luigipirelli * Stackexchange: http://gis.stackexchange.com/users/19667/luigi-pirelli * GitHub: https://github.com/luipir * Book: Mastering QGIS3 - 3rd Edition <https://www.packtpub.com/eu/application-development/mastering-geospatial-development-qgis-3x-third-edition> * Hire a team: http://www.qcooperative.net ************************************************************************************************** On Fri, 29 May 2020 at 17:34, Jon Neufeld <jonneuf...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi All, > > As you know the Calgary LOC has made the decision to cancel FOSS4G 2020 > due to the COVID19 pandemic. > > I have posted the rationale for our decision here > https://www.jonathanneufeld.com/the-rationale-for-canceling-a-global-event/ > and have included it below as well. > > TL;DR Trying to host a major international event during a pandemic > carried huge financial and reputational risks and we decided the safest > thing was to cancel. > > Here is the full post: > > =================================================================== > > As we recently shared on Twitter and the website, FOSS4G 2020 Calgary > has been canceled. Clearly this wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for > after working for nearly two-years to bring this event to Calgary, but > the reality of COVID-19 is that we likely won’t see large gatherings of > people in 2020. > > Recently another chair of a regional FOSS4G event wrote asking about our > decision to cancel and the reasoning behind it. In the spirit of > openness and an open community I thought I would share it here: > > Hi, <name> Thanks for your note, I’m happy to share our thinking on > canceling the event and hopefully it can help inform your decision. > > Context: Fast facts about FOSS4G 2020 > > - Planning Time: 2 years (Oct 2018 to Aug 2020) > - Target Attendance: 1,200 to 1,500 people > --- Break even attendance: 800 people > - Total conference budget: $1M+ > - Real Cost to Cancel: ~$60 CAD > > > We were well on our way to building a strong global FOSS4G event, we had > sponsors lined up, a government grant for ~$100k, and 116 people had > already bought tickets. When COVID19 first hit we thought it would pass > reasonably quickly and that things would “return to normal” fairly soon, > but as the travel bans came in to place and the government here extended > bans on gatherings it was clear that we would either need to > dramatically scale-back FOSS4G or cancel it altogether. Since we are so > close to the USA we were expecting that a big portion of our attendees > would be Americans. For the first time in history the longest-undefended > border in the world, the one between Canada and the USA is closed and > the USA has the highest Infection rate of any country on earth; they > aren’t getting that under control in the near future. > > Keep in mind that we have already signed agreements with the largest > Convention Center in the city, and four major hotel chains. These > contracts all carry minimum cancellation amounts which ratchet up as you > get closer to the event. If we cancel them sooner, we end up paying less > , but if we cancel later the bill gets dramatically higher. When the > travel bans went into place the minimum payments added up to $250k CAD, > and if we waited to cancel the week before the event they were well over > $500k! > > The gamble then, was this: do we try and host an event with a reduced > scope and hope that we get enough attendees to at least break even, > where do we cancel it and hope we can get out of the minimum payments. > > We figured that even if the borders opened and COVID-19 disappeared > right away that people’s travel habits would not go back to “normal”. > Companies have slashed their travel budgets, people would still be wary > about international travel and large gatherings, and the world would not > return to a place where a global conference would work. Based on this we > determined that we could not hold an event that would break even. > TECTERRA Inc, the company backing up and organizing FOSS4G this year, is > a small nonprofit and we wouldn’t be able to sustain those kind of > losses. We also worried about the negative impact too reputation, both > the reputations of the event and of the organizers, if we held an > unsuccessful event. > > All of this added together made it clear the only choice was to cancel > the 2020 event. We briefly discussed trying to push it to 2021, but > there were two things in the way. The Buenos Aires team was unwilling to > move their event, and a 2021 event means our local organizing committee > would have spent three years working on a five-day event. To be clear, I > don’t fault the 2021 BA team for holding fast, they have an LOC focused > on delivering an event at a specific time and I respect that. > > So reluctantly we pulled the trigger and cancelled the event. We have > been fortunate that our venues and hotels were willing to work with us > and canceled the contracts without any further penalty. I don’t need to > tell you how hard it is to cancel an event after putting in this much > work, and with your event happening later this year there is a chance it > might still work. I think it all depends on how quickly the COVID-19 > situation changes, and the geographic area from which you’re pulling > your attendees. . > > My unsolicited advice to you would be to wait for a while and see how > this shakes up in your region. You still have months until your event > and hopefully the governments and organizations in your region can get > COVID-19 under control. There is still the outstanding question of > whether people will be willing to travel to a conference then, and > you’ll need to weigh that carefully. > > I hope that future LOCs don’t endure a once-in-a-life-time pandemic, but > I do wonder what the future holds for large in-person conferences. > > In my opinion, FOSS4G is so much more than material presented. It’s > about meeting people, building relationships, and the serendipitous > bumping-into-someone-in-the-coffee-line that really builds and > strengthens community. This is nearly impossible to emulate with an > online conference, and until someone finds a way I think that large > in-person gatherings will continue. > > > ==================================================================================== > > Thanks for your understanding, and hopefully we can get together in 2021! > > Jon > > Co-chair FOSS4G Calgary 2020 > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@lists.osgeo.org > https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
_______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
