Wiki location: https://wiki.gnome.org/FoundationBoard/Minutes/20190211
= Foundation Board Minutes for Monday 11 February, 2019, 16:30 UTC =
== Attending ==
* AllanDay
* CarlosSoriano
* NeilMcGovern
* NuritziSanchez
* RosannaYuen
* PhilipChimento
* FedericoMenaQuintero
* RobMcQueen
* KatGerasimova
== Agenda ==
* Travel sponsorship policy (Philip)
* Executive Director report (Neil)
== Minutes ==
* Travel sponsorship policy
* Points to discuss:
* Fare search screenshots - We'd like to have people submit a
screenshot of their airline fare search with their application. This way
the travel committee doesn't have to duplicate everyone's searches, but can
just look at the screenshot and verify that the flight is within the
guidelines. For hotels and accommodations we'd like to do something
similar, but are not sure how exactly to implement that.
* Financial assistance package - We'd like to offer a "financial
assistance package" which will be extended to sponsored individuals who
wouln't otherwise be able to attend the event without sponsorship for meals
and incidental expenses. In these cases the board would approve the extra
spending on a case by case basis.
* Small local events - We aren't quite sure how large an event needs
to be in order to be covered. For example, two people who live on opposite
sides of a metro area could meet in the middle to hack for a day, and rent
a coworking desk or pay for a train ticket or parking. Should we sponsor
this?
* What is a GNOME event?
* Allan: What does the board need to discuss about the above points?
* Philip: The fare search and the financial assistance package are the
largest departures from the existing sponsorship policy, so I expect people
will want to discuss that and ask questions about it. The small events is
still an open question that I'd like to resolve. The "What is a GNOME
event" question is not one that will block the implementation of the new
policy, but the board should be aware that it influences travel
sponsorships.
* Federico: Regarding small local events, the engagement committee has a
budget for such events. Is the question about that?
* Nuritzi: Sometimes there are travel expenses related to small local
events, such as parking for the participants. Should they be able to
request travel sponsorship for such things? Currently the travel committee
sponsors only large events like conferences and hackfests.
* Kat: I think the travel committee should be able to handle these
small events as well.
* Carlos: I think it's better for the engagement committee to handle
small events and let the travel committee handle the large events.
* Allan: At what point would the Engagement committee have to defer
this to the Travel committee — if there are flights involved, for example?
* Federico: Does the engagement committee have a maximum per event?
* Nuritzi: No, the way it currently works is that someone requests a
budget for an event. For example: "We need snacks for 15 people and
decorations, it will cost up to USD 150."
* Neil: Regarding hotels, you could use the Foundation travel policy's
guidelines for what's a reasonable hotel price.
* Nuritzi: We found those per-diem guidelines a bit on the high side.
* Philip: From what we understood they are almost never reached in
practice, so we don't want to give them as a maximum.
* Neil: Regarding financial assistance package, I could do those
approvals on a case-by-case basis or the board could delegate it to the
travel committee.
* Nuritzi: What are the next steps?
* Philip: I need to fill in the remaining gap regarding hotel
searches; clarify a few minor points; then the draft will be ready to vote
on.
* ED Report
* Neil presented his report for February. The Foundation is busy with
onboarding and supporting the new staff members as they start their
positions, as well as end-of-year fiscal preparations. We had a discussion
about what is the proper role for the board members in interactions with
the new Foundation staff.
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