Dear Serge, I will reply to your message tomorrow because right now it is 3:20AM here and I just can not keep my eyes open and mind focus anymore.
Cheers, Julio Costa On 22 October 2010 20:38, Serge Wroclawski <emac...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 4:35 PM, Julio Costa Zambelli > <julio.co...@openstreetmap.cl> wrote: > >> Henk, >> >> I do not want to argue since this just a personal opinion from someone >> that has gone just to one SOTM and only thanks to the OSI Scholarship, >> but: >> >> What was the election criteria? I guess easy access by public >> transport, low-budget airlines, and visas for the OSI+OSMF Scholarship >> beneficiaries are not in the list. > > The planning committee's notes are here: > http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/State_Of_The_Map_2010/Organisation/Meetings > >> I know the cost of getting to Europe >> for many of us is huge, but the truth is that most of the people that >> goes to the event is from Western Europe, and that it is not because >> the event is done near them, but because those are the countries with >> the biggest and most active communities (again some may argue that >> they have those big and active communities because events like this >> one are made near them). > > If that were really true, they'd all be in Germany; not Spain, not the > Netherlands. > >> So we can not expect to have the event near >> us at the cost of most of the people interested in participate paying >> more to get to it or just no going to it. >> >> Can we expect the Department of Homeland Security to be any less >> "obstructive" with the scholarship beneficiaries than the agencies in >> Europe? > > As mentioned by someone else, the visa issues last year were mostly > due to the citizens of the countries themselves, with very few > exceptions. > >> I do not want to make an stereotype of the officers of this >> agency, since they have treated me so well every time I have gone to >> the states, but to be honest if the Spaniards denied 7 visas, I will >> bet money that this guys will deny the same or more. >> >> I agree in the fact that the US market/community needs to be >> developed/encouraged, and that the sponsorship of American companies >> may be a strong argument to take the event there, but complicating >> things for most of the most active community members does not sound as >> the wisest step to me. My two cents* > > Julio, I don't disagree with any of your substantive points and I've > expressed by opinions on where I'd like SoTM to be privately, but the > time for lively debate is before the decision is made. The decision > making process was widely advertised and public. Once the decision is > made it's not the time to undermine the process by criticizing the > choice, and my extension the organization and the people who are doing > their best. > > Just my .02. > > - Serge > _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
