[ambassadors-apac] Issue #294: Funding request for Amita Sharma (amsharma) - OSCAL 2018

[Amita Sharma]

amsharma reported a new issue against the project: `ambassadors-apac` that you are
following:
``
I am requesting round-trip travel funding from Mumbai, India to Tirana, Albania and
accommodation for three nights (Friday - Sunday) for OSCAL 2018. My estimated travel costs
are approximately 950USD (Air Tickets cost as of today on https://www.skyscanner.co.in)

Lodging
I request for a 3 days lodging.
I am assuming other Fedora contributors from our community will also attend. I am okay
with sharing a room. I need to yet look for a room, but the estimated cost should be
around 100USD

Here are few planned things, which I look forward to do at OSCAL, 2018 :
1. I am accepted as a speaker for my talk, "Importance of communication in Open
Source communities"
Abstract ::
Open Source communities (Fedora) are excellent example of most diverse and globally spread
work-space. Although, this is a major plus and feels amazing to work in such a diverse
culture, but at the same time we need to face the challenge of accurate communication.
When we are not at the same place and can't talk face-to-face, expressing the right
thing in correct manner becomes more important and we need to take care of several things.
Obviously, we are not always using video chats when we are communicating with our fellow
community members and lack of those facial expressions make it more complex to deliver the
right message. Communication has many attributes to it - right content, ambiguity,
accurate by all means (ethically, culturally) and at the end we are conveying what is
intended. We may think communication to be a very basic technique of delivering message,
but it gets complicated specially when it is not verbal and not on video chat. You may
want to write a good "WOW" but it can be interpreted as a bad "WOW"
depending on the receiver's culture/mood and intend. My paper will highlight certain
examples of such communication glitches and also some basic magical rules of good
communication.

This session is targeted especially for diverse contributors from all over the world.

2. I will participate in Fedora community meet-up, at OSCAL.
Currently the abstract of the this meet-up are -
    Say hello to the Fedora community! Meet contributors from around the world and learn
more about the Fedora community. Existing contributors, local and abroad, are encouraged
to participate. If you are interested in Fedora, want to learn more about what the project
is doing, or learn how to contribute, bring your questions! Did we mention there may be a
sweet surprise ( Fedora-themed cake )?

Justin Flory is organizing this meetup and many other Fedora contributors are expected to
join this.

3. I will meet other Fedora contributors and mainly would like to discuss about the new
initiative mind share and it's impact on the ambassadors group overall.

4. Diversity team admins (Justin Flory, Jona Azizaj, Bhagyashree) will be in the OSCAL, so
we are planning to have a meeting for Fedora Diversity, 2018 objectives. Here is the
ticket for the objectives which we are planning to discuss -
https://pagure.io/fedora-diversity/issue/48

I request other ambassadors to please consider the ticket for voting as soon as possible
since the delay can cause increase in the air tickets and also VISA process takes time.
Thanks.
``

To reply, visit the link below or just reply to this email
https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294

[P J P]

The issue: `Funding request for Amita Sharma (amsharma) - OSCAL 2018` of project:
`ambassadors-apac` has been assigned to `bex` by pjp.

https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294

[P J P]

pjp added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
The proposed talk is very interesting. Do we have wiki pages for the proposed Fedora
community and diversity meetups?

The required budget for travel + lodging ie. 950 + 100 => 1050/- USD is on the higher
side, almost quarter of the APAC yearly budget. Which for this fiscal(FY19) is still
unclear -> https://budget.fedoraproject.org/budget/FY19/apac.html.

I'm inclined to support this request, but not sure of allocating quarter of the yearly
budget.

@bex: do we know allocated FY19 budget numbers?

@amsharma: would partial budget help?

Thank you.
``

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https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294

[Amita Sharma]

amsharma added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
>  The proposed talk is very interesting. Do we have wiki pages for the
> proposed Fedora community and diversity meetups?
>  
Pages are not up yet, I will update as soon as they are ready.

>  The required budget for travel + lodging ie. 950 + 100 => 1050/-
> USD is on the higher side, almost quarter of the APAC yearly budget. Which for this
> fiscal(FY19) is still unclear ->
> https://budget.fedoraproject.org/budget/FY19/apac.html.
>  I'm inclined to support this request, but not sure of allocating quarter of the
> yearly budget.
>  @bex: do we know allocated FY19 budget numbers?
>  @amsharma: would partial budget help?
>  
yeah, then I will ask the rest from diversity budget or from council maybe as @bex  will
advise. Thanks.
>  Thank you. 
``

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https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294

[Parag Nemade]

pnemade added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
IMHO this is a huge budget request that came at the start of this financial year. So, we
should try not to accept this request at least fully (maybe partially that needs
discussion in the meeting along with APAC ambassadors).

This ticket also brought few questions/things in my mind.

1) Have APAC ambassadors had the budget planning for this year? How much budget APAC
region have got to spend this whole year?
2) Do APAC region reserve some fund for different activities for given budget like some
fund for swags, some for local events, some for travel within APAC region and then outside
APAC region budget.
3) I would not mind if the requested budget will be used for organizing any large event
anywhere in APAC rather to spend on single person to travel outside of APAC that to non
Fedora related conference. The budget request is actually for conference talk along with
some addon riders.

4) Year on Year APAC region is getting less budget to spend due to only few events getting
organized in APAC. We should first try to create more communities that contributes to
Fedora project.

5) The OSCAL'18 event looks nice but I don't think that someone need to fly from
other region using Fedora APAC Ambassadors budget to talk on that topic. As I see other
D&I team already present in the event they can discuss these (proposed talk) things
with local community very well. (Maybe in their local language as well :) )

6) Also, looking at last year budget, it appears that Diversity and Inclusion got almost
thrice budget than to APAC regional budget. So this request is more ideal to be fully
approved by Diversity project.

7) [That Diversity ticket](https://pagure.io/fedora-diversity/issue/48) shows Diversity
team already met in DevConf.CZ but could not discuss goals. Its fourth month of this year
now. I do not understand why Diversity team is waiting to meet face to face to decide
yearly goals. Why not setup a video meetup to discuss goals?

I am not related to Diversity project but whenever I get time I try to read about their
activities. Apologies if I am wrong in understanding the Diversity project work.
``

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[Pravin Satpute]

pravins added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
@pnemade Thanks for detailed observation. 

-1 Vote
In my humble opinion good to have APAC budget spending on APAC events and activities. 
Coming one:
1. Devconf.in  August 2018.  (how much allocation, do we have for this?)
2. gnome.asia 2018   
3. From diversity perspective, will be nice to see more scaling of participants/members
and activities at APAC.
4. More meetups at APAC.
``

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[Sumantro Mukherjee]

sumantrom added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
First of all @amsharma congratulations on getting talk selected. OSCAL is an awesome
conference and having a APAC regional rep is going to really benefical for fulfillment of
the four pillars Fedora always promotes. While, I do second that the amount is on the
higher side but I think it's worth second thoughts before voting it down. I would like
to vote for a partial approval of the requested funding amount. 

@pravins Devconf.in might clash with Flock. We have to make a pick on volunteers and
people who might and might not travel to EU.
Gnome Asia is not annouced yet. 
We can have a Fedora APAC meetup in Singapore/Pune/BLR
We will for sure have blast with Release Parties (which we have been doing since sometime
now)
``

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[Parag Nemade]

pnemade added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
>  First of all  @amsharma congratulations on getting talk selected.
> OSCAL is an awesome conference and having a APAC regional rep is going to really benefical
> for fulfillment of the four pillars Fedora always promotes.
>  
@sumantrom I am not sure how it can be beneficial. Are we ignoring the presence of the
local community representatives there? 

 While, I do second that the amount is on the higher side but I think it's worth
second thoughts before voting it down. I would like to vote for a partial approval of the
requested funding amount.
>  @pravins Devconf.in might clash with Flock. We have to make a pick on
> volunteers and people who might and might not travel to EU.
>  
So why not save the budget for Flock travel?
``

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[Sumantro Mukherjee]

sumantrom added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
>  
>  First of all   @amsharma congratulations on getting talk selected. OSCAL is an awesome
> conference and having a APAC regional rep is going to really benefical for fulfillment of
> the four pillars Fedora always promotes.
>  
>  @sumantrom I am not sure how it can be beneficial. Are we ignoring the presence of the
> local community representatives there?
>  
No, we aren't. All I am saying is diversity is an important factor and it's
essential for the regions and their ambassadors to work together. It helps one broadens
the mindset and thought processes. It's worth noting and learning from what another
regions activities and events as well. If we have a chance to collaborate with other
regions and have a place in putting one of our Fedora Ambassdors there, it will be helpful
to grow and support the community too.

>  While, I do second that the amount is on the higher side but I think
> it's worth second thoughts before voting it down. I would like to vote for a partial
> approval of the requested funding amount.
>  
>  @pravins Devconf.in might clash with Flock. We have to make a pick on volunteers and
> people who might and might not travel to EU.
>  
>  So why not save the budget for Flock travel?
>  
Correct me if I am wrong or sound silly but Flock has a different budget and doesn't
come under APAC budget ..isnt it?
``

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https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294

[Parag Nemade]

pnemade added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
>  
>  First of all    @amsharma congratulations on getting talk selected. OSCAL is an awesome
> conference and having a APAC regional rep is going to really benefical for fulfillment of
> the four pillars Fedora always promotes.
>  @sumantrom I am not sure how it can be beneficial. Are we ignoring the presence of the
> local community representatives there?
>  
>  No, we aren't. All I am saying is diversity is an important factor and it's
> essential for the regions and their ambassadors to work together. It helps one broadens
> the mindset and thought processes. It's worth noting and learning from what another
> regions activities and events as well. If we have a chance to collaborate with other
> regions and have a place in putting one of our Fedora Ambassdors there, it will be helpful
> to grow and support the community too.
>  
I am not against it. All I am asking if Diversity is getting larger budget then why not to
ask there? Why here to ask for budget?

>  
>  While, I do second that the amount is on the higher side but I think it's worth
> second thoughts before voting it down. I would like to vote for a partial approval of the
> requested funding amount.
>  @pravins Devconf.in might clash with Flock. We have to make a pick on volunteers and
> people who might and might not travel to EU.
>  So why not save the budget for Flock travel?
>  
>  Correct me if I am wrong or sound silly but Flock has a different budget and doesn't
> come under APAC budget ..isnt it?
>  
We already sponsored someone few years back for Flock travel from APAC budget. That time
also it was decided that some xxx amount is there for Flock travel and there were 3
contestants. Its was decided to either divide that budget amongst them or any one can
travel using given xxx budget. 

I have no further idea about budget. So, let's wait for @bex reply
``

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[Woo Huiren]

woohuiren added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
Congrats @amsharma for getting your talk proposal accepted. I believe that you've
worked very hard on it and have had significant contributions in the past too.

-1 vote

However, I don't think it benefits our local community sufficiently since OSCAL is an
event held in Europe. To me, its not really about the amount of money involved, but more
of how much impact is being made to our APAC region.
``

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[Vipul Siddharth]

siddharthvipul1 added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
Congrats @amsharma :)

I don't have much idea about the budget so won't be commenting on that part.
But if APAC budget allows, I think @amsharma should get partial funding. I have done a
meetup with her once and  I think she did an amazing job in inspiring newcomers. 
``

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[Brian Exelbierd (bex)]

bex added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
Addressing some questions raised in this ticket:

Budgets for FY19 are not currently set.  There are lots of things in motion, including
Mindshare.  The current guidance is to work from the budget allocations for last year,
however spending is limited to 25% of that amount at this time while we await final
numbers from Red Hat.  This means planning should be done as though the full year amount
is going to be available but spending is temporarily limited to 25% of that amount.

Flock travel is budgeted from the Flock budget and has not normally been funded from
regional budgets.  I'd want to understand why a region felt the best use of their
funds was to send people to Flock and why Flock didn't fund those people directly.


``

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[Parag Nemade]

pnemade added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
>  Flock travel is budgeted from the Flock budget and has not normally
> been funded from regional budgets.  I'd want to understand why a region felt the best
> use of their funds was to send people to Flock and why Flock didn't fund those people
> directly.
>  
Here is that ticket -> https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/197 and here is
relevant meeting log
->https://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting/2015-06-06/fedora-meeting.2015-06-06-04.01.log.html#l-203

I have no other information why that time ambassadors felt need to allocate regional
budget for Flock.
``

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[Brian Exelbierd (bex)]

bex added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
>  
>  Flock travel is budgeted from the Flock budget and has not normally been funded from
> regional budgets.  I'd want to understand why a region felt the best use of their
> funds was to send people to Flock and why Flock didn't fund those people directly.
>  
>  Here is that ticket -> https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/197 and here is
> relevant meeting log
> ->https://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting/2015-06-06/fedora-meeting.2015-06-06-04.01.log.html#l-203
>  I have no other information why that time ambassadors felt need to allocate regional
> budget for Flock.
>  
To clarify, I am not worried about why it was done in the past.  It is a question I would
ask in the future.
``

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[Parag Nemade]

pnemade added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
I will point to previous experiences and discussions for Flock travel funding happened in
this ambassadors-apac project issues as well as on Fedora India mailing list that made me
to think we should have some fund for Flock travel.

If that situation is now resolved and people can get travel funding for their selected
talk then I don't think we need to reserve any funding in the regional budget. We can
use the regional budget for events, swags etc related to Fedora.
``

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[Brian Exelbierd (bex)]

bex added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
I'll add two points:

* Last year Flock funding did not require an accepted talk and had no region restrictions.
 I have not heard that this is changing, though it could.  Therefore I would suggest the
region focus on using the funds available to advance the goals of the group.  If we have
Flock issues lets address them when we have them, not in advance because ...

* Funding last year wasn't set in stone.  Regions could (and did) request more funding
during the year.  As has been pointed out, APAC doesn't spend all of its money.  This
is not a call for money to be spent for no reason, but it is a call for APAC to do the
things that will advance the projects goals (editions, objectives).  Let's not use up
our most important resources: contributor attention and time trying to manage our third
resource ... resources :)
``

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[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

sankarshan added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
I'd like to extend the content at
https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294#comment-503177 and start with a
"Why". Reading through the funding request and the commentary, it is not amply
clear (at least to me) as to why it is more pertinent to use a regional budget to meet
this request. 

A somewhat layman's comprehension of a regional budget would indicate that it is
intended to create a significant and measurable impact for the region itself. In recent
years, I have not seen results of usage of budget in activities (other than event travel
logistics) which are planned from the perspective of any medium-to-long term gains for The
Fedora Project in the region. This is not a topic that is unique to the project, but
rather, it seems to be a concern in this region. There have been sporadic reports of
release parties and a number of events which happen - but none of them are built across a
narrative which can allow a project member to gauge the benefits to the project or, gains
to the project. There are several axes of measurements including new contributors and
contribution (in which a strong regional Diversity initiative would play a very
significant role). It might be useful to arrive at a decision on this funding request if a
reasonably clear line is drawn from the impact of this talk (and, travel) to the benefits
gained by the community in APAC.

The abstract of the talk, as posted in the funding request, seems to indicate that the
focus and intent of the talk is similar to one at
http://opensourcebridge.org/proposals/2050 If there have been structural changes and
initiatives which have resulted in better community experience within the APAC region, it
would be worthwhile to post that to this on going conversation.
``

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[P J P]

pjp added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
USD 500/- approved towards this budget request.
  ->
https://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-meeting/2018-04-05/apac.2018-04-...
Subject to actual receipts and detailed event report.

Thank you.
``

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[Brian Exelbierd (bex)]

bex added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
The ticket has been purchased.  Total was ~$970.  $500 was charged here.  It is entered in
the budget.

I believe this can be closed.
``

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[Sumantro Mukherjee]

sumantrom added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
@bex Thanks!
@amsharma Can you please submit the report to the apac-ambassador mailing list?
Thanks
``

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[Sumantro Mukherjee]

The status of the issue: `Funding request for Amita Sharma (amsharma) - OSCAL 2018` of
project: `ambassadors-apac` has been updated to: Closed as Fixed by sumantrom.

https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294

[Amita Sharma]

The status of the issue: `Funding request for Amita Sharma (amsharma) - OSCAL 2018` of
project: `ambassadors-apac` has been updated to: Open by amsharma.

https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294

[Amita Sharma]

amsharma added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
@sumantrom event report will be submitted after the event.
``

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[Amita Sharma]

amsharma added a new comment to an issue you are following:
``
Here is the report -
https://whatamithinks.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/oscal-2018-tirana-albania-...
I think we are good to close this ticket @pjp @bex @sumantrom ?
Thanks for the support.
``

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[Amita Sharma]

The status of the issue: `Funding request for Amita Sharma (amsharma) - OSCAL 2018` of
project: `ambassadors-apac` has been updated to: Closed as Fixed by amsharma.

https://pagure.io/ambassadors-apac/issue/294