Questions about 2017 bids

[Máirín Duffy]

Hi,

I'm working with a group of people to put together a bid for hosting 
Flock 2017, but we have a few questions:

* What's the due date for bids?

* Are there restrictions on the days of the week the event can be on? 
(We had an idea that if it's in a vacation area, flock could be during 
the week to save on pricing, and attendees could stay and bring family 
for a long weekend after. We got objections last time when the Cape Cod 
proposal would potentially cover a long weekend; so allowing for 
adjacent weekends to be used for personal vacation might help.)

* Are the restrictions on specific dates / months it has to be on? E.g., 
if there's significant cost savings in Sept, can that be considered?

* What kind of cost range should we be looking for the facility + 
lodging to fall under? We realize a certain amount of the funding needs 
to be reserved for travel costs, but do not have an understanding of the 
ratio of facility:lodging:travel:food. Help us understand ballpark where 
we should be trying to get bids to? Data from past Flocks would be 
really helpful here.

Thanks!

~m

[Matthew Miller]

On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 04:09:15PM -0400, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> I'm working with a group of people to put together a bid for hosting
> Flock 2017, but we have a few questions:

At (the latest) Flock, Joe Brockmeier suggested that he was in a
tentative conversation with Red Hat's event team where they might take
over the venue planning and coordination _and pay for that aspect_.
Since that would free up a large chunk of community budget, I'd be
interested in taking that deal if it's actually a possiblity. As far as
I know, we are waiting for this to be solidified.

Sorry this doesn't answer your question, but I hope it explains why we
don't have answers yet.

[Jon Stanley]

On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 4:16 PM, Matthew Miller
 wrote:
> tentative conversation with Red Hat's event team where they might take
> over the venue planning and coordination _and pay for that aspect_.

I think that this is wonderful from a budget perspective. From a
community perspective, however, I can see where it might fall apart.
This generally would mean that RHT events would be selecting the
location, correct? This leaves all of the other work involved in
planning the event to the community - which might or might not have
interested people in whatever location is chosen.

Am I missing something here?

[Josh Boyer]

On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 4:25 PM, Jon Stanley  wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 4:16 PM, Matthew Miller
>  wrote:
> > tentative conversation with Red Hat's event team where they might take
> > over the venue planning and coordination _and pay for that aspect_.
>
> I think that this is wonderful from a budget perspective. From a
> community perspective, however, I can see where it might fall apart.
> This generally would mean that RHT events would be selecting the
> location, correct? This leaves all of the other work involved in
> planning the event to the community - which might or might not have
> interested people in whatever location is chosen.
>
> Am I missing something here?

I'll preface this with "nobody really knows, because the proposal
isn't even drafted yet"

If "interested people" means:

people that want to organize events in the locale - That won't be
necessary afaik.  The idea was that RHT events handles the venue, the
food, and the evening events.  Locale specific planning would be
handled by RHT events.

people that are interested in going to _that_ location - I'd counter
that Flock is the destination, not the city it's in.  It's the
contributors conference so if you want to contribute, you kind of have
to go where Flock is regardless of who picks the location.

The remainder of planning centers around talks, schedule, keynotes,
sponsors, flight funding for attendees, etc.  There's a lot of work to
do still that people can help with.

josh

[Máirín Duffy]

Hi Matthew,

Thanks for the fast reply! Does this mean folks interested in putting together a bid should hold off, or should we keep on keeping on (understanding that doing bid research isn't binding us to anything anyway?)

~m

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Miller" 
To: "Planning discussion for Flock (Fedora Contributor Conference)" 
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2016 4:16:49 PM
Subject: Re: Questions about 2017 bids

On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 04:09:15PM -0400, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> I'm working with a group of people to put together a bid for hosting
> Flock 2017, but we have a few questions:

At (the latest) Flock, Joe Brockmeier suggested that he was in a
tentative conversation with Red Hat's event team where they might take
over the venue planning and coordination _and pay for that aspect_.
Since that would free up a large chunk of community budget, I'd be
interested in taking that deal if it's actually a possiblity. As far as
I know, we are waiting for this to be solidified.

Sorry this doesn't answer your question, but I hope it explains why we
don't have answers yet.

[Matthew Miller]

On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 04:39:28PM -0400, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> Thanks for the fast reply! Does this mean folks interested in putting
> together a bid should hold off, or should we keep on keeping on
> (understanding that doing bid research isn't binding us to anything
> anyway?)

I just checked, and it looks like this idea is all blocked on some
other event-related stuff that needs to be decided. I don't want to
wait forever, though, so if you're interested in doing research, that
doesn't _hurt_.

[Máirín Duffy]

On 09/14/2016 05:28 PM, Matthew Miller wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 04:39:28PM -0400, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> > Thanks for the fast reply! Does this mean folks interested in putting
> > together a bid should hold off, or should we keep on keeping on
> > (understanding that doing bid research isn't binding us to anything
> > anyway?)
>
> I just checked, and it looks like this idea is all blocked on some
> other event-related stuff that needs to be decided. I don't want to
> wait forever, though, so if you're interested in doing research, that
> doesn't _hurt_.

OK Cool. Do you know if there's any possibility the RH team would be 
interested in the research?

~m

[Matthew Miller]

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 10:14:45AM -0400, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> > I just checked, and it looks like this idea is all blocked on some
> > other event-related stuff that needs to be decided. I don't want to
> > wait forever, though, so if you're interested in doing research, that
> > doesn't _hurt_.
>
> OK Cool. Do you know if there's any possibility the RH team would be
> interested in the research?

I hope they would be, yeah.

[Jennifer Madriaga]

Hey Mo,

Yes, we would most definitely be interested in the research. I'll be
helping with logistics, and I know that everyone would love to see
suggestions for venues. The more research, the better if you have a strong
preference.

Emphasis is on ease of deploying. Typically August has seemed like a good
time because it doesn't conflict with any major events and also since folks
usually are available.

I do not handle budget. That would be a Bex and Council question.

I'm sure there will be more conversation sooner than later. I think Bex
takes the reigns officially at the beginning of October, and I suspect
we'll have a lot more movement/details about how to proceed with Flock once
he's in place.

Let me know if you have questions. I can certainly provide answers from a
logistical perspective.

Thanks.

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 10:52 AM, Matthew Miller 
wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 10:14:45AM -0400, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> > > I just checked, and it looks like this idea is all blocked on some
> > > other event-related stuff that needs to be decided. I don't want to
> > > wait forever, though, so if you're interested in doing research, that
> > > doesn't _hurt_.
> >
> > OK Cool. Do you know if there's any possibility the RH team would be
> > interested in the research?
>
> I hope they would be, yeah.
>
> --
> Matthew Miller
>
> Fedora Project Leader
> _______________________________________________
> flock-planning mailing list
> [e-mail]
> https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/flock-
> [e-mail]

[Máirín Duffy]

Note that the problematic messages have been removed from this thread 
please don't reply to them and quote them.

Thanks!

~m

On 09/15/2016 10:59 AM, Jennifer Madriaga wrote:
> Hey Mo,
>
> Yes, we would most definitely be interested in the research. I'll be
> helping with logistics, and I know that everyone would love to see
> suggestions for venues. The more research, the better if you have a
> strong preference.
>
> Emphasis is on ease of deploying. Typically August has seemed like a
> good time because it doesn't conflict with any major events and also
> since folks usually are available.
>
> I do not handle budget. That would be a Bex and Council question.
>
> I'm sure there will be more conversation sooner than later. I think Bex
> takes the reigns officially at the beginning of October, and I suspect
> we'll have a lot more movement/details about how to proceed with Flock
> once he's in place.
>
> Let me know if you have questions. I can certainly provide answers from
> a logistical perspective.
>
> Thanks.
>
> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 10:52 AM, Matthew Miller
> <[e-mail] > wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 10:14:45AM -0400, Máirín Duffy wrote:
> > >I just checked, and it looks like this idea is all blocked on some
> > >other event-related stuff that needs to be decided. I don't want to
> > >wait forever, though, so if you're interested in doing research, that
> > >doesn't _hurt_.
> > OK Cool. Do you know if there's any possibility the RH team would be
> > interested in the research?
>
> I hope they would be, yeah.
>
> --
> Matthew Miller
> <[e-mail] <mailto:[e-mail]>>
> Fedora Project Leader
> _______________________________________________
> flock-planning mailing list
> [e-mail]
> <mailto:[e-mail]>
> https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/[e-mail]
> <https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/[e-mail]>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Jen Madriaga
> Event Manager
> Red Hat, Inc.
> Cell 919-402-7952
>
> flock-planning mailing list
> [e-mail]
> https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/[e-mail]...

[Justin W. Flory]

On 09/15/2016 10:59 AM, Jennifer Madriaga wrote:
> Hey Mo,
>
> Yes, we would most definitely be interested in the research. I'll be
> helping with logistics, and I know that everyone would love to see
> suggestions for venues. The more research, the better if you have a
> strong preference.
>
> Emphasis is on ease of deploying. Typically August has seemed like a
> good time because it doesn't conflict with any major events and also
> since folks usually are available.
>
> I do not handle budget. That would be a Bex and Council question.
>
> I'm sure there will be more conversation sooner than later. I think Bex
> takes the reigns officially at the beginning of October, and I suspect
> we'll have a lot more movement/details about how to proceed with Flock
> once he's in place.
>
> Let me know if you have questions. I can certainly provide answers from
> a logistical perspective.
>
> Thanks.

Just as an added note for consideration too (and I recognize this is 
just hypothetical discussion and that it's different region-to-region), 
but from the perspective of a US student, early August is a great time 
as well. It's usually still in the summer so classes aren't in session, 
and co-ops / internships are usually close to wrapping up (if not 
finished already). If it were much later, I think it would be hard for 
non-local students interested in attending to justify missing close to a 
week of classes.

[Robert Mayr]

2016-09-15 18:39 GMT+02:00 Justin W. Flory :
> On 09/15/2016 10:59 AM, Jennifer Madriaga wrote:
> > Hey Mo,
> >
> > Yes, we would most definitely be interested in the research. I'll be
> > helping with logistics, and I know that everyone would love to see
> > suggestions for venues. The more research, the better if you have a
> > strong preference.
> >
> > Emphasis is on ease of deploying. Typically August has seemed like a
> > good time because it doesn't conflict with any major events and also
> > since folks usually are available.
> >
> > I do not handle budget. That would be a Bex and Council question.
> >
> > I'm sure there will be more conversation sooner than later. I think Bex
> > takes the reigns officially at the beginning of October, and I suspect
> > we'll have a lot more movement/details about how to proceed with Flock
> > once he's in place.
> >
> > Let me know if you have questions. I can certainly provide answers from
> > a logistical perspective.
> >
> > Thanks.
>
> Just as an added note for consideration too (and I recognize this is just
> hypothetical discussion and that it's different region-to-region), but from
> the perspective of a US student, early August is a great time as well. It's
> usually still in the summer so classes aren't in session, and co-ops /
> internships are usually close to wrapping up (if not finished already). If
> it were much later, I think it would be hard for non-local students
> interested in attending to justify missing close to a week of classes.
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Justin W. Flory
> [e-mail]

August is holiday time, yeah, and it makes it difficult for working people
(who want to make holidays with the family) to attend too. Also, august is
very expensive and indeed, september would save a lot of money IMHO. We
should at least consider how many pros and cons we have keeping it in
august or slipping a few weeks.