[Ambassadors] Equipment Purchase - Possible Conflict of Interest

[Paul W. Frields]

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 01:21:50PM -0400, Max Spevack wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Sep 2009, Heherson Pagcaliwagan wrote:
>
>> question is (more or less) like this, "Are we allowed to spend a  
>> portion of our event budget on equipment?" I'm thinking to get our  
>> local group a cheap inkjet printer to handle our desktop printing  
>> needs like sticker labels/brochures/flyers/signages for an upcoming  
>> event - SFD2009[1].
>
> As people have already pointed out, we have a precedent for spending  
> event budget on equipment when necessary, especially if that equipment  
> will be re-usable at other events (like the duplicator we bought for  
> LATAM).
>
> As long as people are being transparent, and checking when they have  
> questions (like you did), I see no problem with it.
>
> In the specific case, given that your event is (a) next week and (b) the  
> event budget really wasn't very much, I see no problem with doing what  
> needs to be done in order for you to make your event successful.
>
> I think you deserve a ton of credit for bringing the question up,  
> because it shows that you are a thoughtful and considerate guy.

I agree on all points.  I figured this was worthwhile to have
documented, and maybe someone will be so kind as to find the right
place in the Ambassadors or Events area on the wiki to make it more
visibly.

The point of event funding is always to grow Fedora awareness and
hopefully community as a result.  If an inkjet printer is required,
and helps an Ambassador achieve goals beyond just the one event, it
should be fine as long as that purchase is disclosed transparently.

Heherson, thanks for bringing this here so promptly!  I think I'll
chalk that decision in my "WIN" column for today... :-)

-- 
Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
  http://redhat.com/   -  -  -  -   http://pfrields.fedorapeople.org/
  irc.freenode.net: stickster @ #fedora-docs, #fedora-devel, #fredlug