[Ambassadors] APAC Budget preparation for FY 2013

[Ankur Sinha]

On Wed, 2012-12-19 at 07:01 +0530, Buddhike Kurera wrote:
> Hello APAC FAms,

Hi Buddhike, folks,
> 
> Time has come to plan next year budget, FY2013.
> 
> As per the continuous improvement on budget management by FAmSCo,
> Budget Wrangler per each region needs to submit the next year budget
> at the end of the each year.

It sure has. I'm sure I can speak for all ambassadors when I say that
we're most grateful for your efforts :)

> 
> All the expenses except FUDcon and FAD should be included. This is a
> projection of the total funds we need for the year, though we tried
> last time that wasnt possible. Therefore this is the first time we are
> going to do this.

> 
> I know as per the current situation it is hard to make such a budget
> because sometimes special needs may arises. However we need to manage
> his challenge. Therefore it is required to get information from the
> FAms and plan. Tuan will also help me on this.

> 
> Following has been identified as main areas that we need funding.
> 
> x Media production
> x SWAG production
> x Expenses for Release parties
> x Event sponsorships
> x Event attendee subsidy
> x Special projects/ policies
> x Others
> 
> The process will follow like this, if you planning to do something for
> next year under above categories please prepare a rough budget and
> update the ticket. Please include in ticket[1] what is it (which
> category it belongs), expected quarter* and amount required(good if it
> can have a cost breakdown). Do mention the estimated rough cost.
> Margin for unexpected expenses will be considered later at the budget
> preparing stage.

I'm a little unsure about how many tickets/comments you'll get here. The
year is a *long* time. Only the FUDCons require long term planning and
therefore have a detailed budget chalked out quite in advance. For
smaller events, such as unconferences, workshops, even quite a few FADs
(not included in this budget), the planning phase hardly takes a
fortnight. In fact, we encourage folks to make up quick plans, get
together, have a small event (and in the process meet up and get some
work done). A majority of the workshops also depend on other events such
as technology festivals in various educational institutes. Our
contributions to such events only come in once a call for participation
has been made. 

From what I can gather, at this stage, the only information that can be
collected will be based on:

* Release parties (since these should've already been planned by now)
* Swag production for ambassadors (not event based, just regular swag
production for the cycle)
* Media production (again, not event based, just regular media
production for the cycle)

* Event sponsorships/attendee subsidy/special projects: very difficult
to ascertain at the time, even for half a year.

Therefore, the budget, if planned on this limited information will not
be fit for the entire year. I would rather suggest that the yearly
budget be based on yesteryears' expenditures:

* How much did we spend in the last few years?
* Is there an incremental/decremental trend?(Why?)
* Plan a budget based on extrapolations of this trend, may be including
a "buffer" or 20% extra as backup, or with the intention of getting more
ambassadors to hold events.

> 
> Deadline for the entries = 2013 Jan 04, 23:59 UTC
> 
> Once the budget is prepared I ll present it next APAC FAm meeting and
> once it is agreed I can forward it to FAmSCo.
> 
> FY13 Q1 (March 2012 - May 2012)
> FY13 Q2 (June 2012 - Aug 2012)
> FY13 Q3 (Sept 2012 - Nov 2012)
> FY13 Q4 (Dec 2012 - Feb 2013)
> 
> Thanks for your support and please do contact me if you need more help
> or clarification.
> 
> [1] https://fedorahosted.org/fedora-apac/ticket/49
> 

I'm sorry I didn't jump in earlier. I'm supposed to be on vacation till
Jan 10th[1]. It's only by a matter of chance that I checked my mail and
caught this announcement. From the limited response to the thread and
the ticket, I feel a lot of other ambassadors are also busy holidaying
currently. It might be worth extending the dead line some this time (and
maybe working on this at a different time next cycle so we don't clash
with the holidays)? 

I would also like to point out that the plan for us Ambassadors[2] could
probably be expanded to include such deadlines, details. May also be
something that we can look into. I could come up with a plan template,
only once I'm done holidaying though ;)

Have a great holiday everyone! I'll at least check my mail regularly to
follow this thread now :D

[1] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Vacation
[2]
http://jreznik.fedorapeople.org/schedules/f-18/f-18-ambassadors-tasks.html
-- 
Thanks, 
Warm regards,
Ankur: "FranciscoD"

Please only print if necessary. 

Looking to contribute to Fedora? Look here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_Join_SIG

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Ankursinha
http://dodoincfedora.wordpress.com/
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