18:59:49 #startmeeting 18:59:49 Meeting started Sat May 22 18:59:49 2010 UTC. The chair is gwolf. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot. 18:59:49 Useful Commands: #action #agreed #help #info #idea #link #topic. 19:00:04 * edrz waves 19:00:07 hi 19:00:19 ok, the traditional startmeeting ping: abi, alphascorpii, AndrewLee, arthur, ArthurLiu, aurel32, azeem, bdale 19:00:20 , 19:00:37 gwolf: meetbot has a pingall, if you are trying for that 19:00:42 heh :) 19:00:46 #pingall 19:00:53 MeetBot: pingall meeting has begun 19:00:53 meeting has begun 19:00:53 abi alphascorpii AndrewLee arthur ArthurLiu aurel32 azeem bdale bgupta blarson bremner bubulle Clint cpt_nemo dkg DrDub edrz exlt FBI fil Ganneff gregoa gwolf h01ger Hydroxide jcristau jeremyb Jon karora luciano madduck marga Maulkin maxyz MeetBot micah moray 19:00:53 MrBeige note pabs paravoid rmayorga Roliverio RonG schultmc schultmc_ sgran Sledge stockholm svenk Tincho tokkee Tolimar TransBot` zumbi 19:00:53 meeting has begun 19:01:08 #topic Reconfirmation mail - June 1 ? 19:01:45 ok. we haven't sent out an announcement. reconfirmation + room preference specification + daytrip attendance checkbox have all been enabled 19:02:00 ah, I missed the room preference bit 19:02:06 someone should announce it. the deadline was originally June 1, but it's only 10 days from now 19:02:18 so either we should do it then or a few days after then, but someone should email soon 19:02:21 June {10,15}? 19:02:24 Hydroxide: How far do you think it's wise to push? 19:02:31 June 15 is too close, I'd say 19:02:39 too close? 19:02:48 to the conference star 19:02:49 start 19:02:50 gwolf: I would say no later than june 5 myself 19:02:52 also 19:02:53 presumably to the conf 19:03:00 I would also go to 5-10. 19:03:00 I'd go for June 10th so we can get a better idea whether we'll need Debian monies 19:03:05 yeah 19:03:16 I can send another personalized mail asking to correct the problems in registration 19:03:17 Ok, so... anybody against? 19:03:36 #agreed The reconfirmation deadline should be moved to June 10 19:03:36 we should clarify that although it's nice to get additional certainty from everyone, we only NEED reconfirmation from people who are receiving food/lodging sponsorship or travel bursary funding from us 19:03:41 MrBeige: meaning mail to attendees with un-sane selections? 19:03:50 like before, yes 19:03:54 MrBeige: great 19:03:55 * edrz nods 19:04:04 #action Mail should be sent (by whom?) reminding of deadline 19:04:10 also, in past years were people subscribed to dc-announce by us? 19:04:17 wait 19:04:26 don't we need reconfirmation also for housing? 19:04:31 when it is that deadline? 19:04:32 * Hydroxide would like to get someone (other than me) to agree to send some announcement email today 19:04:33 #action A special mail should be sent to people with unsane selections (i.e. re: strange lodging/food/blah) 19:04:40 I mean, from the paying ones... 19:04:53 MrBeige: ...? 19:05:05 it would be nice if we can point both issues in the same e-mail 19:05:07 DrDub: ideally everyone who wants our housing would reconfirm and specify room preferences by june 1, yes 19:05:21 DrDub: and ideally the email should say info about the daytrip too so we can start having people check that box 19:05:21 I can modify the script for reconfirmation 19:05:33 but a list of extra things to add would be helpful 19:05:43 Hydroxide: If we set a deadline for June 10... people will reconfirm by then 19:05:50 even people who are sure they are attending 19:05:55 gwolf: right, s/june 1/june 10/ in what I just said 19:05:57 ...or will change their values 19:05:58 ok,good 19:06:20 we had originally set a date of june 15 for preliminary room allocations to be published, with changes due july 1 19:06:21 So, which items are needed for reconfirmation? Food, lodging, daytrip? 19:06:32 we could move both of those dates 5 days later 19:06:43 (it sounds confusing) 19:06:52 Hydroxide: When does Columbia need that from us? 19:07:04 gwolf: july 10 (rounded to the nearest prior weekday, so july 9) 19:07:21 DrDub: ok, let me try to summarize what I am suggesting 19:07:34 ok, so that still leaves us a good sorting time.. (yes, please summarize :) ) 19:08:34 ideally, everyone would reconfirm by june 10. in terms of actual need, we need people to reconfirm by june 10 if they are having us pay for any of their food/lodging/travel, and we would strongly prefer them to reconfirm + specify room preference by then if they are using our lodging, regardless of who pays. it would also be nice for them to give us a sense of daytrip attendance by checking that box, but that can be decided later 19:09:17 #info ideally, everyone would reconfirm by june 10. in terms of actual need, we need people to reconfirm by june 10 if they are having us pay for any of their food/lodging/travel, and we would strongly prefer them to reconfirm + specify room preference by then if they are using our lodging, regardless of who pays. it would also be nice for them to give us a sense of daytrip attendance by checking that box, but that can be decided later 19:09:22 I hope MeetBot agrees ;-) 19:09:33 the hard/final deadline for changes to room allocations would be july 6th 19:09:40 and we'd publish the first draft of that by june 20 19:09:43 ok... So, who sends the mail asking for confirmation by June 10? 19:09:50 so, are we talking three dates here 19:10:10 1. reconfirmation 2. daytrip/room pref. 3. reconfirmation / payment for pay attendees 19:10:13 #info First draft of room allocations should be published by June 20, final deadline for changes to room allocations july 6th 19:10:31 DrDub: not quite... 19:10:36 * DrDub would really like for the paid attendees to have paid before the July 10th Columbia housing deadline 19:10:52 DrDub: that's a good idea, yes. I will work with schultmc to accelerate the invoice preparation 19:10:55 :) 19:11:07 that eliminates one deadline 19:11:14 from my ill-conceived list 19:11:27 * Hydroxide didn't think your summary was equivalent to mine 19:11:32 which probably means it's all too confusing 19:11:39 (I agree it wasn't) 19:11:40 * gwolf is confused :) 19:11:44 ok 19:11:49 let me summarize in many shorter lines 19:12:00 By June 10: 19:12:27 * If we're paying for any of your food/lodging/travel, you must reconfirm. 19:12:42 * marga is here, reading backlog. 19:12:56 * If you're using our lodging (regardless of payment), it would be very helpful if you could reconfirm and specify room preferences 19:13:03 By June 20: 19:13:12 #info Scrap that, in shorter lines (copying from Hydroxide): 19:13:17 * We'll publish a draft of the room allocations 19:13:28 By July 6: 19:13:38 #info By June 10: * If we're paying for any of your food/lodging/travel, you must reconfirm. * If you're using our lodging (regardless of payment), it would be very helpful if you could reconfirm and specify room preferences 19:13:51 #info By june 20: * We'll publish a draft of the room allocations 19:13:52 * Everyone who hasn't reconfirmed or specified their room preferences yet and is using our lodging must do so 19:14:04 By July 9: 19:14:20 * We submit the final allocation to Columbia (not an attendee deadline) 19:14:25 #info By July 6: * Everyone who hasn't reconfirmed or specified their room preferences yet and is using our lodging must do so 19:14:26 By 30 days after our invoice: 19:14:32 * People who are paying us for stuff have to pay 19:14:35 is that clearer? 19:14:39 yes 19:14:40 #action By July 9: * We submit the final allocation to Columbia (not an attendee deadline) 19:14:54 so we need to invoice everybody by June 9th 19:14:55 cool :) 19:14:56 #info By 30 days after our invoice: * People who are paying us for stuff have to pay 19:14:57 Good 19:15:06 DrDub: which we can do :) 19:15:07 So... Again: Who sends the mail inviting people to do this all? 19:15:16 and we have to make clear, somehow, that CU housed attendees can only register till June 9th 19:15:25 (maybe in the Website?) 19:15:42 DrDub: I think they can register any time until July 6, but they'll also have to pay by then 19:15:44 DrDub: Maybe the June 10 deadline should be moved to June 9 19:15:59 gwolf: why? 19:16:16 gwolf, MrBeige: I can work with MrBeige to send the e-mail between today and tomorrow morning. 19:16:21 DrDub: great 19:16:32 aside from reconf, do we want to post is someplace else/ 19:16:33 ...? 19:16:35 Who's doing room allocation? 19:16:44 Ganneff 19:16:45 just because our standard terms are net 30, they don't have to be 19:16:50 schultmc: right 19:16:50 Oh, sorry - Hydroxide, I confused invoicing with allocation 19:17:01 * DrDub evil laughs 19:17:06 #action MrBeige and DrDub send the mail between today and tomorrow morning 19:17:07 marga: we haven't decided that yet - I think both you and Noodles have offered 19:17:12 Hydroxide: ok. 19:17:17 marga: I'm fine with two people doing it together :) 19:17:26 Ok, ready for next topic? 19:17:29 wait 19:17:32 my last Q 19:17:34 ... 19:17:41 should we sent to debconf-announce 19:17:46 #info marga and noodles offered to help with room allocation. 19:17:54 or some other mailing list 19:18:05 aside from MrBeige reconfirmation script 19:18:05 at least that. 19:18:07 and dc-discuss? 19:18:10 DrDub: ? 19:18:12 when was the last time something about debconf went out on d-d-a? 19:18:17 (that does exist, right?) 19:18:18 Ganneff: he was joking. 19:18:25 Ganneff: sorry, I was just joking, I thought you weren't here 19:18:26 jeremyb: I'd go for dc-a, with reply to discuss 19:18:37 jeremyb: yes 19:18:42 great, next topic then 19:18:43 DrDub, schultmc: about the timing, I think it's reasonable to give people a minimum 30 days to pay if they registered early enough for this to work (regardless of whether we are lazy and invoice e.g. in july), but if they register really late, we can have a hard payment deadline of july 6. 19:18:59 DrDub: (let's still invoice in may though! :P) 19:19:04 next topic, agreed 19:19:06 Hydroxide: grea 19:19:17 #topic Talk selection team: status update 19:19:19 Hydroxide: we can do an invoice-a-thon next weekend ;-) 19:19:22 :) 19:19:27 anyone here from the talks team? 19:19:31 i am 19:19:34 great 19:19:43 how's it going? 19:19:47 the status update is that we're way behind on our deadline for reviews 19:19:50 yep 19:20:11 which means we haven't been able to report back to folks to let them know who's in 19:20:12 some attendees have mentioned it to me :( 19:20:23 :( apologies 19:20:30 dkg: Sometimes having an answer regarding the status of your talk is necessary for somebody to decide on attendance - and we need it for them to reconfirm by June 10 :( 19:20:55 #info Talk team is behind deadline for reviews 19:20:57 dkg: what is the current ETA on completion, and how can we help ensure that you meet/beat that? 19:21:12 yup. I'm going to try to herd the cats today and tomorrow to have something more concrete to report. 19:21:17 I'd be disappointed if people are really gating their attendance at debconf on whether a talk proposal was accepted 19:21:32 bdale: sometimes it affects whether they can get employer funding 19:21:34 dkg: I can help after Wed 19:21:35 but I know it can have an impact on whether a company sponsors travel or not 19:21:35 #action dkg herds cats today, and expects to report something more complete by tomorrow 19:21:40 * Hydroxide nods at bdale 19:21:47 * dkg really doesn't want to be "head" of talks team, but is willing to fill that role until we get better clarity on what's going on in the team 19:21:59 DrDub: thanks 19:22:10 dkg: Please explain... What problem is there on the team, besides lateness? 19:22:17 lateness is the problem 19:22:17 dkg: Anything others can step in to do? 19:22:32 anyone who wants to offer to review talks would be welcome 19:22:34 dkg: we appreciate your efforts very much, your work with the tracks was really good 19:22:43 i think having more eyes on each talk would be good. 19:22:48 * Hydroxide happy to assist with the technical side of granting penta permissions 19:22:51 #help Anyone who wants to offer to review talks would be welcome 19:23:05 Ok... So, anything else here? 19:23:10 and having never done it before, i'm not entirely sure how i should evaluate things like whether the person can give a talk authoritatively 19:23:12 gwolf: sign me up 19:23:23 so advice from previous talks team folks would be welcome there. 19:23:24 #action DrDub signs up to help with reviewing 19:23:26 dkg: unfortunately, I *do not* have time to help with talks review this year .. but feel free to poke me for help with any borderline decisions, etc 19:23:37 #action gwolf signs up to help with reviewing 19:23:42 that sounds great 19:23:53 Next topic? 19:23:53 i think as the talks team we might also need info from the venue folks about how many talks we can have overall 19:23:54 if we can get other people from past years help in borderline that'll give peace of mind 19:23:55 who has done it in the past that we might ping to assist? 19:23:58 i don't want to approve talks that we can't fit. 19:24:07 * Hydroxide is willing to help if people don't think it could be politically awkward 19:24:16 (as head of the local team as well, e.g.) 19:24:32 edrz: I have... 19:24:33 Hydroxide: I see no conflict 19:24:44 ok 19:24:46 in that case 19:24:50 dkg: Still, DebConf is quite informal in nature, and the approved/not approved line is quite blurry 19:24:55 and not really meaningful 19:24:56 #action Hydroxide signs up to help review talks 19:25:05 although there _is_ value in marking talks as "official" 19:25:16 gwolf: thanks for that clarification 19:25:32 makes me feel a little bit less of an impostor ;) 19:25:33 anyway... should we move on/ 19:25:44 dkg: can we ask you to email -team before end of night Sunday NYC time? 19:25:45 it helps to publish some sort of schedule in advance. 19:25:48 yup 19:25:59 #info bursary team has completed its rankings 19:25:59 #action dkg emails -team re talks team stuff before end of night Sunday NYC time 19:26:02 schultmc: woo :) 19:26:06 \o/ 19:26:13 congrats! 19:26:28 #info bursary team is meeting tomorrow evening (EDT) to decide where to draw the line for sponsorship 19:26:41 schultmc: great. also keep in mind we don't have to grant 100% of every approved request 19:26:52 Hydroxide: understood 19:27:09 and ideally you can think of some relatively sane and systematic and need-aware way of figuring that out 19:27:21 Hydroxide: We have usually met 100% or 0 - but yes, we have that in mind... although it is more problematic to implement :-/ 19:27:33 any quick sense of where we stand regarding sum of requests vs available budget? 19:27:34 gwolf: 100% or 0 is nice if we can do it, yes. it's certainly easier 19:27:51 bdale: available budget = 0 19:27:57 so it is easy math ;-) 19:28:24 anything more on this item for today's meeting? 19:28:33 oh 19:28:34 This I'm not sure if warrants a #topic change - possibly request a few meritorious bursary exceptions via dpl(/joeyh?) 19:28:35 not that I'm aware of 19:28:42 It is a very related topic 19:28:45 yes 19:29:12 basically, there were a few cases which didn't fit into the normal criteria but various of us think should get some funding 19:29:13 so, what on this? 19:29:32 I'm more than happy to help sanity check such exceptional requests if you want help 19:29:43 well, also, what is that status of those funds/process for selection? 19:29:45 Hydroxide: I am not sure whether those exceptional requests belong in a public log 19:29:49 right 19:29:52 it doesn't 19:30:01 and have we / do we need to coordinate with them? 19:30:19 how do we want to deal with the adjudication and where should the funds come from? I was thinking of piggybacking on the joeyh/dpl pool but I hvaen't asked joeyh/zack yet 19:30:26 bdale: great 19:30:47 well, those are _requests_. I'd say that for specific requests we should present them to the DPL 19:30:52 ok 19:31:04 and he can choose whether they belong to that pool, to other pools, or to our pocket money 19:31:07 so should we pass a list of requests to bdale, he'll sanity-check, and send recommendations on our behalf to zack? 19:31:22 ideally not many, but I think there may be somewhere in the range of 2-4 such people 19:31:45 #action Special/exceptional funding requests will be passed to bdale for sanity check, and later for Zack for DPL approval 19:31:45 * edrz knows of 3 from our recent discussions. 19:31:50 I'd also point out again that the LGM has been very successful obtaining travel sponsorship by running a fund drive aimed at individual contributors via pledgie .. doing the same for debconf might be a good plan? 19:31:51 ya 19:31:57 #info we are talking about 2-4 people in such situation 19:32:17 What's LGM? 19:32:24 Libre Graphics Meeting 19:32:27 bdale: interesting. no idea how debian would view that politically. doesn't bother me individually. 19:32:59 hmm... I like the idea, but I agree with Hydroxide, it should not turn into a dunc tank :-/ 19:33:06 * DrDub likes it because it will make clear is based on need rather than a "reward" for their contributions 19:33:18 it's hard for me to imagine a political problem if there's such a clear definition of what the money is being raised for 19:33:34 And targetted donations are often more successful than vague ones 19:33:39 indeed 19:33:40 DrDub: it's not clear that a pledge drive is based on that 19:33:53 anyway, my only issue with the pledge drive idea is that we don't have much time to organize it properly 19:33:56 Hydroxide: so the drive is not under the name of the people traveling? 19:34:09 We already have a pledge system, we only need to give it more prominence, don't we? 19:34:13 DrDub: it would be, but it could still be viewed as a reward 19:34:16 marga: not that I'm aware of 19:34:19 Hydroxide: well, even if we don't achieve 100% sponsorship on the pledge, it will at least be ≥0 19:34:30 I don't know what it takes to set up a drive on pledgie, but I bet it's quick and easy. then it's just a question of how much viral marketing you want to do. 19:34:44 Hydroxide: And... No, I would not think it is dangerous as a reward... As we are not giving any money 19:34:53 * Hydroxide suggests we leave the source of funding (e.g. DPL, pledgie, etc) to bdale's discretion 19:34:53 we are just funding travel, which we anyway do.. 19:35:04 unless it comes from debconf10 funds, in which case we can revisit that 19:35:17 Hydroxide: yeah, the SPI pledge and click thingy 19:35:22 clink and pledge, I mean 19:35:28 marga: oh, that's not the same kind of thing, it's a payment method 19:35:31 but, yes 19:35:41 Hydroxide: yes, I know, but we could ask people to use it. 19:35:44 anyway, are we ok with leaving it to bdale's discretion? 19:35:51 what am I being signed up for 19:35:53 ? 19:35:58 bdale: are you OK with us leaving this to your discretino? 19:35:58 marga: yeah - pledging is a bit different though, in that you only pay if the thing happens 19:36:10 Hydroxide: ah, ok, I understand. 19:36:21 bdale: we'd just be letting you decide whether to go to the DPL or to pledgie or a mixture of both 19:36:28 bdale: so that we don't have to spend time bikeshedding :) 19:36:29 Hydroxide: Are they usually trustable? Can I pledge US$2000 and back out? 19:36:42 gwolf: I don't know, but hopefully the person who suggested it (bdale) does :) 19:36:53 Hydroxide: however, as gwolf says, we _are_ going to fund travel, anyways, if someone doesn't come, then someone else would get the money. 19:36:54 I was thinking of the pledgie idea as a way to generate income to fund the general debconf travel sponsorships, not for exceptions 19:37:03 gwolf: I used kickstarter once. They block it from your credit card 19:37:08 in other words, I don't think the two ideas are linked 19:37:10 DrDub: interesting and good 19:37:38 well, I don't know what to #info 19:37:41 so please, somebody :) 19:37:43 bdale: aah. in that case, let's discuss that offline (incl. with the rest of the sponsorship team) and see how we can make it work in time for dc10 19:37:51 * DrDub welcomes any idea to cover travel sponsorship as we're behind covering our food and lodging costs 19:37:52 Hydroxide: thanks, that's it :) 19:38:07 gwolf: I don't actually know much about pledgie, just that the LGM has used it for 3 years or so and I've happily made pledges there. they never hit their ultimate goal, so everything pledged gets used 19:38:22 it's not like kickstarter where nobody gets billed unless you hit a goal 19:38:31 ah, good to know 19:38:32 gwolf: plz to #info something (feel free to use my quote) and move on :) 19:38:37 #action Regarding the pledge idea, Hydroxide + bdale (+ others?) will discuss this later (but soon!) 19:38:51 #topic Fundrasing status and plans 19:38:57 #topic Fundraising status and plans 19:39:15 * DrDub cries a river 19:39:28 OK, so so far we have contacted 70 potential sponsors 19:39:29 * edrz hands DrDub a tissue. 19:39:30 * Hydroxide hugs one of our two resident pessimists 19:39:30 * gwolf bottles the water so we can sell it 19:39:35 to put things in perspective, dc9 contacted 30 19:39:48 we only have two resident pessimists? 19:39:55 :) 19:39:55 we are still behind a projected 28k 19:40:02 or 14 bronze level sponsors 19:40:10 or one platinum sponsor... 19:40:15 I still have hopes for 4 companies to do silver (10k) 19:40:22 but we got one of them to say no already 19:40:25 #info we are still behind a projected 28k, which means one platinum sponsor, 14 bronze sponsors and everything in between 19:40:31 (we'll keep trying through other contacts, of course) 19:40:36 #info that doesn't include bursary funding 19:40:44 I'll be glad to share their name in private 19:40:53 Hydroxide: exactly 19:40:54 I wonder how many peolpe will drop out, decreasing our expenses? 19:41:09 MrBeige: a nontrivial number every year 19:41:12 and we still don't have a solid quote for food so we don't have clear numbers there 19:41:15 MrBeige: how many are registered? 19:41:16 (AFAIK) 19:41:37 too bad Clint haven't been able to make it 19:41:40 gwolf: so far, 358 participants (not all of whom are sponsored) 19:41:44 gwolf: http://munin.debconf.org/debconf.org/skinner.debconf.org.html#Pentabarf 19:41:47 he has been doing an epic amount of cold calling 19:41:52 * DrDub hat tips 19:42:01 #info Clint rocks! 19:42:06 http://rkd.zgib.net/http/debconf/registration-data.txt 19:42:19 so this is where we stand 19:42:23 MrBeige: ^ is that up to date? 19:42:28 umh, so we are still in the statistical numbers of other years 19:42:31 the DPL has approached asking whether we'll need some Debian funds 19:42:36 we might need, food costs depending 19:42:37 ...I expected numbers to be way higher in NY... 19:42:40 #help contact DrDub if you want to help fundraising 19:42:48 edrz: I just refreshed it 19:42:50 gwolf: near the higher end of past years, but yes 19:43:05 gwolf: and this doesn't include last-minute registrants (who of course don't get sponsorship) 19:43:14 gwolf: or people who just drop in for a few talks) 19:43:14 #info we currently have 358 participants signed up (not all of them sponsored), but expect some to drop at reconfirmation (as it always happens) 19:43:29 #info and then go up again with last-minute non-sponsored attendees 19:43:32 of course, but they are as if they didn't exist for this discussion sake :) 19:43:35 yes :) 19:43:40 on a related note, I'd appreciate if the orga team can help spread the feeling among our attendees that we have to thank our sponsors for their generosity (see earlier e-mail) 19:44:09 which, if there are no other questions, bring us to the last item in the topic that is sponsor bags 19:44:18 we have at least three people asking to send us swag 19:44:23 where to receive it? 19:44:26 subtopic, so just go ahead :) 19:44:32 how earlier before the conference? 19:44:47 (and feel free to go back to the full topic) 19:44:50 what's swag? 19:44:56 DrDub: I think people like MrBeige and Jonah and Clint and I can receive stuff 19:44:59 err, things to include in the bag 19:45:06 free magazines, inserts, etc 19:45:07 Ah, merchandise 19:45:11 yeah 19:45:16 good 19:45:23 marga: yeah. it's stuff to make the sponsors see more value in giving us money 19:45:24 so, say, July 1st? 19:45:33 DrDub: oh 19:45:38 DrDub: I'd say as early as possible, to avoid problems... And swag does not usually take up _too_ much room. Can it be stored at $someone's house? 19:45:38 marga: stuff to be given away 19:45:38 i.e. magazines, keychains... 19:45:42 I'd like to give a deadline for our sponsors to start sending the stuff 19:45:44 DrDub: I don't think we need to be hard-nosed about a deadline 19:45:55 Hydroxide: good 19:46:04 so we can start receiving it right away 19:46:18 I'll discuss with the people mentioned off-list 19:46:19 thanks 19:46:21 I'm done 19:46:24 ok 19:46:38 (questions?) 19:46:45 #info Some sponsors want to send swag for attendees - Hydroxide says MrBeige, Jonah, Clint and himself can receive it 19:46:54 i've got room to store stuff in brooklyn if we need space. 19:47:01 i can also probably receive shipments 19:47:10 (appreciated) 19:47:13 though the brooklyn USPS is, uh, inconsistent. 19:47:15 DrDub: I would just skip the deadline... If we get a truckload of laptops on July 28, we will accept it! 19:47:37 gwolf: yup, yup. I'll skip it. Understood. 19:47:45 DrDub: (if anyone waits until July 28, of course some people may not have it in their bags depending on whether we've had time to put it in there, or they may have arrived earlier, etc) 19:48:01 dkg: it's fine here, but we do have building staff to accept stuff 19:48:03 anyway 19:48:07 #info no deadlines to receive swag. Of course, it should preferably arrive before conference start, to make logistics sane. 19:48:12 * Hydroxide nods 19:48:17 Anyway, somehting else on fundraising+swag topic? 19:48:24 nope 19:48:34 #topic other attendee communications? 19:48:44 I think when I put this in I meant things like further sanity-checking 19:48:58 ideally we'd find the right balance between keeping attendees sufficiently in the loop and not spamming them 19:49:24 I think that one more iteration of santity checks now (before reconfirm) is alright. 19:49:27 but we also should soon announce things like the talks selection, private emails about bursary decisions, and (in mid-june) schedules 19:49:30 marga: yep 19:49:38 Then, you might mail ONLY those with very strange info. 19:49:41 anything to else say about this here? 19:49:46 in the communication front with *potential attendees* there are a few things floating around. There was a press release asking for money plus a press release asking for volunteers, plus a press release asking for local attendees 19:49:47 + requests for papers post talk selection 19:49:48 marga: or those who didn't receive the first one, too 19:49:52 Hydroxide: about announcements, that's what we have mls for. 19:49:53 too bad bgupta is not here 19:50:12 Hydroxide: This year I think the debconf.org blog has not been used much 19:50:13 and it is IMO a good way to push information out 19:50:14 bgupta has taken the press hat in the last localteam meeting 19:50:32 gwolf: ok, we can do more wth that. at least several of us have commit access, and more can have it 19:50:38 marga: still, we do have to mail everybody re: reconfirmation 19:50:47 some might cancel, some might have forgotten they need to do it... 19:51:00 gwolf: yeah, I meant after reconf. 19:51:07 ok 19:51:11 what about we include a line 19:51:13 in the reco e-mail 19:51:20 saying "check the blog from now on" 19:51:32 we'll be posting there where we stand as we go forward, etc 19:51:33 #info Hydroxide wonders about the right point of keeping enough communication without spamming the world 19:52:11 #info We should send some status updates via the DebConf blog... 19:52:14