18:12:53 #startmeeting DebConf meeting 18:12:53 Meeting started Tue May 29 18:12:53 2012 UTC. The chair is moray. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot. 18:12:53 Useful Commands: #action #agreed #help #info #idea #link #topic. 18:13:04 #topic Internet/Connectivity 18:13:18 News? 18:14:04 The ISP we have talked to (Navega) is not reachable over phone since quite some days. n0rman was trying to contact them. 18:14:07 No news, still waiting answer from 2 ISP 18:14:21 so, nothing to discuss, unless you have any questions? 18:14:40 #info Still waiting for responses from ISPs 18:15:03 #topic Sponsorship (outgoing) team 18:15:33 There was some hint of action on this 18:15:48 I saw http://www.doodle.com/7gasmbpvb3exc8k5 18:15:59 which is a poll for a meeting time in the next few days 18:16:04 anyone able to give more information? 18:16:29 no, this is it, as far as i know 18:16:38 We have no info yet, there are not much people in http://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf12/Teams 18:16:48 but there was not clear if it is the sponsorship team or the "travel" sponsorship team 18:17:34 xamanu: both 18:17:35 The "Sponsorship (outgoing) team", as I put it above, is what's normally the Travel sponsorship/bursaries etc. 18:17:50 But probably there's no money for travel sponsorship 18:18:01 I think we have more people, don't know if we can ping someone who was in that team before 18:18:04 and probably we need to be more careful about accommodation and food than some other years 18:18:11 s/have/need 18:18:40 how can we get access to the penta data? 18:18:46 moray: so we need somebody in charge of food and accommodation sponsorships... 18:18:57 xamanu: that is this team 18:18:58 i think this team should be in charge of both 18:19:15 makes sense 18:19:32 of course 18:20:11 is supposed i'm in charge of the team, I wrote an email until yesterday asking for volunteers in this team 18:20:28 #info The sponsorships (outgoing) team is in charge of all types of sponsorships: food, accommodation and travel 18:21:19 any more questions about this? 18:21:38 I guess some people won't volunteer but will help if asked -- if you still need more people 18:21:53 though note the concerns of fil etc. about having people just choose their friends 18:22:06 moray: who do you think do I need to contact? 18:22:16 not sure if this fits better into this topic or in the next one: but due to the lack of money from sponsors we seriously should consider to ask Debian for money... 18:22:25 Ganneff? Hydroxide? 18:22:51 n0rman: to contact for what? 18:23:04 14:24 < moray> I guess some people won't volunteer but will help if asked -- if you still need more people 18:23:24 well, if you are getting more I would suggest Debian people who are less involved in DebConf 18:24:15 from the poll, you should have team members already who can suggest appropriate people from that category 18:24:37 (to avoid it just being me suggesting my own friends for this ; 18:24:38 ) 18:25:34 we are 8 persons 18:25:59 moray: I wouldn't be that worried about this. If it's too obvious we will notice and otherwise we should trust people to do their best. 18:26:49 We could also have a policy of not rating people whom we know too good (whatever that means, to be definded) 18:27:12 gaudenz: is there a chance that you cand do it on friday at 19UTC? In doodle says no, but maybe you can try to have our first meeting 18:27:16 gaudenz: the worries are probably less if it's about accomm+food than travel anyway 18:27:59 i.e. there's less bias in "yes, they're involved enough to qualify" than in rating who of many applications is *most* deserving 18:29:08 so, next topic? 18:29:25 #info The team should have its first meeting soon 18:29:39 #topic Sponsorship (incoming) 18:29:55 Is anyone still working on getting more sponsors? 18:30:04 Is anyone actually sending out the consultants message? 18:30:36 I'm going to send the consultans message unless someone else wants to do it. 18:30:45 moray: we are working in that, but I think we need to check sponsors paymnts 18:30:58 gaudenz: please do it 18:31:06 I'm just want to confirm that http://debconf12.debconf.org/donations.xhtml is a good idea. 18:31:15 see my last commit in svn 18:31:16 n0rman: by "check sponsors payments", you mean, to see if they have actually arrived? 18:31:41 moray: to see if they alrady pay 18:32:03 because you don't know if they have paid, or because they definitely haven't paid? 18:32:44 gaudenz: I can't see donations.xhtml on the site or in svn - ? 18:32:47 at least, with SPI I can't check who already paid 18:33:26 darst was doing this before I think 18:33:30 he might be able to help 18:34:29 with what exactly ? 18:34:42 darst: how did we track before who has actually paid? 18:34:45 ah 18:34:46 darst: (sponsors) 18:34:47 darst: checking sponsors that already paid 18:34:54 FFIS we can look at transactions directly 18:35:10 SPI we need to get schultmc to tell us 18:35:20 moray: I meant adding the following sentence to the mail: " All donors will be listed in a special donors section of 18:35:27 the DebConf 12 website[2]." 18:35:28 and there was a spreadsheet last year that tracked things 18:35:29 paid vs expecting 18:35:30 darst: I'm updating ledger right now with FFIS information 18:35:44 where [2] is http://debconf12.debconf.org/donors.xhtml 18:35:51 this page does not yet exist. 18:35:58 ok 18:36:17 * h01ger waves and starts to catch up on backlog 18:36:18 gaudenz: saying we list them somewhere is fine from my point of view, as long as we keep a clear distinction vs. the main sponsors 18:36:18 the question is if we want to do this as h01ger suggested 18:36:33 so probably just a list of names, on one page, no links 18:37:28 darst: do we have to record names in ledger of persons paying their prof registration ? 18:38:50 #info re: sponsorship team: gwolf or fitoria should be on it, as they have penta access. ask them nicely ;) 18:39:27 h01ger: wrong topic? 18:40:00 i know, keep talking about the current one 18:40:37 * h01ger obviously likes his suggestion with a simple thanks page for "small sponsors" and maybe even corporate/prof.attendees (if they want to be listed there) 18:40:46 s/with/of/ 18:41:18 h01ger: do you agree that "just names on one page, no links" is reasonable, to keep the main sponsors in a prefered status? 18:42:03 yup 18:42:41 what about names on one page with link but no logo and nothing else? 18:42:58 gaudenz: that already gives them the same gain with Google etc. as a main sponsor gets 18:43:38 (as clever-enough algorithms won't give extra credit for more identical links from the same website) 18:43:43 but main sponsors are on every page 18:43:49 see my brackets 18:44:22 I agree about the google rank, but still think it a much smaller benefit 18:44:39 something like debconf-contributors.xhtml? 18:44:45 moray: but a page with many links give less credits to links (and hout main sponsor don't deserve debconf to increase PageRank 18:45:07 this is already a special case for them, I just don't see why we should have links anyway 18:45:24 * h01ger nods moray 18:45:37 we need to keep the small sponsoring benefits we do have 18:45:42 we cannot water them down 18:45:47 or rather: we should not 18:45:51 I don't care that much. I'm ok with just names. 18:46:13 #agreed Small sponsors should (optionally) get listed on a special page of the website -- no links, just names 18:46:26 How about general sponsor work? 18:46:39 Have people given up, or is work still happening to find more money? 18:46:50 To finish the topic: Is donors.xhtml ok or is debconf-contributors.xhtml better? 18:46:59 donors 18:47:05 gaudenz: "contributors" sounds like volunteers etc. to me 18:47:08 contributors are way more 18:47:09 so donors, yes 18:47:31 uhmmmm 18:47:32 #agreed donors.xhtml 18:47:44 n0rman: ? 18:48:04 How is going to create that page? I think if it's listed in the mail it should exist before sending the mail. 18:48:13 s/How/Who/ 18:48:24 Someone should contact existing small donors to see if they want to be listed. 18:48:39 (No response = not included) 18:48:40 moray: don't know how can I write it, just want to know how sponsorship-team ping sponsors to remind thm to make the payment, or sponsorship-team don't do it? 18:49:21 19:35 < darst> FFIS we can look at transactions directly 18:49:21 19:35 < darst> SPI we need to get schultmc to tell us 18:49:31 moray: that about how to track 18:49:32 so the team should contact schultmc1 to ask 18:49:57 if they haven't paid yet, but an invoice has been sent, then yes, contact them politely to ask when payment is expected 18:50:03 but, in FFIS there are four sponsors that they already has PO but theirs payment to ffis is not done yet 18:50:12 gaudenz, you can perfectly send that mail stating that this page will be created :) it works. 18:50:18 (but for many big companies, it can take a long time to pay invoices) 18:50:21 so, can I ping them? or sponsorship-team just wait until they make the payment 18:50:48 * h01ger still plans to do some sponsor work 18:50:51 n0rman: pinging, politely is fine -- write the message as if they obviously *want* to pay, and just that some bureaucrat is perhaps being slow 18:51:00 but please, take it away from me ;P 18:51:01 h01ger: can you ping sponsors you already sent the PO but no payment yet? 18:51:05 n0rman: so ask when they expect to pay, not *if* they will pay :) 18:51:07 :) 18:51:15 n0rman, if you ping me tomorrow... 18:51:23 h01ger: I'll do it :) 18:51:36 and it's fine to mention that we need money soon for cashflow/liquidity 18:51:47 so that it would be helpful if they can pay quickly 18:52:05 but, as I say, many companies are just slow, and our contacts won't be able to make them faster 18:52:36 we are still looking for sponsors here in .ni as well, we are still working in that, we have not given up yet 18:52:54 moray: ok, but we have not much money, and we need that money :) 18:53:10 (sorry, prof walked in) 18:53:23 n0rman: yes of course, but upsetting our contacts doesn't help that 18:53:50 moray: yes, that's why i'm asking how you manage that before doing something stupid :) 18:54:43 you shouldn't upset them if you are polite, and just say you're checking everything is in progress, would like to know the expected date, oh and of course if they can speed it up we would really appreciate it but we understand these things can take time, etc. 18:55:18 if you're unsure, you should be able to get some help on a draft message from others in the sponsorship team or others in the general DebConf team 18:55:47 * bremner can help with English/tone 18:56:04 moray: ok, before sending the email I will ask h01ger and zumbi, who are the contacts with those sponsors to see if they can ping them :) 18:56:05 re the consultants message, should that, or another message, remind people to tell us if they have ideas for possible sponsors? 18:56:30 gaudenz: when are you planning to send the email? 18:56:43 tonight 18:57:17 great 18:57:40 moray: I think the message is already long enough, don't know if that really helps a lot... 18:57:57 * h01ger was busy in important talk #elsewhere 18:57:58 yeah, I think it might confuse that message 18:58:07 but could be worth another message like that *somewhere* 18:58:14 even e.g. a Planet post from someone in the sponsorship team? 18:59:15 moray: post about.. "do you have nay idea where we can have more DebConf12 sponsors? 18:59:24 debconf-team: 3 gaudenz committed revision 1651 to debconf-team: Add donors list on website proposed by h01ger 18:59:24 debconf-team: files changed: U dc12/consultants_mail.txt 18:59:25 debconf-team: 3 n0rman-guest committed revision 1652 to debconf-team: updating ledger 18:59:26 debconf-team: files changed: U dc12/ledger-dc12 18:59:38 n0rman: yeah 18:59:39 n0rman, more positive wording, but yes 19:00:08 h01ger: yes, I can write something this week, maybe we can write in debconf blog 19:00:12 why does it take more than an hour for FBI messages to get to the channel? 19:00:17 n0rman, sure 19:00:28 thats the place for such things 19:00:45 gaudenz, because the machine is too loaded 19:01:05 any more sponsorship topics that require discussion? 19:01:46 moray: if we can't reach the budget with sponsorship, do we ask to debian for money? or we will delete things from the budget? 19:01:55 both 19:01:58 moray: who will send to me (and other "profi" the invoices? 19:02:38 cate: that's not sponsorship team I think, it should be the money-tracking team (which may not exist yet?) 19:03:06 cate, invoice from ffis or spi? 19:03:12 cate: I think registration team is in charge of that? darst am I right? 19:03:23 both n0rman, zumbi ad me can request invoices from spi+ffis 19:03:34 ah 19:03:43 "profi"... 19:03:59 profi? professional? 19:04:01 cate: 19:04:14 yes, the professional level 19:04:53 cate: if i'm right, you need to ask to registration tam once you make the payment, so we can ask to FFIs or SPI for the invoice 19:05:07 n0rman, or isic creates them directly? 19:05:26 h01ger: right, ISIC can do it, if you make the payment to ISIC :) 19:05:31 next topci? 19:05:35 no 19:05:48 i'm not sure cate got an answer 19:06:08 cate it's clear to you? 19:06:30 I think someone should write mail to all profesional attendees 19:07:21 cate, do you want to be that someone? }:-) 19:07:24 cate: thanks, yes, it's neccesary to write them and remind they need to pay and ask us if they need an invoice 19:07:31 cate: join the registration team :) 19:07:40 ok 19:08:10 ok, next? 19:08:11 cate, \o/ !!1 its a job you'll need to repeat in 2+4 weeks, ie when debconf starts and the last register... 19:08:41 #info cate will cater prof+corp attendees and make sure they get invoices and generally feel welcome ;) 19:09:00 "Obviously" someone should correct my English 19:09:25 cate, -team is usually very fast+good at that 19:09:32 (next i think) 19:09:42 #topic AOB 19:09:52 oh 19:09:58 someone added 1000 itmes 19:09:59 AOB? 19:10:00 sigh 19:10:03 :S 19:10:16 nomada, all open beers 19:10:17 Food: about water, and GSOC 19:10:20 n0rman, ^ 19:10:23 #topic GSOC students sponsoring 19:10:26 back 19:10:30 why is this a general meeting topic? 19:10:33 but talk to me after meeting 19:10:52 moray, cause you made it? why not? whats to discuss anyway? 19:10:58 I made it 19:11:27 ehm someone sent a mail to all the students telling them that they could attend debconf, right? 19:11:46 http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/soc-coordination/2012-May/001245.html 19:12:15 interesting 19:12:33 "If you are interested in going to DebConf, please let us know." - /me wonders who is us here 19:12:34 gaudenz: what about deadlines? And are there already new sponsored registrants? 19:12:37 same silliness as every year from GSOC? 19:12:55 well, "they" could just pay for all students as corp. attendees 19:12:59 attending is free always 19:13:00 yes 19:13:02 so 19:13:07 I don't see that we need a DebConf discussion about that 19:13:12 I don't know... I guess that was a reaction to my inquiry on the list, but not at all coordinated with me... 19:14:09 in the lists I think peopla agreeded to permit sponsorship to some further GSOC people (IIRC) 19:14:30 I there was some agreement on the debconf-team list that we could accept late food and accomodation sponsoring requests from GSOC students, right? 19:14:31 I kept out of that as my response was "same silliness as every year from GSOC" 19:14:38 except that we have less money this time 19:14:55 to be fair i think its not "agreed" but rather just one reply 19:15:19 that's what I meant with "some agreement" 19:15:25 did not count the mails 19:15:48 get some more sponsors and we can sponsor a lot more ;) 19:15:51 IMHO that's the part that belongs to this meeting. 19:15:58 but, since a list discussion started, I would continue it there rather than in the meeting 19:16:02 ok, reading gwolf mail, it seems that money should come from external sources (debian, google,...) 19:16:03 gaudenz: which part? 19:16:32 If we even want to consider sponsoring food and accomodation for GSOC students that did not register before the deadline. 19:16:52 gaudenz, yes. but without money there is no money to distribute. i was+am enthusiastic of the idea of making exceptions for eg gsoc students but when i'm reminded that we have no money i think that this exception is rather a bad idea 19:16:59 If GSOC want special treatment, I would prefer they find special money for it 19:17:19 not just declare that they will take some of the limited DebConf money for their people 19:17:22 though if i'd liked the idea very much i would ask for general debian funds for it 19:17:25 So I propose to pospone the discussion. We should start the sponsoring team and see how many money we will have 19:17:34 or can I also declare Moray's Summer of Code and get DebConf money late for people I choose? 19:17:37 eg how debconf newbees was financed in last year 19:17:53 (which i'd be very happy if someone would redo this this year again!!) 19:18:28 * h01ger is confused about "starting the sponsoring team", i think we have both these teams?! 19:18:30 using Google money sounds more appropriate 19:18:45 OK so we wait to see how many students are interested at all, then see how much money Sukhbir gets from Google and then if there is anything left for Debian to sponsor. 19:18:50 moray, well, they work on debian.. 19:19:03 h01ger: after the first meeting (so when we start to really work) 19:19:22 h01ger: so do lots of other people, that doesn't in itself justify prioritising this group with special money and exceptions 19:19:25 cate, so you mean the sponsorship-spending team :) (not the -getting) 19:19:43 we covered both directions earlier in the meeting 19:19:46 h01ger: ah yes. 19:19:47 eg how debconf newbees was financed in last year 19:19:47 (which i'd be very happy if someone would redo this this year again!!) 19:19:50 (which is now far over time) 19:21:10 #topic Food team status 19:21:15 what was the urgent discussion point on this? 19:22:04 tickets? 19:22:25 that doesn't sound urgent today, please explain if it is 19:22:38 no, it isn't 19:23:01 don't really feel something is urgent 19:23:49 everything's going well with our provider 19:23:52 (xamanu added this) 19:24:09 food is always urgent! :) 19:24:26 h01ger: yes, mine is very urgent, that's why I wanted the meeting over 25 minutes ago :p 19:24:41 #topic AOB 19:25:38 When can we start to move money from FFIS/SPI to ISIC? 19:26:02 we are very close, and it would be good to start thinking in this now 19:26:31 Well, you need to find out how to do it / how long it takes, and when you need the money there 19:26:42 (And how much money you will have from local sources, directly) 19:26:51 n0rman, also we need to have budget explainign how much we need to 19:26:54 yes 19:27:15 moray: I have the information about how to do it, it take like 2-3 weeks 19:27:18 xamanu: are you there? 19:27:30 yes 19:27:58 xamanu: when do we need the money? 19:28:18 n0rman: hm, you might also want to check the law on bringing physical money then.... 19:28:33 h01ger: I think the budget is very realistic, we are updating the budget with realistic information 19:28:45 n0rman: it depends. we were talking weeks ago that it would be good to start paying a part to UCA to get them compromised to the event 19:28:52 moray: people carying money to Nicaragua? 19:28:56 n0rman, +everyhitng needs to be spend in .ni 19:29:02 n0rman: further we have to start buying things at least 1 week before DebCamp 19:29:11 and this is within 3-4 weeks 19:29:24 h01ger: I think yes, everything nees to be spend in .ni 19:29:35 n0rman: if it takes 2-3 weeks for money to come, and it's legal to just carry it in, we might want to do that for part of the money 19:29:39 we will need money to block the Hotels 19:29:46 xamanu: right, so I think we need to start now 19:29:49 i think we should have done this already... 19:30:06 moray: people can enter to Nicaragua with less than 10000USD 19:30:37 10000USD and more needs to be declared with customs 19:31:36 then please add a timeline to the budget 19:31:44 explaining how much money we need when 19:31:47 right, you need to push this to make sure you get money in time 19:32:00 (not just assume it will happen :) 19:32:09 but we can't do much about it in the meeting now 19:32:25 moray has a point (and is hungry) 19:32:30 moray, right. especially if it last 3 weeks. this really surprises me. 19:32:35 moray: yes, I know we can't do anything now, at least you can tell us what to do 19:32:38 how will we block the hotels then? 19:32:45 next meeting, next tuesday, 18 utc? 19:33:04 * n0rman is hungry too 19:33:11 ok 19:33:17 xamanu: has some money been obtained locally? (I thought there would be some local sponsors paying directly) 19:33:18 #info we (locals) need to find out out to block+hotels now 19:33:28 so, we need to add a timeline in the budget? then ask who about transfer money to .ni? 19:33:39 n0rman, yes 19:33:40 #info "block" = book 19:33:59 #info = reserve 19:34:17 moray: we are waiting 5000EUR and we have 1000USD that it will be pay directly to the provider we tell our sponsor 19:34:22 * h01ger suggest moray gets himself a thesaurus ;) 19:34:27 n0rman: do we have local money already? 19:34:31 h01ger: but "block" doesn't mean this :p 19:34:36 xamanu: not yet 19:34:59 h01ger: except in some international DebConf jargon 19:35:42 n0rman, which provider= 19:35:43 ? 19:35:55 ah 19:36:02 $something_provider 19:36:04 next meeting, next tuesday, 18 utc? 19:36:11 +1 19:36:17 h01ger: yes, we still doesn'tknow wich provider 19:36:47 #agreed next meeting, next tuesday, 18 utc 19:36:58 thanks 19:37:01 #endmeeting