18:31:55 #startmeeting 18:31:55 Meeting started Wed Apr 6 18:31:55 2016 UTC. The chair is tumbleweed. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot. 18:31:55 Useful Commands: #action #agreed #help #info #idea #link #topic. 18:32:01 Agenda: http://deb.li/DC16meet1 18:32:41 o/ 18:33:12 o/ 18:33:27 hola! 18:34:00 #topic Final accom numbers to UCT 18:34:16 Well, we thought we'd have have paid UCT months ago, by this point :/ 18:34:53 how far is the deposit? 18:35:10 don't know, SPI got the go-ahead 18:35:16 and we should have opened reg months ago .. but that's moaning about the past, so ... when do we get Belinda a "final" number and pay up on where we failed? 18:35:33 tumbleweed, nkukard: paid and received acc. to CMC 18:35:41 oh, great 18:35:42 (not heard anything from SPI, but ... :)) 18:35:54 well, if CMC got the money, excellent 18:35:57 someone paid :) 18:36:16 so, from this point forward, revising numbers down starts to get more expensive 18:36:28 and revising up (always) risks unavailability 18:36:42 schultmc may be able to confirm. I have a suspicion it was him that paid the deposit :) 18:37:48 tumbleweed: how many registrations do we have now? 18:38:31 (best segmented into prospective DebCamp and DebConf attendees) 18:38:36 Just looking at that 18:38:49 148 DebConf (including wookey's bot) 18:38:55 68 DebCamp 18:39:16 128 asking for accommadation for DebConf 18:39:20 and 62 for DebCamp 18:39:41 so 250 / 100 looks a bit high at the moment 18:40:13 I don't know how many we expect to register between now and start? 18:40:28 but given the expense of travel to ZA, I don't expect that many at the last minute wanting accom 18:40:35 larjona: can we do a "last call" comms? (bursaries deadline is next Sunday and we'd need as many registrations early as we can) 18:41:46 so, shall we decide in the next meeting on the cap and then communicate with CMC/UCT about this? 18:42:20 I think it's not possible to give a good estimate yet, we have just been to late starting registration and no press yet, etc. yadda, yadda 18:42:29 we have about a month until the 45 day deadline 18:43:21 yes, that's the last date but we should manage better and not rely on the contract deadlines 18:43:31 yep 18:43:36 well, we can change after that too, but we pay 18:44:02 #action larjona do a "last call" for bursaries and accommadation regitration 18:44:05 yes, everybody can have two rooms ... not that great an idea :/ 18:44:24 no, I mean, contractually 30-45 days we can reduce rooms at a 10% hit 18:44:38 DLange yes, I was thinking if microblogging would be enough, or better mail and after that microblog with link to the mail 18:44:51 mail is what matters for our attendees I think 18:45:02 larjona: and a press thingie please so the general (IT) press starts noticing DC16 18:45:05 #agreed decide on accomm adjustment next week 18:46:00 superfly: are you still on the mybroadband press release? 18:46:21 ginggs: I've been waiting for the go-ahead by larjona 18:47:00 I think the press is better after first batch of talks accepted 18:47:24 But local people know better the audience 18:47:40 and it's just local press, so bursaries are less likely to be needed 18:48:12 * DLange knows we need to get the accom figure right next week, so please use the big fan to get the info out 18:48:15 are we not expecting to give bursaries to local people? 18:48:42 probably not flights but food+accom, sure 18:49:09 flights from joburg to cape town are expensive 18:49:18 (for locals) 18:49:23 R800 is not expensive gings :) 18:49:24 so take the train 18:50:01 I suppose press release is mainly for local tech sponsors and proffesionals attendees, people subject to bursaries already know about debconf? Or can benefit from outreach bursaries? 18:50:28 it's also a reminder to people who do know 18:50:36 But, again, as you wish 18:50:47 https://www.flysafair.co.za/ <= R599 specials even 18:50:58 ... topic ... ? 18:51:03 yeah, let's move no 18:51:04 on 18:51:12 larjona: we might find sponsors via MyBroadband. They're the local technical news site. 18:51:13 #topic CMC queries 18:51:25 still figuring out the details of how we take payment 18:51:43 and CMC want more money, beacuse they didn't realise everything they wanted to do 18:51:49 (which I thought we were fairly clear about, upfront) 18:52:38 tumbleweed: what do they want more money for? 18:53:09 paying for things that aren't accommadation, by the sound of it 18:53:27 tumbleweed: have they not added a rate into all this, ah I see 18:53:30 how much more are we talking about? 18:53:31 R8k to R15k 18:53:46 so, doubling their fee, at a minimum 18:54:12 it seems the problem is "As previously discussed initially we were to take accom bookings only and not deal with any individual delegate payments" 18:54:55 tumbleweed: wow that's not right, how much extra have they done? So far Belinda is telling us to go directly to everyone, it doesn't seem that they are doing to much extra? 18:55:08 tumbleweed: oh ok 18:55:15 tamo: it will be a fair amount of admin for them 18:55:20 this is why we don't want to do it ourselves... 18:55:40 I assume the R7k increase is reasonable if they handle payments? 18:55:40 tumbleweed: ok makes sense 18:55:49 I dont see a problem 18:55:54 we need the script to get her the data for invoicing people asap 18:55:54 tumbleweed: yup 18:55:55 I cannot think of any other way we can do it cheaper 18:56:20 DLange: yes 18:56:39 me neither, $1k is o.k. but we need to make sure this is the cost and not "a minimum" 18:56:52 because we're not their bank 18:56:54 tumbleweed, does this amount they want form part of the accomodation portion of the budget? 18:57:24 so if we don't hit 250 people, there is no need for me to change anything? in any case I want to add a 5% discretionary amount to allow us to cover small things 18:57:39 tumbleweed: maybe we need to establish with the CMCif this is a fixed cost or would they be adding more, so we don't get anymore surprises down the line 18:57:41 nkukard: I think it does 18:57:54 yeah 18:58:24 #agreed CMC raising their coord fee to R15k to cover collecting attendee payment. We agree to that, but want a flat fee, not "minimum" 18:58:35 its unfortunate, but ok from my side 18:58:50 nkukard: we don't seem to have a section for admin in our budget 18:58:52 we should fix that 18:59:17 can you mail the list with the management amount, I"ll add it 18:59:41 #action tumbleweed to break out CMC management into a separate budget category 18:59:47 I just need a link to the doc, and bingo :) 19:00:21 #topic Budget 19:00:46 nkukard: the sponsors team can now give you summaries of committed sponsors 19:01:03 excellent, just need committed and expected, 2 values 19:01:55 anyone from the sponsors team able to help here? 19:01:55 I added a copy of the current budget amounts to the agenda, at the bottom for easy reference 19:02:23 committed: $84k, expected: bgupta? :) 19:03:19 I'd say we'd probably get another 10-20k, but thats's guaranteed of course 19:03:53 + not in there 19:04:06 but, yeah, I think $100k is reasonable 19:04:14 right, +not 19:04:47 so, nkukard, there you have your figures and a meetbot protocol to link to ^ 19:05:09 #info committed: $84k, expected ~ $100k 19:05:31 thanks :) 19:05:32 is that over a million in Rands? 19:05:41 yes 19:06:08 tumbleweed: ok wow, is that a good amount or a reasonable amount? 19:06:10 total budget we have from Nigel is $192k 19:06:21 tamo: it's low, for a debconf 19:06:30 esp one with expensive travel 19:06:39 so we need $92k in self-payers and support from DebConf (esp. DC15) funds 19:06:48 tumbleweed: Yup true that does play a big role 19:07:04 also not a single local sponsor so far 19:07:16 these used to be ~40% of the total in the past 19:07:20 by the look of it we'll be revising the budget down a bit (lower attendee count) 19:07:56 tumbleweed: it's been on my mind, been away from computer too much, fwiw I did at least contact the guy about the audio equipment hires and awaiting response 19:08:01 How do we get Local sponsors how would we go about it, what companies would be worth targeting? 19:08:25 we have a list, tamo, ask indiebio or nkukard for details 19:08:31 tamo: that's probably a thing for outside the meeting, if we want to get on with it 19:08:40 oops. I missed the start of meeting ( tumbleweed: you should pingall at beginning of meeting or in the few hours before!) 19:08:55 DLange: ok I am sure they have it sorted 19:09:05 nattie: sure 19:09:20 tamo: well, yeah, except that we haven't managed to get any money out of local companies, yet 19:09:34 anyway 19:09:41 #topic Budget for travel sponsorship 19:09:55 21:08 < DLange> also not a single local sponsor so far 19:10:00 21:08 < DLange> also not a single local sponsor so far 19:10:03 tumbleweed: well we can chat later about it but I would imagine cold calling 19:10:04 (oops) 19:10:17 DLange: I'm committing for bronze fwiw will send a mail to sponsors 19:10:20 tamo: that's the least effective, but sometimes it's the best we can do 19:10:29 highvoltage: yeah!!! Thank you! 19:10:52 tumbleweed: yup ok I'll leave it to the powers that be 19:10:58 well it's little but hopefully it might encourage some others 19:11:09 (if I do something it usually becomes cool and ethen everyone wants to do it) 19:11:15 heh 19:11:17 highvoltage: :) 19:11:18 :) 19:11:27 Definitely, then, the press release after you appear in DC/sponsors 19:11:35 back to the topic, bremner's e-mail 19:12:32 the question, as madduck saw it, is whether the bursaries team decides how to split between travel, accom, and food, or we do 19:12:44 is there anything else in there we should be talking about? 19:13:19 we have R700k = $46k in the budget for sponsorship 19:14:09 I think we stick to this for now even if we revise other budget lines down? 19:14:20 tumbleweed: it will probably be easier for the local team if bursaries team handles it? 19:14:21 yeah, that's how I'm feeling 19:14:32 highvoltage: sure, but does the bursaries team want that responsibility? :) 19:15:03 if only there were a way we could answer those questions. like asking the bursaries team. 19:15:22 well, that bit seems to be happening usefully on the mailing list? 19:15:25 there is not yet a team 19:15:50 bremner just start to call for team members 19:17:01 OK, let's move on, then 19:17:20 #topic Accessibility 19:18:08 without indiebio, is there anything we can discuss here? 19:18:17 we know we need some wheelchair accommodation 19:18:29 sign language interpreters don't sound necessary (or that useful) 19:18:39 i am so far only aware of one request for wheelchair accommodation 19:18:49 yeah 19:18:54 tumbleweed: agreed especially if their are language barriers 19:19:03 indeed 19:19:16 transport may be necessary 19:19:26 you mean for wheelchair users? 19:19:31 yeah 19:20:02 the one person who we know about probably doesn't need transport around campus, though? 19:20:02 *nods* 19:20:13 we need some volunteers on standby for assistance just in case 19:20:14 yeah, they're fine getting around 19:20:38 yeah, and we should possibly put out an explicit request for people who need assistance to get in touch with registration? 19:20:53 tumbleweed: doesn't UCT have Golf Carts that they transport people around in? 19:21:14 tamo: no, there's a van or two for wheelchair-using students 19:21:22 tumbleweed: ah ok 19:21:55 tumbleweed: so would we need to book them then, if it over vac time 19:22:23 it's a big "if" at the moment whether they're needed, anyway 19:22:33 #agreed we only need one accessible room at this point, and no sign language. Transport isn't critical (yet) either 19:22:53 I thought fuller had a couple of ground floor rooms? 19:23:04 TTBOMK there is only one "marginally accessible" room in Fuller 19:23:10 ah, I see 19:23:14 there are fully wheelchair-accessible rooms in other residences 19:23:21 is it sufficiently marginally accessible? 19:23:40 and we're still trying to establish what "marginally accessible" means... i think indiebio is meant to hear back from them but not sure whether she has 19:23:51 OK 19:23:54 let's move on 19:23:57 *nods* 19:24:03 #topic Conference Dinner options 19:24:19 nattie: I think she has a meeting with them next week? 19:24:26 let me get tamo's documents into git 19:25:43 tumbleweed: thanks! Those are options for now, if the numbers are less then we can add the Gold Cafe they can take up to 200people not sure if anyone else has some suggestions 19:26:49 03Stefano Rivera 05master f406cc9 06debconf-data/dc16 10dinner/ 10(12 files in 2 dirs) Conference dinner options 19:29:27 tumbleweed: the menu's are also there if you are able to add those in too, so people can get an idea of what they serve 19:29:30 tamo: from a brief skim of that, I like the Aquarium too 19:30:04 tumbleweed: Yup really stunning and within the budget, def something memorable 19:30:22 03Nigel Kukard 05master 1ee48c7 06debconf-data/dc16 4 commits pushed, 104 files changed, 0323(+), 042(-) 19:30:59 (added journal to track sponsors and expenses and payments) 19:31:15 I think the stardust would also be nice if we stay below ~200 people 19:31:30 sorry on a sort of unrelated note, will I be getting a copy of the invoices CMC pays so I can enter them in? 19:31:49 tumbleweed: with the Aquarium we can work with them to decide on a menu they will be able to get in some Craft Beers too, we can set the tables as we wnat them not as elaborate as the brochure 19:32:10 or will CMC track these things and give us the accounts report? 19:32:26 we should negotiate a flat fee for drinks or "three per person" on a token basis. If 200+ people need to pay individually in a foreign currency and all the Americans want to swipe cards ... not a good idea. 19:32:28 DLange: yeah, stardust is fun 19:32:51 DLange: yes def!! Also Gold Cafe they have African dancers and puppets etc. But Stardust is a bit of everything 19:33:47 DLange: can i iscuss that with you afterwards, briefly? 19:34:00 DLange: what we could do is maybe select some options beforehand and people pay for that upfront or as you say we include it in the budget 19:34:02 (drink tokens etc) 19:34:11 nattie: whatever that is ... ah sure 19:34:20 let's not try to reinvent the wheel on that now :) 19:34:27 tamo: I think you should transcribe the contents of your PDF into a mail to -team 19:34:42 nattie: madduck probaly has some stickers left :D 19:34:43 and see if we get any other suggestions, as well 19:34:58 tumbleweed: ok sure I can do that, or should I put it on Titanpad? 19:35:30 no, I mean that PDF is essentially a letter to the team - the way we do that is by mailing the team mailing list 19:35:50 tumbleweed: ah ok sure I'll do that now 19:36:12 just copy-paste the contents :) people are less likely to read attached PDFs 19:36:52 ok, sorry, this meeting has dragged on a bit 19:36:54 :) sure you read my mind , but must not attach the Menu's otherwise it won't go through 19:37:05 yeah, point to them in git 19:37:27 https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/debconf-data/dc16.git/tree/dinner/Restaurants%20and%20Menus 19:37:51 tumbleweed: ok I will see what I can do with Git maybe superfly can help me tomorrow 19:37:52 OK with reviewing these again, next week? 19:38:03 tamo: just include that link I pasted in the e-mail 19:38:30 #topic Dining venues at UCT 19:38:35 see the discussion before the meeting 19:38:46 apparently we won't get access to Fuller dining halls any more 19:38:50 (or kitchens) 19:39:13 Should we ask Matt for advice here? or is that problematic because we aren't using his service? 19:39:38 is the food at Fuller really that bad? 19:39:46 I mean, this would be the easy option... 19:40:30 and it saves money 19:40:51 and is also guaranteed to work 19:41:00 except that they don't cater to all our needs 19:41:06 tumbleweed: ok - sorry my connection droppped 19:41:11 the "bring your own kitchen and not know where to store stuff" makes me slightly nervous :) 19:41:14 but if we're using them more, presumably they won't mind additional caterers 19:42:02 e.g. the food trucks (which people could then pay by themselves if they find the Fuller food insufficient for their demands) 19:42:08 DLange: the problem with UCT is they won't bend on special needs we have to order lunch or dinner packs if we require this 19:42:57 tamo: i'm sure they'll be able to provide a veggie option. I guess enough students are veggies these days, not? 19:43:00 DLange: TBC have done UCT before and the one option is that thye can take the dirty plates back and bring new ones at Dinner 19:43:15 DLange: nope or halaal 19:43:50 tamo: can we argue that this is unacceptable, and they have to let a third party caterer in, if they won't cater to our needs? 19:44:42 tamo: btw can i keep you for a moment afterwards to tell you about another food truck option? 19:45:02 tumbleweed: I was thinking of sending Belinda an email tomorrow to see if they would make an exception with the argumnet that UCT/ Fuller can't cater to all our needs 19:45:19 nattie: sure 19:45:26 cool :) 19:45:57 tumbleweed: But lets also see what the VEnue people say they might have a solution for us 19:46:08 yeah, ok, so we come back to this next week? 19:46:33 tumbleweed: I think so I will see what magic I can weave and what opions we will have 19:46:55 alright then 19:47:04 #agreed revisit food, next week 19:47:13 #topic Any other business 19:47:26 nkukard: re tracking payments, I can ask them 19:47:49 tumbleweed: you asked about the PA system 19:47:57 ginggs: yes! 19:48:07 tumbleweed: nope but hopefully I will have all my Quotes in for T's and Swag 19:49:04 i went to have a closer look at LT9 in Menzies 19:49:28 they have the same new podium that we now have in Chem Eng 19:50:11 there is a i guess 20U rack in the corner with the switches and amps, but it is locked 19:50:20 ICTS control all this stuff 19:50:29 ginggs: what if a lecturer wants to wear a wireless mic? 19:50:43 there used to be a lockable cabinet in every LT with mics and PA system 19:50:57 I think we should add this to our list of things to ask ICTS 19:51:20 ginggs: OK 19:51:55 i.e. what is it that video team need to jack in 19:52:39 ginggs: ideally an XLR feed straight into the PA system (bypassing everything else) 19:52:49 we'll have our own mics etc 19:54:05 well, I guess we're done 19:54:08 #endmeeting