[Talk-gb-westmidlands] SOTM 2013 bid

Fri Dec 21 18:50:12 GMT 2012

Hi Jeremy,

I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we are very keen to have
interaction between FOSS4G and SOTM.

In regards to the dates, we started to look for venues in late October/
early November. We had the support of Birmingham Convention Bureau in
suggesting suitable locations and many venues instantly put any dates they
still had in September on hold for us. Even then there was very little
availability for next September for the size of venue we require. We then
spent considerable time visiting and checking the suitability of venues.
These checks covered not only in room / space considerations, but also
internet connectivity (we even had the internet provided of one venue look
into the fertility of installing additional capacity), travel arrangements
and locality to suitable accommodation and amenities.

Speaking for myself, I would see a 2 week period as a good excuse to turn
the trip into a UK / Europe holiday :-) but not sure whether others would
see this opportunity. I'll raise you point at our next meeting (although
most people will have seen your email today), but I fear there is not a
great deal that we can do...

Having said this, we would still be very keen to work closely with FOSS4G
and as such if there are any other areas where we may be able to help,
please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Best Wishes,
Rob

On 21 December 2012 17:23, Jeremy Morley <Jeremy.Morley at nottingham.ac.uk>wrote:

>
> Thanks Andrew, I'd concur with your points. Closer to our dates (which I'm
> afraid are absolutely fixed in stone now as they've been published and even
> more to the point because we have no wriggle room on availability of space
> in the EMCC & in the university) seems to us to be a lot more compelling in
> drawing the international audience. There's also the possible synergies in
> organisation too.
>
> Regards,
> Jeremy
>
>
> On 21/12/2012 17:07, "Andrew Mackenzie" <a.mackenzie at bethere.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > Hi Jeremy and Mappa Mercia people
> > I spoke with Bob Barr (AGI) about this recently and whilst he was
> enthusiastic
> > about a Midlands UK SOTM bid he shares the concern that if the dates are
> not
> > closely aligned with FOSS4G we risk diluting attendance at both events.
> > Jonathan at Spiffymap has also made the point that asking people to commit
> to
> > travel abroad for more than 2 weeks would increase their costs and
> impact on
> > work commitments.
> > The current Mappa Mercia proposal is for 6th to 8th. I would support
> 12-14th
> > or even 14-16th with a day's overlap. If we can co-ordinate on the
> programme
> > we could avoid clashes of content. If you were travelling from Japan,
> say, a
> > week 14-21st is possible. 6th to 21st is unrealistic for most people.
> >
> > Both these events rely on voluntary effort to succeed. I think it is more
> > rewarding for volunteers, as well as easier to raise sponsorship, to
> promote
> > one packed week of open geo as a joint effort than two separate events.
> >
> > best
> > Andrew
> > On 21 Dec 2012, at 15:35, Jeremy Morley <Jeremy.Morley at nottingham.ac.uk>
> > wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Dear all,
> >>
> >> Sorry to land suddenly in this list. Most of you won't know me - I work
> at
> >> the University of Nottingham (as my sig says) in GIS. I've been part of
> >> research work relating to OSM at UCL in the past, and the group I lead
> also
> >> research or interact with OSM in various ways (e.g. the OSM-GB project,
> >> osmgb.org.uk ).
> >>
> >> We also work in open source GIS and with OSGeo and it's with that hat on
> >> that I'm actually emailing. I'm one of the co-chairs for the FOSS4G
> >> conference in September 2013 that's being organised at the East Midlands
> >> Conference Centre here in Nottingham, back-to-back with the AGI
> GeoCommunity
> >> conference. In different ways there will be activities running from
> 16-22
> >> September though our main dates are 17-21 Sept. I've cc'ed Steven
> Feldman
> >> and Jo Cook on this email who are the Chair and the other Co-Chair
> >> respectively.
> >>
> >> Speaking for the FOSS4G local organisers, we're really keen to see
> >> complementarity between the SotM and FOSS4G (and GeoCom, whose working
> group
> >> I'm on as a FOSS4G liaison). We'd like to work with you on how all these
> >> events can profit from each other. I'm happy to be a point of contact,
> at
> >> least for now. It seems to me that Birmingham is more useful for
> SotM/FOSS4G
> >> interaction than Durham or Southampton!
> >>
> >> I've not been able to back-track on the OSM mailing lists as to when
> you're
> >> aiming at actually holding the conference, possibly because I'm not on
> the
> >> Mappa Mercia lists. Our strong hope would be that you'd go for the 12-14
> >> Sept time frame.
> >>
> >> Anyway, I hope I/we (the FOSS4G LOC) can be helpful and constructive and
> >> really get the communities together in the UK in September. Please do
> drop
> >> me a line if you want to interact on this. I'd be happy to be added to
> the
> >> Mappa Mercia discussion if appropriate.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Jeremy
> >>
> >> -- ------------------------------------------------------------ --
> >> Jeremy Morley
> >> Geospatial Science Theme Leader, Nottingham Geospatial Institute,
> >> Triumph Road, University of Nottingham. NG7 2TU, United Kingdom.
> >> Web:   http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ngi     Twitter: jeremy_morley
> >> Tel.:  +44/0 115 84 68411
> >> Email: jeremy.morley at nottingham.ac.uk
> >>
> >>
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>
> -- ------------------------------------------------------------ --
> Jeremy Morley
> Geospatial Science Theme Leader, Nottingham Geospatial Institute,
> Triumph Road, University of Nottingham. NG7 2TU, United Kingdom.
> Web:   http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ngi     Twitter: jeremy_morley
> Tel.:  +44/0 115 84 68411
> Email: jeremy.morley at nottingham.ac.uk
>
>
> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and
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>
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