A long while somebody in #debconf-team asked if we can have plain t-shirts available for sale without sponsor logos.
That is of course a valid question and I would like to share my feelings about it: it would be a very bad idea ;-) But thanks for bringing up the question, in reality this is not something the Orga Team can really control, as we are releasing the designs for the t-shirt under a DFSG-free license. I am sending this e-mail in the hopes we can coalesce an Orga Team view on the matter and see if we can convince our attendees to care about the underlining issue, that is, of course, to thank our sponsors. DebConf is a very unusual conference in many aspects. Among them, it is the case that our sponsors do not really "buy advertisement" in the conference. They carry a huge financial burden as they shoulder more than half of the total expenses. Instead of silent bystanders, holding signs with the names of their brands, they are a key participant in DebConf. Even if you do not rely on sponsored food, accommodation or have some of your travel expenses covered, all attendees benefit greatly from a much diverse (and numerous) crowd. Showing our sponsor logos in key places within DebConf is just a way to thank them for their support. For them, there is plenty of value in helping DebConf happen, but that value is really in the Debian itself. In that respect, they share our committement and appreciation towards the project. And that of course deserves to be thanked, in the same way the project shows appreciation to many other parts of the project that make it thrive. Of course, it would be difficult to say that companies employing hundreds of thousands of people care for the project. In reality, there are people within those companies and organizations that appreciate the value that Debian bring to their employers. It is to these people we owe our deeper thanks. Now, if we have people, for example, willingly wearing t-shirts without their logos, I would be afraid that can be used to undermine the credibility of our contacts within each company. And by doing so, we will be hurting future DebConfs (as more than half of our donations come from recurring sponsors). I would like to conclude saying that I appreciate the idea of having a DebConf where we do not need to rely on sponsors so heavily (our sponsors in general contribute to the project in many other ways, too). We can organize a camp-site, for example. I have attended such events and while they are incredibly uncomfortable, it helps to have a very focused set of attendees. If we rather prioritize having a more comfortable, productive setting, we need the help of our sponsors... which deserve to be thanked ;-) Gracias! Pablo _______________________________________________ Debconf-discuss mailing list Debconf-discuss@lists.debconf.org http://lists.debconf.org/mailman/listinfo/debconf-discuss
