Holger Levsen writes ("Re: [Debconf-discuss] [Debconf-team] Travel sponsorship
BoF: minutes"):
> the problem is, or rather was in previous years, that we never knew 3 months
> in advance, how much money we would have. This year, IIRC, we didnt know
> whether we had enough money to run the conference until two weeks in advance
> or such.
I think the right answer is to guess and cushion the shortfall and/or
surplus from general Debian funds. We have a lot of money in the
bank, and here we are with a problem that can be sorted with money -
and we don't on average even need to spend that money, just lend it to
ourselves.
> So IMO the (first) problem is how to get 50k (to use a random number) 3-4
> month in advance.
Borrow it from Debian general funds.
Another problem that arises from the effort to spend exactly the right
amount of money is this last-minute reallocation of funds from one
sponsored attendee to another. If we were willing to guess at the
numbers we could tell possible sponsorship recipients something like
this:
We are pleased to offer you for sponsorship for travel to Debconf.
Up to a maximum amount X, only, we will reimburse you your actual
expenses on presentation of receipts at Debconf.
Please try to keep your costs as low as possible: flights are best
booked approximately 8 weeks in advance, and trains should be booked
at the appropriate booking horizen. If you keep your expenses small
then other attendees can benefit from the money in future - and we
are more likely to offer you sponsorship next time.
Ian.
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