Just saying, I will probably never be able to make a conference in August. Flights and hotels are more expensive, it is the only time we have reliably decent weather here*, and my other life as a performer at summer festivals gets in the way. If it were mid-week, I could get to it on the city bus or by bicycle, and I didn't have to plan it. . . I might make it. It could well be that the host picks the best time for their locality and then sees how many others can make it. I thought KohaCon worked pretty well running in tandem with the Reno library conference this year. Rather than avoiding these things, perhaps we should embrace them? At any rate, I look forward to being able to attend when I can, which is more likely if it's on the same continent.
*(Here being Seattle). Elaine On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 12:46 PM, BWS Johnson <abesottedphoe...@yahoo.com>wrote: > Salvete! > > > > I completely appreciate your desire to host a meeting in the DC area. > > Thank you. I respect your mana and apologise if I've ruffled any > feathers, however I feel it necessary to outline my thoughts so that you > can see them before you clearly. > > > > Those of > > us who spent time talking together discussed various times of year to > hold a > > meeting and came up with the later summer being the best, since > springtime is > > when most state library associations host their own conferences. > > > I am trying my best not to conflict with other events, but I think I > would have to draw the line at the State level since things can get quite > tricky with that many moving parts. I will of course bear that in mind and > try and navigate as best as might be expected so that as much of the > Community can come as possible, though. > > > > > What I'm hoping you will do is respond to our call for proposals for a > > meeting with your own proposed dates and location rather than publicly > proposing > > your own meeting. We'll add your proposal into the mix along with others > > and let everyone vote on when and where they would like to go. > > > > I'm a bit mystified about this new process. Our International process > is quite simple, and while it's had it's bumps, I think that we've been > refining things over the years to try and keep things as fair and equitable > while retaining as few articulations as possible. I got the distinct > impression that this process would disqualify me on several counts. Please > do humour me while I dissect my thinking interspersed with your initial > announcement. > > > >> > A group of Koha users is planning on hosting a meeting for Koha users > based in the United States and Canada. > >> > > I was hoping to welcome the wider North American Community at my > event. While the US and Canada are two of the big three (Mexican Libraries > have been involved a number of years) in terms of land mass, I did not wish > to forget the rich cultures of the Carribean and others in Latin America > [1]. This is true in especial when citizens of some of those Nations made > the long trip to our last KohaCon in Reno. > > >> > We intend to hold this meeting next year, 2014, sometime during the month > of August. > >> > > I read this, and it processed, which was why I announced my intentions > so as not to conflict, but to add to the wealth of the Community. 2015 > wouldn't be a major election year here, which is a factor for me to keep in > mind. When I proposed hosting the International in 2013, that was also on > my mind. Things are easier logistically even if one were to back up to July. > > > >> > We would like to invite proposals from agencies and libraries in the > United States to host this meeting. > >> > > As a consultant, I do not view myself as an Agency nor a Library. > While bids from just the US would be an attractive proposition in terms of > my chances, I do not wish to disenfranchise others. It certainly could be > that no one outside of the US wishes to host, but I would rather the gates > to the process stand open. > > > >> > We envision that the meeting would span 2-3 days. Please email your > proposals to me, nbl...@masslibsystem.org. Information in your proposal > should include (but does not need to be limited to) the following > information: > >> > > That span is certainly amenable to me, and we've heard from others > that they like it as well. > > > >> > 1. The location and what kind of conference facility would be offered. > Confirm that the site would have internet and other technology available to > enable presentations and general connectivity. > > > 2. Dates when the meeting could occur at the proposed location. > >> > > Since this is nascent, I have several prospects in mind. In my > experience with this Community and in other settings a venue was not firmly > announced until after (and sometimes well after, though that is not my > intent at all) one won the bid and had settled upon dates or narrowed them > down sufficiently to secure quotes or provisional agreements. It was my > intent to give the Community a choice of precisely where Conference was > held and provide a small outline of each venue's merits and drawbacks. > I was rather pleasantly surprised as I poked about town looking for a > home for Conference since there were many facilities willing to support > Libraries and Open Source even if we didn't have proper 501c3 status or a > formal structure. It was nice to have confidence that my means were > sufficient enough to secure a venue regardless of sponsorship. It was my > intent then and continues to be my intent to keep Conference free of a > registration fee. > I did this in my last bid by providing links on a conference site that > was hooked into the Community wiki, but that's impossible to follow now, > since I handed the site I used over to Reno for their use after tailoring > things a little to their situation. > > > >> > 3. Information about transportation -- the closest airports and train > stations and how one could get from these places to the meeting site. > > 4. Lodging in the area. > > 5. Anything else we would need to know about the location and what makes > it a great choice for this meeting. > >> > > These would be easy enough to provide and are part of my favourite > Conference trappings. > > > > > Would you be willing to work with us and send us the info we requested > in my > > message asking for proposals? > > > > > Of course I'm willing to work with you all, but I wanted to ensure > that I am eligible under the new process and perhaps get an accurate > picture of how things are meant to work. Given previous history, it is > important to me not to sever our local discussion from the larger > Community, much like how the New Zealand and French groups run. I respect > that this might well be noise to folks beyond my ocean and would ask their > pardon, but I would welcome the sight of their waka should they appear on > my shore. > > If I am deemed eligible, then I would be happy to throw together > another WordPress site that would contain details to my bid, as well as > start a page on the Community wiki to display everyone's bid. > > Cheers, > Brooke > > [1] > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_in_North_America > > _______________________________________________ > Koha mailing list http://koha-community.org > Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz > http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha > -- Elaine Bradtke Data Wrangler VWML English Folk Dance and Song Society | http://www.efdss.org Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent's Park Road, London NW1 7AY Tel +44 (0) 20 7485 2206 (This number is for the English Folk Dance and Song Society in London, England. If you wish to phone me personally, send an e-mail first. I work off site) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Registered Company No. 297142 Charity Registered in England and Wales No. 305999 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" --Elvis Costello (Musician magazine No. 60 (October 1983), p. 52) _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list http://koha-community.org Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
