GUADEC: Travel sponsorships delayed
In the Travel Committee we try to have an answer as soon as possible and before two weeks after we received an application form (for GUADEC, two weeks after the deadline). Now, we are officially delayed.
For your information, we have been waiting for the accommodation deal and we expect to receive news by the next Tuesday 18th. Also, we know every week counts.
Thank you for your understanding.
GUADEC: Status of travel sponsorship requests
The Travel Committee received 61 sponsorship requests (13 more than the last year). The information has been cross-checked (speakers, GSoC students and mentors, travel costs, arrival dates, etc.) and now we are working on the accommodation costs.
| 7 | Females |
| 54 | Males |
| 18 | Speakers |
| 11 | Google Summer of Code students |
| 6 | Google Summer of Code mentors |
| 39 | Members of GNOME Foundation (4 GSoC students) |
| 7 | Requested only accommodation |
| 5 | Requested only travel fare |
In total, we were requested US$49,578.- for travel fares. However, we will not sponsor the train from Amsterdam (Schiphol) to Den Haag because it costs €7,60 (one-way) and we think it is an affordable amount of money. Hence, we can save €15,2 per every travel request (~US$1,100.-), which might help us to sponsor more people.
Having that in consideration plus better airfares we were able to find, we would need US$41,738.- instead of US$49,578.-
On the other hand, we would need around 28 double rooms. However, the accommodation costs this year are higher than the costs when the bid was presented. It would not be a big deal for 1 or 2 people, but it is different when you are booking for 55 people (5/6 nights each).
Every euro/dollar counts.
Travel assistance applications to attend to GUADEC
Dear hackers,
The GNOME Foundation provides travel sponsorships to individuals that want to attend GUADEC and need financial assistance.
We are happy to announce the Travel Committee is ready to receive applications for sponsorships to attend to GUADEC 2010. This year, GUADEC is being held in the The Hague University, in The Hague, Netherlands, from Monday 26th July, until Friday 30th July.
The instructions are detailed at http://live.gnome.org/Travel. Please read them carefully.
Deadline: April 27, 2009, 19:00 UTC. You can start sending your applications now!
Some additional comments:
You can find us in the #travel channel at irc.gnome.org.
Catalina, Moonlight Mask and GUADEC
Finally, the Travel Committee has replied to every request for sponsorship received (positives and negatives). So, if you have not received an email from us yet, do not hesitate in get in touch with us through the email or irc (#travel).
Sculpture of Juan Gantes masked (as Moonlight Mask :-)
We have booked 16 apartments at Catalina Park, which looks nice, in a good location and still austere. We were told they will enable a special room for attendants to the conference. The process of booking took more time than expected, but thanks to Jorge Bustos and Chema Casanova (who gave us a hand from Spain) it was possible to accelerate it.
We tried to sponsor as much contributors as possible, however it was not possible to sponsor everybody.
At the end, we received 51 applications, 3 of them arrived a bit later and other 3 very later. We have assigned assistantship to 43 people (travel and/or accommodation).
GUADEC’s sponsorships update
The Travel Committee is expected to reply every request for sponsorship in the next two weeks after the deadline. Because the original deadline was April 27, people who applied for sponsorship are worried because they do not have received any email coming from us yet (neither positive or negative).
So, this is just an update of the GUADEC sponsorship process in order to let the people know in which part of the process we are. So, if you are waiting news from us, do not get nervous.
On Thursday 7, we replied to the sponsorship requests of the first group of people. This group was composed by people who have a work (talk) accepted to be presented at GUADEC. It was possible because it was a small group and we were sure we could cover their costs (mostly).
Besides, the Travel Committee is taking care of the accommodations. It let us to reduce and keep under control the costs, hence, we can support more people. And it will depend of the final place how many people we will be able to sponsor. We are delayed because the booking process has been slower than we expected. But we are working on it.
But I let you know we are prioritizing mainly as following: speakers (core, cross-desktop, normal, bof, lightning talk), foundation members, summer of code students, other people. There are other factors, such as, give the chance to people who were not sponsored the last year or people.
One thing is sure: if you were sponsored, you will not stay at Hotel Fataga. It is one of the most expensive hotels in the list and it is only our last resort.
Status of GUADEC’s sponsorship requests
| 5 | Females |
| 43 | Males |
| 19 | Speakers (not confirmed yet) |
| 8 | Google Summer of Code students |
| 30 | Members of GNOME Foundation |
| 1 | Applicant declined his request |
| Minimum requested: | $ 59,038.- |
| Maximum requested: | $ 61,101.- |
| Funds available for sponsoships: | $ 30,000.- |
Sooner than later we should send emails asking for more information (when it were needed). We will do our best.
Travel assistantships (after hours)
If you feel angry or disheartened because you missed the deadline to apply for sponsorship to attend to GUADEC 2009
|
|
the deadline has been extended in 72 hours. Applications will be received until April 30 19:00 UTC.
Read carefully the instructions and the proccess at the Travel’s page.
More on GUADEC’s travel assistanship
To everybody who have sent an application for travel & accomodation sponsorship:
If you did it before than April 27 02:00 UTC, I have sent an acknowledgment (email) confirming we (the Travel Committee) have received your request. If you have not received any acknowledgment coming from me, you should re-send your application.
GUADEC’s travel assistances
Dear hackers,
The Travel Committee is receiving applications for travel sponsorship requests for the next GUADEC which will be held in Gran Canaria. The deadline is April 27, 2009, 19:00 UTC. Do no wait until the very last minute.
Read carefully the instructions and the proccess at the Travel’s page.
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