FOSS4G 2019 Bid Process

Basics

• FOSS4G 2019 will most likely be held in Europe.
  • FOSS4G 2018 will be in Dar es Salam, Tansania
• "Letters of Intent" will be accepted from potential Local Organizing Committees (LOC) in Europe. If there are no submissions from groups in Europe, letters from other regions will then be solicited.
• If more than one letter of intent is received, the Conference Committee members will vote by each selecting a single letter as their choice. A letter must receive the backing of at least two members to move on to the bid stage. [Steven Feldman suggests increasing minimum votes to 3 as we have 12+ voting members. Also suggest confirming that LoI votes should be made public after voting]
• Selected letters will be invited to prepare a full bid based on the usual RFP process.
• A proposal outlining budget, potential sponsors, LOC members, and venue costs will be required even if only one letter is received.

Summary of Important Dates (AoE)

Release RFP:	2017 September 08
Letters of Intent (Stage 1) due:	2017 September 29
Stage 1 question period:	2017 September 30 to 2017 October 13
Stage 1 decision:	2017 October 16
Proposals (Stage 2) due:	2017 November 27
Stage 2 question period:	2017 November 28 to 2017 December 12
Final decision:	2017 December 15

Letters of Intent

• Accepted until September 29, 2017
• Limited to two pages
• Read the RFP document (below) and answer the following questions:
  • Who is your conference chair?
  • Who else is on your LOC?
  • What is your venue?
  • What makes FOSS4G in your proposed location compelling?

Cameron Shorter, Chair of FOSS4G 2009 suggests also addressing the following questions:

• Historically, half to three quarters of delegates come from the hosting country / region. Hence it is very valuable to have links with the regional geospatial industries.
• How do you propose to engage the regional communities in order to attract delegates and sponsors.
• The more recent conferences have all worked with a professional conference organizer. If you plan to make use of one, please mention them.

Till Adams, Chair of FOSS4G 2016 also suggests to adress the following questions:

• Give a rough overview about potential costs (conference fees, accommodation, averaged prices for meal/drinks)

RFP Documents

• RFP containing updated process (RFP) NOT YET CREATED!
• Budget template (file) CAN WE USE THE OLD ONE HERE?

Letter of Intent Review

• Letters of Intent were received from the following local committees:
  • ...

• Questions will be asked of LOCs on conference_dev 2017-09-30 to 2017-10-13 - be prepared to answer the questions ASAP!
• Conference committee will vote and results announced on October 16th.
  • Letters with 2 votes will be passed on to the proposal stage.
  • If there are no qualified letters from the priority region, then additional regions will be considered or solicited.

Bid Process

• Bids will be required for selected applicants, due by November 27, 2017.
• Bids were received from:
  • ...
• Questions will be asked of bidders on conference_dev 2017-11-28 to 2017-12-12 - be prepared to answer the questions ASAP!
• A conference committee teleconference or IRC meeting might be held sometime between December 5 and December 12.
• Conference committee will vote and convey results to the OSGeo Board of Directors for approval on December 15, 2017.