Ned Ludd wrote:
> What are some of the things you would do to try and 
> accomplish this goal?

In order to raise money, we need a budget - a target to focus folks on.  The 
budget depends on where we hold the event, when, and what we do at the 
event.  We need to tackle that, and build a ballpark figure.  It also 
depends on how many are attending, and whether or not everyone needs 
financial assistance to attend.  There's a lot to do there - including 
convincing Gentoo devs to attend (not taking that for granted!) - we'll need 
to build a team to handle the work between us, make sure it's transparent, 
and that we're planning an event that Gentoo devs will want to be part of. 
There are going to be folks in the wider Gentoo community who can help make 
this happen - we'll be looking to engage them, and get them involved too. 
We're going to need folks on the ground in different countries, because part 
of the fundraising will probably require meeting donors face to face.

Another important point, before we can set a budget, is scope.  Should this 
be a dev-only event, or should it also include something for Gentoo users 
too?  That would change the whole dynamic; the size & content would change, 
the overall budget would change, and we could use attendee charges to help 
assist Gentoo devs attending.

When it comes to assisting devs ... what are the rules to qualify for 
assistance?  Are they means-tested?  Do they depend on what you do for 
Gentoo, or how long you have been a dev?  Should we run an 'adopt a dev' 
sponsorship campaign, where we ask users to donate to assist a named dev? 
Is there another assistance scheme we could use instead?

I am making a fundamental assumption here that we should be assisting devs, 
so that they can attend.  That needs looking at.  Maybe we don't actually 
need to do so.  Maybe we shouldn't be doing so.  I think we should, but 
there hasn't been any sort of debate about this.

Once we have our estimated budget, we need to raise the money.  Here, there 
are issues to sort out.  I'm unclear about the financial (and, tbh, legal) 
situation of the Foundation, and I doubt I'm the only one.  Even before we 
start figuring out how to raise the money, we need to ensure that the 
Foundation has the capability of handling the money, and the financial 
controls in place to ensure that the money does not get mis-appropriated.

Actually raising the money ... we need to identify different sources of 
money, and pursue the right strategy for each source.  Some sources include:

   - our users,
   - companies that make money from Gentoo,
   - companies that use Gentoo,
   - the wider Linux community, who like our docs and our forums and
     our willingness to help folks from other distros
   - the media, and other folks who have things they could sell to
     folks @ the conference
   - foundations and trusts that exist to donate money to appropriate
     causes
   - local and national governments and their agencies
   - folks who don't use Linux at all

I'm sure that there are more that we can find.

We could just do what the local hospital does ... we put a big 
target-o-meter in a prominent place, and appeal to people's conscience to 
help it move up from zero to what we need.  Has the advantage of being a 
clear and easy-to-digest concept to sell.

Companies are traditionally tackled through the "sponsorship" approach.  We 
could just hope that companies sponsor our conference out of the goodness of 
their hearts - it's worked for the UK conferences to date :) - but a more 
successful approach would be to create a valuable package for a sponsor to 
buy into.  When I say "package", I'm not talking software.  I'm essentially 
talking marketing - taking their currency in exchange for giving them value 
in return.  It'll take us numerous iterations to get this one right, but 
longer-term it'll be a more successful approach than simply handing round 
the begging bowl.

The Foundation's legal status could have a bearing on the fundraising. 
We'll need advice on exactly where we can accept money from, and in what 
amounts.  I know Freenode are affected by this; at this moment in time, I 
don't know whether we are also affected by this or not.  It's worth asking 
the question of whether we should organise this directly through the 
Foundation, or whether a separate legal entity would be more appropriate.

Speaking of which ... simply getting folks worldwide to donate to the 
US-based Foundation misses out on some sources of funding.  The UK (for one) 
runs a scheme called Gift Aid, where tax can be reclaimed on money donated 
to UK charities.  Although it would create an administration overhead, 
establishing a world-wide network of local Gentoo Foundations would 
longer-term increase our ability to raise money.  Such a network would also 
allow us to cast a wider net, and apply for funding from sources within each 
country, and would also make it easier for local businesses to donate to 
their national Gentoo charity / not for profit.

Let me sell that idea another way.  Imagine going to www.gentoo.org/donate/, 
and being presented with a form for you to donate money.  The first page, 
there would be a dropdown box, allowing you to indicate which country you 
reside in.  When you select your country, we would take you to a second 
page, which would be a localised donation form for your country, which would 
take advantage of whatever tax breaks your country offered.  We make sure 
that the money goes into your country's Gentoo bank account, where the local 
trustees become responsible for it.

Establishing this local charity network is a massive undertaking, and it's 
unlikely to be in place in time for the 2007 conference.  But it's worth 
doing in the longer term, not only because we can raise more money than by 
having a distant Foundation in the U.S., but also because a local charity 
can also do local educational things with Gentoo - and that will keep 
bringing in new blood to our ranks.  It's not just about the money - it's 
about building a global organisation to take Gentoo from the Internet and 
into local communities.  And without having to try and establish a 
commercial arm, to compete with the other distros.  We remain a community 
distro, and we get to widen our community far beyond the propeller head ranks.

To increase the chance of success, we need Gentoo's PR machine fixing (work 
has started on that today, interested volunteers should knock on frilling's 
door), and that will probably have a knock-on effect on www.g.o's homepage. 
  We need to make Gentoo more accessible to the folks in the media, and we 
need to improve the understanding that we are truly a community distro, and 
all that being a community distro means.  We need a PR machine that can 
create the right associations in people's minds, so that they feel more 
inclined to part with their money.  We need a PR machine to "sell" Gentoo as 
a concept, and as a movement.

One thing I haven't done yet is get in touch with the organisers of other 
events.  There are plenty of people who have been successfully running 
international conferences for years; their experience and advice will help 
us a lot too.

Why do I think I'm the right person to make this happen?  (You haven't 
asked, but it seems appropriate to include here).  First, I'm proposing to 
act when no-one else is.  My apologies if I've missed it, but I'm not aware 
of any existing trustee, or any candidate for this year's election, who is 
proposing that we do this.  From other open-source projects that I'm 
involved with, I've seen first-hand that there is no substitute for folks 
having met and spent time with each other to resolve communication problems.

I've never run a legally-formed charity, but I have repeated experience of 
setting up and running volunteer organisations, and departments and teams 
within commercial organisations spanning back 14 years.  I have run my own 
business.  My roots are in free software.  I've been maintaining GPL'd 
software since 1994; first of which was to create dialog-0.4 specifically 
for Slackware 2.0.1.  (No, this does not mean that I'll be accepting bugs 
against dialog ;-)  dialog is the tool that manages the text-based UI for 
nearly all Linux text-based installers; lxdialog included in the kernel is 
derived from it.

I setup the successful Gentoo UK conference, which has now been running for 
three years.  I'd like to now take things to the next level, and create a 
world-wide conference for all our devs.

I really believe that we can create an international conference - *if* we 
want it enough - and make it a recurring event.

Best regards,
Stu
-- 
Stuart Herbert                                          stuart@g.o
Gentoo Developer                                   http://www.gentoo.org/
                                            http://blog.stuartherbert.com/

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