SotM16 Meeting

19th October 2015 @ 7pm UTC

Present

Henk - The facilities are not perfect for EP (limited by amount of people, significantly less than 500, closer to 100).
Henk - The team (MEPs assistants, etc) are looking in to facilities of European Commission as these would be more suitable for our requirements.
Henk - Has shared with the MEPs the idea of a one day event on Thursday with VUB for extended weekend (Fri-Sun). Has shared our two free dates and indicated our preferred option but not heard back yet.
Henk - The contacts initially suggested a go/no-go by mid November. 3 weeks from now.
Alex - Who are we talking with? Event agency?
Henk - No, direct to political MEPs.
Alex - Is this sort of event usual? Or is it extra-curricular. Difference from UN.
Henk - Extra-curricular. Concern over security since Charlie Hebdo incident. Used to half day events of less people. 50 people more normal. They do however like the idea as it ties in with initiatives about open data.
Alex - International open government event upcoming in Mexico. Mikel and Steve will be on panel, plenty of talk about OpenStreetMap. Offer to use that as a route as expect representatives from the EP to be there.

Rob: You will see that I have put a date of mid-November as decision from MEPs. If this is delayed then it starts to have a knock on effect on the messaging we provide to sponsors. Will prevent us from making a clear statement about sponsorship prior to Christmas/New Year.
Henk: No details about scholarship in plan.
Rob: Hoping from feedback from Alyssa and others with experience in scholarship programmes.
Alex: Scholarships are the challenge. Multiple wave of scholarship rounds help out with uncertainty of budget.
Christine: What is the average cost per person?
Alex: USD 500 for each US person. But international you can have USD 500, 1000, 1500. The upper for the international travels.
Mikel: Build connections with Belgian ministry to help with applications.
Alex: SotM US 1 April 2015 - successful scholarships (30 people) announced. That was fairly late (SotM US was 6-8 June). Should have been at least 3 months before. Visa and travel booking takes time. Booking early for cheapest tickets.
[Rob, post meeting: Application window to scholarship programme opened 30 January. Deadline due 15 March]
Henk: Need to find someone to lead the scholarship programme.
Rob: A few people marked it on the task manager as an area they are willing to help with.
Rob: Action - share task list for Mikel & Alex.

Tatiana: Not much progress to date. Awaiting content to help shape the site.
Rob: What sort of content? Do we need team input.
Tatiana: Alex is going to start with initial content.
Christine: Have we made an announcement about the logo? Have we spoken with the original designer?
Tatiana: No announcement made yet. I’ve been speaking with her (Veronica) throughout the process.
Henk: Have added alex to the webdesign@stateofthemap.org mailinglist.

Rob: The idea of previous SotMs has been to use ticket prices to cover the variable costs (i.e. the cost of each extra person in terms of food, events, etc) and hope that sponsorship covers the fixed costs (e.g. venue hire).
Rob: Would be good to start thinking about any evening events the local team would like to host (with our assistance). For example, Birmingham had a sit-down three course meal on Saturday.

Ben: Had a look during the initial bid. Action: Share these again: Beer tasting tour. City game.
Christine: The social element is as important or more important than the talks. Beer garden in the evening. BBQ for second evening. At venue outside.
Ben: One option is EUR 1000 to rent Atomium sphere. Drinks are extra * [Rob, post meeting: Price looks closer to EUR 3000 and is limited in capacity unless you book multiple spheres]
Rob: ACTION: To highlight this as a key area to be considering over the next two weeks. Action for all.