1. Meeting overview and key information
Present
- Joel Addison (President)
- Jennifer Cox (Vice-President)
- Neill Cox (Secretary)
- Russell Stuart (Treasurer)
- Elena Williams (Council)
- Jonathan Woithe (Council)
- Lilly Hoi Sze Ho (Council)
Apologies
Not Present
Meeting opened at 19:35 AEDT by Joel and quorum was achieved.
Minutes taken by Neill.
2. Log of correspondence
- Meeting Reminder [Response to WordCamp query from Russell re use of bank account]
- Revised budget for DS Community Day 2025 – Neill notified the Drupal South Subcommittee that the DS Community Day budget was approved
- Important – AWS Invoice e-mail address changes – nil effect on LA
- Proposal for PyCon AU 2026 – Jonathan has responded
- Linux Australia <> Snowflake procurement via PyCon AU – Jack Skinner has registered LA to Snowflake’s procurement portal in ZipHQ – no action required
- Re: Confirmation of Stripe account and Payout Bank account – discussion between Russell and Danny (Kiwi PyCon) re Strip payments
- Bank letter required for sponsors – Jack Skinner asks for a bank letter to prove LA’s ownership of accounts
- Everything Open CBR 2026 progress – Update from the EO 2026 organising committee.
- Changes to Debit Mastercard® T&Cs – notification from Westpac about cash withdrawal limits. Daily limit will increase to $2,000 by default – no action required
- [LACTTE] spam to lists – Russell Coker asks that the SPF record for the mailing list server be changed to prevent spam – refer to admin team
- Everything Open Canberra 2026 status – update from Miles
- [Quite a lot of bounce notifications]
- Bequest Notification – scanned letter re the bequest from Mark Willis
- Re: Estate Late Mark Stanley Wills – Russell responded to the executor with bank account details.
- Another report of an error with the website contact form – reports that the contact form on the website fails because of a reCAPTCHA error
- Lodge Linux Australia Activity Statement April..June 2025 – advice on BAS lodgement and invoice from our accountant
- Help us promote PyCon AU? Request from Jack Skinner to help promote PyCon AU
3. Items for discussion
- PyCon AU 2026
- Approval is needed soon to be able to lock in venues and quotes.
- Will changing the focus to attract more professionals intimidate some potential attendees?
Historically 60/40 split, employers are saying that the weekend is an issue. But enthusiasts like the weekend. More stability in the professional margin and allows pitching volume discounts to employers. Risk can be mitigated by comms and emphasising inclusivity. It is an experiment and a gamble.
The weekend component allows for community and local groups with assistance from the Brisbane City Council.
Come for the professional conference that your employer has paid for and stay for the community event you love. - The current marketing platform does not play well to employers. It’s a little too amateur. The goal is to keep some of the current whimsy/fun but to make it more competitive with other conferences in the same space.
- The marketing spend is very high for a PyCon AU.
- It is optional
- There is a ripple effect on ROI – 2027 would not need to spend the same amount, much of the event would be reusable in the future
- Goals is 5+ years of longevity
- There is not currently a competitive quote. The supplier was chosen based on previous work. The current cost in the proposal is an estimate and can be refined before the contract is signed
- The video costs have been broken out to make them more visible. They are also preliminary.
- Bump out costs have been hidden for previous events
- [responding to a question about budget for keynote speakers as a form of marketing] Would love to be able to fly out an international speaker to give a keynote, but the goal is to spend money in Australia and draw it from the rest of the world. If the budget allows it this would be considered. Possibly with enough lead time the budget might be possible.
- [When does council need to give a decision] No deadline yet, but probably days rather than weeks. The venue is engaged, but if another bid is received they may take that one.
- [Can changes be made to the budget] The marketing budget is optional, but not discretional. It needs to be committed to up front. There are other parts that can be adjusted. Jack strongly feels that the marketing spend is what could push PyCon AU to 600 attendees.
- Marketing costs are high, but seem to be comparable to amounts spent on LCA/EO. If this does last for five years then it is probably reasonable. This cost compares favourably with what Drupal South spends on their event coordinator.
- Access to EO2026 website for Clinton Roy
- Joel will meet with Clinton to resolve this.
- Linux subtitling for EO 2026
- We’re not changing the name, but Linux can certainly be used as a subtitle. It has appeared on previous EO websites.
- Bank letters for sponsorship agreements
- Joel and Russell will visit a branch to resolve this.
- In particular Joel and Russell will get the current council listed as signatories.
- Digital signing capability for sponsorship agreements etc
- We looked in the past for an Open Source solution without finding one.
- We will need to investigate costs.
- Possibly Connecting Up can help with discounts for this.
- Mail Merge for conferences
- LA has sent mail merge through FastMail
- Possibly the PSF could help with PyCon AU
- Again, we need to look at costs and options. There is a tension between the LA tax and LA’s costs. AWS may be a low cost option.
- Conflict of Interest Policy
- https://github.com/linuxaustralia/constitution_and_policies/pull/48/files
- Council members to read the policy in preparation for a motion on list.
- Term Deposit
- Is coming up for renewal. It matures on 13 August. How much do we want to keep in the next Term Deposit? Currently there is $407,000. How much operating capital do we need?
- There is $200,000 in various conference accounts plus $260,000 in the reserve account.
- Russell would like to increase the amount in the term deposit, both as a way to ensure the safety of the funds and also as a good way of earning interest.
- Russell and Joel will discuss specific amounts.
4. Items for noting
- .
5. Other business
6. In camera
- Two items were discussed in camera
7. Action items
- Neill: Investigate options and costs for mail campaigns
- Russell: Contact LUV
7.1 Completed Items
7.2 Carried Forward
Meeting closed at 21:47 AEST
Next meeting is scheduled for 2025-08-13 and is a subcommittee meeting
