1. Meeting overview and key information
Present
- Joel Addison (President)
- Sae Ra Germaine (Vice-President)
- Neill Cox (Secretary)
- Andrew Pam (Council)
- Russell Stuart (Treasurer)
- Jonathan Woithe (Council)
- Jennifer Cox (Council)
Apologies
Not Present
Meeting opened at 19:33 AEST by Joel and quorum was achieved.
Minutes taken by Neill
2. Log of correspondence
- Grant Application from Rowland Mosbergen for RSEAA24 Accessibility Fellowship – Rowland has expanded on the alignment of this grant request with LA’s values
- Canberra Python User Group – grant application decision – Jonathan has informed the Canberra Python User Group that their application was successful
- [purplecon] Is it OK to show the Linux Australia logo on our sponsorship prospectus? – Neill has confirmed that this is OK
- In the quest for Open Source Alternatives to docs editing – Proton now have a privacy focussed google docs alternative for us to investigate
- Paul Wankadia (@junyer) has died – don’t have details – Kathy Reid informed us of Paul’s passing. Anthony Baxter suggested (via the linux-aus list) that it would be nice if LA could find a way to celebrate Paul’s life and contribution to the community.
- WordCamp Sponsor Agreement for Australia – Request to the WordCamp central team for a change to the wording of the sponsorship agreement to remove confusion about whose bank account sponsorship money is paid into.
- CC Payments to Linux Australia account – Wordcamp have a sponsor who cannot pay funds into an Australian bank account. Russell has made some suggestions about who to get around this.
- Linux Australia banners for Kiwi PyCon – Banners have now been printed. Joel has responded.
- Council meeting attendance request from Jade Ambrose – Jade would like a meeting with the council to discuss Merri-Bek Tech becoming a sub-committee. Consensus is we probably don’t need the full council present for this.
- Grant Application from Jade Ambrose for Merri-bek Tech Raspberry Pi / Wikipedia hosting course – Further discussion about the grant proposal
- BAS Time [actually Joomla subcommittee invite] – some confusion about the invites to the Joomla sub committee to attend meetings. Hopefully sorted now.
- Semi urgent: Payment approval for PyCon AU MCEC interim invoice – Council approval for payment to MCEC was needed. Joel has approved the payment.
- Grant Application from Jennifer Sims for Sports Connection Australia – Gender Diverse Sporting Streaming – Jonathan has responded. There has been some discussion on the mailing list.
- Joomla Australia Steering Committee Charter
- Fwd: Re: Linux Australia Grants mailing list bounce – ongoing issues with LA council mail from Russell Coker.
- council address and SPF – as above
- OSI Sharing stories of Open Source success with the community
- NAIDOC Week Special 2-for-1 offer: 2024 National Closing the Gap Indigenous Health, Public Health Research and Chronic Diseases Conferences
3. Items for discussion
- Drupal sub committee update
Drupal South
Active conversation with sponsors is ongoing. Pointing out to sponsors that costs are about 30% up, but sponsorship is 10% down. The question for sponsors is what sort of event do they want?
Sponsors have responded that there may be a little more budget but they would like more help find leads. But the extra budget will not cover running headline events in capital cities like Melbourne and Sydney. Discussions are ongoing.
If sponsorship budgets do not meet the costs of the current format then a new format will need to be found.
There is a budget that proposes capping the number of free tickets depending on the number of paid tickets sold.
DrupalCon Asia
Call for sessions have been closed. 191 proposals to go through. Forty slots available. Many more than can be run, which is a good problem to have.
Planning to announce the schedule next week.
Very positive community response. 60 volunteers. Twenty to thirty tickets are already sold, even before the schedule is announced.
Sponsorship sales are still a problem. Part of the problem is that the larger sponsors make decisions with a sponsorship team who have already committed their budget. This may require help from the Drupal Association to make contacts with the executives at these larger sponsors.
- KiwiPyCon
166 tickets have been sold, expectation is that the final number will be over 200, and hopefully over 300 if marketing works.
Sponsorship has not changed since last month, but there are still a few in the pipeline. Need at least four more. Danny has identified 21 more potential sponsors and is in the process of contacting them.
- Admin team update
Steve is an apology for this meeting due to travel.
- Joomla sub committee update
Draft Steering Committee Charter
Need to clarify what happens if the Joomla subcommittee is wound up. Sae Ra will supply some possible wording to Nathan.
Planning an event for early next year in Melbourne.
- PyCon AU sub committee update
Invoice to MCEC has been paid after a certain amount of back and forth.
- Flounder sub committee update
Usual meetings are happening. Around 4-6 people are attending.
- LUV sub committee update
Usual meetings are happening. About 8-10 attend on average.
- WordPress sub committee
42 tickets sold. Six mini sponsors. Means about 20% of goal, which is good for sales pre announcement of the schedule. Sponsorship is going well.
Currently focusing on speakers which is also going fairly well. Significant number of international applications. These will be carefully scrutinised as one of the goals is to have an emphasis on being a local conference.
The selection committee will probably be a subset of the overall organising committee. Data for submissions will be anonymised.
Planning to continue social media announcements.
Organising team is working well with people settling into their jobs.
Wil will clarify if Linux Australia needs to sign a new agreement.
- Everything Open 2025
Have started a preliminary discussion about a possible dinner venue.
Michael has not yet contacted other potential organisers. Will do so when he gets back from his current travel. Which should be by 27 July.
Joel plans to open the call for sessions soon.
Decision about the penguin dinner should be made by the end of the month.
- Purplecon
Have sent out an announcement email.
4. Items for noting
5. Other business
- Grant application from Rowland for Mosbergen for RSEAA24 Accessibility Fellowship
Motion: That Linux Australia accepts the grant request for $500 for the RSEAA24 Accessibility Fellowship
Moved by: Joel
Seconded: Sae Ra
Result: Passed
- Grant Application from Jennifer Sims for Sports Connection Australia for $2,000
Still open for discussion on the mailing list. Closes on 30 July. Council will vote on the proposal at our next meeting.
- Grant Application from Jade Ambrose for Merri-bek Tech Raspberry Pi / Wikipedia hosting course for $1,000 (of total $4,980 project cost)
Still open for discussion on the mailing list. Closes on 21 July. Council will vote on the proposal at our next meeting.
- Felicity Brand request for sponsorship of Write the Docs Australia
Jonathan will write to Felicity asking her to submit a grant proposal at the “First Draft” level.
6. In camera
- One item was discussed in camera
7. Action items
- Ask Felicity Brand to submit a grant proposal for sponsorship of Write the Docs – Jonathan
7.1 Completed Items
- KiwiPycon Banners – Neill has responded
- Purplecon logo question – Neill has responded
- Draft a communication re spending grants money on sponsorships – Draft Grants and Sponsorship
- Draft an updated format for subcommittee meetings – Draft Subcommittee Meetings format
7.2 Carried Forward
Meeting closed at 21:05
Next meeting is scheduled for 2024-07-31 – 7:30pm AEST / 7:00pm ACST
