[Linux-aus] The Ada Initiative - Should Linux Australia support it?

[Russell Stuart]

On Fri, 2011-02-25 at 14:30 +1100, Silvia Pfeiffer wrote:
> So, consequentually, you are saying that every year's LCA should ask
> that charity that it is intending to give money to during from the LCA
> dinner activities to put in a grant application for that money.

No Silvia, that is not what is happening at the auctions.  Typically LA
is not donating LA's money at the auction.  People are choosing to
donate their own money.  Obviously asking the LA membership on whether
someone should choose to donate their own money to a cause is
inappropriate.  The mechanism can be somewhat convoluted to make things
easy for the organisers, and that may mean the money ends up in
someone's bank account (maybe even LA's) on the way through.  That
doesn't alter the principle.

The few (one?) time LA did donate a largish sum at the auction, yes that
makes me feel a little uneasy.  On the one hand we had a significant
chunk of LA's budget being given away after what could have been no more
than a few minutes discussion, no doubt after the consumption of some
alcohol.  On the other hand, it was done to prod the auction along.  It
was successful, so the effect of those dollars were multiplied.  It also
contributed to a fun night being had by all, and this is important at
LCA.  You might even consider it an LCA entertainment expense.  Having
seen the bills for some entertainment expenses at this years LCA I think
we got a reasonable deal.

Apart from all that, practicalities mean it would have been difficult to
do it differently on the night.  It got much of its effectiveness from
being a surprise move.  You could hardly have a 2 week email discussion
during the auction night, nor could you ask for a grant application.

The situation here is very different.  We do have the time and
opportunity to do those things.  Surely it is possible to manage our
money in a conservative fashion, we should not let excuses like "well we
didn't do it on an auction night" stand in our way?