[Linux-aus] PyCon Australia 2014 financial assistance details

[Chris Neugebauer]

tl;dr: PyCon Australia is offering financial assistance to help
deserving members of the community to attend the conference, even if
they otherwise could not afford to do so. First round applications
close Friday 11 June, and applications close on Friday 25 June. Full
details are at http://2014.pycon-au.org/grants

***

Following in the footsteps of PyCon North America, PyCon Australia
offers a generous financial aid programme, so that some attendees and
speakers have some, or in rare cases, all of their expenses such as
flight, hotel and admission provided to them from the conference
budget.

PyCon Australia strongly encourages people to apply for financial aid
-- even if we can’t cover all of your expenses, we will give you free
admission based on need. The application process is simple, and
straight­for­ward. It’s also very liberal -- the only caveat is that
speakers at the conference "get bumped to the top" of the applications
so that we don’t lose a good talk because of financial need. We also
don’t ban anyone from applying.

Essentially, the financial aid programme is the PyCon Outreach
programme -- it's the community holding up the community and making
itself accessible at this major event through these financial grants.
It is the very spirit of the conference; make the information,
knowledge, friendships and connection available to everyone.

The generous contribution of the Python Software Foundation has helped
us in offering this programme. Financial aid is core to the mission of
the PSF -- The mission of the Python Software Foundation is to
promote, protect, and advance the Python programming language, and to
support and facilitate the growth of a diverse
(http://www.python.org/psf/diversity/) and international community of
Python programmers.


== Eligibility ==

Anyone interested in attending PyCon Australia is eligible to apply
for financial aid. Grants are allocated on the basis of need, and
applications will be assessed by our financial aid panel.

Cases that will be looked upon favourably include, but are not limited to:

* Presenters with accepted proposals, who would otherwise not be able
afford to attend the conference.
* Contributors to Python Open Source projects, looking to participate
in the post-conference sprints.
* Members of Python-related user groups, looking to bring knowledge
back to their local community.
* Members of groups that encourage diversity in computing and
technology, including PyLadies groups, looking to bring knowledge back
to their local community.
* Students interested in Python, who can contribute knowledge of
Python back to their peers.
* Teachers looking to contribute knowledge of the state of the art in
Python back to their students.

In short, anyone whose attendance at PyCon Australia will help improve
the Python community in Australia, or around the world, is invited to
apply.


== Grant Types ==

There are three types of grant available, you may apply for as many of
these as you like, however, applications seeking more funding will be
reviewed more stringently. It is also likely that we will not be able
to fund the entirety of your requested funding.

To be eligible for accommodation assistance, you must live more than
60km by road from the conference venue at Southbank in Brisbane. To be
eligible for travel assistance, you must live more than 400km by road
from the conference venue.

Exceptions to the eligibility requirements will be considered on a
case by case basis. Please e-mail contact at pycon-au.org


== Registration ==

This is the easiest variety of grant that we are able to provide. We
will offer either discounted, or complimentary enthusiast
registration.


== Accommodation Assistance ==

We can grant accommodation at a nearby hotel for the conference nights
you are planning on attending. Accommodation grants take the form of
twin share accommodation -- this is so that we can stretch our
accommodation funding budget as far as possible. In most cases, we
will assign you a room share partner in one of our preferred
accommodation providers. In limited circumstances, you may nominate
your own room-share partner and seek reimbursement after the
conference.


== Travel Assistance ==

We can help cover the cost of airfares to Brisbane. Whilst in some
rare cases, we can fund the entirety of the requested travel, in most
cases we will only be able to partially fund this cost.

Cases that would be looked upon favourably include, but are not limited to:

* Covering the difference in cost between travelling from a regional
centre, and travelling from an Australian capital city.
* Travelling from an international port to Australia.
* Full-time students studying far from Brisbane, who would not
otherwise be able to afford travel to the conference.


== Application and deadlines ==

To apply for financial aid, fill out our application form. The first
round of applications will be considered after Friday 11 June 2014;
the second round of applications will be considered after Friday 25
June, 2014.

Full details, including how to apply, can be found at
http://2014.pycon-au.org/grants


-- 
--Christopher Neugebauer

Jabber: chrisjrn at gmail.com -- IRC: chrisjrn on irc.freenode.net --
WWW: http://chris.neugebauer.id.au -- Twitter: @chrisjrn