[Linux-aus] Announcing Everything Open - Conference 2023

[Anestis Kozakis]

I've never been able to attend an LCA, and, of course, COVID made that not
possible for a couple of years.

Also, I mostly sit on the sidelines and read through e-mails, and usually
don't comment.

However, it seems to me, in this case, the LA Council has been less than
open and forthright regarding their intentions and motives.

>From all the back-and-forth e-mails, a bid was received, and, from my
understanding, it was the only bid received, to run LCA in 2022.  However,
the LA Council seemed to reject the bid without providing any reasons why.

it seems the LA Council did the wrong thing here.  If it was the only bid
submitted, but the LA Council felt it didn't fit the need, why not open
communications with those who put the bid together and discuss with them
the perceived issues with the bid so it could be restructured to meet the
Council's criteria and be approved?

The lack of communication from the Council is very concerning, and then for
the Council to turn around and say "We're running something else instead
of LCA" just seems at odds with the way things are supposed to be done.

Why didn't the council work with the bid team to provide feedback on the
bid so it could be fine-tuned, especially if it was the only bid received?

For a Council member to initially say "We received no bids", and then to
backtrack when provided with evidence to the contrary also seems very odd.

Where is the transparency and openness?

If the Council wants the community to trust it, then it needs to build that
trust, and these actions certainly aren't building any trust that I can see.

Just my two cents.

Anestis.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2022 at 20:54, Paul Wayper via linux-aus <
linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au> wrote:

> On 15/10/22 10:33 am, Russell Stuart via linux-aus wrote:
>
> On 15/10/22 08:16, Paul Wayper via linux-aus wrote:
>
> The LA Council summarily dismissed the bid.  No conversation was entered
> into.  We were told it wasn't suitable.
>
>
> The bid was for a hybrid in-person/online conference, and it made it clear
> the team was not interested in running a purely online conference. The
> proposal was put in while COVID was in full swing.  It was effectively
> "betting" the COVID restrictions would be lifted.
>
> That was not how we "bet".  I'm sorry, but that's misrepresenting our
> bid.  And I'm sure people's own memories will remind them of the
> differences between the restrictions in February 2021, when the bid was
> submitted, and those in January 2022 when the conference would have
> occurred.
>
> Thank you though, Russell, for admitting that yes there was actually a
> bid.  You and the LA Council had said in the past there were no bids.  It
> might have been one you rejected, but it was still a bid.  I'm glad you've
> set the record straight.
>
> And I note that Joel has effectively said that OE 2023 will be a "hybrid"
> conference, with much the same model as we proposed: that people could
> attend in person or online depending on their own views of the COVID and
> other risks, and they would use the online tools used by LCA 2021 to make
> sure there was a healthy online interaction with the speakers and the
> talks.  So the LA Council has made the same "bet" on a hybrid EO 2023 that
> it previously rejected in a hybrid LCA 2022.  What's changed?
>
> Finally, the current executive was surprised by your characterisation of
> the communications from the 2021 council, so this morning we dug up their
> written response to the bid. Yes, it said the TL;DR is a motion was moved
> to accept the bid, but it failed for lack of votes. It didn't reveal the
> private deliberations of the council of course, but it did discuss the
> ruminations that happened in general terms. I won't publish the full
> response here (it's quite lengthy and maybe you would prefer we didn't do
> that, but feel free to do it yourself). Instead here are two quotes from
> it:
>
> - We have also discussed the current COVID-19 situation
>
> - We would like to extend an invitation to this team to submit a bid for
> LCA2023
>
> It's a pity then that the LA council didn't write to the organisers of
> that bid when it was clear to them that there weren't any others around for
> LCA 2023.
>
> This is all water under the bridge now.  I just wanted to put the record
> straight that there was actually a bid that the LA Council rejected.  And I
> think the LA Council should establish a clear process of communication
> about conferences that the LA Council has decided it wants bids for,
> including:
>
> * Notification of start of bidding process.
>
> * Notification of end of bidding process, including number of bids
> submitted (before the Council has decided whether to accept them or not).
>
> * If a bid has been selected, then a success should be announced as soon
> as possible (perhaps without disclosing which bid has been successful).
>
> * If there were no bids selected by the LA council, then this also needs
> to be announced as soon as possible.
>
> * If the LA council accepts any bid in which LA Council members are a part
> of the bidding team, those members must abstain from voting.
>
> * If the LA council has no bids for a conference, any team bidding for it
> must notify the LA council as soon as they can.  If this happens, the LA
> council must notify its membership that a new bid is being considered.
>
> It's the lack of transparency from the LA Council over this whole issue
> that has disappointed me the most.  That is the thing I would like to see
> rectified.  After all, we do want to Open Everything, don't we?
> Regards,
>
> Paul
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-- 
Anestis Kozakis | kenosti at gmail.com
- "In Numenera, players are not rewarded for slaying foes in combat, so
using a smart idea to avoid combat and still succeed is just good play.
Likewise, coming up with an idea to defeat a foe without hammering on it
with weapons is encouraged - creativity is not cheating!"
- Numenera Core RuleBook - Page 102
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