On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 12:56 PM, renuka prasad <renukaprasadb@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 8:05 AM, स्वक्ष <vid@svaksha.com> wrote:

...

Hi,

Quick updates:

0. Unfortunately, we were are late with our request this year as Google (in US) has already allocated their conference sponsorship budget through 2010. I've been asked to contact them regarding 2011* sponsorship later, which I will unless someone else wishes to handle this (IIRC, earlier someone on the list had volunteered to talk to their google contacts, but I cant find that thread now and http://wiki.python.org/moin/PyConIndia2010/SponsorShip, does not list anyone).  IIUC, each country's Google office has a certain budget allocated per year. So if anyone has contacts in google (india) they _might_ still have budgets for 2010.

there is a person called B N chandra mauli ( who is in one of the top position at bangalore ), whom we can contact, should i go ahead contacting or  wait

[..] I think you should contact them but a little cautiously. Anand's point earlier about Google never wanting to be a second player is valid. If they ask for too much and for the conference to be "Google branded", we'd have to say no. No harm talking to them. Just exercise a little caution. -- ~noufal http://nibrahim.net.in

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 18:13, Noufal Ibrahim <noufal@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 10:35 AM, स्वक्ष <vid@svaksha.com> wrote: [..]

...

1. http://wiki.europython.eu/GoogleDiversity was something I had asked for Pycon India. Does anyone have thoughts on this? Will keep the list posted if I hear budgets for 2010 are still available.

I'm not opposed to it but I wouldn't really consider it a priority. Based on the feedback from last year, the quality of talks was low.

Do you mean the talks given by women? I couldnt attend last year, so cant comment. However I did have some general points: On average, the percentage of women _attending_ such (i'd have used 'floss' but this isnt one) conferences or tech-events** is low, much less as _speakers_ on a technical subject. There are a number of factors that one could cite but it would still be speculation as each individual is different. A majority of us can talk. Standing on stage and talking confidently about a technical topic in front of an audience which could have your peers or other experienced industry folks, is very different from the school/college presentation we did as students or a daily banter on a technical subject. I've seen male speakers with excellent technical knowledge getting all flustered, or stammering or forgetting parts of their presentation when audience member(s) walk out of their talk. No names please. This can happen to anyone of us but its harder for a first time speaker. Finally, travelling to conferences has its intangible costs, Time-- a scarce commodity when you are balancing a career and a home, unless your employer sponsors you. Or as a technical student, some women may not get permission to travel outside their city for a less known conference like pycon-india. There may be more but I dont know all the issues that other women face. At this point pycon-india is establishing itself --a good opportunity for a new speaker to make their mark, so to speak. I would not call it a priority to encourage new attendees or speakers (irrespective of gender) but if Google (or any other sponsor) is willing to lend a helping hand in whatever way they deem fit, it isnt something to be ignored. I would be willing to help out if a sponsor expresses interest in sponsoring women attendees or speakers. Anyone else interested is welcome too. ** Even an unconference like barcamp-bangalore, which impo is quite chilled out, so to speak, didnt have a flood of women speakers, albeit higher than the norm. </thinking out loud> -- vid || http://svaksha.com

On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 19:52, Noufal Ibrahim <noufal@gmail.com> wrote:

No. I mean talks in general. There were more fundamental things than

Ah, ok. Hopefully this time around things would be different?!

Piecemeal thoughts. Not necessarily relevant but which occur to me. 1. I'm more interested in getting "experienced" speakers and "new" audience. First time    speakers are welcome but if they're green with development *and* green with speaking, I    don't see much value in them speaking. Last year, we had a lot of

umm...i may be wrong about this but wanted to toss this out: Its important that we as organizers distinguish talks, and what kind of topics get slots. This is something that the CFP is doing atm. Secondly, we need to get the word out that not everyone needs to be a speaker. There are other forms like leading a BOF, lightning talks, technical sessions, sprints, etc where you can present your knowledge or code etc.. If we give equal importance to other forms of speaking there would be a good enough mix and interaction.

2. If Google or whoever is giving us money, it'll have to be "no strings attached" (except of    course what they get for being a sponsor which is mentioned in the formal brochure).    The unrest which went around on the list when the list of things from IIT-B was sent is    something which I resonated with. It'd be a hassle if they offer sponsorship money for    some specific purpose like "increasing audience diversity" and expect some kind    of deliverable from us.

I dont know about deliverables, but IIUC, they'd not hand out money "einfachso" because a criteria (gender) was met. Generally speaking, if a sponsor has a specific goal (Ex. A sponsor wants 20% of the sponsorship money to be spent on a defined activity), I would think that they want the money used for that purpose only. It is their choice. YMMV.

   This of course is different from us initiating it. If we all here feel that diversity is an    important issue and that shortage of money is the reason that it's not there, going to    Google or whoever to get help fixing the problem is fine.

It was initiated by me but before pushing it further I wanted to float the idea here. This would involve some planning and discussion which is why I do want to hear thoughts and, objections are more than welcome. -- peace, vid || http://svaksha.com