Re: [Ghm-discuss] GHM in India

[John Darrington]

On Tue, Jun 25, 2019 at 10:14:45AM +0530, Srikar Arepalli wrote:
     Hi All,
     
     I'm Srikar volunteering for FSF-India as Student coordinator, also Alumni
     lead of VGLUG https://vnrvjietglug.wordpress.com/ . VGLUG stands for VNR
     GNU/Linux Users Group, aka, Swatantra Software Sangham of VNRVJIET. Being
     an alumni of VNRVJIET (http://vnrvjiet.ac.in/). I can request the college
     management to host the event. But I need some details before I initiate
     the discussion with them.


     
     We have a big auditorium capable of accommodating 500 participants,
     equipped with good projector and sound system. Are you aiming for more
     than 500 participants? Along with it we have mini seminar halls and
     classrooms all equipped with projectors and speakers.

500 is way too big!   I think the most people we've ever had at GHM is
about 55.
     
     > > 2.  You need to make arrangements for somewhere for people to eat and
     > > sleep - either make sure that everyone can get a hotel that suits
     > > them,
     > > or (better) if it can be in the same establishment as the auditorium,
     > > then it's easier for all concerned.
     
     There are guest rooms for speakers inside the campus. But I need to check
     how many of them can be accommodated.

If there was accommodation for about 30 people then I think that might
work.  Any excess attendees could presumably find a hotel to suit their
budget and expectations.

     Student members of VGLUG can volunteer for the event and help you.

When organising an event like GHM (or any event) it needs somebody to
take general ownership of the whole event.  Having extra volunteers is
great, but coordinating them is often the big issue.    I think we have
about 3 GNU maintainers in India, and India is a big land.   If GHM were
to happen in India, then somebody in India, and with local knowledge 
would have to assume responsibility for all aspects relating to meals, 
accomodation and auditorium.
     
     It will help students, if not completely free, atleast giving them some
     discount might attract more students.

The primary purpose of GHM is to allow existing GNU maintainers and
contributors to meet and exchange technical ideas as well as social
interaction.  As such, attracting a large number of people not
previously connected with GNU is not a primary goal.  Of course, if
there are people with a genuine interest who want to attend, then we
wouldn't refuse them.   

The FSF does organise other events intended for persons on the periphery
or outside Free Software.  Your 500 seat auditorium sounds more suitable
for one of those.  See https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-speeches.html  if
you want to organise one of those.

     
     Can I know theme of talks, will they be of help to undergraduate and
     graduate students?

In the past, the talks have been decided at the last minute.  You can
look at the achives of previous events to get an idea of what might
be offered. https://www.gnu.org/ghm/previous.html


A few personal opinions which others may or may not agree with:

GHM at a university has a number of advantages, including good 
technical facilities,  internet connection etc.   On the other hand
there are drawbacks.  For example, they tend to send around security 
staff to kick us out of the meeting room at 6pm.

For that reason, like Darshit said,  I think a meeting in a medium 
sized hotel or guesthouse gives a better experience all round.  Of
course the perfect environment will never be found, so GHM at an
academic institute can be fun too.

J'


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