[Koha] Fwd: RFP: 3rd NAKUG/KohaNA meeting

[Bob Birchall]

As a total outsider, I did have a wry smile about a group calling itself 
North American insisting its meeting venue be within the US. But I 
should let the Mexicans and Canadians speak for themselves, of course.  
In general, any forum that facilitates the coming together of Koha users 
to share experience and ideas is to be encouraged. I'd guess that's the 
context of Brooke's points about fees and August - just making it as 
easy as possible for folks to join in.
Congratulations on your initiative and best wishes for future gatherings.
Bob


On 20/11/15 08:40, glaws wrote:
> Brooke:
>
> A. Inclusiveness
>
> So are you saying that there can only be one worldwide Koha group, and
> that there cannot be national or regional level Koha groups and
> corresponding meetings?
>
> Do you presume that anyone from outside North America would be unwelcome
> at a North America/United States meeting?
>
> Would it be appropriate for the NA/USA group to openly solicit
> world-wide attendance, and possibly seem to be competing with World KohaCon?
>
> There may be topics of interest only to US organizations, like eRate,
> LSTA grants and US laws, like privacy legislation, that may be important
> and need to be discussed but which may be avoided in an effort to be
> inclusive of other countries attendees if those were many.
>
> Concession: there is sometimes, and possibly in this case, the tendency
> to equate North America (23 countries per Wikipedia) with the United
> States. That is more a careless, linguistic peccadillo, I suggest, than
> a felony warranting a call-to-arms.
>
> B. Time of Meeting
>
> I don't think meeting in a particular month carries the same weight of
> concern as your first point about inclusiveness, or even your last about
> attendance fees.
>
> C. Attendance Fees
>
> Libraries, few in the US rich, don't always have good conference rooms,
> especially if there are conference break-out sessions. That may mean
> renting some hotel meeting room space for $1,000 a day. If it requires a
> $20 charge per person to get some good facilities I think that's reasonable.
>
> I have always, albeit typically privately, supported the idea of a
> reasonable attendance fee. I greatly appreciate it when a hosting
> organization provides coffee, maybe juice, and pastries for breakfast so
> that I don't have to run all over a hotel in the morning trying to find
> the $5 coffee and $4 donuts, being late for the inaugural address, and
> spilling now-cold coffee all over the nice lady in the row in front of
> me as I say "excuse-me, excuse-me" as I trip over people trying to get
> to the only open seat in the middle of the row in the middle of the
> room. Having coffee and donuts provided at the event is worth some coin
> to me and something more to the ex-nice lady soaked in cold vanilla
> hazelnut coffee which clashes terribly with her /parfum du jour/.
>
>
>
> Greg
>
> --------------------------------------
>
>
>
> On 11/19/2015 02:19 PM, BWS Johnson wrote:
>> Salvete!
>>
>>
>>> The Koha North America User’s Group would like to invite agencies and
>>> libraries located within the United States to host its third annual meeting
>>> held in early August, 2016. This meeting offers participants two days of
>>> instructional sessions and presentations, followed by a two day hackfest.
>>      At risk of beating a dead horse, I am once again disappointed that this body has taken up the mantle of "North America". There are plenty of Libraries, Organisations, and Agencies within North America that do not fit your group's stringent United States centric viewpoint. I am also continually saddened that this body will only consider meeting in early August. It is further too bad that you all charge fees for your meeting. The three of these problems in combination send a strong repeated message that inclusivity is not an aim of your organisation, whether that be a valid conclusion to draw or no. I do so hope that at some point in future, this group might reconsider any or all of those matters.
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Brooke
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-- 
Bob Birchall
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