JSoC 2015 Idea

[Ronni Christiansen]

Hi All,

I want to share a quick overview of an alternate idea since GSoC 2015 was rejected (earlier posted in open-source-matters-public reposted her to open debate).

JSoC 2015.

10 students are selected to complete Projects for Joomla, much in the same way GSoC would work.

Each student recieves $2500 (only half of GSoC).

Mentors recieve nothing (500 less than GSoC where mentors give this to Joomla).

The funds to do so ($25k USD) should come 50% from the GSoC budget and 50% from sponsors.

Joe from the Capital team and myself will raise the 12.5k from sponsors.

PLT needs to commit to transfering the budget allocation from GSoC to JSoC.

I hope Chad and the team will transition over and work with this in the daily operations.

In reality this leaves less for traveling etc. in the budget under GSoC 2015 but id would imagine at $2500 per student we would mainly see applications from the asian region and with the overall goal of flying the best of the students to JWC15 to present their work and as a bonus for good work done - i would think the cost would balance out in total.

Ps. I make a lot of assumptions etc. but lets make things happen!

Once PLT approves the budget reallocation and Chad confirms the teams interests i hope Joe and myself can quickly secure the 12.5k sponsorships needed to make it happen financially and that we can then make JSoC happen :)

So now its on the list - PLT can you please get back to me with a GO so we can continue?

Once you do i will talk to Chad.

My Role / OSM's role in this is purely to help get it started and make it financially possible - once the overall direction is set its fully controlled under PLT (as GSoC would be) and handled by the GSoC (now JSoC) team.

Pps. the name is open - but lets not Loose out on a great student outreach initiative that breeds new contributors to Joomla.

Regards

[robert...@community.joomla.org]

Thanks Ronni, for documenting some ideas.

I don't think we need to rush things now. At the moment the PLT is discussion internally how we can make the best out of this situation.

For now we think we need a good, more detailed plan and look what are the pitfalls and problems we can run into.

Cheers,
Robert

[Tessa Mero]

Robert, since this is something we would like to move forward with, do you have any kind of timeline set for your discussion with PLT so we all have an idea? :-) If you don't have one, can you just throw one out on the table? :-)

Thanks!

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Joomla Leadership Team" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to joomla-leaders...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to joomla-l...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/joomla-leadership.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Jessica Dunbar]

In general i think we are positive about the idea. It’s a big undertaking, and as Robert mentioned we want to see a detailed plan. We reached out to Chad. We are not going to be rushed into a timeline. We do feel JSoC is important and needs to be addressed, everyone is participating in the discussion and it's a priority of the PLT. 

--

Jessica Dunbar - Marketing Lead
@jessicadunbar on Twitter

Q: Why is this email five sentences or less?

A: I'm an email ninja. 

[Tessa Mero]

Jessica, I didn't mean a specific timeline but a general timeline so we are all on board with what's going on. I don't see any issue with that.

I just don't want to be something that is discussed and then it ends there. :-) 

[Jessica Dunbar]

I texted Chad and told him to check his email;) 

[Jessica Dunbar]

That the PLT is generally positive about the idea of a JSoC program, but unfortunately we do not have the resources to be allocated and disbursed to set this up. With out an effective detailed plan or lead  for JSoC we unanimously decided this is not in the best interest of the project for 2015. We are sorry to disappoint you. 

[Ronni Christiansen]

So i guess Chad was not up for running it?

[Jessica Dunbar]

The PLT unanimously voted against it. We do not have enough resources even with Chad leading. Which is why we firmly believe this is not in the best interest of Joomla for 2015.

[Victor Drover]

Which resources were short? If we identify them, we can plan better for next year.

Warm Regards,

Victor Drover
Treasurer, Open Source Matters
Kick-ass Reimbursement Processor
262-309-4140
@VicDrover

[Ryan Ozimek]

Hi everyone,

I have a feeling Chris may have brought this up, but this is a topic that I think has come up twice while I've been on leadership and has been struck down each time due to resource constraints (focus, time, energy, etc).  This being the third time, I have a feeling this might just been outside our scope for the foreseeable future.

Maybe a different, lighter touch approach could be useful.

Self-declared and totally made up title "historian-in-chief",

Ryan

Sent from my mobile device.

[Victor Drover]

Dang. Without a student outreach program the PLT budget takes a large hit :(

Warm Regards,

Victor Drover
Treasurer, Open Source Matters
Kick-ass Reimbursement Processor
262-309-4140
@VicDrover

[Tom Hutchison]

How do you figure that Vic?

Tom

[Jessica Dunbar]

Vic,
Can you explain please. We only voted on JSoC. There are many students from prior GSoC that can help in sprints and more... 

[Victor Drover]

These are the budget items approved by OSM related to GSOC:

1240_PLT_CMS_GSOC  $4,000

8140_PLT_CMS_GSOC** -$1,000

8170_PLT_CMS_GSOC** -$2,800

8310_PLT_CMS_GSOC -$46,700

If GSOC/JSOC is not going forward, the funds are not available for other programs. 

This is not unique to the GSOC budget. Funds cannot be moved between accounts as one desires. This is why we take so much time to budget so in the end we have transparent and accountable financials.  

Warm Regards,

Victor Drover
Treasurer, Open Source Matters
Kick-ass Reimbursement Processor
262-309-4140
@VicDrover

[Jessica Dunbar]

This is Chad's response

Hi Everyone

I’ve seen the discussion on this and so given I’ve had some involvement I would go ahead and lay out my thought processes and feelings here:

First let me say I’m really happy to see that there is serious interest in student outreach like programs - and that when GSoC wasn’t on the table for us this year that a few people felt it was important enough to try to create our own program. This is a great attitude to have in our project so thank you all for your motivation and interest in this!

Joomla has participated with great enthusiasm in GSoC for the last 3 years and we’ve done some really great work. This year I was disappointed that we weren’t accepted, but I have to say with all honesty I took a huge breath and thought “okay, great, that’s actually a bit of a relief. I really needed a break”.

In truth I recognize my response as being one of a burned out volunteer. And in all honesty I think there are some other folks who’ve were also, perhaps internally, grateful for a break this year. Its hard for volunteers to admit that to themselves, let alone to the other people who they see working so tirelessly. But, when that does happen I think its really important in the Joomla project we recognize when volunteers (not just me!) are getting overworked, and that the community response not be one that makes those volunteers feel guilty for getting a break.

So I think a break from a full-fledged summer program this year is probably just what the doctor ordered. It gives everyone, myself, the other mentors and co-admins a chance to catch their breath. To come back to GSoC next year with some extra wind in our sails and a skip in our step as we come in swinging. And, we can plan ahead a bit for the case of not being accepted next year. If that should happen I think it would be well timed and appropriate for us to do our own iteration.

Also - I completely recognize that there are other people in the project who may feel that they want to run a summer program and take the lead on it. And I totally approve of and support someone doing that! I realize I’ve raised the GSoC banner high, but that doesn’t mean someone else can’t raise it higher. Let me be perfectly clear on this - I want students actively invited into the project by any means necessary. I’d be happy to sit with someone who’s feeling a bit more motivated than I and share my knowledge, experience, contact list for mentors, and help in any way I can.

In fact, I had made it a point this year to try to catalog and record all our planning details of GSoC so that another volunteer could easily enter into the role of a GSoC admin at a moment’s notice should that become necessary. So, hopefully that will be useful in this case.

Adminny-things:

This year was the first year that the GSoC program got a “real” budget line item. I had a lot of big plans for this. Last year we worked with the Joomla marketing team to create some fabulous logos, and I had gotten quotes to get some t-shirts and other materials printed. I had intended to get some students to events, and send special thank you packets to mentors.

I don’t know what happens to that budgeted money. I assume in organizations like Joomla there is always another use for it. Perhaps it can be given to the JET program (as I believe some of the funds came from there). In any case I have faith in the folks at PLT who I believe have ownership of that line item to judiciously expend those funds in areas where they will be most needed.

Feel free to ask me questions directly - I won’t be able to respond here on list but will try to fill in any questions you have for me.

[Victor Drover]

Not sure why no-one asked about it, but after a tonne of questions on Twitter it's clear I was not thorough above. 

I think we should be clear that if you want to use the GSOC funds for other items, they need to go through a budget process.

A document stating the reason for the request (GSOC didn't accept us), and new Objectives, goals and allocations should be fine in the absence of a formal process. 

Warm Regards,

Victor Drover
Treasurer, Open Source Matters
Kick-ass Reimbursement Processor
262-309-4140
@VicDrover

[Ryan Ozimek]

Hi all,

I agree with Vic on this, and I think it's a wise move to lead with planning and budgeting. We can definitely have a good balance of agility and fiscal accountability, and this is a good path to move forward.

One of the things we've discussed in past Board of Directors is to have quarterly budget reviews to take into account cash flow and expenditure realities. While we didn't create a documented process for this in the past, maybe for a first pass Mr Drover can recommend an amendment to the existing budget process documentation to express mid-year budget review and reallocation procedures?

Cheers,

Old man Ryan

Sent from my mobile device.

[Victor Drover]

Ryan, I was thinking of merging that idea it with the financial policy document, but after taxes.....

Warm Regards,

Victor Drover
Treasurer, Open Source Matters
Kick-ass Reimbursement Processor
262-309-4140
@VicDrover

[Saurabh Shah]

Hi Guys,

So earlier there was a budget for GSoC students in JET program so we can have them in events and appreciate with what they are doing and recognize them. Now we had GSoC budget separate this year which was taken out from JET program by cutting the budget almost moreover in half. Now GSoC program is not happening and I am not sure why we can merge back those budget item into JET program and get more contributors/volunteers into event and say thank you for what they are doing and give them a chance to meet and get motivated more to do more in the project. This includes GSoC Students which previously helped in the project. We already have GSoC students applying on JET team.

I don't want to bring a new topic here but this can be a great hep to the JET program and for all students to get benefited, if not then all other volunteers via JET program to say Thank you and how we appropriate them for doing awesome work.

Regards,

Saurabh Shah

Board Member

Open Source Matters Inc.
http://opensourcematters.org/
Phone: +91 - 9561160006

[Victor Drover]

It's because the funds were approved for students to attend. There is no student program, why would that money be assigned to volunteers for travel without a goal-based re-budgeting approach?

Also, what you suggest takes funds from PLT and transfers it to CLT. I don't think that's fair or pushes the project in the right direction.

As for the JET budget, the 2014 amount was $90,000, about half of which was GSOC. The 2015 budget is $40,000. It's almost exactly the same as 2014 (less GSOC). 

Finally, CLT has the largest team budget (almost as much as PLT and OSM combined), and chose $40,000 for JET. If more was needed, I think CLT would have budgeted to account for that. 

  

Warm Regards,

Victor Drover
Treasurer, Open Source Matters
Kick-ass Reimbursement Processor
262-309-4140
@VicDrover