Balkans and participation for the Community Event

[Baadur Jobava]

Dear Balkans,

You are all great people and contributors and it's been a pleasure working
with you all!

It has come to my attention that the coming event in late Autumn will
exclude members of the L10n community, which will have their own gathering
as part of the Balkans community in mid July.

I would just like to propose that participation in the July L10n hackathon
not exclude people from the greater Balkans summit.

First of all, Balkans was set up very late, it should have been held in Q3
of 2016. This was not possible due to the a busy conference and event
schedule.

Secondly, Balkans is a summit bringing together all of people involved in
the Balkans communities. Having separate specialized events should not
count against participation.

Third, exclusion discourages participation in general, as people would more
like to be part of the greater Balkans event than separate mission-specific
events. This can also discourage addressing problems in an in-depth manner
like mission-specific gatherings.

Lastly, Balkans will be held in an area not easily accessible to low-cost
flights (Tirana), so people not sponsored will not have an opportunity to
join if they'd like to come nonetheless.

I emphasize the word 'exclusion' because it means just that: excluding
people from Balkans who have been involved in other ancillary events not
part of the main events.

I hope this matter is at least discussed and I propose putting it on the
agenda of the next Reps or Balkans videoconference, whichever comes first!

Thanks!

Jobava