Policy-Discussion

[Iang <iang AT iang.org>]

CeBIT 2008, organisation plan, Minutes/Protocol/Plan

Present for many discussions over CeBIT 2007:  Joergen 
Heine, Jens Paul, Philipp Goering, Iang.

There were some problems with CeBIT organisation, mostly to 
do with misplaced lines of communication.

Rather than dwell on the past, we concentrated on the 
future.  In order to lift the game for next year, we had 
lots of talks in and around the need to plan events 
seriously.  The concept we have come up with for next year 
is this:

1.  Joergen Heine organises CeBIT 2008, starting this week.

  a.  He is to be mentored in this project by Jens Paul, 
who has a lot of experience in organising events.
  b.  There is a log of work to get through.  Lots of help 
will be needed!
  c.  Organising a big event like CeBIT should take a year.
  d.  Someone (else) should be responsible for coordinating 
all events.  I guess this would be a global Event Officer?

2.  The plan should start out with a planning figure of N 
Assurers present every day.  That number might change, over 
time, but it makes it easy to predict all sorts of other things.

3.  Joergen will ask for budget to cover the costs.

  a.  It is the job of the rest of CAcert to get that 
budget approved and delivered.  Jens will push the most!
  b.  Some of the budget should be provided up front.
  c.  Some mechanism is needed to make it usable:  bank 
account, Verein, etc.
  d.  We need to explore some form of German vehicle 
(Verein?  Association?) along the lines of the Dutch 
organisation Oophaga to manage this.
  e.  In theory, it should be possible to organise the 
German community to self-fund CeBit.  It's large enough.

4.  The full planning and activity will cover, in the 
fullness of time:

   a.  accomodation
   b.  travel (getting there, daily to accom)
   c.  entrance
   d.  communicating (always) with each Assurer
   e.  printing (CAP, FAQ, flyer, business cards, badges...)
   f.  promotional materials (mugs, etc)
   g.  presentations
   h.  booth
   i.  electricity, net, cables, routers
   j.  daily cycle
   k.  minor and incidental costs
   l.  training of new Assurers (materials, process)
   m.  on-the-day dispute resolution
   n.  contacts, foreign Assurers

5.  The Event Organisor is responsible for the Assurers, and 
the Assurers are responsible for the Assurances!  The EO 
does not do Assurances.

The Event Organisor is responsible for everything else, 
especially making sure that Assurers have good accomodation 
and travel plans, well organised in advance.  Any delays in 
supporting the Event Organisor bounce back to the Assurers: 
if they do not knowing what is happening, they will not turn up.

6.  Joergen (with Jens, and everyone) should build up an 
Event Handbook to collect the experiences over the next 
year.  Everyone needs this!



In conclusion:  Guys, trade events like CeBIT can be really 
big shows -- a lot of work goes into them and we should all 
applaud and enjoy.  And provide lots of support!

Here's to a successful 2008!

iang