[Eg-oversight-board] Conference budget EG2016

Wed Nov 18 09:42:16 EST 2015

Hi all,

I'm adding a perspective as a past conference co-chair:

I don't know if the Board every clarified if the 10% increase was at the 
lineitem or total expenses level. However, looking back on previous 
conferences, I think the practice has been to go back to the board when 
when the increase was in one specific area of the budget.

IOW, I wouldn't look for approval on a revised budget if my reception 
costs increased while I also lowered my breakfast costs, leading to an 
overall food & beverage increase of less than 10%. But if my total food 
& beverage increased by more than 10%, then I would bring the budget 
back to the Board.

I think it strikes a nice middle ground. By requiring approval for 
increases at the lineitem level, you run the risk of micromanaging the 
conference. By only looking at the total costs, you could run into a 
situation where the conference team arbitrarily decides it's unnecessary 
to provide wireless access to attendees because they want to put on a 
better reception. I don't think the latter will happen, but I think you 
would want to make sure there is Board involvement in any decision to 
unfund something that has traditionally been funded.

Kathy

On 11/18/2015 09:28 AM, Andrea Buntz Neiman wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> My understanding is the same as Yamil's on this.
>
> "See" you tomorrow.
>
> A.
>
>
> Andrea Buntz Neiman, MLS
> Librarian II, Public Services
> Kent County Public Library
> 408 High Street
> Chestertown, MD 21620
> 410-778-3636 x2115
> www.kentcountylibrary.org
>
> On 11/17/2015 4:58 PM, Yamil Suarez wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> As far as I recall, the 10% change threshold is for the total budget
>> and not for a single conference budget line item.
>>
>> Yamil
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 17, 2015 at 4:04 PM, Ben Shum <bshum at biblio.org> wrote:
>>> To clarify what I wrote actually, when I went with the 10% changes, I
>>> wasn't sure if we were investigating lineitem specific data, or
>>> looking at totals.  If we're looking at the grand totals, then it has
>>> not moved enough all together to force a 10% change up or down on
>>> either side.  But if we look at specific subitems, that's where I can
>>> see AV cost has gone up, etc.
>>>
>>> Perhaps it would be good to spend a few minutes during our Thursday
>>> meeting to clarify board procedures regarding this type of work and
>>> make sure we have a clearly stated intent for future conference
>>> planners.
>>>
>>> -- Ben
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 17, 2015 at 3:58 PM, Ben Shum <bshum at biblio.org> wrote:
>>>> Hi Grace,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for passing on this update!  We look forward to discussing it
>>>> at this Thursday's board meeting (set for 2 pm Eastern, November 19,
>>>> 2015).
>>>>
>>>> Based on my recollection for board procedures regarding conference
>>>> budget, quoting from the wiki "The hosting site should also seek
>>>> approval from the EOB for any budget changes that increase an expense
>>>> by at least 10% and decrease income by at least 10%."
>>>> (http://wiki.evergreen-ils.org/doku.php?id=eg09:conference_nominations) 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In reviewing the attached spreadsheet vs. the one sent out on June
>>>> 2015 
>>>> (http://list.evergreen-ils.org/pipermail/eg-oversight-board/2015-June/001074.html)
>>>> which was the last one I could find... the only major areas of change
>>>> that fit the parameters set above would be the increase in total AV &
>>>> Service line and the addition of the EventBrite Registration fee.
>>>> Otherwise, it appears all other changes fall outside those parameters
>>>> (and there's better projected income and less expense elsewhere
>>>> anyways).
>>>>
>>>> I agree with your comment that proceeding with EventBrite is simpler
>>>> and am glad that the conference organizers have things so well in
>>>> hand.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you again for this update and I look forward to receiving
>>>> further feedback from other board members.
>>>>
>>>> -- Ben
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Nov 17, 2015 at 3:05 PM, Grace Dunbar 
>>>> <gdunbar at esilibrary.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>>> As the head of the EOB Conference Committee I've been working with 
>>>>> Tanya on
>>>>> the details for the Evergreen 2016 Conference.  I'm pleased to say 
>>>>> that they
>>>>> have things well in hand and are doing a great job.  They have 
>>>>> already begun
>>>>> contacting sponsors and the call for proposals has been out for a 
>>>>> while now.
>>>>> Registration is going up this week on Eventbrite; however, since 
>>>>> the SFC
>>>>> could not guarantee us a reduced/free rate, the decision was made 
>>>>> to just
>>>>> pay for the service.  I agreed with the decision as I certainly 
>>>>> didn't want
>>>>> us to get into the same situation as we were last year with the 
>>>>> last minute
>>>>> uncertainty.  There have been some changes to the budget over the 
>>>>> past few
>>>>> months that have accumulated to a 10% change in the budget which
>>>>> necessitates EOB approval.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please find the revised budget attached.
>>>>>
>>>>> Tanya or a representative from NC will be at the EOB meeting this 
>>>>> Thursday
>>>>> to answer questions. Unfortunately, I will not be at the meeting 
>>>>> as I'm out
>>>>> of the office that day.
>>>>>
>>>>> All in all, I'm exceedingly pleased with how the conference is 
>>>>> going and I'm
>>>>> confident that it will be a success.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers!
>>>>> Grace
>>>>>
>>>>> -- 
>>>>> Grace Dunbar, Vice President
>>>>> Equinox Software, Inc.  -  The Open Source Experts
>>>>> gdunbar at esilibrary.com
>>>>> 1-877-OPEN-ILS    www.esilibrary.com
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> eg-oversight-board mailing list
>>>>> eg-oversight-board at list.evergreen-ils.org
>>>>> http://list.evergreen-ils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/eg-oversight-board 
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> Benjamin Shum
>>>> Evergreen Systems Manager
>>>> Bibliomation, Inc.
>>>> 24 Wooster Ave.
>>>> Waterbury, CT 06708
>>>> 203-577-4070, ext. 113
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Benjamin Shum
>>> Evergreen Systems Manager
>>> Bibliomation, Inc.
>>> 24 Wooster Ave.
>>> Waterbury, CT 06708
>>> 203-577-4070, ext. 113
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> eg-oversight-board mailing list
>>> eg-oversight-board at list.evergreen-ils.org
>>> http://list.evergreen-ils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/eg-oversight-board 
>>>
>>
>>
>
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-- 
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 343-0128
klussier at masslnc.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier