Grants talk:TPS/Ocaasi, Valeriej, The wub/Open Help Conference

Questions about your request

Hello, Ocassi, Valeriej, and The wub:

Please note that Siko has recused herself from reviewing this request due to her involvement with the IdeaLab and Teahouse work, so Asaf Bartov and I will be reviewing the request on behalf of WMF.

Thanks for the request; we have a few questions for you.

1. You include US$300 for airfare for each person but you don't specify from where you will be flying to Cincinatti; without that information, it's difficult to understand your airfare budget.
2. You've each requested US$60.00 for airport shuttle from airport to hotel. Is that a one-way fair or does it also include transportation back to the airport? If a one-way fair it seems rather steep; could you offer a justification for the extra expense?
3. We notice that your request for hotel rates is exactly equal to 75% of the GSA rate. Does this coincidentally happen to match the hotel rates provided by the conference exactly or are you only applying for partial funding? The budget estimates you include here should be based on real numbers when possible.
4. You mention that one of your goals is "bring new inspiration and learning back to Wikipedia about what else is going on in open source help world." Could you be a little bit more direct about how / where you will do that?
5. It seems you have forgotten to complete a part of your request: "For the 3 sprint days, we're considering focusing on 2 key areas (note: subject to change based on inspiration at the conference itself):" I think this information would help us understand the impact of your participation.

Thanks for your responses. Best, Winifred Olliff (Grants Administrator) talk 16:50, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I've replied here and also updated the page accordingy.

1. I Will add our 'from' information to their airfare budget. Ocaasi is Philadelphia,PA; The wub is Cambridge,UK; Valeriej is Beaumont,Texas.
2. The shuttle is round trip, and only $30. My math was wrong, sorry! I've added a link to the price page and updated the sub-totals and totals (it's $90 USD less)
3. The hotel is $89 per night, a special OpenHelp negotiated rate. It's just coincide that it's almost exactly 75% of the GSA rate.
4. We will bring back inspiration in several ways: 1) Co-writing a WMF blog post about the conference; 2) Adding an update to the Help Newsletter and Teahouse newsletter; 3) Sharing slides from the presentation(s) we have proposed; 4) Taking back a summary of learnings to the Teahouse and Help WikiProject talk pages.
5. There are two sprint areas, and each one has an anticipated impact section. First is the Help volunteer engagement initiative; second is the Teahouse/Bugzilla greeting project. I'm not sure what you mean on this one, could you clarify please?

Thanks again, Ocaasi (talk) 19:18, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Ok, I think this page is stable now, after resolving the confusion over room rates. Awaiting any future guidance... Ocaasi (talk) 20:07, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, Ocassi, for the updates and improvements to the budget. It may take us a few more days to get back to you with a decision. We'll let you know if we need any additional information. Best, Winifred Olliff (Grants Administrator) talk 17:32, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Thank you! The new total is $USD 3,302, with all the corrected math. Cheers, Ocaasi (talk) 19:14, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Request approved

Congratulations: your request is approved. We'll be in touch shortly to arrange the agreement. Best, Winifred Olliff (Grants Administrator) talk 21:29, 16 May 2013 (UTC)

Woohoo! Thank you :) Ocaasi (talk) 21:49, 16 May 2013 (UTC)