LCA 2010: Keeping the funds rolling in

Sam Varghese
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 03:59

Opinion and Analysis

Interacting with the media is not something from which McMillan shies away - he was responsible for the development of NewsRoom , a pioneering online news service in New Zealand, which was on the web in 1996 and is still around. He has also been involved in developing software for other media sites and says that that given him "a lot more experience with journalists as Real People (TM)."

For this LCA, he has taken on the role of being responsible for sponsorship. "When we were all divvying up the responsibilities I expressed a willingness to be involved in sponsorship. Andrew and Susanne (the Ruthvens, the co-organisers of the conference) thought that was an appropriate role for me, so I got the job. Well, part of the job, because I've also had help from Brenda Wallace and Nat Torkington."

The major sponsors of the LCA are more or less the same year to year. McMillan says: "There's always some continuity, and it's fantastic that LCA has (and continues to have) such great support from HP & IBM in particular. Over time the value and numbers of sponsors has been increasing a lot - back in 2006 sponsorship was pretty much only HP & IBM, but once someone starts to sponsor LCA we don't let them go.

Local sponsors are present partly because of the location of the conference, so they see benefit in the recognition within the local market.

But unlike other conferences where one has to wine and dine people in order to get them to put their money into sponsorship, LCA sponsorship is quite straight forward. "Sadly there's no schmoozing involved at all - or maybe I'm not doing it the right way," McMillan says.

"The sponsors all pretty much understand how their assistance helps us keep the costs down for attendees and bring world-class speakers to the conference, so they restrict their 'playing up' to negotiating as much as they can get for their sponsorship dollars, and that's a natural desire."

He agrees that it's now easier to get sponsors for FOSS events than it was five years ago. "I think it is. It's got much more credibility and there's a whole lot more recognition of the value and quality available, and inevitably that means there's a bunch more money in the whole FOSS ecosystem."

After the conference begins, McMillan has plenty to do. "I have to make sure the sponsors continue to be happy spending their money on the conference, so I'm sure I'll have to keep talking to them and resolving any little problems that might arise. Maybe that will be the time for a little schmoozing, although to be honest the week is going to be pretty full-on.

"I'm not sure what feedback they will be looking for, but if they ask me for any I will certainly be doing what I can to provide it. In a sense they are a 'customer' and they are definitely *my* customer, so I'll be doing whatever I can to leave no unresolved issues and to make the job as easy as possible for whoever I have to hand over to for the 2011 conference organisers!"

Like many other volunteers who give selflessly of their time to organise the conference year after year, McMillan has a sense of satisfaction in being involved. "Being part of the LCA team is a great opportunity to repay some of the value that I've received from LCA over the past few years," he says.

"I'm hoping that when I attend LCA in 2011 (wherever that is) that I'll just be able to relax and enjoy the show without that nagging guilty feeling when you see all the frantic activity that makes the conference flow smoothly for the attendees."

"Sponsorship isn't my only involvement in the conference - I've also been involved in speaker selection and I'm expecting I'll be busy during the actual conference just doing whatever seems to need doing."