16:58:35 <tzafrir> #startmeeting DecConf team meeting, agenda: https://deb.li/dc23meet
16:58:36 <MeetBot> Meeting started Mon Aug 28 16:58:35 2023 UTC.  The chair is tzafrir. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot.
16:58:36 <MeetBot> Useful Commands: #action #agreed #help #info #idea #link #topic.
16:58:48 <tzafrir> #topic Roll Call
16:59:08 <tzafrir> Say hi if you're there
16:59:34 <anupaannjoseph[m]> Hi o/
16:59:47 <bhe[m]> Hi
16:59:59 <tumbleweed> o/ (apologies slow train wifi
17:00:11 <tumbleweed> DLange: yep, let's handle this in the sponsors channel
17:00:15 <santiago> hi!
17:00:16 <DLange> नमस्ते
17:00:43 <anupaannjoseph[m]> നമസ്കാരം
17:02:35 <terceiro> hi
17:02:46 * gwolf is in a concurrent meeting -- so I cannot follow :-(
17:02:50 <carina> hi
17:03:32 <nattiemh[m]> Hi from The Elsewhere
17:03:35 <tzafrir> #topic Finance: Second installment payment for Debconf 23 venue
17:03:47 <tumbleweed> IIRC second installment was paid
17:04:14 <tumbleweed> I'm busy discussing with the team if we can hold back the next installment a bit, to ensure that we use up our INR at foss-united
17:04:39 <tumbleweed> it's useful to have a big payment in reserve that can swall up any unused INR
17:04:58 <tumbleweed> but obviously this may make the hotel grumpy, so discussion needs to happen
17:05:28 <tumbleweed> (it would help if all the local sponsors paid foss-united ASAP)
17:05:29 <DLange> I guess the day trips are an option for this, too?
17:05:39 <tumbleweed> DLange: yeah, we must look at the numbers
17:06:13 <tumbleweed> I guess we have some local bursaries, too
17:06:25 <tumbleweed> we'll discuss it out of the meeting
17:07:04 <tumbleweed> after this week, SPI is not expected to be able to make prompt payment for two weeks
17:07:22 <tzafrir> #info Second installament was paid
17:07:45 <tumbleweed> yeah, srud reported it was received
17:09:02 <tzafrir> #topic Finance: Sponsorship
17:09:24 <tumbleweed> can we try to expedite remaining invoicing? There's quite a few outstanding IIRC
17:11:14 <tzafrir> #topic Finance: Budget update
17:11:18 <[pirate]praveen> invoices generated for all pending inr sponsors
17:12:01 <tumbleweed> [pirate]praveen: can we get them into sponsors git?
17:12:38 <[pirate]praveen> transport, local bursary, conference dinner and networking still needs to be paid, so I wonder if there will be much to pay four points
17:12:39 <tumbleweed> tzafrir: budget was updated, no more updates expected
17:12:55 <bhe[m]> DPL gave ACK for the revised budget. https://lists.debian.org/debconf-team/2023/08/msg00011.html
17:13:05 <bhe[m]> approved*
17:14:13 <tzafrir> #topic Registration: Numbers and room allocations for hotel
17:15:10 <[pirate]praveen> sure, will add invoices in git (on the run for last few days)
17:15:32 <tumbleweed> thanks!
17:15:45 <tumbleweed> nattiemh[m]: yuor section
17:16:44 <tumbleweed> as usual I'll point at https://debconf23.debconf.org/register/statistics/
17:17:21 * gwolf finishes concurrent meeting and heads back to IRC. Not too much backlog to process, good!
17:18:16 <tumbleweed> we're at 313 confirmed, which is probably a comfortable ~280 attendees on the busiest days
17:19:37 <[pirate]praveen> many are coming on weekends only I think
17:19:46 <tumbleweed> yeah, I think so
17:20:36 <tumbleweed> there are still more unapproved. I assume we'll do another round of review
17:20:56 <gwolf> Great, it's a very good number, and close to what we expected!
17:21:05 <tumbleweed> yeah
17:21:26 <[pirate]praveen> many are incompletely registered I think
17:21:39 <tumbleweed> to be that far, they are completely registered
17:22:02 <[pirate]praveen> so they were expecting to be confirmed but registration team not finding them in list to approve
17:22:11 <tumbleweed> I know of 1 case of that
17:22:19 <[pirate]praveen> there was at least one person who contacted me
17:22:24 <tumbleweed> but there is a decent list of people waiting to be approved
17:22:39 <tumbleweed> the instructions are clear about doing all of the steps
17:23:21 <[pirate]praveen> so if we can send a mail to such people, that could clear confusion, though that will increse the numbers as well
17:23:51 <DLange> you plan for 350, so you have good headroom
17:24:21 <tumbleweed> https://paste.debian.net/1290275/
17:24:41 <tumbleweed> [pirate]praveen: sure, can do
17:26:03 <[pirate]praveen> thanks
17:27:06 <tumbleweed> we have an existing badger script for this. I'll run it now
17:27:27 <tumbleweed> I assume we're not getting anyone from the registration team for this topic
17:27:33 <tumbleweed> (at this point)
17:28:28 <nattiemh[m]> (Sorry, I'm in the elsewhere)
17:28:43 <nattiemh[m]> Though I'm currently waiting in a line
17:29:13 <nattiemh[m]> There are the usual last minute requests for approval, I guess
17:29:23 <gwolf> heh, 13 registration steps? Wow!
17:29:35 <nattiemh[m]> Oh, he's already said that. Sorry.
17:30:39 <DLange> gwolf: Debian administration. I you can't do that the gpg key stuff will kill you. It's all a cunning plan.
17:31:00 <tzafrir> #topic COVID policy
17:31:14 <tzafrir> (Or lack thereof)
17:31:28 <tumbleweed> there's na MR
17:31:36 <tumbleweed> https://salsa.debian.org/debconf-team/public/websites/dc23/-/merge_requests/89
17:31:57 <tumbleweed> it's a pretty weak policy, but at this point, I think that's all that's expected
17:32:13 <tumbleweed> I am concerned at the reported difficulty of getting tests in India
17:32:33 <tumbleweed> COVID outbreaks are still occuring at every large event like this
17:32:55 <nattiemh[m]> It's not really written yet, is it
17:32:59 <[pirate]praveen> I think getting some test kits for on demand is fine, asking everyone to test is a stretch I feel, given the current level of covid-19
17:33:42 <tumbleweed> I think not asking everyone to test on arrival is irrisponsible
17:33:49 <gwolf> tumbleweed: But after all this time and where we are right now... it will inevitably boil down to individual consciousness and preferences
17:33:52 <tumbleweed> but I understand not everyone agrees on that
17:34:05 <gwolf> I completely agree with [pirate]praveen
17:34:29 <gwolf> Besides, during the two weeks some of you will be in India... Contact with people outside the bubble will be had
17:34:31 <tumbleweed> [pirate]praveen: I think we should *have* some at the front desk, rather than have to go and find a pharmacy when we first need one
17:34:51 <gwolf> ...better safe than sorry, yes, but I don't think a conference-wide mandate to get tested can be imposed
17:35:07 <gwolf> tumbleweed: Absolutely, we must have some dozens of available tests
17:35:07 <tumbleweed> you can still hand them out at registration and say we encourage testing
17:35:33 <[pirate]praveen> I agree with that, we can have some kits at registration, we are equiring.
17:35:35 <tumbleweed> if they're hard to get in India, we should import a pile.They're fairly cheap in bulk in europe and we could bring them in
17:36:05 <tumbleweed> someone in cambridge may have a big pile about to expire by the end of the year, that they can bring (via rattusrattus)
17:36:28 <tumbleweed> (assuming india doesn't make thta complicated at customs)
17:36:42 <gwolf> FWIW some people reject tests because of the physical discomfort of scratching the back of your eyes with a pen... I got (for my kids mostly) a set of saliva-based tests (from China, IIRC)
17:36:52 <gwolf> i think it would make sense to get some of those
17:37:24 <gwolf> Maybe they are a bit less reliable (information I found says it's exactly the same)...
17:37:32 <gwolf> but more people would agree to do it
17:39:41 <gwolf> https://www.amazon.com.mx/HEALGEN-pruebas-r%C3%A1pidas-ant%C3%ADgeno-COVID-19/dp/B0B6Y3ZKHC/ref=sr_1_1 (note that the price is in Mexican pesos, so MX$980 ≅ INR4000 ≅ €50 for 20 units)
17:40:19 <[pirate]praveen> in one or two days we hope to get clarity on availability as people we enquire also needs to enquire at their suppliers
17:40:57 <nattiemh[m]> (Sorry, my last line got delayed sending)
17:41:22 <tumbleweed> [pirate]praveen: thanks
17:41:51 <tumbleweed> (sorry, lost connectivity for a few minutes while crossing the FR BE border)
17:43:00 <gwolf> [pirate]praveen: Just checked in Amazon India, they do have many different suppliers (no "oral fluid" ones, though)... Worth checking if you can buy some?
17:43:48 <gwolf> Oh -- Antigen-saliva self test kits --- https://www.amazon.in/Angcard-Covid-19-Antigen-Saliva-Device-detection/dp/B09QD2F16Z/ref=sr_1_12
17:44:22 <santiago> how accurate are those tests?
17:44:59 <gwolf> santiago: better than no test (-: I'd suggest nasal ones for everybody who does not reject them, saliva-based for others...
17:45:00 <tzafrir> I guess we should leave the specifics of what test we want for after the meeting?
17:45:09 <tumbleweed> +1
17:45:19 <gwolf> ...FWIW at my kids' school ~1yr ago they accepted them as completely equivalent
17:45:24 <gwolf> right, I'll leave the topic
17:45:45 <tzafrir> #topic Bursaries
17:46:01 <tumbleweed> I presume nothing to say here
17:46:38 <DLange> you presume well
17:46:52 <tzafrir> #topic Visa
17:47:04 <tumbleweed> some of us have visas
17:47:15 <tumbleweed> have we heard of any rejections?
17:47:27 <[pirate]praveen> all people who were cleared by mea got invite letters
17:47:30 <gwolf> Other than the people dropped by the MEA... :-(
17:48:33 <[pirate]praveen> Nigerian missions saying 15 days to process and is asking for MHA clearance as well
17:48:36 <tumbleweed> yeah apparently we didn't get anywhere trying to get them re-consideration
17:48:42 <nattiemh[m]> I think there was a request to re-add then after the fact, though I'm not 100% sure
17:48:52 <nattiemh[m]> Oh
17:48:54 <[pirate]praveen> so we will have to deal with MEA again
17:49:05 <gwolf> TBH this does not surprise me... :-(
17:49:18 * gwolf still suggests tourist visas as the easier way...
17:50:25 <[pirate]praveen> MEA said these countries can delay the rest or sometimes don't reply at all when they cleared the rest
17:52:00 <tzafrir> #topic Content team
17:52:06 <[pirate]praveen> we asked them to inform us if they get any reply
17:52:14 <tumbleweed> ?1+1
17:52:20 <tumbleweed> err +1
17:53:31 <santiago> we are a delayed with the scheduling
17:55:25 <terceiro> I hope it should be ready in a few days!
17:55:36 <tzafrir> Anything else from the content team?
17:55:56 <santiago> a couple of days, I hope
17:56:52 <tzafrir> #topic Video team: Local equipment hire
17:57:26 <tumbleweed> deposits paid already
17:57:42 <tumbleweed> (for almost everything)
17:58:06 * tumbleweed 's train is arriving in Brussels
17:59:19 <tzafrir> #topic Progress on Haifa DebConf
18:00:24 * tumbleweed -> phone
18:02:01 <tzafrir> Apart from Haifa we have been checking some other potential venues. I'll talk with someone from one of those venues (Tel-Hai) tommorow)
18:02:49 <nattiemh[m]> I think that's about all on that topic for now
18:03:04 <nattiemh[m]> Hopefully more to report soon
18:04:18 <tzafrir> #topic Meeting schedule
18:04:28 <tumblingweed> In person!
18:04:57 <DLange> probably at some other time then
18:05:17 <nattiemh[m]> No! They must remain at precisely the same time and location!
18:05:32 <nattiemh[m]> Especially the location
18:05:37 <tzafrir> Location: sure: #debconf-team
18:05:44 <DLange> She must be desynced again. Matrix-user :D
18:06:20 * pwaring sends chairing vibes
18:07:51 <tzafrir> #topic AoB
18:07:55 <tzafrir> Anything?
18:08:40 <tzafrir> #endmeeting