[FreeBSD-Announce] Deadline Approaching for Travel Grant Applications for BSDCan 2009

[Deb Goodkin]

This is a reminder that the deadline for submitting travel grant 
applications for BSDCan 2009 is April 9, 2009. If you already submitted 
an application, you will be receiving our decision soon.

The FreeBSD Foundation will be providing a limited number of travel
grants to individuals requesting assistance. Please fill out and submit
the Travel Grant Request Application at
http://www.freebsdfoundation.org/documents/TravelRequestForm.pdf by
April 9, 2009 to apply for this grant.

How it works:

This program is open to FreeBSD developers of all sorts (kernel hackers,
documentation authors, bugbusters, system administrators, etc).  In some
cases we are also able to fund non-developers, such as active community
members and FreeBSD advocates.

(1) You request funding based on a realistic and economical estimate of
travel costs (economy airfare, trainfare, ...), accommodations
(conference hotel and sharing a room), and registration or tutorial
fees.  If there are other sponsors willing to cover costs, such as your
employer or the conference, we prefer you talk to them first, as our
budget is limited.  We are happy to split costs with you or another
sponsor, such as just covering airfare or board.

If you are a speaker at the conference, we expect the conference to
cover your travel costs, and will most likely not approve your direct
request to us.

(2) We review your application and if approved, authorize you to seek
reimbursement up to a limit.  We consider several factors, including our 
overall and per-event budgets, and (quite importantly) the
benefit to the community by funding your travel.

Most rejected applications are rejected because of an over-all limit on
travel budget for the event or year, due to unrealistic or uneconomical
costing, or because there is an unclear or unconvincing argument that
funding the application will directly benefit the FreeBSD Project.
Please take these points into consideration when writing your application.

(3) We reimburse costs based on actuals (receipts), and by check or bank
transfer.  We require you submit a report on your trip, which we may
show to current or potential sponsors, and may include in our quarterly
newsletter.

There's some flexibility in the mechanism, so talk to us if something
about the model doesn't quite work for you or if you have any questions.
The travel grant program is one of the most effective ways we can
spend money to help support the FreeBSD Project, as it helps developers
get together in the same place at the same time, and helps advertise and
advocate FreeBSD in the larger community.


Thank You,

The FreeBSD Foundation