Prospective board members: travel sponsoring.

[Luc Verhaegen]

The board meeting log of august 16th says the following:
(https://www.x.org/wiki/BoardOfDirectors/MeetingSummaries/2018/08-16/)

"Since the paper committee had to reject lots of talks this year (35 
submissions for 18 slots) board discussed how to still make it possible 
for anyone to attend with modest means - travel sponsoring is coupled to 
accepted talks. Board decides to extend offering travel sponsoring to 
anyone who submits a talk proposal."

This seemed to have happened well _after_ the deadline for talk 
submission occured, precluding a lot of people from applying for such a 
generous offer.

And it is generous; i will now definitely submit a talk for 2019, as i 
am bound to find something tiny to code that i can give a talk on.

I also think that i have not seen who has benefitted from this 
sponsorship money that was spent, or the companies that they work for (i 
trust that the answer to the latter is "none"). Have i missed or 
overlooked this?

Fundamentally, the board exists to gather sponsorship money and to spend 
it wisely, and this is what, fundamentally, current and future board 
members should be judged on. Therefore, this new "ruling", how it came 
to be, and what effects it will have, is crucial for the upcoming 
elections.

How do prospective members feel about how this was handled?
How will this policy help improve the quality of talks at future XDC 
editions?
How will this influence the foundations budget?
How does this reflect on the sponsors and their willingness to sponsor 
the foundation?

Luc Verhaegen.