freebsd announce - Mar 2011 - Accepting Travel Grant Applications for BSDCan 2011

Calling all FreeBSD developers needing assistance with travel expenses 
to BSDCan 2011.

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 15, 2011 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 applicant 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. And, we do not cover your costs if you end up having to cancel 
your trip. We require you to submit a report on your trip, which we may 
show to current or potential sponsors, and may include in our 
semi-annual 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