As OpenCon enters its fifth year, we want to ask for the community's help in transitioning OpenCon from its annual fundraising cycle to a more long-term financial foundation. OpenCon is primarily sustained by generous support from organizations that sponsor each year. The challenge with this model is that most of the budget needed to sustain the project is raised in the year it is used. While this model has been essential in getting OpenCon off the ground, it also has negative aspects: making it more difficult to provide travel scholarships and creating risk for the project if there were to be a shortfall.
This session will provide an overview of how OpenCon has been supported financially to date, ask participants to brainstorm ideas for expanding that support, and sketch out a plan for moving forward and engaging the broader community in this work.
