pcplantdb

[Richard Morris <webmaster@pfaf.org>]

John Schinnerer wrote:
> Aloha,
>
>
> > Other things to account for the 80% (in a normal project)...
>
> [snip]
>
> Holy bovine life forms...I just want to leverage resources we've collectively
> already got and (ideally) get paid for my time.

Well its not all waste product from male bovine digestion.
Partially what I've put is the sort of expenses which you
might expect from a "normal" (academic) project. Part of
what we are doing here is identifying all potential project
costs.

In the past I've experienced funded projects which
did not cover everything and we have had to payout quite a lot
from core funds to cover expenses needed to get the project done.
Permaculturally I suppose we need a design of the whole
project and all its elements.

The other aspect is what funders expect. I've been
told in fundraising seminars not to under price the project.
If the funders see something too cheep they won't take it
seriously. If the funders see what to them is an
important aspect then they won't take it seriously.
If they see we have thought the whole thing through
they might.

> In short, whatever funding we might get I think would be best spent on getting
> the work done instead of all this corporate overhead type of...well, crap,
> IMO.

Yes I've struggled with this. It is a whole lot
easier just to go ahead and write the code. Rather than
spend as much time writing the project spec and costings,
having to wait around for the funding to appear. And then
jump through all the hoops the funders put up.

> No doubt we *could* spend 80% on overhead, but why?  What's the point here? 
> What's Permaculturish about replicating academic/corporate resource gluttony?

I'm not saying it should be 80% and I don't see it all as gluttony.
For most aspects I'd say the expenditure is necessary.

Travel - Things happen faster if we can meet face to face.
        I'd guess a presentation to our funders would be
        needed.
Office costs - someones got to pay for our internet connections!
Accounts/insurance - If people are paid then someone needs
        to do the books. We also need to get ourselves legally covered.
Research Tools - we should all have at least a copy
        of Toby's book on guilds. If we are adding new
        info we need to have references to appropriate literature.
        In general the internet is still a poor source of
        quality information, most of the good stuff is found
        in papers and books.
Dissemination - In my view one of the most important aspects
        of the project. We need to let the pc community know
        about this. It will require presentations at various
        PC gatherings so the community know about this. Only
        a small proportion of PC'ers read the mailing lists.
        My greatest fear for the project is that we build
        this wonderful system and nobody uses it. There are
        a lots of examples of this happening out there.
Hardware - I for one could do with a new PC. Mines getting
        rather old and slow.
Software - I guess most will be open source so no costs.
Licence costs - if we want quality content we might need
        to pay for some of it. I'm thinking specifically
        of getting a good repository of pictures.
server costs - again probably free, but we need to explain why
        this is so. A letter from the the ibiblio admins
        would explain this.
Production costs - if we are making CD's then these cost.
        Would we sell them, give them away, or charge a nominal
        fee?

These are all costs which have to be met. They either come from
our own pockets or from the funders or we find some way
that they can be provided for free.

        Rich
--
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