Below are some notes and FAQs for the Flock 2019 funding process. They are published here as they may be adapted for future years or budget situations.
When you registered for Flock, if you asked for funding for your travel, you were asked if you could pay anything toward the travel. This amount, called a copay, was specified as a dollar amount.
When the funding committee makes their calculations and determines funding offers, the amount you are asked to pay is considered from the copay. This is used to offset some of your travel costs and allows the committee to offer more funding to more attendees.
If you are receving full or partial funding from Flock for your travel do not book anything yourself without permission from the organizers. Flock travel that is fully or partially funded is centrally booked and administered.
Typically, this situation occurs because airfare goes up in cost. In these situations the Flock funding committee representative will have a direct conversation with you about the situation. Our goal is to try to find a way to ensure we can still fund your attendance, even if that means increasing your funding offer or working with you on alternatives that reduce costs. It is a conversation, not an algorithm.
What we will do is have a conversation to try and find alternatives to the increases and to get creative about how we can solve the situation. In some cases we may share the cost of an overage between Fedora and the traveler. In some cases Fedora will pay the entire cost of the overage and in others the traveler will. There is no single answer and each case is treated individually. For small increases we will typically find some money in the system to pay for it.
In this situation we will typically not worry unless the change is significant. If there is a significant change we will work with you to figure out the best path forward. In some cases this may be splitting the difference, in other cases it may all get credited to Fedora and in some cases it will all get credited to the traveler. There is no single answer and each case is treated individually. For example, a small reduction in travel costs may not result in any change in your contribution to your travel. This allows us to cover small increases for other people.
Each funding offer will describe the next steps for your situation. Typically, you will be asked to complete forms to begin the process of booking airfare and to create a visa letter. Hotels and other items are typically booked directly by the organizers and need no more input from you.
Register for Flock and request funding
The funding committee reviews all funding requests and decides which ones to fund. This is typically done in rounds.
Receive an offer of funding. Read it carefully and decide if you can accept it.
Work with the organizers to arrange your travel.
Go to Flock. Do amazing things.
If you have these needs during the conference, this should have been communicated in your Flock registration. If you have these needs during travel, there is a space on the travel form where you can indicate these items. In general, Flock funds basic travel accommodations and no extras. If there are costs for the extra services, specific routings, etc. you will generally be asked to pay them. Exceptions are considered on a case-by-case basis and there is no firm guideline for what will be paid by Fedora.
