[Soc-coordination] GSoC Mentors: GSoC Mentor Summit 2013

[Daniel Pocock]

On 03/07/13 17:55, Luke Faraone wrote:
> Hi Daniel et al.,
>
> Some clarifications on the process are below; I've dealt with this
> process in previous years and due to other reasons am familiar with
> Google's purchasing process.
>
> On 3 July 2013 04:54, Daniel Pocock <daniel at pocock.com.au> wrote:
>> I've just started looking over the details and made a hotel reservation.
> It is important that you follow the reservation process outlined in
> Carol's mail "[GSoC Mentors Announce] GSoC 2013: Mentor Summit Travel
> and Details" using the link provided there; this should not have
> required any payment information from you and will be billed to Google
> directly.

I have used Carol's link for registering - it prompted for my card
details but said nothing would be charged to me.


>> Carol's email suggests that flights should be paid after Google approves
>> a PO - but I think that would be difficult in practice because
>> international flight prices change a lot and most airlines don't make
>> reservations without immediate payment any more.  Can one of the admins
>> confirm that we can go ahead and book flights as soon as we find a good
>> deal and without waiting for the Google PO approval process?
> Generally, SPI gets approval for a PO, then you book the flights, then
> SPI files an invoice against the PO for the actual price, and once
> that is received you are mailed a check. However the policy is
> different this year; SPI will be reimbursing you immediately after the
> summit while it waits on reimbursement from Google.
>
> SPI's policy for reimbursement was outlined in Josh's mail "[GSoC
> Mentors] Organizations affiliated with SPI, please read"; in summary,
> email SPI as soon as possible after the summit with your receipts.
>
> This will require you paying for the flights yourself, then getting a
> reimbursement from SPI. If this presents a hardship, SPI has policies
> to handle that.

I don't mind waiting a reasonable time for SPI to process the
re-imbursement, the only concern I had is about the flight prices
changing between the time the quote is submitted and the time that
approval comes back.

Reading through the web pages, however, some of the information gives me
the impression that Google will just give SPI a blanket approval for
$2,200 and the SPI invoices for the actual amount spent - can anybody
confirm if this type of approval has been sought or granted already?  If
so, I'll just go ahead and book the flights in the next few days.

Thanks for the feedback about this

Regards,

Daniel