Hello group,

Many thanks for the great work towards the interim report, which I introduced today at the GBIF Secretariat and circulated internally in the office. I will be back from Finland on 15 August, when I compile the tidy version, ready for the external circulation to GBIF Committees and the Governing Board.

Meanwhile, it’s time to send your travel authorization forms for Melbourne as described in the guidelines [1], you know the system already. The meeting dates are 10-13 October (four days excluding travel), so 9^th and 14^th are the arrival and departure days. We have agreed with Melodie that we will have three main days Mon-Wed, and Thursday will be used to finish the work if needed, and/or to meet with local data quality experts (TBC).

GBIF will therefore cover five days allowance and five nights in the hotel. You will receive a separate e-mail for your hotel booking, the group discount fare has been arranged. Remember that if you stay is longer that the meeting, your tickets are reimbursed up to the price of for the original dates. Once you receive confirmation of your TA form, please book the plane tickets.

FYI your survey now has 24 responses, see attached replies as for today. As we are now in August, you might like to remind your less active expert contacts [2] that their answers are very much needed. You might like to mark those who replied so it is easier for you to follow.

[1] http://links.gbif.org/travel_guidelines.pdf

[2] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Byyg7vYAqPoWCdkI_wU6PLsycQw6nq4J4ZSx303y6F8/edit#gid=0

Best regards,

Dmitry Schigel, PhD

Programme Officer for Content Analysis and Use

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
Secretariat

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