[All Hands] FAQ Hawaii 2016

Mozillians
#1

Hello all,

Another All Hands, another FAQ, if you have more inquiries, questions, doubts, please reply to this topic. This FAQ is based on the previous ones, so feel free to ask anything you need to know.

What is an All Hands?
An All Hands is a meeting where all the Mozilla Employees get together to meet in person with their team mates, to work on their projects, to plan, and to discover more about the objectives and the goals of the organization for the next quarters… It’s also an opportunity to work across teams, to identify shared priorities and to build a broader understanding of Mozilla.

What are the objectives/goals?
The main objective is the opportunity to work in person teams that usually works remotely. This is very much a “get work done” event. Also is the occasion to learn about the objectives of Mozilla for the next quarters, and align all the teams under those goals.

What is the selection criteria?
Each team has assigned a certain amount of spots to invite volunteers, so they need to select carefully those people that they want to work more closely, or in a specific project for the next months. The criteria depends on each team, and also depends on the objectives or goals that they have for the next quarters.
The process was through nominations, and then the teams voted and select the volunteers based on their contributions, and commitment proposal.

How many volunteers are invited?
For the Hawaii All Hands, 70.

How often we have these All Hands and where?
From 2015, we are having 2 gatherings per year.

I’ve been working with X team and they didn’t select me, even after I made important contributions
It could be that the team you’ve been working with doesn’t have more space to invite volunteers. We encourage you to have a conversation with the team(s) you work with to better inform both of you for upcoming events.

Where I can find information about the All Hands?
You can check the wiki, where you’ll find all the necessary information. From the Participation team, we will be sending an email after you complete the registration with the details about how to book your flights.

What if I want to stay a couple of days more at Hawaii?
The official arrival date is December 5th, and the departure should be Saturday 10th. Anything outside these dates will be on your own. Mozilla will cover flights, meals and accommodation only for those days. If you want to extend your stay in Hawaii, be aware that you will have to look for an accommodation option, and flight price should be similar to the official dates.

It will be activities like previous All Hands?
Yes, please check the wiki for get more information.

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#2

Logistics information:

1) When the All Hands will take place?
The All Hands will be taking place from December 5th to December 10th in Hawaii, USA. Arrival date should be Monday 5th, there will be a welcome cocktail, and meetings and plenary will start on Tuesday morning until Friday. Departure date should be Saturday 10th.

2) What is covered by Mozilla?
All meals, travels and accommodation costs while the All Hands takes place. All food are included during the event. We will be using a shuttle transport to get from the Airport to the hotel. More information to come in the wiki, or here.

3) Do I need a visa to enter US?
If you are unsure if you need a visa or not, please visit this page: Information
You will need a valid passport for at least 6 months to enter the country.
If you are part of countries that doesn’t require a Visa, please check the ESTA requirements.

4) Does Mozilla covers Visa fees?
Yes, we will be covering costs related to visas, and ESTA process. Please contact Francisco for more information.

5) How will be the process to request reimbursement for visa fees?
If you are a Rep, you only need to file a budget request through the standard process. There is an event page in Reps portal, so you can include it in your request. If you are not a Rep, please contact a Rep in your country, or in your region to help you out. If that Rep doesn’t know how to help you, or refuse to help you for some reason, please contact Francisco Picolini.

6) What papers do I need in order to request the visa?
Each country has different requests, please contact your local US embassy in your city for more information. If you have to request something special, please contact Brianna or Francisco. We will be sending an invitation letter, and the hotel confirmation as soon as possible. With that and the flight confirmation email from Egencia, should be enough.

7) How do I book the flights?
After you complete the registration (through the link you’ve received in your email), you
will receive an email with a link to book the flight. Please note that this time it will be different, if you already have an Egencia account, you won’t be able to book with your profile. You will need to follow the link we will be sending by email, and follow the instructions, it will create a special account to let you book your flights for hawaii. If you book now on Egencia, your flight won’t be approved.

8) I’ve requested an account in Egencia, but I haven’t received anything yet.
Note that the account authorization is manually, so don’t expect immediate replies, or an email on a weekend. If it has been more than 72 hours without a reply, please contact Francisco Picolini.

9) It ask for Traveler Group and department
Please include All Hands Volunteers as traveler Group, and 1002-Participation as department.

10) Which Airport is the one that I should choose?
The airport is Kona International Airport (KOA)

11) What specific costs related to request a Visa are covered?
Only costs associated to process the papers. Which can include travel to the office (if you live far away, or if there’s no office or local embassy in your city).

12) What costs are excluded?
Since we are sending invitations with 2 months in advance, we won’t cover the following “extras”:

  • Fees associated to offices or agencies that process the visa for you.
  • Expedit/priority visas (we can do exceptions, but has to be reviewed)
  • Medical insurance (note that in some countries are “suggested” and in others is “mandatory” in order to process the visa. We will only reimburse in case of “mandatory”)
  • Passport (if you need to do a new passport, or if your passport is expired).

13) I’m under 18 years old, are the costs related to the visa of my guard covered by Mozilla?
Yes, exactly the same as stated above, we will cover only costs related to the visa, and won’t cover the “extras” already mentioned.

14) What would be the process to request the reimbursement?
The same as we stated above for requesting reimbursements.