Example text for email to selection committee. See Application Process for more background and information.

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PARTICIPANT SELECTION PROCESS
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Applications are currently being gathered and archived. Applicants are asked to provide bios, contact details, and motivations for attending the event. The deadline for these applications is [Date]. The application process is competitive.

In the event that the pool from a particular sector or set of countries is not large enough, or we are dissatisfied with the applications, the deadline will be extended in order to diversify the final set participants. This new deadline will probably be [Date].

The advisory group will work together with the organisers to evaluate the applications. All members of the advisory group will be asked to view a pool of applications. You will be provided with an excel sheet of applications, with grades to be assigned along side each application. Along with the excel sheet, you will receive a separate folder including the original application forms. The number of applications you are asked to review will depend on the ultimate number of applications we receive. However, our current guess is that this will be approx. [Number].

You will automatically accept and reject some, whilst placing others in a second review pool. This will be done by grading the applications from 1 (do not invite) to 5 (invite), combined with your comments in an excel sheet provided by me. I will collect all grades and other comments. This process will continue until agreement is reached on border-line applicants and a final pool of applicants is agreed upon. Needless to say, your grades and comments will remain confidential to the review committee.

When reviewing applications, please consider the following:

• Particular attention should be paid to individuals' ability to use these skills and contacts in their work and projects when they return home. Participants should be selected for their experience in the voluntary sector, experience utilising technology in this sphere, their potential to contribute to the group, their possibilities for implementing solutions and sharing knowledge on their return home, and their interest in alternative technology solutions. These factors should be balanced with other concerns such as the overall mix of expertise and interests, multi-country representation and gender balance.
• We will ask you to also keep an eye out for applicants that you think may potentially be good facilitators. In every event we try to pull a number of the participants into facilitation roles, and to share their experiences with their peers.
• Applicants should be proficient in the desktop use of technology, have been involved in technology projects before, and be aware of FOSS. The working language of the event is [language], and good communication skills in [language] is imperative.