some recent dev/2 or dev/3s may also be good having entire sponsorships than being denied portions of the package when in most cases they may not be able to afford for themselves extra funds which in some cases dev/4s or dev/5s can, I remember when i joined about 7 years ago before dev stages when i could afford nothing extra than a small upkeep while on the event, all that was considered was my need of the scholarship and what i was doing then for the community as a volunteer which wouldn’t come close to a dev/4. So i think there should be a balance between activity vs one’s need.
I also think some old dev/4 or dev/5 may wish to bring some new freshness in the community through some session on the event or something else and may wish to only show up if allowed a scholarship and so i think his/her previous contributions should still count in-case his/her application is sugared with some clues of why he/she most especially needs the scholarship for the particular event after some years of hibernation. There are also people backing up implementations with tons of previous experience who may almost have no time staying active over the web but may have a lot to share during these implementer’s meetings if allowed scholarships, think of PIH guys for-example and i think for such their previous contributions should supersede their current activity.
BTW some experienced good implementer’s around may not even be close to dev/2 so we need to strike a balance when insisting on dev stages lest we miss these great people who are most likely to bless these implementer’s meetings. It could also be an implementer we have never seen or heard from before until he/she applies and through their application let us know their OpenMRS experience and how we are contributing to their success.