FOSS4G2007 Governance

This is a working proposal, and has not yet been adopted.

The FOSS4G 2007 conference shall be managed by the FOSS4G 2007 Conference Committee (which is distinct from the OSGeo Conference Committee). The discussions of the FOSS4G 2007 conference committee shall take place primarily on the public foss4g2007 mailing lists (at lists.refractions.net) and by conference calls.

= Decision Making =


 * All non-material decisions can be taken by the chair, or his delegates (including Sea to Sky).
 * All material decisions must be passed by the committee, to ensure acceptance. In the interest of efficiency, absence of disagreement to a request will be interpreted as acquiescence.
 * Material decisions where there is a split in opinion will be handled by a majority voting system.
 * All material financial decisions must be accepted by the OSGeo board rep (ie, OSG has veto). So the committee can approve them "in principle" but the decision cannot be acted upon until the board rep actually signals it is OK (or vetoes it and returns it to discussion).
 * The conference committee may open some questions to the OSGeo Conference Committee or other bodies, but this will be a soliciation for feedback, and the decision will still be made by the FOSS4G 2007 Conference Committee.

It will be up to the conference chair to decide what constitutes a material vs. a non-material change.

= Membership =

The FOSS4G 2007 conference committee initially consists of the following, and can be extended at the will of the committee.


 * Victoria Committee
 * Paul Ramsey (2007 Chair)
 * Brian Low
 * Dale Lutz
 * Evert Kenk
 * Jason Birch
 * Olaf Niemann
 * Tyler Mitchell
 * 2006 Representatives
 * Claude Philipona
 * Luc Maurer
 * OSGeo Representatives
 * Jeff Mckenna (Conference Committee Chair)
 * Frank Warmerdam (Board Representative)

Other interested parties are encouraged to join the FOSS4G2007 mailing list to keep track of activities, and to provide feedback.

The OSGeo board of directors can replace the committee if it is determined to not be operating appropriately.

= Financial Commitments =

As required, Tyler Mitchell, as an authorized officer of OSGeo, will sign contracts on behalf of OSGeo. Material financial decisions and contract commitments must be approved by the OSGeo board.

Sea To Sky Meeting Management will maintain a working bank account for the conference from which conference related financial activity will be operated. Sea to Sky will be responsible to provide a detailed accounting of transactions on a regular basis to the FOSS4G 2007 conference committee, and the OSGeo Treasurer.