Board Meeting FOSS4G2008

The OSGeo Board of Directors will meet in a face-to-face meeting prior to the FOSS4G2008 conference event. Space is limited to accommodate the board only (up to 10). General OSGeo meeting / discussion will be possible during Annual General Meeting 2008 later in the week.

Timetable

• 09h00 - Meeting start
• 10h30- Refreshment break
• 13h00-Lunch
• 15h30 -Refreshment Break
• 18h00 -meeting ends.

Topics

• Report from ED (Tyler)
• 2009 Vision & Priorities Discussion (Tyler)
  • Where do we want to be? What will be our priorities?
  • Review of organisation life cycle or development stage (similar to concepts here - here and here)
• Approve MetaCRS for incubation.
• Approve OGC Memorandum of Understanding
• Approve Conference contract (for 2009) - pointer lacking...
  • Motion to approve Conference contract provided final review by Paul Ramsey is positive.
• Budget Review and 2009 Planning
• Open discussion on:
  • How to attract sponsors, what can OSGeo offer to sponsors
  • Supporting local conference initiatives
  • How to improve marketing for projects and advocacy
  • Working with local chapters and potentially sharing sponsors
  • Strategic development of OSGeo's goals and mission

Minutes

In attendance: Markus Neteler, Jeroen Ticheler, Ari Jolma, Paul Ramsey, Frank Warmerdam, Tyler Mitchell, Arnulf Christl (chair)

• Started at 10am.
• Frank Warmerdam designated secretary, Arnulf chairing
• Tyler provided a report.
  • 501c3 paperwork is still pending submission, but expected shortly. Once it has been submitted it will likely be about 3 months till we hear back from the government with an approval.
  • Tyler provided a detailed walk through the of the recent financial reports sent to the board list.
• It was agreed that Arnulf, Tyler and Bob would meet-by-phone for an ED review within the next month. Arnulf will seek input from the board and possibly more widely in advance.
• The MetaCRS project was approved for OSGeo incubation on the recommendation of the incubation committee.
• The OGC/OSGeo MOU document was approved.
• The FOSS4G2009 PCO contract was approved with the caveat that Paul or a designate review the final text to ensure materially matches the earlier form that was reviewed.
• Extensive discussions of sponsorship, strategic directions, conference approaches, and budget followed, leading to the following conclusions.
  • A rough budget was drafted similar to 2008, but with $50K for marketing efforts.
  • This rough budget requires bringing in at least one new sustaining sponsor ($50K) this year, some preliminary candidates were identified and assigned to individuals for followup
  • It as generally agreed that the board would take on the role of reaching out and soliciting sponsors, with Tyler responsible for followup (invoicing, answering questions, etc)
  • We will investigate options that would allow sponsors to contribute funds to be held and spent by a local chapter (with direction from OSGeo), while still being an OSGeo sponsor.
• The meeting was ended at 6pm.