Board Meeting 2009-10-08

This board meeting has been scheduled for the 8th of October 2009 at 15:00 UTC at 15:00 UTC, on IRC (#osgeo). We will need to make a Skype call if there is anything to vote on, so please make sure that you give Tyler your ID and have your box up and running. Ideally make a test call a day before.

If this date does not work for you at all please let the board list know so that we can find an alternative

Please add to the agenda before the actual meeting.

Agenda

• Appoint meeting secretary
• Short intro from the new board members (if you feel like it)
• Selection of executive: President, Treasurer and Secretary.
• FOSS4G budget decision whether to fund lunch
• Follow up on Broadband Mapping Discussion (see discussion on IRC logs and Letter)
• F2F Meeting preparation for Sydney
• Update from Tyler
• Pramsey, Change to Board Election Procedure "Charter members may apply all their votes to a single person or distribute them in integral amounts over multiple candidates" to "Charter member may vote for zero candidates or cast as many votes as the number of board slots open, but may not vote for the same candidate twice"
• cont. The Future of OSGeo discussion
• Add your items

Minutes

IRC Logs Here

Attendees

• Directors:
  • Arnulf Christl (President)
  • Ari Jolma
  • Ravi Kumar
  • Jeff McKenna
  • Markus Neteler
  • Christopher Schmidt
  • Frank Warmerdam (Treasurer)
  • Geoff Zeiss
• Staff: Tyler Mitchell (Executive Director, Secretary)

Discussion Points and Decisions

1. Appointed Tyler as meeting secretary
2. A few short words from a couple of the new directors. New directors: Chris, Geoff, Jeff and Ravi.
3. Selection of executive: President, Treasurer and Secretary.
   1. General agreement to leave executive positions as-is.
   2. TODO: Arnulf and Tyler draft summary of position responsibilities: Executive Positions - Board responsibilities are needed too.
   3. Email vote to reconfirm the positions to follow on Board list.
   4. All directors should familiarise themselves with the governing docs noted at osgeo.org/about
4. FOSS4G budget decision whether to fund lunch as per Cameron's email
   1. Needs answer by Wednesday 14th
   2. This would affect how much of the initial AUD$60k OSGeo will receive back from the event
   3. Some confusion about whether break-even estimates are with or without lunch and the 20k requested. "With another 50-60 registrations we will break even."
   4. Is that "break even without lunch", or "break even with the other 20k from lunch"?
   5. General opinion in favour of supporting lunch costs with the expectation that additional registrants will likely come forth.
   6. TODO: Jeff to follow up with Cameron on the funding scenario and report back to board list for final decision.
5. Follow up on Broadband Mapping Discussion
   1. No new information, not sure who is left working on this (Andrew Turner, Howard?)
6. F2F Meeting preparation for Sydney
   1. 3 directors, plus Tyler will be in Sydney, plus 2 outgoing directors
   2. Informal meetup with happen while there. Will post conclusions to wiki or list too.
7. Update from Tyler/Executive Director
   1. Journal - restarting with some new blood, Landon Blake joining to help co-admin the effort. Submit new article ideas to http://osgeo.org/ojs
   2. Finance - reviewer sponsorship goals and gap in funding as per 2009 Budget. Insurance almost ready. 2008 Finances are in Annual Report

[08:58] <TylerM> it does tend to come down to the roll of FOSS4G in some ways. [08:58] <jmckenna> or more 'events' (can of worms) [08:58] <seven> I think we have a much higher potential with sponsors than we curently manage to tap. [08:58] <TylerM> I don't think any wants to be using sponsorship funds to subsidised a loss through FOSS4g :) [08:59] <seven> But that needs some organizaitonon our side. [08:59] <seven> As we currently have no FunCom (seems it was not enough fun) [08:59] <TylerM> I only have a couple more points on my update.. then maybe we can come back to foss4g discussions. [08:59] <seven> the board will have to step in. [08:59] <gzeiss> ok [08:59] * crschmidt nods at TylerM [08:59] * seven shuts up. [08:59] <TylerM> * Education - I see this as part of the bigger picture for 2010... [09:00] <TylerM> lots more people are asking for it and I think with a bit more help from me.. [09:00] <TylerM> we can connect a few more dots this year. [09:00] <gzeiss> is educ revenue generating ? [09:00] <TylerM> nope [09:00] <TylerM> our focus to date has been on gathering existing material [09:00] <TylerM> and cataloguing it.. [09:00] <markusN> more 'events' I had also proposed after the cape town conf [09:01] <TylerM> rather than creating anything new since who has time? :) [09:01] <ajolma> gzeiss: training could possibly be [09:01] <markusN> 2 per year for example [09:01] <gzeiss> ajolma: agree [09:01] <TylerM> A few of us are proposing to also help much up training material (or create some) that aligns with a recognised GIS curriculum... [09:02] <TylerM> rather than merely focusing on "open source" training material.. instead come at it from a curriculum side. [09:02] <TylerM> Anyway, some of that is just semantics, but it can be an effective productive witha bit of staff time dedicated to it. [09:02] <TylerM> * Marketing - (last point) ... [09:02] <TylerM> I'm just wrappping up a contract that delivers various marketing material.. [09:03] <TylerM> largely stuff for handout, brochure, event banners, etc. [09:03] <FrankW> I think seeing training and education as a revenue source is at best long term. [09:03] <TylerM> but also software stuff for presentations, letter and general branding. [09:03] <TylerM> It should wrap up this week. [09:03] <TylerM> That was a huge hole in previous years that many, especially local chapters and projects, were begging for. [09:04] <TylerM> Beyond that, our marketing committee will continue to choose a few events per year to fund a booth at. [09:04] <ravivundavalli> seeing training and education as a revenue source.. is our dream in India [09:04] <TylerM> So if you know of good ones where we have some people on the ground ready to deliver it.. let us/me know. [09:04] * seven does not see training and edu as a revenue income for OSGeo. It will conflict with our member's business models. [09:04] <jmckenna> it seems like we could fill a day of meetings on foss4g/events, training, eductions ideas/plans...i'm finding it hard to sum up each in short IRC sentences in this meeting [09:05] <TylerM> sorry, when I say education/training I'm thinking purely in academia [09:05] <seven> OK. [09:05] <seven> Time is up. [09:05] <TylerM> seven: I can see some ways of doing it.. e.g. FOSS4G workshops don't conflict with the business do they? ;-) [09:05] <seven> This was a crowded meeting. [09:05] <jmckenna> bites lip [09:05] <TylerM> Anything else anyone wants to hear about? [09:05] <FrankW> Should we make 2009 budget review, and 2010 budget prelminary planning a focus for our next meeting? [09:05] <TylerM> .. from me, I mean. [09:05] <gzeiss> Or workshops ar Where 2.0 ? [09:06] <seven> Seem like we hav alot of new energy. I am very thankful for this! [09:06] <crschmidt> FrankW: Yes. [09:06] <crschmidt> FOSS4G will have come and gone at that point, right? [09:06] <FrankW> Or perhaps a focus on fundraising and do budgetting a bit later? [09:06] <gzeiss> Yes [09:06] <TylerM> talking about making money from workshops.. brings up the profit sharing model again.. [09:06] <seven> FrankW: +1 [09:06] <jmckenna> pramsey and i did go down the workshop route with osgeo...man interesting a year later here we are! [09:06] <TylerM> it was floated once or twice before, but we didn't get anywhere. [09:06] <TylerM> :) [09:07] <jmckenna> anyway... [09:07] <jmckenna> ha [09:07] <crschmidt> FrankW: To be honest, I think that having a solid idea of budget would help focus fundraising efforts, though obviously the two are linked [09:07] <seven> I really really think we should make an f2f meeting with all directors possible. [09:07] <TylerM> private firms could do training with endorsement from OSGeo, in exchange for revenue sharing. [09:07] <FrankW> In any event, I will commit to presenting our current status at the next meeting. [09:07] <jmckenna> yes these are huge huge topics to discuss over irc. f2f needed [09:07] <TylerM> okay, I'm done on my update. :) [09:07] <FrankW> seven: then we could budget to support it in 2010. [09:07] <seven> Thanks Tyler! [09:08] <ravivundavalli> +1 to Tyler [09:08] <seven> Yes. [09:08] <seven> There is one more point on the agenda. [09:08] <seven> # cont. The Future of OSGeo discussion [09:08] <seven> We will*not* start a discussion right now here... [09:08] <TylerM> by the way, a few of us are almost always online in skype or irc.. feel free to ping me any time you want to. [09:08] <seven> :-) [09:08] <jmckenna> you missed pramsey's election procedure point? [09:09] <TylerM> I think we've already hit on some of the 'future' topics already today anyway :) [09:09] <jmckenna> or i missed [09:09] <seven> But I have set up a Wiki page and want to gather the more obvious opinions. [09:09] <seven> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Talk:The_Future_of_OSGeo [09:09] * FrankW reloads wiki... [09:09] <jmckenna> seven: refresh wiki page? [09:09] <sigq> Title: Talk:The Future of OSGeo - OSGeo Wiki (at wiki.osgeo.org) [09:09] <seven> I'll add the link to the mail archive [09:09] <seven> and maybe we can start to collect some points there [09:10] <FrankW> jmckenna, pramsey: any explaination of why this change is advised? [09:10] <TylerM> paul and I were discussing it as well... [09:10] <pramsey> the current system is very susceptible to plumping [09:10] <pramsey> which works orthogonal to the idea of board members being "representative" [09:11] <seven> Does anybody have a link to that mail in the archive? [09:11] <pramsey> in hte current election, if you could get 6 of your friends to plump you and you plumped yourself, you'd be on othe board [09:11] --> JamesFee has joined this channel (n=JamesFee@ip72-208-186-161.ph.ph.cox.net). [09:11] <pramsey> so 7 people out of 95 electors and you're on the board [09:11] <pramsey> most elections have more stringent signature collection phases than that :) [09:11] * seven feels exposed... :-) [09:12] <jmckenna> yes that seems odd to me as well. i like the proposal of one vote per candidate [09:12] * crschmidt approves of the proposed change to election procedure. [09:12] <FrankW> If seven charter members felt it was that important, perhaps you should be on the board. [09:12] <TylerM> lol [09:12] <seven> It should be easy to change this. Where did the voting mechanism come from anyway? [09:13] <FrankW> However, I am also supportive of the proposed change. [09:13] <FrankW> I think I wrote it. [09:13] <TylerM> most people do not vote that way, so then it becomes unbalanced by those who do [09:13] <FrankW> We also use a similar approach for charter election - do we want to change that? [09:13] <seven> So someone more savvy in Web might want to give it a try. [09:14] * mloskot is trying to keep unplumbable [09:14] <pramsey> yes, both should be changed [09:14] <TylerM> I think both voting processes should be changed [09:14] <FrankW> any objections to the change? [09:14] <pramsey> the wider the field of candidates relative to voting pool, the more susceptible the results are [09:14] <seven> Good. FrankW: Do you want to give it try until the next meeting? [09:14] <seven> We could then have a motion and vote. [09:15] <TylerM> ... a try via email vote [09:15] <seven> Yes. FIne by me. [09:15] * FrankW too. [09:16] <seven> Wrap up. [09:16] <seven> Anything else anybody? [09:16] <seven> 10 [09:16] <seven> 9 [09:16] <seven> 8 [09:16] <TylerM> I'm good to go. [09:16] <seven> Motion to close the meeting. [09:16] <crschmidt> second. [09:16] <FrankW> +1 [09:16] * markusN seconds [09:16] <markusN> +1 [09:16] <seven> +1 [09:16] * crschmidt nods in assent [09:16] <gzeiss> +1 [09:17] <crschmidt> next board meeting is first thursday of Nov? [09:17] <ravivundavalli> feels good to be in the river [09:17] <ajolma> +1 [09:17] <jmckenna> +1 [09:17] <seven> crschmidt: Good that you ask! [09:17] <crschmidt> Same bat time, same bat channel? [09:17] <TylerM> great [09:17] <seven> Wait... [09:17] <TylerM> Geoff and Jeff - if you don't have my cell number let me know [09:17] <ravivundavalli> +1 [09:17] <TylerM> so we can connect in Sydney.. not sure I have yours either. [09:17] <seven> 2009-11-05 for next meeting time. [09:17] <seven> I will write an email to the board list. [09:17] <TylerM> Does this time of day work for our new directors? [09:17] <FrankW> do we want to discuss optimal time of day for the meeting? [09:18] * seven might not be available then. [09:18] <seven> Nobody complained so far. Any news here? [09:18] <-- tbonfort has left this server ("Ex-Chat"). [09:18] <gzeiss> TylerW yes [09:18] <jmckenna> TylerM: will email my cell, good point [09:18] <seven> ravivundavalli: How does this time work for you? [09:19] <ravivundavalli> +1 for time [09:19] <seven> Good. [09:19] <crschmidt> For the record, I have access to a conference line at any time with a US-ian phone number. I just need to set up a meeting beforehand, and can pass out access to the board via email. [09:19] <crschmidt> I know that it's suboptimal to have it only be US, but might be an alternative to skype if that doesn't work. [09:19] <TylerM> crschmidt: that would be excellent. [09:19] <seven> Good to know. [09:19] <jmckenna> works for me [09:19] <TylerM> for those out of country, we could fund some Skype Out credits to get in [09:19] * seven will Skpye into the conf line... Ugh. [09:20] <ravivundavalli> apetising [09:20] <ravivundavalli> dinner time [09:20] * FrankW runs for lunch. [09:20] <seven> Please consider adding your *short* opinion here: http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Talk:The_Future_of_OSGeo [09:20] <sigq> Title: Talk:The Future of OSGeo - OSGeo Wiki (at wiki.osgeo.org) [09:20] <seven> Mahlzeit. [09:20] <TylerM> ========== meeting ended