OSGeo-BE-meeting-20150703

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Skype Meeting 03-07-2015

Present

Dirk Maëlle Moritz Marc Tommy

Agenda

OSGeo-BE

* Legal structure ASBL/VZW "statuts"
* Budget

FOSS4G-BE

* Web site
* Call for papers
* Call for sponsors
* Translations
* Collaboration with ICA
* Hackathon Open Data Brussels
* State of the map

OSGeo-BE

Legal structure ASBL/VZW "statuts"

Moritz sent a revised version of the "statuts" via the mailing list on 02/07/2015. Points discussed are :

Founding members : at this point, Moritz, Dirk, Tommy, Marc and Maëlle want to be founding members. Are there other candidates (Johan, Gaël, ...) ?
article 2, localization : the association will be localized at Moritz's home address
article 5, effective members : physical persons only or also moral persons ? There is no clear view on this point. One of the major argument against moral persons members is the risk of a possible "takeover". In OSGeo-fr, only physical persons are allowed. Some actions will be taken in order to progress on this point (see below).
article 7, non charter member : agreement to mimick OSGeo central and allow registration via the web site.
article 11, membership fee : annual contribution : free membership is a possibility but it can only be done through sponsorship. Depending on the budget required to make the organisation work, a contribution may be required
article 12, general assembly : only effective members are part of the general assembly. Other members can assist if they want, but do not have the right to vote.
board members : the following proposition is made :

* President : Dirk
* Secretary : Tommy
* Treasury : Marc

dealine : the legal structure should be created no later than October 1st

Action: Johan, Gaël or others must decide if they want to be founding members.
Action: Dirk will discuss the situation about membership types in Como.
Action: Marc will ask OSGeo-fr why they only accept individuals.
Action: Dirk and Marc will ask about membership fees in OSGeo-fr and OSGeo.nl.
Action: everyone : review the board members proposition.

Budget

The registration of the ASBL/VZW costs approximately 180€. Benefits (if there are any) from the FOSS4G-BE event will be used to finance the organisation. A bank account can be created prior to the ASBL/VZW official creation : for instance, this can be done via triodos.be (association de fait - a de facto association) It is agreed that the organization should have a very transparent accounting.

Action: Marc will make a first simple financial plan with potential income and costs.

FOSS4G-BE

Web site

A web site should be up and running very fast (by 15/07 ?) . This is an important prerequisite for the call for sponsors and call for papers. The proposition made by Gaël's contact (Marcos) is a full "communication package" with the website itself (around 10 pages), flyers, posters, event coverage, ... Marcos estimated the work around 10 days - 2000€. Even if the price is interesting for the whole package, it appears to be an expensive first investment. There are also simpler approaches : linkedin page, wiki, ...

Action: Moritz will check if it is possible to involve less money in the website.

Call for papers

The call for papers should be out before the FOSS4G in Como.

Action: Johan : what is the current situation about the call for papers ?

Call for sponsors

Maëlle has established a spreadsheet with a lot of potential sponsors (for Wallonia and Brussels) . The document has been sent to Marc, Gaël, Tommy and Moritz. Dirk also has list of potential sponsors in Flanders. The idea is to send the call for sponsors to the organisations listed and also to contact some persons directly.

Action: Gaël, Marc and Tommy will review Maelle list.
Action: Dirk will complete his list with contact persons.
Action: Tommy will contact FPS Finances to see if they are interested to sponsor such an event.

Translations

Maëlle has contacted two schools of translators. Gaël will also contact some companies. We area now waiting for answers.

Collaboration with ICA

They cannot support us financially, nor with human resources, but they would like to disseminate the infos concerning FOSS4G-be amongst their members with a call for further dissemination within each member's institution. On the basis of an experience at UCL of this April, there is a proposal to launch an OSM mapathon in support of http://www.missingmaps.org/. This would take place on one day during the coming academic year and ideally be a coordinated action in all universities, inviting students to participate.

Hackathon Open Data Brussels

The BRIC would like to organize a new Open Data Hackathon this year. The event could take place the day before our FOSS4G-BE event. Even if we'll surely be very busy on that day, this could be a good opportunity for OSGeo-BE to promote OSGeo projects and OSGeo-Live.

Action: Gaël will try to get a more clear picture of the situation and report it back to the mailing list.

State of the map event

The state-of-the-map event is coming to Brussels next year: we should definitely promote OSGeo-be; eventually organizing a track about OSGeo / OSM what are the relationships, how we cross-feed each other, how we can strengthen the cooperation.

Action: Moritz will try to get a more clear picture of the situation and report it back to the mailing list. Dirk can backup him if needed.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 24, 14:00, via Skype.