<div dir="ltr">What if you try to avoid to let a single person travel around the world until he resigns because he run out of money or just got burned out? ;-)<div>It may be fun (for a while), but it is also a lot of work.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Open source software development is done by a community and not a single person/company. That's why we are strong. So isn't better to let the nearby OSGeo "advocates" speak and OSGeo could offer to pay (if requested) for the travel expenses from a yearly budget. This would lower the costs and share the work.</div>
<div><br></div><div>And if a conference wants to have the president speaking, then they must cover the travel expenses.</div><div><br></div><div>Daniel</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 2:20 PM, Smith, Michael ERDC-RDE-CRREL-NH <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Michael.Smith@erdc.dren.mil" target="_blank">Michael.Smith@erdc.dren.mil</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">I agree, a very strong +1. I would also say that something like a<br>
membership fee could help support travel activities for designated OSGeo<br>
Board members. While we are a volunteer organization, I do not believe<br>
that OSGeo officers should have to fund OSGeo required/desired travel.<br>
<br>
Mike<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
--<br>
Michael Smith<br>
<br>
US Army Corps<br>
Remote Sensing GIS/Center<br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
On 7/16/14, 8:12 AM, "Daniel Morissette" <<a href="mailto:dmorissette@mapgears.com">dmorissette@mapgears.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
>Strong +1 on everything Arnulf wrote here.<br>
><br>
>Daniel<br>
><br>
><br>
>On 14-07-16 4:07 AM, Seven (aka Arnulf) wrote:<br>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----<br>
>> Hash: SHA1<br>
>><br>
>> Even,<br>
>> this is well summarized, thanks.<br>
>><br>
>> (...if you missed the thread go check the board list)<br>
>><br>
>> Further to this I mut say that the president should get all the<br>
>> support from OSGeo to travel to events - very obviously also including<br>
>> FOSS4G. I never asked directly because I felt awkward. Stupid but<br>
>> honest. Towards the end of my presidency I did ask and also got some<br>
>> travel support because otherwise I would not have been able to sustain<br>
>> it. I have it all in plain numbers before me now because my accountant<br>
>> made a point of tagging everything I did for OSGeo or for business. In<br>
>> 2011 I spent more than 35k US$ for travel - all out of my own pocket<br>
>> except for 10% out of OSGeo budget. This is in low cost<br>
>> accommodations, just to put numbers into relation. Traveling at a<br>
>> higher standard would have pushed my travel budget to 70$ or 100k<br>
>>easily.<br>
>><br>
>> Next: Yes, my business suffered a lot during my presidency. It is one<br>
>> of the reasons why I think that the term should be limited. Oher than<br>
>> Jeff I think that one year president elect followed by one year full<br>
>> president is enough. There is nothing worse than burning out your<br>
>> presidents and discarding them when they are done. Not good.<br>
>><br>
>> Yes, being president connected me with many "important" people and<br>
>> yes, I expected to get great job offers. This did not happen. People<br>
>> expect that you get paid if you meet them at conferences in the role<br>
>> of OSGeo president. They all get paid to get there themselves. They<br>
>> cannot even imagine that you would go there on your own, private cost.<br>
>> It is usually only the odd single consultant who has to pay "on their<br>
>> own". Everybody else gets sent by their company. Strangely all OSGeo's<br>
>> last presidents at one point were odd single consultants and had to<br>
>> pay for conferences, cater for their own travel and accommodation. So<br>
>> if you like these folks to reperesent you then make sure they can<br>
>> afford it.<br>
>><br>
>> Ha, this developed a bit into a rant, please excuse.<br>
>><br>
>> But please give our president and the board and all the OSGeo officers<br>
>> all the support they need. Rest assure that they deserve it and also<br>
>> rest assured that they will not misuse any funding they get. I<br>
>> personally vouch for each single one of the folks on the board right<br>
>> now and before. Hard working nice people who just have this extra edge<br>
>> to drive OSGeo forward.<br>
>><br>
>> And if you don't like how anybody in these roles acts then nominate<br>
>> and vote differently next time. It is very straight forward, really.<br>
>> Stand up yourself and do things, after all we declared it a do-ocracy<br>
>> not a complai-no-crazy.<br>
>><br>
>> Have fun,<br>
>> Arnulf<br>
>><br>
>> PS:<br>
>> I am currently offline on holidays and only chimed in by pure chance<br>
>> so please do not expect anything else from me until beginning of August.<br>
>><br>
>> /me waves...<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> On 07/15/2014 10:02 AM, Even Rouault wrote:<br>
>>> Cameron,<br>
>>><br>
>>> I agree in principle with the accountability, but I don't think we<br>
>>> should make Jeff's life harder than it needs to be. In the end, the<br>
>>> board is elected and if people are not happy with how the budget is<br>
>>> spent, they will say it with their votes. Let trust people, and<br>
>>> especially when their past accomplishments speak for them. And for<br>
>>> having been in Notthingham last year, I can remember having seen<br>
>>> Jeff many times on the OSGeo booth.<br>
>>><br>
>>> Best regards,<br>
>>><br>
>>> Even<br>
>>><br>
>>>> Hi Jeff, I acknowledge that you do a lot on behalf of OSGeo, and<br>
>>>> would hasten to add other things that you do, such as traveling<br>
>>>> to and presenting at various conferences about OSGeo. (There are<br>
>>>> also many others amongst the OSGeo membership who do much, often<br>
>>>> with very little public recognition).<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> Following are a few points for my opinion:<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> What OSGeo is very good at is being efficient in how we spend<br>
>>>> our limited budget by drawing upon our talented membership (see<br>
>>>> Board priorities [1]).<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> There are specific tasks which the board should be addressing,<br>
>>>> and funding if required. One of these I think is important is<br>
>>>> the setting up and manning of an OSGeo booth at the annual FOSS4G<br>
>>>> conference. It is an excellent way to meet face to face with the<br>
>>>> greater community. This task can be done by anyone from the<br>
>>>> community, but it does help to have people with deep OSGeo<br>
>>>> experience, such as a board member or president.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> Personally, I don't see what the big issue is regarding setting<br>
>>>> up a booth. I've done it a number of times. I really enjoy being<br>
>>>> at the OSGeo booth because it attracts lots of really interesting<br>
>>>> people who would love to know more about OSGeo. All that is<br>
>>>> required is for someone to bring an OSGeo banner, and have a<br>
>>>> laptop showing OSGeo-Live on it. (Some people do more, but that<br>
>>>> covers the essentials).<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> The board should be accountable to our members for all budget<br>
>>>> spent. If we pay for someone's travel budget to a conference,<br>
>>>> what does OSGeo gain from that sponsorship beyond what is already<br>
>>>> provided by existing attendees? It is an easy question to answer<br>
>>>> if the money is going toward manning a booth, where we evangelise<br>
>>>> OSGeo.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> So anyway, it is possible we have a misunderstanding over how<br>
>>>> much effort is required to be involved in an OSGeo booth, and<br>
>>>> hope that you can re-consider.<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> [1]<br>
>>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><a href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors#OSGeo_as_a_low_capital.2C_" target="_blank">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors#OSGeo_as_a_low_capital.2C_</a><br>
>>>volunteer_focused_organisation<br>
>>>><br>
>>>><br>
>>><br>
>> On 14/07/2014 9:30 pm, Jeff McKenna wrote:<br>
>>>>> Hi Cameron,<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> I would agree that it is very important to have a face of<br>
>>>>> OSGeo representing the foundation at the main FOSS4G event.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> As I grow into this role (I've only been President for about<br>
>>>>> 1.5 years now) I realize the demands of the position, and how<br>
>>>>> important it is to build and maintain relationships (especially<br>
>>>>> with other foundations and groups in our 'ecosystem'). There<br>
>>>>> is a lot to the position, and a lot that no one sees (I am<br>
>>>>> brought into discussions as OSGeo president almost every day it<br>
>>>>> seems).<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> With that said, adding to my responsibilities, with already so<br>
>>>>> much on my plate, is not possible. Plus you can search the<br>
>>>>> OSGeo Marketing mailing list for questions from me about this<br>
>>>>> time last year for booth materials for Nottingham (unanswered,<br>
>>>>> materials non-existent). The reality is that it always comes<br>
>>>>> down to boots-on-the-ground for making the booth happen<br>
>>>>> (massive thanks to Ian Edwards last year in Nottingham, as an<br>
>>>>> example). As president I will be already pulled into so many<br>
>>>>> things in Portland.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> As an example, the LOC is already on me about the AGM...and I<br>
>>>>> must soon start the Sol Katz process...likely help Jorge with<br>
>>>>> elections.... get my drift?<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> Also, unfortunately again charter members send me private<br>
>>>>> messages saying great things that I want the whole community to<br>
>>>>> hear - but in the end it is me bringing it public again. So,<br>
>>>>> here it is again: I got several responses privately to this<br>
>>>>> 'attendance' message that it is terrible that i must ask for<br>
>>>>> funding as president, that there should be a separate president<br>
>>>>> travel budget and i shouldn't have to justify publicly<br>
>>>>> travel..that this message is noise and we should be talking of<br>
>>>>> more important things etc etc...all true, but i wish they would<br>
>>>>> bring this public and not me have to say it. well here again i<br>
>>>>> am.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> So to answer your questions directly Cameron: I am more than<br>
>>>>> ready to represent OSGeo in the Portland event. I feel it is<br>
>>>>> very important to have this constant and stable face of OSGeo<br>
>>>>> at events. As for increasing my role, that is really<br>
>>>>> physically impossible; I will do my best, but I would ask that<br>
>>>>> we rely on a local chapter for gathering booth materials etc.<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> Your President,<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> -jeff<br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>><br>
>>>>> On 2014-07-13, 4:26 AM, Cameron Shorter wrote:<br>
>>>>>> Hi Jeff and others, I think that it is important for an<br>
>>>>>> official OSGeo representative to be at the FOSS4G conference<br>
>>>>>> to facilitate evangelising OSGeo, and OSGeo (or FOSS4G)<br>
>>>>>> should cover expenses of this person. Ideally, this person<br>
>>>>>> should be the OSGeo President, but could be someone else if<br>
>>>>>> the president is not available.<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> I would envisage the representative would play quite a public<br>
>>>>>> role, likely talking with many people at an OSGeo booth. This<br>
>>>>>> would typically involve the representative also playing a<br>
>>>>>> lead role in ensuring the OSGeo booth is set up and running<br>
>>>>>> smoothly.<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> Jeff, would you be ok with taking on this type of role? Could<br>
>>>>>> you please expand on how you would envisage this working.<br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>><br>
>>>>>> On 11/07/2014 3:34 am, Jeff McKenna wrote:<br>
>>>>>>> Hi Board,<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> We're about 2 months away from FOSS4G-Portland, and I just<br>
>>>>>>> want to be open that no one has contacted me to represent<br>
>>>>>>> OSGeo at that event. Other (regional) events give me lots<br>
>>>>>>> of notice, handle flights, hotels, meals, for the OSGeo<br>
>>>>>>> President to attend; however I learned last year that for<br>
>>>>>>> the main FOSS4G event it is just assumed that I will be<br>
>>>>>>> there in person. Well to avoid that last minute chaos<br>
>>>>>>> again, I am here asking the Board for use of the "Strategic<br>
>>>>>>> travel" funding (as listed in the budget<br>
>>>>>>> <a href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Budget_2014" target="_blank">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Budget_2014</a>) to cover my<br>
>>>>>>> flights, hotel, and misc expenses (transfers) for FOSS4G<br>
>>>>>>> Portland.<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> Last year there was a debate as to whether this should be<br>
>>>>>>> funded by the FOSS4G committee or in fact by the OSGeo<br>
>>>>>>> Board, and it was decided it made most sense for the OSGeo<br>
>>>>>>> Board to cover it.<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> Thoughts?<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>> -jeff<br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>>>><br>
>>>>> _______________________________________________ Board mailing<br>
>>>>> list <a href="mailto:Board@lists.osgeo.org">Board@lists.osgeo.org</a><br>
>>>>> <a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board" target="_blank">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board</a><br>
>>>><br>
>>>> -- Cameron Shorter, Software and Data Solutions Manager LISAsoft<br>
>>>> Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf, 26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009<br>
>>>><br>
>>>> P <a href="tel:%2B61%202%209009%205000" value="+61290095000">+61 2 9009 5000</a>, W <a href="http://www.lisasoft.com" target="_blank">www.lisasoft.com</a>, F <a href="tel:%2B61%202%209009%205099" value="+61290095099">+61 2 9009 5099</a><br>
>>>><br>
>>>> _______________________________________________ Board mailing<br>
>>>> list <a href="mailto:Board@lists.osgeo.org">Board@lists.osgeo.org</a><br>
>>>> <a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board" target="_blank">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board</a><br>
>>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>> _______________________________________________ Board mailing list<br>
>>> <a href="mailto:Board@lists.osgeo.org">Board@lists.osgeo.org</a><br>
>>> <a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board" target="_blank">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board</a><br>
>>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> - --<br>
>> Seven of Nine<br>
>> <a href="http://arnulf.us/Seven" target="_blank">http://arnulf.us/Seven</a><br>
>> Exploring Body, Space and Mind<br>
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>><br>
>> iEYEARECAAYFAlPGMt8ACgkQXmFKW+BJ1b3XCgCffJGiAcPCES5cd8yYSkAyFTGt<br>
>> TNYAnAhN49MBmrtfGYCAF+/LuGDQrrU+<br>
>> =ixGv<br>
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>> _______________________________________________<br>
>> Board mailing list<br>
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>> <a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board" target="_blank">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board</a><br>
>><br>
><br>
><br>
>--<br>
>Daniel Morissette<br>
>T: <a href="tel:%2B1%20418-696-5056%20%23201" value="+14186965056">+1 418-696-5056 #201</a><br>
><a href="http://www.mapgears.com/" target="_blank">http://www.mapgears.com/</a><br>
>Provider of Professional MapServer Support since 2000<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse">Georepublic UG & Georepublic Japan<br>eMail: <a href="mailto:daniel.kastl@georepublic.de" style="color:rgb(66,99,171)" target="_blank">daniel.kastl@georepublic.de</a><br>
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