[OSGeo-Discuss] Defining an OSGeo Ambassador role

[Cameron Shorter]

Following on from ideas from this previous email thread, and in 
particular picking up on Stefano's ideas, I'd like to make the following 
proposal:

I suggest that we define an OSGeo Ambassador role very widely, but also 
have different levels of Ambassador - so that conference organisors can 
still feel like they are getting someone distinguished and pick someone 
exclusive.

The OSGeo Ambassador categories would be:

1. OSGeo Board Member
2. Ex OSGeo Board Member
These are the elite of the OSGeo community. We only have 8 active board 
members in the world, which have been peer selected based upon their 
outstanding leadership in the greater OSGeo community.

3. Charter member
Charter membership is obtained through a strongly contested selective 
process. Members tend to be developers and leaders in one or more OSGeo 
projects, and/or OSGeo business leaders, and have a deep understanding 
in many of the OSGeo projects and principles of Open Source.

4. Voted position in an OSGeo community
These people hold a position of responsibility within one of the OSGeo 
sub-communities. This may be a chair of an OSGeo Regional Chapter, or as 
a member of a project's Project Steering Committee.

5. OSGeo community member
These people are actively involved in one or more OSGeo communities, 
acting as a developer, user or supporter of OSGeo software.

Anyone fitting one of the above categories, may put themselves forward 
as an OSGeo Ambassador. Each ambassador would be expected to create a 
profile for themselves on an OSGeo Ambassador wiki page, which includes:

* Name
* City and Country of residence
* Phone, Email
* Photo
* OSGeo relevant experience. (~150 words)

I also propose that the OSGeo Marketing committee would be responsible 
for overseeing the Ambassador wiki page, once the guidelines have been 
put into place.

I welcome feedback from all, and call upon the board to make a final 
vote on whether this proposal (or a variant) should be put into action.

On 21/04/12 20:47, Stefano Costa wrote:
> Il 21/04/2012 12:28, Jody Garnett ha scritto:
>>
>> I would hope that our charter members (who have been through a public
>> nomination process in part for their involvement) are already acting in
>> the capacity of "Ambassador" for OSGeo.
>
> I totally agree on this point. The fact that charter members only 
> official role is to nominate new charter members and the Board is IMHO 
> a weakness. Their role as OSGeo champions (and "Ambassadors" if 
> there's consensus on that) should be emphasised. Quick ideas:
>
> - personal pages on osgeo.org (osgeo.org/members/johndoe)
> - @osgeo.org e-mail address (even an alias is fine) to be used as 
> their primary address
> - interviews on the main blog
> - a track record of their public activity wrt OSGeo promotion, 
> software development, management, documentation and what else
>
> In this way the charter members could gain a higher visibility in the 
> wider geospatial community and be recognised as official representatives.
>
> Ciao
> steko
>
> BTW is there any process in place to "remove" charter members if they 
> become inactive, move to another planet or are deemed unfit for the 
> purpose by the community?
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

On 20/04/12 07:24, Cameron Shorter wrote:
> On 20/04/2012 4:06 AM, Michael P. Gerlek wrote:
>> Do we have any policies and cost structures for the Ambassador 
>> function yet?
>
> I've seen a few people talking about creating an OSGeo Ambassador 
> role. Arnulf I think might have been the first to mention it, and I 
> think it is an excellent idea. I'm also aware that the OGC are 
> considering developing OGC ambassadors too.
>
> So I'd like to open the floor and see what people think an 
> ambassador's role could involve, which leads into the qualities we 
> would wish our ambassador's to have, which leads into the ways we may 
> select an ambassador.
>
> Let me start by noting some of the driving factors:
> 1. Arnulf has noted that as OSGeo president, he has spent a 
> significant amount of time on areoplanes travelling around the world 
> to talk on behalf of OSGeo. He has suggested that this role should be 
> shared.
> Conference organisors, who have a primary goal of attracting 
> attendees, look for authoritative figureheads to talk at conferences. 
> They are expected to have a deep insight into a specific domain, such 
> as OSGeo. They should also speak well, even better if they are 
> entertaining.
>
> 2. OSGeo is a sexy topic has many conferences, and there are hundreds, 
> if not thousands of conferences around the world which would like to 
> see an OSGeo presence.
>
> 3. OSGeo is fortunate to draw membership from around the world, 
> including boasting a number of very healthy local chapters. As such, 
> we are likely to have potential ambassadors in most counties. (We 
> might be a bit short in Antarctica)
>
> 4. There are times when negotiating MOUs or similar with other 
> countries, it would be useful to have someone local speak with 
> authority on behalf of OSGeo.
>
> 5. Note that there are conflicting interests here of wanting to open 
> up the role for anyone who volunteers, verses maintaining a 
> selectiveness and prestige for the role which is the key selection 
> criteria for conferences asking for an ambassador.
>
> As such, I think it important that ambassadors can only be voted into 
> the position, and not handed out to anyone. We already vote for a 
> board, and charter members.
> I think board members should be considered ambassadors by default.
> Should charter members be considered ambassadors? Charter members only 
> get this role after demonstrating a commitment to OSGeo, so will 
> likely have a reasonable depth of OSGeo knowledge. Maybe we should ask 
> for a history of speaking well (as demonstrated at conferences), to 
> the ambassador criteria.
>
> Then lastly, do we wish to invite ambassadors from a greater circle? 
> At this point, I'd probably err on saying no, as if the entry bar to 
> becoming an ambassador is too easy, then the mystic of the role will 
> be lost.
>
>


-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Solutions Manager
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

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