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<div>Hi Board and All</div><div><br></div><div>Firstly, thank you to the Board for listening and acting on community concerns. </div><div><br></div><div>In the last 3 months it has been an opportunity to re-examine what is important to me about our community, and it has been a risk to voice my concerns, but I felt it was important not to sit back. In this time, my opinions have matured, and in some parts, surprisingly changed as the logic of arguments are examined. I feel most of this has occurred based on a single company and our feelings to it fed by each of our experiences - from both sides. That has in turn asked us to examine the overall issue of sponsorship: what is fair, and how we are asked to accept those that we would not expect to be included. Whilst it has been grating, it has given us the parameters to ask those financially supporting our community, at least those new to the community, to rethink how they approach and thrive within it. </div><div><br></div><div><u>1) My feedback to this document:</u></div><div></div><div><br></div><div>1.1.) re
<b>Background pt3 <br></b></div><div> 1.1.1) re: <i>Some believe
corporate sponsorship, especially from proprietary software companies
like Esri, could undermine the open-source values and dilute the
conference's purpose. </i>I don't recall corporate sponsorship being an
issue and I don't think the fact they were proprietary software was the
problem here either
(
- happy to be corrected
-)
. It was <u>specifically </u>the company's reputation and actions (prior
and during the conference) that were called into question - the remedy here
is to remove the word 'proprietary' from this sentence and the idea
that corporate sponsorship was a problem. BTW - this is a learning
experience and a testament to the success of Open Source that companies
that offer proprietary software now rely on open source resources.
However, it should be recognised that
proprietary software
co-exists well in the open source sphere. There are no longer clear
lines as people make their living within the ecosystem of both - see my
pt 1.3.1 below</div><div><br></div><div> 1.1.2) re: <b>pt3. Clarifications on Sponsorship Intentions</b>
I was a member of the LOC. I felt that there was not enough discussion
where the committee member's concerns were heard and considered. I did
indicate I was not happy at having them as a sponsor but it was
presented as the decision had been made and they were coming under OSM.
However, there was no evidential OSM promotion in their actions nor on
their table. I believe this will be addressed in the LOC Sponsorship
considerations. I recommend that this document is presented to the
community through this mailing list as soon as possible in order to
exhibit how they are working towards a remedy to our concerns. Feedback
should also be requested for it.</div><div><br></div><div>1.2) re <b>1.The Role of sponsorship in our community </b>-
I felt that their OSM role was not clearly promoted by them and their
presence at the conference was more about ESRI software rather than
their support of OSM. This is not the ethical behaviour expected of OSM
partners and it did not meet expectations. I believe this is being
addressed
in the LOC Sponsorship considerations.
</div><div><br></div><div>1.3) re <b>2. Addressing concerns about influence and community integrity</b> </div><div>
1.3.1) re: <i>Our intention has never been to allow corporate
sponsorship to overshadow the core mission of FOSS4G or diminish the
contributions of our grassroots community.</i>
I think we need to understand here that our community is maturing and
yes, we are getting more companies that work within the FOSS4G sphere.
We should welcome corporate sponsorship if they are ethically good
FOSS4G organisations. We should be singing their praises to the roof and
they should be showing how they are contributing and thriving with
FOSS4G so they can guide others on the benefits of using and supporting
FOSS4G. <br></div><div><br></div><div> 1.3.2) re: <i>...we understand the community's desire to maintain a clear distinction between support and influence.</i>
You've hit the nail on the head
here. This is a great option and perhaps it should be ensured that
events such as the TPG breakfast and Committee Dinner are sponsor free.
The intention should be that the conference attendee seeks to learn more
about the sponsor and directs their own personal involvement with any future
influence by the sponsor. So essentially, they buy in, rather than an
aggressive marketing activity. It should be passive and the sponsor
needs to 'earn' the respect of the attendee.
I believe this is being addressed
in the LOC Sponsorship considerations.
<br></div><div><br></div><div>1.4) re 4. <b>Next Steps and Future Sponsorship Approach</b> </div><div>
1.4.1) I would also ensure there is a strict cut-off date for funds to
be delivered before sponsors are announced or put on branding,
as evident from public communications, it seems that since the
conference, it appears the ESRI sponsorship via OSM has not been paid (not sure if this
is OSM or ESRI) and therefore, this should be considered as a risk to OO
and future
conferences. <br></div><div><br></div><div> 1.4.2) re: <i>Consider
the design and trial the creation of different streams of presentations
to accommodate different types of audiences and sponsors, while
remaining focused on benefits and outcomes for the open source community
of developers and users. </i>
I am not sure how those who do the program have NOT done this - as
previous program chair of some years, I can give some insight here.
Sponsors, if they have a presentation, have to go through the same
process as presenters and their topic, rather than their status has been
considered.
Given that OO has only had 2 streams for the conference in person since
covid (apart from Fiji), the streams have been carefully curated to
deliver to different types of audiences. Topics and audiences are always
considered, but we have never directed what those topics are - it has
always been an organic curation of the program, influenced by talks that
complement each other. It takes a team of diverse people, usually over a
couple of days per draft of the program, to curate it.</div><div></div><div><br></div><div><u>2) Additional feedback to the situation</u></div><div>2.1)
As a remedy, before I resigned from the current LOC, I proposed a
policy for sponsorship considerations and actions. I believe this is
still in discussion and will go somewhat to assist companies in guiding
their expected role at FOSS4G to meet the requirements of the community,
to be respectful of the community and other sponsors - i.e. promote
their FOSS4G credentials rather than treating the event as a selling
activity. Again, I encourage this document to be presented to this list
for feedback.</div>
<br></div><div><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Kind regards</div><div>Em</div></div></div></div>
<br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM Ewen Hill via Oceania <<a href="mailto:oceania@lists.osgeo.org">oceania@lists.osgeo.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Hi,<br> Firstly, thank you to Andrew Jeffrey and everyone who replied to this thread and provided feedback. <br><br>The OSGeo Oceania Board has provided their considered response at <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WdENOJMYDr0Rltt4MZtvqyZEcjR9XQV6/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WdENOJMYDr0Rltt4MZtvqyZEcjR9XQV6/view?usp=drive_link</a></div><div>and we welcome feedback via this list.<br><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Yours eye<br><br>Ewen Hill<br>Chair <br>OSGeo Oceania<br><br></div></div></div>
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