[Board] Re: [OSGeo-Conf] "OSGeo Teach-in

[Paul Ramsey]

The board has already made a decision: to ask the conference committee
to develop a policy. Unless or until the conference committee delivers
a draft policy back to the board, there won't be any further
decisions, I imagine.

I'm not going to make an effort to publicize a spat over an event, I
would much rather spend my credibility budget publicizing the event
itself, once I know exactly what it is going to be called, where it
will be and when it will be.

If you are wondering what kind of reception it will get, note that the
two variants of response so far have been:

"That's a great idea!" and
"That's a great idea, but I have philosophical objections!"

Everyone has a different philosophical objection, so I have reconciled
myself that I am not going to be able to meet everyone's bottom line.
Jo and Markus want something European. Arnulf wants nothing commercial
under the OSGeo banner. You want creative commons materials. Someone
else wants student scholarships.

I, however, don't want to please everyone, just the 300 people who
come to the event, who I want to experience well-developed material,
in a professional setting, from the properly compensated people who
know the topic, and send them home thinking "wasn't that great!".  If
OSGeo is unwilling to RECEIVE $10000 to be associated with such an
event, so be it.

P.

On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 1:47 PM, Cameron Shorter
<cameron.shorter at gmail.com> wrote:
> Paul and others on the board,
>
> I feel strongly about my statements in this thread and would like to see
> broad community discussion before the board makes a decision. I suggest
> using OSGeo-Discuss or your blog. I would like to blog on the topic but it
> would be inappropriate of me to do so without first giving Paul the option
> to announce his training session and start the thread.
>
> Paul, if you plan to pursue a proprietary model for presentation content,
> could you please make a broader announcement about your ideas.
>
> Cameron Shorter wrote:
>>
>> Paul, I want to preface my email by noting that I'm very hopeful that you
>> are able to build a successful "Teach In" conference series and that it is
>> very lucrative for you. Where possible, I want to help make it happen for
>> you, and ensure the OSGeo community maximises the value offered at the same
>> time.
>>
>> There is nothing wrong with using a proprietary business model for your
>> conferences. You put in the effort building the content, you have every
>> right to sell it.
>>
>> However, I feel that OSGeo would be selling out on its principles if it
>> were to actively support a proprietary business model. In particular, a
>> proprietary tutorials program will likely undermine the effectiveness of
>> OSGeo's education program as potential sponsors of the education program
>> turn to the proprietary material, and contributors produce proprietary
>> content instead of open content.
>>
>> Open Source has a very effective community marketing value which I
>> understand you want to tap into, but I feel you need to make a choice.
>> Either:
>> 1. Go open, and make use of the OSGeo brand, or
>> 2. Go proprietary, and build your own brand.
>>
>> (A side note, I wouldn't under estimate your personal "rock star" drawing
>> appeal).
>>
>> Paul Ramsey wrote:
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 3:16 PM, Cameron Shorter
>>> <cameron.shorter at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> * The proposal is missing one of the key elements of the Open Source
>>>> Business model. Ie, all material used for the "teach in" should be
>>>> provided
>>>> for free under an open license. Conference organisors can sell their
>>>> services (as presenters).
>>>>
>>>
>>> You go first. I'm not giving away 4 hours of workshop materials for
>>> $3K. I'm not a rock star, I hold no illusions that people are coming
>>> to the workshop to see *me*. The Open Source business model is that
>>> the *source* is open, and something else is not
>>> (http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/magic-cauldron/).
>>>
>>> P.
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Cameron Shorter
> Geospatial Systems Architect
> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>
> Think Globally, Fix Locally
> Commercial Support for Geospatial Open Source Solutions
> http://www.lisasoft.com/LISAsoft/SupportedProducts.html
>
>