[Board] Update and plans

[Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)]

Hi guys, hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years.  I took a few 
days off and am rejuvenated for 2010 :)

Before the holidays I went to San Francisco for the AGU event and was 
able to share about our toolkit/stack idea to the geophysical scientists 
there.  I met up with a few OSGeo folks there too and saw some more 
great looking case study material from other presenters.

I also spent some good time with Alex and the group at UC Davis learning 
about what they do there and was able to present OSGeo to a group of 
interested folks there.  It was a really good meeting and time to catch 
up with their direction there.

I spent a couple hours meeting with new Autodesk reps (they re-org a 
year or so ago) to discuss future sponsorship and to present OSGeo to 
some new staff who we will likely hear more from in the future.

Finally I had some great face-to-face chat time with Brian Hamlin and he 
made several opportunities available for me to talk with others locally 
and to learn more about the non-profit scene in the area.  Thanks to 
Brian I have a fresh context and some more contacts and tools available 
to help guide me.


Here's what's on my plate for this week, aside from catching up on email:

* Board meeting - I assume we're still on for later this week, I've 
pasted the action items from that meeting at the end of this email for 
your reference.
* Finance - year end accounts wrap-ups and chasing down outstanding 
invoices, entering in expenses, follow up with Frank and Finance list.
* Review 501c3 application - after one meeting in San Francisco it was 
suggested that 501c6 (aka Trade Association) is a better fit, unless we 
anticipate significant individual donors to keep OSGeo running then the 
501c3 ( public charity) seems like it will not work in our best 
interests.  I'll dig into this more and hopefully have an update for the 
board meeting.  Will also follow up with US Gov rep on our current status.
* Fundraising - reviewing thoughts and suggestions for where to go next
* Marketing - continue polishing up material for easier general use
* Journal - production of next volume, getting it out the door
* Speaking - I have no speaking/travel lined up for the next month or 
two.  If there are a good opportunity, ideally with potential sponsors 
in attendance, please let me know.

Lots more on my list, but if I get through the above, I'll be happy 
enough :)

Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon!
Tyler

Last Board Meeting action items and motions
  *  MOTION: Arnulf moved to adopt minutes.
  * TODO: Frank to provide revised wording for board/charter election 
changes.
  * TODO: Tyler to look at how we can vote virtually via IRC instead of 
requiring voice.
  * TODO: Jeff, Arnulf, Tyler to review FOSS4G 2010 budget changes and 
report on board-private
  * MOTION: Frank motioned to have Arnulf, Claude and Jeff on the FOSS4G 
2010 LOC
  * TODO: Ari to follow up with EuroGI about associated organisation 
options.
  * TODO: Arnulf to follow up on idea of presenting comments on topics 
like FFI is for EU interoperability.
  * MOTION: Frank moved to purchased 2 servers for up to $15,000 for 
hosting at OSL