[Board] Motion for North America Chapter (what it is not)

[Mark Lucas]

I think it would be helpful to separate some of the good discussion and questions that are being raised from the motion itself.  So this is the first part, what the motion is not…  The second email will focus on the motion itself, our existing policies and guidelines, and whether or not the North America Regional Chapter should be made "official".

This is not about the board approving an annual regional conference, if a chapter, official or unofficial, decides to host a conference, they can certainly do that.  There is no existing requirement that they share any of the revenues from that conference with the OSGeo/foss4g foundation.  We would hope that the conferences are branded appropriately, but even our (OSGeo's) use of the foss4g branding includes an understanding that the use of foss4g can't be restricted (if my information is correct).

If the chapter or conference wants to focus on a certain target market - defense, religious trends in geography, academia, business models, or trying to nail down the definition of "North America", they are free to do that without asking the approval of the board of directors.

If that chapter or conference wants something from the OSGeo International foundation - financial backing, contribution of resources, some sort of blessing perhaps - then there is something for the board to discuss and perhaps negotiate.

Now, if you want to have veto authority, charge a tax, or require that all chapters get OSGeo tattoos - then I suggest bringing forward a motion on that subject.  Or, if an 'official' OSGeo chapter behaves badly we could put forward a motion to revoke their 'official' status.

Ok, I'll turn the sarcasm off, but I feel this is a fairly accurate literal interpretation of our existing rules, guidelines and policies.

Having said all of this, this is not what I want to happen with the North America Chapter.  I want to closely collaborate with the board ( I happen to be a board member) and move our collective agenda forward.  I want to figure out how we can support Jeff to make Beijing one of the best conferences ever.  I want the outside world to perceive OSGeo as a unified organization raising OSS Geospatial to the next level.  I also want to get away from some of the philosophical discussions and focus on getting this started.

Now, on to message 2…  what the Motion for the North America Chapter is….


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