Re: [Board] USGIF Conference and diatribe on where we are heading

[seven@arnulf.us]

Let's plan for all three, meet online discuss here and have an f2f soon. I recently tried G+ hangout and it worked fine for me but chances are high we will have similar issues when connecting from several remote places as we have with Skype.

Bit for regular meetings I still believe that IRC is important because it is open and logged.

--
Arnulf Christl (aka Seven)
http://arnulf.us

----- Reply message -----
From: "Tim Schaub" <tschaub at opengeo.org>
To: <mpg at flaxen.com>
Cc: <board at lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: [Board] USGIF Conference and diatribe on where we are heading
Date: Thu, Oct 27, 2011 01:24


I'm fairly maxed out on travel, but I'm not opposed to it if the board
collectively sees a f2f board meeting as essential.

I'm also not opposed to a longer strategic meeting on Skype (or Google+ etc.).

Tim

On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 9:52 AM, Michael P. Gerlek <mpg at flaxen.com> wrote:
> Peter, Arnulf, Mark (I think?), and I have agreed in principle for travelling for this.
>
> Frank, Daniel, Jeff, Jo, Tim?
>
> -mpg
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Seven (aka Arnulf)
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 8:15 PM
>> To: board at lists.osgeo.org
>> Subject: Re: [Board] USGIF Conference and diatribe on where we are heading
>>
>> On 10/26/2011 01:44 AM, Michael P. Gerlek wrote:
>> > All:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > I'm glad Mark sent this, as I've been pretty discouraged since our IRC
>> > meeting a couple weeks ago.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > I thought the f2f board meeting after foss4g was very effective and got
>> > us off to a good start, and leaving Denver I had high hopes we could
>> > address OSGeo's strategic issues.  However, the subsequent meeting -
>> > held via IRC - has led me to start to understand why OSGeo has stalled
>> > out on the strategic side over the past couple years:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > IRC and email are simply the wrong way for the board to have any sort of
>> > meaningful discussion
>> >
>> > about "big picture" things of the scope Mark is bringing up.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Some weeks ago we "stepped back from a core staff" for two reasons:  our
>> > current financial posture is unhealthy and our current staff was not
>> > seen as the best choice as to how to improve that situation.  The more I
>> > look at OSGeo right now, the more I am confident we did the right
>> > thing.  And I too want to see OSGeo rebuild itself with a clearer set of
>> > goals and objectives.  But I've yet to see any consensus on what those
>> > goals might be, or how we might develop a business plan to get there.
>> >
>> > As the Board, it is our responsibility to set those goals and develop
>> > that plan, and we already agreed that, where justified, OSGeo should pay
>> > for additional in-person meetings.  Therefore, I propose we meet in
>> > person as soon as is practical to continue the work started in Denver,
>> > to decide in what direction we want to grow and make concrete plans for
>> > how to get there.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > As secretary, I would be happy to organize a meeting space here in
>> > Seattle or anywhere else that might be convenient.  All we need is a
>> > hotel conference room near a major airport hub for a couple days.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > -mpg
>>
>> Michael,
>> I support this and am prepared to invest the time to make this possible.
>> We should also make reimbursement of travel and accomodation a part of
>> the OSGeo budget allowing all board members to participate regardless
>> from where they come.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Arnulf
>>
>> > *From:*board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
>> > [mailto:board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] *On Behalf Of *Mark Lucas
>> > *Sent:* Tuesday, October 25, 2011 7:54 AM
>> > *To:* OSGeo-Board List
>> > *Subject:* [Board] USGIF Conference and diatribe on where we are heading
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Just got back from the 2011 Geoint Conference in San Antonio Texas.
>> >
>> > http://geoint2011.com/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > The USGIF is the conference for geospatial intelligence in the US.  This
>> > year there were over 5000 attendees (138 from overseas- mostly foreign
>> > military).
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > There over 250  booths and paying sponsors (> 100,000 sq ft of exhibit
>> > space) .  They have built this organization up to support a full time
>> > staff, multiple events throughout the year, media publications etc.
>> >
>> > http://www.gotgeoint.com/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > For the first time, we were able to get on the agenda with an OSS panel.
>> >
>> > http://geointv.com/archive/geoint-2011-breakout-demonstration-of-military-relevant-open-source-geospatial-software/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Open source software is suddenly interesting because of dramatic budget
>> > cuts that are planned for most of the agencies.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Most of the presentations are online at: http://geointv.com/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > NSA and NGA both made announcements related to their focus on open
>> > source software.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > As the US government shows increasing interest in open source software
>> > solutions the existing contractors will try to align themselves with
>> > those capabilities.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Unfortunately, this comes at a time when the OSGeo has stepped back from
>> > a core staff and is uncertain about holding annual NA conferences.
>> >  Indeed, there almost seems to be a reluctance to focus on raising
>> > revenue for the organization - instead focusing on how to allocate what
>> > we have to cod
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