[Board] Resignation

[Jo Cook]

Hi Michael,

I can elaborate a bit, but won't go into very much detail, I'm afraid! In
general terms, I found the timezone difference hard to work with-
it's extremely difficult to be part of an email discussion when you're 8
hours apart from people, you're playing catch up all the time and the
thread moves on before you have chance to participate. It's either that or
you have to stay up extremely late! I don't have a constructive answer for
that one though- it's a problem with being a global foundation. I would
very much like to have seen greater participation by charter members, but
having said that, there are some decisions that should be made by the board
and not simply thrown out for general discussion or devolved to the
committees. So many topics get hijacked rather than constructively
answered, simply because this list is public and anyone can participate. My
personal view is that the community elects the board because they trust
them to make decisions on their behalf.

I hope that's enough of an explanation for now

Jo

On Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 4:29 PM, Michael P. Gerlek <mpg at flaxen.com> wrote:

> Jo:
>
> Let me begin by saying I respect your decision: I am sure it was a
> difficult one to make, but a the end of the day you need to do what is best
> for you. It was a pleasure working with you and I'm glad to see you're
> pushing ahead with the 2013 event.
>
> That said, could you please elaborate on your third point -- that you
> "disagree with a lot of the ways the foundation gets things done"? Having
> been on the board for a year now, I'm sure you could provide us all with
> some things to think about as the new board members begin their terms.
>
> At a larger level, I too am frustrated with the organization as a whole as
> I see some parts of OSGeo: as I've said here before I think we need to
> rethink what our Foundation is for. We have limited resources -- financial
> and human -- and we need to use them in ways we can best serve the
> international community. I'm looking forward to our new board members and
> their ideas.
>
> -mpg
>
>
>
> On Aug 10, 2012, at 7:56 AM, Jo Cook <jocook at astuntechnology.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Board,
>
> I'm sorry to say that I have decided to resign as a board member. I
> apologise for the incredibly short notice, given the election is currently
> ongoing, but I'm hoping that this gives you the opportunity to elect an
> additional member during this round of voting rather than having to hold an
> extra election later on. This has been on my mind for several months now,
> in fact probably since we got back from Seattle, and I have tried and
> failed to write this email several times over the last few months.
>
> I don't intend to go into all the reasons, but here is some explanation.
> Firstly, I am spreading myself too thin, and feel unable to commit as much
> time, and to be honest, money for travelling around, as I'd like to the
> Board role. I'd rather my place was filled by someone who has the resources
> to do that. Secondly, I have no experience or knowledge of a lot of the
> issues that are discussed at board level, and again I would rather that my
> place was filled by someone more suitable. Thirdly, and perhaps most
> contentiously, I find that I disagree with a lot of the ways the foundation
> gets things done. This is not a reflection of the current board, but a more
> general comment about the foundation as a whole. I think this is for me to
> deal with, not the foundation, as I'm the one in the minority, and I have
> neither the time or the personal strength to take on large parts of the
> charter membership and upwards!
>
> On a personal level, I need to step back from the "official" side of
> things and return to what I love best, which is just evangelising about the
> software. I have found that increasingly hard over the last year and I miss
> it.
>
> As far as I'm concerned this has no impact on my role supporting and
> promoting FOSS4G 2013- in fact it gives me more time to help make that the
> best damned FOSS4G ever. You already have a board representative, so you
> don't even need to worry about that side of things.
>
> Regards
>
> Jo
>
>
> --
> ***Jo Cook*
> Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT18
> 7RL, UK
> t:+44 750 095 8167
> iShare - Data integration and publishing platform<http://www.isharemaps.com/>
>
> *****************************************
>
>  Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
> Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT no.
> 864201149.
>
>  _______________________________________________
> Board mailing list
> Board at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>
>
>


-- 
***Jo Cook*
Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT18
7RL, UK
t:+44 750 095 8167
iShare - Data integration and publishing platform<http://www.isharemaps.com/>

*****************************************

 Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT no.
864201149.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/attachments/20120810/eee1e536/attachment.htm>