[Board] OSGeo Elections

Fri May 18 07:57:36 PDT 2012

Hi Arnulf,

I read your email with a mixed feeling. I feel that you will be greatly 
missed on the board, both for your opinions (which often echo'd mine) 
and also for your commitment to OSGeo and all the tasks that you used to 
take on and will now have to be taken over by other board members. Thank 
you very much BTW for offering to stick around for a bit for the 
transition with a new president, that will help a lot.

OTOH, I also understand and appreciate the reasons behind your decision 
to move on. 6 years on the board is quite impressive and I'd like to 
extend big thanks to you on behalf of myself and of the whole community 
for all your work and outstanding commitment to OSGeo in the past years.

With respect to the nagging feeling that some community members disagree 
with the (sometimes very tough) decisions made by the current board, I 
also have that feeling sometimes, but tend to remind myself that in a 
meritocracy, actions speak louder than words... this does not mean that 
I discard all input from the community (it's quite the contrary), but 
just that I value more the input that is accompanied with solutions 
and/or offers to help in a practical way. Community members should also 
keep in mind that commenting and ranting about a problem is easier than 
finding and applying a fix to it.

I will be up for re-election this year myself and plan to run again to 
continue the work that I started as treasurer, but if some members think 
that my views (about meritocracy and all) or the board decisions that I 
supported are too radical, or simply that I and the rest of the board 
are too North-American, then they should consider running for the board 
themselves or supporting other candidates closer to their own view. As 
long as I am re-elected then I will consider that my views are shared by 
those who voted for me and that I have their implicit support.

Finally, about the CRO role, if there is really no chance that you 
change your mind and run for another 2 years on the board then I'm +1 on 
you taking on the CRO role. (We should really make a formal motion about 
this though.)

Cheers Arnulf and thanks again!

Daniel

On 12-05-17 5:45 PM, Seven (aka Arnulf) wrote:
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> Folks,
> I have been on the board for six consecutive years which is a long time
> for an organization that is six years old. Sort of the whole life. :-)
> It was a great pleasure working with you and making OSGeo what it is
> now. Instead of dropping out completely I wish to continue serving OSGeo
> in my best capacities (if I got them right) as lateral thinker and
> lowest troll [0] but I would like to pass on the burden of being a
> director on the OSGeo Board.
>
> Being president was a great experience and I have always felt welcomed
> and supported in this role, both by the board and OSGeo members and also
> by those who invited me. I will obviously complete all tasks which I
> have accepted in my role as president after my term ends unless the new
> president is keen on taking them over right away. For the next
> transition it might be a good idea to introduce the concept of a
> 'president elect' in order to avoid a void during transition.
>
> There are other reasons which make me take this decision. One is a
> nagging feeling that many in the community object to many (if not all)
> strategic decisions we took as a board. This is probably inevitable
> given the diversity of interests represented through OSGeo - but
> nonetheless it is a strain. In summary it feels like I am a bit worn
> out. And I am actually looking forward to do some work which for a
> change is honored by monetary compensation.
>
> It took me a lot of listening to friends and thinking on my own to
> arrive at this point but it seems to be the right thing to do.
>
>
>
>
> In my new role as outgoing director I would be happy to be CRO for the
> upcoming elections and suggest to get started asap so that we have
> enough time to run through Charter Member and Board elections before
> FOSS4G 2012. My hope is that we will receive broad support from around
> the globe and also to get some fresh faces on the board. If there are no
> objections I will set up a schedule for the 2012 elections and send it
> around for approval at the board meeting in three weeks.
>
> Best regards,
> Arnulf.
>
> [0] http://arnulf.us/Lowest_Troll
>
> - --
> Exploring Space, Time and Mind
> http://arnulf.us
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-- 
Daniel Morissette
http://www.mapgears.com/
Provider of Professional MapServer Support since 2000