[Board] Changing the name of the "AGM"

[Angelos Tzotsos]

Hi,

I have participated in such virtual meetings in the past for openSUSE 
project through Google Hangout and it is very convenient to use, plus 
you get a face to face feeling.

I would suggest that something like this would be used for OSGeo 
Committees or even the AGM. The only problem currently is the 10-person 
limit.

Regards,
Angelos


On 09/20/2012 11:52 AM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
> For reference, our OSGeo Bylaws state:
>
> Section 8.2. Annual Meeting. A meeting of the members shall be held 
> annually at such time as the Board of Directors may determine, at 
> which annual meeting the members shall elect Directors to fill any 
> vacancies or expiring terms, and transact other proper business.
>
> http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html
>
> Like Arnulf, I question the AGM purpose and the form it is currently 
> taking.
>
> Re "elect Directors" - We do an excellent job of selecting directors 
> virtually, (mainly via email) which doesn't happen at the AGM.
> Re "transacting other proper business", I'd argue that a conference 
> venue, with hundreds of people in the audience, is a poor venue for 
> communicating and debating ideas. We do a much better job in our 
> virtual IRC and email forums.
>
> Conference venues are good for broadcast communication - one person 
> presenting to hundreds, possibly with a back channel of limited 
> questions. So yes, chapter reports can be presented at conferences, 
> but I agree with Arnulf that it need not be called an AGM, and I'd be 
> open to seeing the AGM shaped into a virtual forum.
>
> On 19/09/2012 11:11 PM, Seven (aka Arnulf) wrote:
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>> Folks,
>> we have always had something called the "AGM" at FOSS4G but it never
>> really was an "Annual General Meeting" as defined in legal terms. This
>> year it was suggested to move the AGM to another event because the
>> global FOSS4G was postponed for a year.
>>
>> But the term "AGM" is not really good because we never managed to have
>> a reasonably representative share of members turn up. In recent
>> versions of the "AGM" the Local Chapters gave (lightning) talks about
>> their activities and we then conclude with an open dialog between
>> everybody physically in the room. This was fine and especially the
>> Local Chapter talks can be nicely compiled into a presentation to be
>> given anywhere. But it is not really an "AGM". Thoughts?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Arnulf
>>
>> - -- Seven of Nine
>> http://arnulf.us/Seven
>> Exploring Body, Space and Mind
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>


-- 
Angelos Tzotsos
Remote Sensing Laboratory
National Technical University of Athens
http://users.ntua.gr/tzotsos