[Board] FOSS4G Regional Events

Frank Warmerdam warmerdam at pobox.com
Tue Jul 23 16:04:31 PDT 2013


David,

I'm curious how you think the FOSS4G-NA selection should work?  Initially
reaching rough consensus amoung various interested parties can work (as for
the first two events), but I *feel* that one of the benefits of OSGeo or a
local chapter is some sort of relatively unambiguous way of reaching
decisions.  Are you thinking there would be a FOSS4G-NA committee to make
future siting decisions?  Should it continue to be by rough consensus among
interested parties?

In my ideal world there would be an at least moderately formalized
committee to select new sites, possibly making a recommendation to the
board if we want to have OSGeo holding money and backing the event.  If
there was an NA chapter, then that chapter could take care of things.
 Lacking that I'm not sure if there ought to be a FOSS4G-NA committee or
what.

Best regards,


On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 3:55 PM, Cameron Shorter
<cameron.shorter at gmail.com>wrote:

>  (Retitling this email thread as I don't believe it is relevant to the
> FOSS4G global decision).
>
> Hi David,
> I think you are touching on the subtle difference between "OSGeo support"
> vs "OSGeo control" of regional FOSS4G events.
> As you are hinting at, "Support" is welcome, "Control" is not. Ie, OSGeo
> should aim to collect a repository of wisdom and best practices, which
> regional conferences can draw upon, but still give regional conferences the
> flexibility to be creative and innovative and do things differently if they
> wish.
>
> With regards to city selection for FOSS4G-NA, I agree that it should be up
> to the region to decide the process for selecting the city.
>
> On 23/07/2013 10:36 PM, David William Bitner wrote:
>
> The precedence to date has been that the regional events are events
> selected and organized by the regions at a bit of an arms length from OSGeo
> International. FOSS4G-NA in Minneapolis did not have the resources to
> operate without OSGeo as a financial backstop (note we just needed the
> "insurance"  of a financial backstop, not any up-front thanks to the
> FOSS4G-NA organizers in DC).
>
>  If OSGeo is going to get in the business of selecting the locations for
> any of these regionals, in my opinion, OSGeo better be willing to step up
> to play a much more active role in these events. The direction from OSGeo
> to these regional events has been wishy-washy at best. I think that OSGeo
> needs a real strategy for these events. FOSS4G-NA is not a consolation
> prize, it is an event thrown by and for the NA community with a focus on
> the issues of that region.
>
>  If the OSGeo Board and the Conf Comm believe that an LOC needs more
> experience, I think it is reasonable to encourage them to bid for a
> regional event as things are run right now.
>
>  David
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 22, 2013 at 11:50 PM, Cameron Shorter <
> cameron.shorter at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  Hi Mark,
>> I do like your proposal of 1st place being awarded FOSS4G Global, and 2nd
>> place being offered FOSS4G-NA the following year.
>>
>> However, I'm not sure who will be responsible for selecting the FOSS4G-NA
>> city, or what process is in place (if any) for selecting a FOSS4G-NA city.
>> If someone following this thread is in the know, I'd encourage you to speak
>> up.
>>
>>
>> On 23/07/2013 12:01 PM, Mark Lucas wrote:
>>
>> Sounds like we are making up the rules as we go along.  I think we either
>> have a board vote or not.  If someone wants to abstain because they believe
>> they have a conflict of interest that should be their personal decision.
>>
>>  I'd like to find a way to select one as the international conference
>> and let the other organize as a regional.
>>
>>  I'd really like to find a way to build up OSGeo revenues through some
>> of the regional conferences as well.  Perhaps as simple as when they need
>> OSGeo financial backing we work a division of profits.
>>
>>  First step is simply selecting the international venue.
>>
>>  Mark
>>
>>
>>  On Jul 22, 2013, at 8:36 AM, Daniel Morissette <dmorissette at mapgears.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> On 13-07-22 8:33 AM, Bart van den Eijnden wrote:
>>
>> Right, this makes sense Arnulf.
>>
>> My concern was merely that if there is one proposal with "broad support"
>> (a.k.a. conflict of interest), and all those people step out of voting
>> (both on the conf committee as on the board), the vote will be very
>> skewed. This is exactly what Daniel has pointed out.
>>
>>
>>
>> BTW, I believe Mark Lucas is on the DC LOC so we'd lose him as well for
>> the vote unless I'm mistaken.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Daniel Morissette
>> http://www.mapgears.com/
>> Provider of Professional MapServer Support since 2000
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Board mailing list
>> Board at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Board mailing listBoard at lists.osgeo.orghttp://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>>
>>
>>
>>  --
>> Cameron Shorter
>> Software and Data Solutions Manager
>> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
>>
>> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>>
>>
>> Think Globally, Fix Locally
>> Geospatial & Data Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Sourcehttp://www.lisasoft.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Board mailing list
>> Board at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>>
>>
>
>
>  --
> ************************************
> David William Bitner
> dbSpatial LLC
> 612-424-9932
>
>
>
> --
> Cameron Shorter
> Software and Data Solutions Manager
> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>
> Think Globally, Fix Locally
> Geospatial & Data Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Sourcehttp://www.lisasoft.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Board mailing list
> Board at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>
>


-- 
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam,
warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | Geospatial Software Developer
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/attachments/20130723/27afc179/attachment.htm>


More information about the Board mailing list