[Board] Support fot OSGeo officers (Re: My attendance in Portland)

[Seven (aka Arnulf)]

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Even,
this is well summarized, thanks.

(...if you missed the thread go check the board list)

Further to this I mut say that the president should get all the
support from OSGeo to travel to events - very obviously also including
FOSS4G. I never asked directly because I felt awkward. Stupid but
honest. Towards the end of my presidency I did ask and also got some
travel support because otherwise I would not have been able to sustain
it. I have it all in plain numbers before me now because my accountant
made a point of tagging everything I did for OSGeo or for business. In
2011 I spent more than 35k US$ for travel - all out of my own pocket
except for 10% out of OSGeo budget. This is in low cost
accommodations, just to put numbers into relation. Traveling at a
higher standard would have pushed my travel budget to 70$ or 100k easily.

Next: Yes, my business suffered a lot during my presidency. It is one
of the reasons why I think that the term should be limited. Oher than
Jeff I think that one year president elect followed by one year full
president is enough. There is nothing worse than burning out your
presidents and discarding them when they are done. Not good.

Yes, being president connected me with many "important" people and
yes, I expected to get great job offers. This did not happen. People
expect that you get paid if you meet them at conferences in the role
of OSGeo president. They all get paid to get there themselves. They
cannot even imagine that you would go there on your own, private cost.
It is usually only the odd single consultant who has to pay "on their
own". Everybody else gets sent by their company. Strangely all OSGeo's
last presidents at one point were odd single consultants and had to
pay for conferences, cater for their own travel and accommodation. So
if you like these folks to reperesent you then make sure they can
afford it.

Ha, this developed a bit into a rant, please excuse.

But please give our president and the board and all the OSGeo officers
all the support they need. Rest assure that they deserve it and also
rest assured that they will not misuse any funding they get. I
personally vouch for each single one of the folks on the board right
now and before. Hard working nice people who just have this extra edge
to drive OSGeo forward.

And if you don't like how anybody in these roles acts then nominate
and vote differently next time. It is very straight forward, really.
Stand up yourself and do things, after all we declared it a do-ocracy
not a complai-no-crazy.

Have fun,
Arnulf

PS:
I am currently offline on holidays and only chimed in by pure chance
so please do not expect anything else from me until beginning of August.

/me waves...



On 07/15/2014 10:02 AM, Even Rouault wrote:
> Cameron,
> 
> I agree in principle with the accountability, but I don't think we
> should make Jeff's life harder than it needs to be. In the end, the
> board is elected and if people are not happy with how the budget is
> spent, they will say it with their votes. Let trust people, and
> especially when their past accomplishments speak for them. And for
> having been in Notthingham last year, I can remember having seen
> Jeff many times on the OSGeo booth.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Even
> 
>> Hi Jeff, I acknowledge that you do a lot on behalf of OSGeo, and
>> would hasten to add other things that you do, such as traveling
>> to and presenting at various conferences about OSGeo. (There are
>> also many others amongst the OSGeo membership who do much, often
>> with very little public recognition).
>> 
>> Following are a few points for my opinion:
>> 
>> What OSGeo is very good at is being efficient in how we spend
>> our limited budget by drawing upon our talented membership (see
>> Board priorities [1]).
>> 
>> There are specific tasks which the board should be addressing,
>> and funding if required.   One of these I think is important is
>> the setting up and manning of an OSGeo booth at the annual FOSS4G
>> conference. It is an excellent way to meet face to face with the
>> greater community. This task can be done by anyone from the
>> community, but it does help to have people with deep OSGeo
>> experience, such as a board member or president.
>> 
>> Personally, I don't see what the big issue is regarding setting
>> up a booth. I've done it a number of times. I really enjoy being
>> at the OSGeo booth because it attracts lots of really interesting
>> people who would love to know more about OSGeo. All that is
>> required is for someone to bring an OSGeo banner, and have a
>> laptop showing OSGeo-Live on it. (Some people do more, but that
>> covers the essentials).
>> 
>> The board should be accountable to our members for all budget
>> spent. If we pay for someone's travel budget to a conference,
>> what does OSGeo gain from that sponsorship beyond what is already
>> provided by existing attendees? It is an easy question to answer
>> if the money is going toward manning a booth, where we evangelise
>> OSGeo.
>> 
>> So anyway, it is possible we have a misunderstanding over how
>> much effort is required to be involved in an OSGeo booth, and
>> hope that you can re-consider.
>> 
>> [1]
>> 
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors#OSGeo_as_a_low_capital.2C_volunteer_focused_organisation
>>
>>
> 
On 14/07/2014 9:30 pm, Jeff McKenna wrote:
>>> Hi Cameron,
>>> 
>>> I would agree that it is very important to have a face of
>>> OSGeo representing the foundation at the main FOSS4G event.
>>> 
>>> As I grow into this role (I've only been President for about
>>> 1.5 years now) I realize the demands of the position, and how
>>> important it is to build and maintain relationships (especially
>>> with other foundations and groups in our 'ecosystem').  There
>>> is a lot to the position, and a lot that no one sees (I am
>>> brought into discussions as OSGeo president almost every day it
>>> seems).
>>> 
>>> With that said, adding to my responsibilities, with already so
>>> much on my plate, is not possible.  Plus you can search the
>>> OSGeo Marketing mailing list for questions from me about this
>>> time last year for booth materials for Nottingham (unanswered,
>>> materials non-existent).  The reality is that it always comes
>>> down to boots-on-the-ground for making the booth happen
>>> (massive thanks to Ian Edwards last year in Nottingham, as an
>>> example).  As president I will be already pulled into so many 
>>> things in Portland.
>>> 
>>> As an example, the LOC is already on me about the AGM...and I
>>> must soon start the Sol Katz process...likely help Jorge with
>>> elections....    get my drift?
>>> 
>>> Also, unfortunately again charter members send me private
>>> messages saying great things that I want the whole community to
>>> hear - but in the end it is me bringing it public again. So,
>>> here it is again: I got several responses privately to this
>>> 'attendance' message that it is terrible that i must ask for
>>> funding as president, that there should be a separate president
>>> travel budget and i shouldn't have to justify publicly
>>> travel..that this message is noise and we should be talking of 
>>> more important things etc etc...all true, but i wish they would
>>> bring this public and not me have to say it.  well here again i
>>> am.
>>> 
>>> So to answer your questions directly Cameron: I am more than
>>> ready to represent OSGeo in the Portland event.  I feel it is
>>> very important to have this constant and stable face of OSGeo
>>> at events.  As for increasing my role, that is really
>>> physically impossible; I will do my best, but I would ask that
>>> we rely on a local chapter for gathering booth materials etc.
>>> 
>>> Your President,
>>> 
>>> -jeff
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 2014-07-13, 4:26 AM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>>>> Hi Jeff and others, I think that it is important for an
>>>> official OSGeo representative to be at the FOSS4G conference
>>>> to facilitate evangelising OSGeo, and OSGeo (or FOSS4G)
>>>> should cover expenses of this person. Ideally, this person 
>>>> should be the OSGeo President, but could be someone else if
>>>> the president is not available.
>>>> 
>>>> I would envisage the representative would play quite a public
>>>> role, likely talking with many people at an OSGeo booth. This
>>>> would typically involve the representative also playing a
>>>> lead role in ensuring the OSGeo booth is set up and running
>>>> smoothly.
>>>> 
>>>> Jeff, would you be ok with taking on this type of role? Could
>>>> you please expand on how you would envisage this working.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 11/07/2014 3:34 am, Jeff McKenna wrote:
>>>>> Hi Board,
>>>>> 
>>>>> We're about 2 months away from FOSS4G-Portland, and I just
>>>>> want to be open that no one has contacted me to represent
>>>>> OSGeo at that event. Other (regional) events give me lots
>>>>> of notice, handle flights, hotels, meals, for the OSGeo
>>>>> President to attend; however I learned last year that for
>>>>> the main FOSS4G event it is just assumed that I will be
>>>>> there in person.  Well to avoid that last minute chaos
>>>>> again, I am here asking the Board for use of the "Strategic
>>>>> travel" funding (as listed in the budget
>>>>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Budget_2014) to cover my 
>>>>> flights, hotel, and misc expenses (transfers) for FOSS4G
>>>>> Portland.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Last year there was a debate as to whether this should be
>>>>> funded by the FOSS4G committee or in fact by the OSGeo
>>>>> Board, and it was decided it made most sense for the OSGeo
>>>>> Board to cover it.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>> 
>>>>> -jeff
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________ Board mailing
>>> list Board at lists.osgeo.org 
>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>> 
>> -- Cameron Shorter, Software and Data Solutions Manager LISAsoft 
>> Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf, 26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009
>> 
>> P +61 2 9009 5000,  W www.lisasoft.com,  F +61 2 9009 5099
>> 
>> _______________________________________________ Board mailing
>> list Board at lists.osgeo.org 
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________ Board mailing list 
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> 


- -- 
Seven of Nine
http://arnulf.us/Seven
Exploring Body, Space and Mind
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