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

[Michael P. Gerlek]

I realize that Arnulf and Jeff have both done a lot during the tenure, but I might humbly suggest they are taking on more work than I’d expect them to. I would love to see a list of the events/responsibilities/etc that Jeff and Arnulf have covered over the years: I bet it is way more than anyone realizes, and that’s just wrong: not fair to them, and out of scope for the job (I claim).

We have a large contingent of people who can do meet-and-greets and evangelism and such (and I know many of us already do). Where someone invites formal OSGeo participation, a designated committee (perhaps a couple board members or similar) should be able to assist in finding the right person: it should not default to the President.

Such opportunities should be done with the expectation that the inviting organization help to cover costs. This should include hotel/airfare/food plus perhaps a modest, fixed per diem.

I might even go so far as to say the role of President should abolished, reverting instead to a simple board chair position. We are a grass-roots, volunteer-driven organization. This means that no one should be expected to sacrifice career/family/etc for OSGeo duties, and it also means that if a particular function can’t be done via a volunteer and can’t be largely funded “organically” then we should not do it.

(Also, I would argue strongly against going back to hiring an Executive Director. We’ve shown over the years that we’re Not That Kind of Organization, let’s just stick with the things we know we can be successful at.)

-mpg