[OSGeo-Conf] FOSS4G 2009 Finance Oversight

[Frank Warmerdam]

Folks,

I believe there have been some questions about how the OSGeo board will be
overseeing FOSS4G 2009.  Traditionally (well given a tradition of at least
one year), we try to appoint some general OSGeo representatives to the
annual conference committee (often referred to as the LOC), one of whom is
intended to play a financial oversight role.

For FOSS4G 2008 that is Paul Ramsey who obviously has excellent experience
from 2007 on issues of conference budgeting.  Paul has kindly agreed to play
this role for 2009 as well.  Paul is of course also a director (and can so
can easily report on status to the board) and is on the OSGeo Finance
Committee which will be expected to recommend the budget to the board, and
keep an eye on things.

Generally we try to have an approved budget in place (approved by the board)
before major financial commitments are made for the conference. This includes
signing venue contracts and hopefully signing PCO contracts, though I'm not
sure if we can actually put together a solid budget before we have the PCO
in place.  Once that budget is approved, Paul will help keep an eye on
operations and identify if the LOC is materially varying from the budget or
if any other warning flags arise.  He will also be a "voting member" of the
LOC, and have any priveledges pursuant to LOC members (possibly a free
conference pass).  He is also an invaluable source of additional advice.

So, more so than Tyler, the FOSS4G 2009 LOC should explain financial details
to Paul and work with him to get a budget approved through the Finance
Committee and the board.  Once that is in place Tyler, Paul or myself can
sign contracts on behalf of OSGeo that stay within the parameters of the
budget (after any suitable legal review, etc).

I hope this helps clarify roles, and steps forward. If anyone thinks I'm
off base, or that we need some additional discussion around the proposed
process please let me know.

Best regards,
-- 
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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    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org