[OSGeo-Conf] [Board] On the creation of permanent OSGeo/FOSS4G CRM

[Darrell Fuhriman]

1) I agree that it belongs in the handbook. I’d like it to be stronger than just a suggestion, however. I’d like to be the default assumption. It’s true that the idea is compelling enough on its own to make it likely people would use it, but… to be blunt, we have enough to do, so if we’re going to expend the substantial amount of work required to make this happen, we’d like to be confident that it won’t die after September.

2,3) There’s no such thing as software without maintenance, so if OSGeo isn't willing to commit to doing the maintenance, then I’d suggest that a commercially hosted CRM is a wise investment. For example, a single SugarCRM user is $35/mo. That is a very modest expense, given the return on investment, even at half-a-dozen users (1-2 per FOSS4G conference).

4) Boy howdy, do we. In general I think organizers have adopted a pretty conservative approach, but having an overarching OSGeo policy that was a mandatory umbrella for all conferences is a much better idea.

Darrell


On Mar 27, 2014, at 14:28, Cameron Shorter <cameron.shorter at gmail.com> wrote:

> Darrell,
> +1 from me too, with the following comments:
> 
> 1. I think the best way to set this up, and ensure that it will continue to be used at future conferences is to collect this suggestion, along with others, into the emerging FOSS4G Cookbook: http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_Handbook
> 
> 2. When setting up the infrastructure, I suggest ensuring that it is sustainable long term, with very little maintenance.
> 
> 3. In particular, use the Open Source version rather than commercial version of Sugar CRM, so we are not dependant on fees.
> 
> 4. We need a policy in place regarding privacy of data. People and organisations need to know how widely their contact details are being shared before they hand them over. 

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