[OSGeo-Conf] Proposal: Invite Andrea Ross, from LocationTech to join the OSGeo Conference Committee

Tue May 24 07:00:59 PDT 2016

Dear Cameron, Sanghee, All

(For what it's worth, I use her/she for what it's worth, but slips 
happen and I don't sweat it much.)

Thank you Cameron for the nomination. I appreciate it. And the 
supporting votes thus far.

I have noted that past chairs of significant events have been nominated 
& voted in fairly automatically. I have run 4 large FOSS4G events, and 
many dozens of smaller regional ones. Based on that & more, I hope my 
experience holds up well and wouldn't be questioned.

I have been supporting FOSS4G & OSGeo since the early days. If you go 
back in history, I have spoken, helped organize, recorded videos, 
convinced my employer of the day sponsor at high levels, found creative 
ways to send people who couldn't otherwise go, and more at so many 
FOSS4G events. Beyond this, I have supported projects, companies trying 
to make a go of business, played a significant role in contracts & 
positions for more than a few people, mentored many dozens of students, 
and more. This is my FOSS4G story.

I think the record on LocationTech's many positive actions towards OSGeo 
is public and clear. Similar for the lack of any negative actions. The 
fear against LocationTech is irrational, and frankly I don't know how to 
address it other than what myself and many others have tried for some 
time. In a well governed system, this wouldn't be an issue at all, 
because that's the point of governance.

Speaking to Sanghee's comment, I agree. I have long been concerned that 
the FOSS4G Conference committee's lack of clear governance, and tendency 
to support people with similar views, and eschew adding people with 
different views, such as myself as a noteworthy example. I point to the 
FOSS4G NA governance 
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WlgmJgtl0LaV0EO0NtDDSnloTgsIvxu9KwddPDwX1WU/edit> 
as an example of what I have tried to help do about it and affect 
positive change for the NA series. It wasn't my place to try to 
encourage something similar for FOSS4G Global, but for what it's worth, 
I think it's worth considering.

All this said, I submit myself to the scrutiny of the committee. If you 
feel I'd be a great candidate and add a lot to the committee, the please 
know I am interested. Know that I am interested in helping mature the 
governance for FOSS4G Global over time. This is not a scary thing, but a 
very positive thing and can have a significant positive effect, in my 
opinion.

Kind regards,

Andrea

On 24/05/16 09:19, Sanghee Shin wrote:
> Dear Cameron and all,
>
> Before voting on this, I think we need to agree on the governance 
> model of conference committee or how to run the conference committee.
>
> Maxi expressed his wish to join the conference a couple of months ago. 
> However there was no enough discussion whether we should accept him or 
> not or who can be a member of conference committee. And his asking was 
> just dropped.
>
> Now Cameron suddenly has proposed to invite Andrea to the conference 
> even though there was no explicit her wish to join the committee.
>
> Actually I’m ok with inviting any person to the committee who can give 
> fresh mind and contributions to FOSS4G conference. However I think 
> there should at least minimum fair guidance who can be a member of the 
> conference to reduce any other misunderstanding.
>
> Conference Committee is very unique in OSGeo in terms of very closed 
> membership. That’s why we need to be more transparent and fair. To 
> somebody, conference committee can be seen as 'Benevolent Oligarchy’
>
> I’m writing this not because Andrea works at LocationTech but because 
> I feel some unfairness. And there are efforts to increase the 
> communications between OSGeo and LocationTech at the board level.
>
> Cheers,
> 신상희
> ---
> Shin, Sanghee
> Gaia3D, Inc. - The GeoSpatial Company
> http://www.gaia3d.com
>
>> 2016. 5. 24., 오후 8:13, Cameron Shorter <cameron.shorter at gmail.com 
>> <mailto:cameron.shorter at gmail.com>> 작성:
>>
>> Conference Committee,
>> I'd like to propose that we invite Andrea Ross to join the OSGeo 
>> Conference Committee.
>> +1 from me, Cameron Shorter.
>>
>> My reasoning is that Andrea has a lot of experience running 
>> conferences, especially through his involvement with LocationTech, 
>> and there are synergies that could be gained by aligning OSGeo and 
>> LocationTech effectively.
>>
>> I note that there have been concerns aired previously about 
>> LocationTech competing to take over OSGeo's flagship FOSS4G event. 
>> I'm of the opinion that we should be mindful of this, but we should 
>> discuss the options openly and I believe we can find a solution 
>> favourable for all. An effective way to support this conversation is 
>> to invite Andrea to be one vote among our conference committee.
>>
>> Warm regards, Cameron
>>
>> On 24/05/2016 6:31 am, Andrea Ross wrote:
>>> Dear Steven, & Everyone
>>>
>>> I've not been invited to the conference committee, but I will be in 
>>> Bonn, and I'm always glad to chat/meet.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>>
>>> Andrea
>>>
>>> On May 22, 2016 3:04:03 AM EDT, Steven Feldman <shfeldman at gmail.com> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     Who is going to be in Bonn for FOSS4G?
>>>
>>>     It's an opportunity for the Conference Committee and interested people to meet face to face, we could discuss some of the topics on the 'outstanding list'http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Conference_Committee_2016_Priorities  and we could start preparing the call for 2018
>>>
>>>     Anyone interested?
>>>
>>>     Steven
>>>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>     Conference_dev mailing list
>>>     Conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org
>>>     http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>> -- 
>> 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,  Wwww.lisasoft.com,  F +61 2 9009 5099
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