[OSGeo-Conf] Fwd: MOTION : Conference Committee - Updating Membership Policies and Process

Thu Sep 15 06:30:11 PDT 2016

Dear Steven,
I know i'm late but I hope my comments could be still considered to improve
the "Membership Policies and Process" of the conference committee.

In general I don't like the idea that only who has chaired a conference is
entitled to take decision on the conference, is like saying that if you are
not a developer you cannot be part of a project PSC even if you are a "rock
expert in user interaction design" for example or "super power user"...
often the minister of education is not a professor ;-)

here below some detailed comments inline..

>
> Goals
> =====
>
> The conference committee have the responsibility to run the selection
> process and voting for the global FOSS4G, to vote on other proposals
> submitted to the committee and to advise the board on other matters
> relating to FOSS4G events.
>
> Role of the Committee and the broader community on the Conference_Dev list
> ============================================================
>
> 1) Everyday topics will be decided upon by an open vote of all list
> participants in a clearly designated separate mail thread (+1/-1) over a
> minimum of two business days with a minimum participation of 3 votes.
> Ideally we aim for consensus falling back on simple majority vote where
> necessary. The result will be clearly declared afterwards (or whatever is
> decided).
>

3 votes out of 11 members and 2 days seems to me too restricted: in
principle after a motion having 3 positive votes after two bussiness day
can be enough to declare passed the motion

>
> 2) Election of conference committee is by secret vote and restricted to
> the remaining conference committee members and board members who are not
> members of the conference committee.
>

I would like to see the votes open to all participants (all the charter
member that are part of the conference mailing list or are registered as
interested), not only the remaining committee (otherwise you basically
decide with who you want to work).

>
> 3) FOSS4G Selection - All Letters of Intent and subsequent proposals will
> be posted to the list for open comment by all participants. The selection
> of the winning proposal is by secret vote of conference committee members
> only. Any committee member who has a potential conflict of interest is
> expected to withdraw from vote. In the event of a disagreement the
> committee chair will decide.
>

What do mean by "In the event of a disagreement the committee chair will
decide"? In case of tie the chair decide the winning (that anyway is
decided by the board as the conference committee provides its indication
and the board eventually ratify it).

>
> Votes in 2 and 3 are to an online voting service or by email to an
> independent teller appointed by CC Chair
>

>
> Conference Committee membership policy and process
> ==========================================
>
> 1) The conference committee aims to retain up to 11 active members,
> preferably an odd number
>
> 2) The committee aims for half of these members to be chairs (or vice
> chairs) of the most recent FOSS4G global events. The chair of the most
> recent FOSS4G event will automatically be invited to become a member
>

So the "aim" is that the last 5 chairs of global FOSS4G should be members
of the committee, but if you change 3 member a year, in about 3 years you
have changed all the members: so this is not possible, mathematically
speaking, unless you recruit both chair and vice-chair in the committee. so
you'll have 6 new members in 3 years.
At this point no more seats are left for regional conference chairs....

>
> 3) The remaining membership is open, ideally attracting people from
> earlier past chairs or active LOC members from past Global, Regional FOSS4G
> or related conferences
>
> 4) Each year (after FOSS4G) the 3 committee members should stand down:
> a) The longest standing past FOSS4G chair
> b) The longest standing 2 committee members remaining
>
> Should or Shall, is it a rule or a guideline. What is the longest standing
past FOSS4G chair does not stand down? Is he/she forced to resign or banned?

> 5) Each year, prior to putting out the Global FOSS4G RfP, the old
> committee should vote for their replacement committee, using the above
> criteria as voting guidelines.  OSGeo Board members who are not on the
> conference committee will also be invited to vote.
>

Again, i don't like this self-election of a governing body ;-)

> 6) Past committee members including those who have stood down due to
> length of service may stand for re-election
>

Yes, but basically no seats will be available according to the rule of
having half of the committee from latest events: oldest out, recent in so
oldest no way to get in again ;-) unless others resign (apart from the
three)

> 7) Votes will be secret either using an online voting system or by email
> to a designated teller who is not a voter. The mechanism will be selected
> by the committee chair.
>

Why the mechanism is not voted by all the committee members?

>
> I would ask committee members (and list participants) to comment on this
> proposal by 18.00 GMT Wednesday 14th September. I will then call for a vote
> amongst committee members only, the vote will close at 18.00 GMT on Sunday
> 18th September.
>
> Once the membership policy has been agreed we will then need to apply the
> policy to the existing membership. I suggest that we ask all current
> members to confirm whether they wish to remain committee members and then
> hold an election (if needed). To this end it would be helpful if each
> committee member could update their record on the wiki page to show when
> they joined the conference committee (see my example).
>
> The intention is that a 2016-7 committee of 11 will have been selected
> before we vote on the LoI’s for 2018, which is likely to be before the end
> of October.
> ______
> Steven
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Conference_dev mailing list
> Conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev
>

-- 
*Massimiliano Cannata*

Professore SUPSI in ingegneria Geomatica

Responsabile settore Geomatica

Istituto scienze della Terra

Dipartimento ambiente costruzione e design

Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana

Campus Trevano, CH - 6952 Canobbio

Tel. +41 (0)58 666 62 14

Fax +41 (0)58 666 62 09

massimiliano.cannata at supsi.ch

*www.supsi.ch/ist <http://www.supsi.ch/ist>*
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