[OSGeo-Discuss] Re: [Board] OSGeo Elections

[Eli Adam]

I sent this to Arnulf privately and he has suggested I share it (it
includes some less relevant parts).  The most relevant part: it is
especially important that everyone can and should ask questions all
the time; this is the process by which OSGeo belongs to everyone.  If
you do or don't like something that the Board of Directors is doing,
you should certainly feel free to share that on the Board or Discuss
list.

What's the Board doing anyway?  Find out here,
http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/ or sign up for the list
yourself.  Also, agendas, notes, and other details here,
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board

Thanks to Arnulf for contributing to the Board for six (not Seven?) years.

Best Regards, Eli

On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 3:26 AM, Seven (aka Arnulf) <seven at arnulf.us> wrote:
> Eli,
> thanks for your kind words. If I got this right this mail went to me
> personally only - but what you say is also important for the rest of the
> board and the community. So please feel free to re-post or forward to
> the board or discuss list. You clarify some things I was short on and
> point out important aspects which would be good to spread through the
> broader lists, especially that you want to make sure that everyone can
> and should ask questions all the time. Flattening the apparent(?)
> opinion hierarchy within OSGeo is what we should be watching out for in
> coming years. Six years into existence stabilizes things - which is good
> in some aspects but dangerous for continuous innovation and agility.
>
> Thanks,
> Arnulf
>
>
> On 05/18/2012 07:20 AM, Eli Adam wrote:
>> Arnulf,
>>
>>>
>>> Folks,
>>> I have been on the board for six consecutive years which is a long time
>>> for an organization that is six years old. Sort of the whole life. :-)
>>> It was a great pleasure working with you and making OSGeo what it is
>>> now. Instead of dropping out completely I wish to continue serving OSGeo
>>> in my best capacities (if I got them right) as lateral thinker and
>>> lowest troll [0] but I would like to pass on the burden of being a
>>> director on the OSGeo Board.
>>
>> Thanks for serving and providing some historical continuity and
>> institutional memory over the long haul.  I'm sure that valuable
>> resource will continue to be an important contribution.  Hopefully the
>> number of hours you dedicate can decrease slightly freeing you up for
>> other activities.
>>
>> By definition of LT, aren't you defacto wrong in your decision?  I
>> should certainly know better than to engage you in some amorphous open
>> ended discussion, please just take note of an attempt at humor and
>> appreciate that without engaging :).
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Being president was a great experience and I have always felt welcomed
>>> and supported in this role, both by the board and OSGeo members and also
>>> by those who invited me. I will obviously complete all tasks which I
>>> have accepted in my role as president after my term ends unless the new
>>> president is keen on taking them over right away. For the next
>>> transition it might be a good idea to introduce the concept of a
>>> 'president elect' in order to avoid a void during transition.
>>>
>>> There are other reasons which make me take this decision. One is a
>>> nagging feeling that many in the community object to many (if not all)
>>> strategic decisions we took as a board. This is probably inevitable
>>> given the diversity of interests represented through OSGeo - but
>>> nonetheless it is a strain. In summary it feels like I am a bit worn
>>> out. And I am actually looking forward to do some work which for a
>>> change is honored by monetary compensation.
>>
>> As someone who has publicly rigorously questioned the Board on
>> strategic decisions, I feel compelled to mention that even then and
>> now I explicitly support the Board in making the decisions they see
>> fit.  I just reserve the right to ask as many questions as I want.
>> Through that, I have actually come to think that they were the correct
>> (and probably only) decisions to make.  So now there are only ('many'
>> -1) objecting.  I think that you may be over estimating the number of
>> people objecting but you are also probably more tuned in than I am.
>>
>>>
>>> It took me a lot of listening to friends and thinking on my own to
>>> arrive at this point but it seems to be the right thing to do.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> In my new role as outgoing director I would be happy to be CRO for the
>>> upcoming elections and suggest to get started asap so that we have
>>> enough time to run through Charter Member and Board elections before
>>> FOSS4G 2012. My hope is that we will receive broad support from around
>>> the globe and also to get some fresh faces on the board. If there are no
>>> objections I will set up a schedule for the 2012 elections and send it
>>> around for approval at the board meeting in three weeks.
>>
>> Thanks for all of your work, and as you said to Jeff, see you later.
>>
>> Merry Mapping, Eli
>>
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> Arnulf.
>>>
>>> [0] http://arnulf.us/Lowest_Troll
>>>
>>> - --
>>> Exploring Space, Time and Mind
>>> http://arnulf.us
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>
>
> --
> Exploring Space, Time and Mind
> http://arnulf.us