[OSGeo-Discuss] Fwd: Board nomination: Jeff McKenna

[Jeff McKenna]

Thanks for your words Cameron, I will do my best to address your 
concerns here now.

In a sense it is good that you bring up all this history, as it gives me 
a chance to clarify what actually happened.

In 2011 I had been doing so much for FOSS4G for so long, all those 
non-glorious tasks that helped build what FOSS4G is today, that I knew 
that we were approaching a critical point where we were asking too much 
of volunteers to make the next FOSS4G event happen.

Fellow leaders Venka, Gérald, and I had boots on the ground in China in 
2010 I believe, and we really pushed for FOSS4G-China to happen, but we 
all knew the effort involved, demanding more of a face-to-face approach, 
than past event planning.  With my many hats (chair of conference 
committee, then on every single local committee of FOSS4G, and Board 
member) I knew that for FOSS4G-2012 Beijing to happen we must invest 
boots-on-the-ground help, and be sure to guide the event to completion. 
Bringing FOSS4G to China was very important to me.

So what then happened would become one of my proudest moments in OSGeo: 
I very publicly proposed a partially funded "FOSS4G Advisor" role to 
mentor the Beijing team, and work closely from start to finish, back in 
2011, to do all of the little things.  The document lists so many 
important little tasks, but the last section says it the best:

  - propose role/position to OSGeo Board
  - once approved, introduce new role to FOSS4G 2012 local committee
  - do the work!

It was what I knew (and having created the FOSS4G conference committee, 
been on every local committee until then, only I knew this) had to 
happen, and right away.

Unfortunately the proposal was never approved by the OSGeo Board, and 
this devastated me, as I knew this was what was needed to make the event 
a success.  I would later resign from the OSGeo Board over that.

Fast forward a year, and the event never happened.  It was exactly what 
I warned.  To this day I feel such a role is needed for FOSS4G.  Here is 
my original document, note that tasks, costs, effort, everything is in 
the open and visible, for a future FOSS4G team to use: 
https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_Advisor_Role

(I would learn later that the German FOSSGIS organizers hired someone 
for that exact role, doing the little things each event to make sure 
consistency and a smooth transition happens)

I hope this explains what happened Cameron.   Regarding so many people 
contacting you about concerns of me, please let them know that I am here 
to talk, if they feel the need to voice concerns.

Thank you for your message Cameron, I'll address your next email 
examining my career in a response shortly.

-jeff




On 2017-10-09 5:42 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
> Jeff,
> 
> I've had a number of people correct me to note that you have resigned 
> twice from the board. Also from the conference committee and FOSS4G 
> mentoring role as the global FOSS4G China was facing very hard decisions 
> based on low registration numbers.
> 
> References:
> 
> Resignation from board in 2015: 
> https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2015-December/008820.html
> 
> Resignation from board and conference committee in 2012: 
> https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2012-February/004544.html
> 
> Stepping back from mentoring FOSS4G China: 
> https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2012-January/004514.html
> 
> Lessons Learned from FOSS4G China: 
> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2012_Lessons_Learned
> 
> 
> 
> On 9/10/17 10:01 pm, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>>
>> Jeff,
>>
>> While I agree with others that you have been very enthusiastic toward 
>> OSGeo ideals, I'm also believe that there are some unanswered 
>> questions which should be addressed.
>>
>> In particular, a while back you stepped down from the OSGeo Board 
>> mid-term, while you were in the position of OSGeo president. I don't 
>> think a public explanation was provided, but I was aware that there 
>> was some passionate discussion happening in public email lists at the 
>> time.
>>
>> If you are considering sitting on the board again, I think an 
>> explanation should be provided.
>>
>> Regards, Cameron
>>
>>
>> On 9/10/17 8:48 am, nicolas bozon wrote:
>>>
>>> It is my honor to nominate Jeff McKenna for the OSGeo Board of 
>>> Directors election.
>>>
>>> Most of you knows Jeff's energy and passion for everything OSGeo, and 
>>> i would probably be mistaken trying to summarize his countless 
>>> contributions over the years, at every level of our Foundation. His 
>>> leadership and long involvement in the OSGeo and FOSS4G communities 
>>> made him the Winner of the Solz Katz Award in 2016, and i cannot add 
>>> more. For those of you who may really not know Jeff yet, the 
>>> User:Jeff_McKenna wiki page is a good read before you vote.
>>>
>>> Jeff already served three times at the board and has a deep 
>>> understanding of both the director role and the current OSGeo 
>>> strategic plan. Experienced with OSGeo governance and bylaws, Jeff 
>>> also knows a lot about projects and people. He is always ready to 
>>> help build locally and to represent globally.
>>>
>>> Jeff is a great communicator and enthusiastic community leader, and i 
>>> believe he will be an excellent OSGeo director again. Please let us 
>>> all welcome Jeff back at the Board!
>>>
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Nicolas Bozon
>>>
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Jeff McKenna agreed to be nominated and i decided to send the 
>>> nomination directly to the Discuss list with cc to CRO, so it avoids 
>>> Jeff to confirm to himself that he accepts the nomination. The Board 
>>> Nominations page still need to be updated, could you please Vasile ? 
>>> Sorry for shortening the nomination process in this special case.
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>> -- 
>> Cameron Shorter
>> Open Technologies Consultant
>> Geospatial & Software Architect
>> Information Demystifier
>>
>> M +61 (0) 419 142 254
>> http://shorter.net
> 
> -- 
> Cameron Shorter
> Open Technologies Consultant
> Geospatial & Software Architect
> Information Demystifier
> 
> M +61 (0) 419 142 254
> http://shorter.net
>