[Europe] [OSGeo AGM 2021] [Action required] present the activities of Europe local Chapter at the OSGeo AGM

[Till Adams]

Dear Dirk,

thanks for the input - but: No, no one is going physically to BA, me
neither. FOSS4G BA is an onlien conference ;-)

All I could do is put your thoughtsi nto slides, record it and send it
to Vicky, so that she can add it to the AM video.

I will ask her for some more time and will do.

Till


Am 29.08.21 um 12:08 schrieb Dirk Frigne:
> Hi Till,
>
> It took me a bit longer that I wanted. I hope it was worth the waiting...
>
>
> Dear list,
>
> As a preparation for the AGM of Friday 01 October 11:00 AM AST or
> 16:00 CET, I prepared some input.
> Till will go physically to  Buenos Aires. I will not make it but I'll
> try to connect online if possible.
>
> It would be good if Till could present the Local European Chapter on
> stage during the AGM.
>
> It would also be good if there is a specific meeting about the future
> of OSGeo Local Chapter, as we hit some damage during the last 2 years.
>
> For those new to the content, a short recap:
>
> *History* (See also:
> https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Local_Chapter_EU_History + update)
> (please feel free to update where I missed some activities or actions)
>
> the first ideas for OSGeo Europe Chapter were launched in 2014.
> Actually the first idea’s started in 2013 on the FOSS4G CEE Conference
> in Bucharest.
>
> In 2015 there was some need to promote open standards for ICT
> procurement in Europe.
> Proposal to start an initiative on the Foss4G conference in Bonn 2016.
> Bylaws discussed and prepared during 2016 / 2017.
>
> *Birth of the organisation*
> Bylaws signed 20 July 2021 during the FOSS4G conference in Paris.
>
> OSGeo was founded with a legal status as a non-profit organisation
> based on Belgium law. We have 2 bankaccounts and a legal status with
> rights and obligations.
> One of the interesting rights is that we don’t have to pay value added
> tax (VAT) when buying goods, but when we sell services we need to
> apply for VAT.
>
> 2017 - 2018 was also the year I tried to find out how to behave as a ngo.
>
> Some contacts where initiated with UN Committee, discussions amongst
> members how to work on a common tender, investigating what are the
> obligations to report for the Belgian authorities in a way we could
> recuperate the VAT.
>
> November 2017: preparation for first board meeting OSGeo Europe
>
> Board meeting 15 December 2017: no of the board members attended
>
> Jan- February 2018:
>
> Further administrative burden to check all the signatures and ID’s of
> the board members,
> the publication of bylaws of the organisation in the Belgian
> registers. Opening the bank accounts.
> (Since the terroristic attacks in Belgium, these procedures became
> more difficult than before).
> This took more time as expected.
>
> March 2018: Meeting in Brussels about the Copernicus program . Goal:
> promote OSGeo and promote Copernicus @OSGeo.
>
> Jul 2018: FOSS4G Conference Guimrães:
> Presentation of OSGeo EU initiative to promote OSGeo software and
> projects on non FOSS events.
>
> Aug 2018: organisation of first initiative in collaboration with 5
> OSGeo projects.
> OSGeo Europe did the coordination of the INSPIRE 2018 event in Antwerp
> and in return we could promote OSGeo on that event.
>
> 26 – 30 Aug: FOSS4G Bucharest: short status update by Joachim
>
> 19 September  2018  there was a first event with OSGeo on the INSPIRE
> conference in Antwerp with a presentation about the eco-system of
> OSGeo. OSGeo had one of the big boots during the conference.
>
> The goal was to promote OSGeo and the OSGeo projects, the companies
> behind them and to create a European contact point for information to
> the non FOSS world.
>
> With 5 paying contributors we had a budget of 10.000 EUR to organise
> the event and the boot. By using the scale advantage, it was of
> intrest to the participants, OSGeo Europe could present itself as host
> and we had a small benefit of approx 1000 Eur to pay for the
> administrative overhead (the accountant responsible for the official
> registrations and publications).   
>
> Plans for organising more events in Germany, France and other
> countries did not materialize.
>
> But then all activities on my part were paused due to ...
>
> *(Some personal notes)*
>
> Nov 2018 - Nov  2019: black out for me (literally …)
>
> Dec 2019 – Feb 2020: personally: try to find the energy to reboot the
> Local Chapter but I still missed the energy to do so.
>
> And then there was Covid…
>
> Engagement in a community (like OSGeo) takes a lot of energy.
> Luckily this energy is fuelled by attending the activities,
> participating conferences, meeting other people and work together
> promoting FOSS and stimulating the FOSS industry.
> When this falls away, like it was in times of Covid this is even more
> challenging (see the presentation
> https://callforpapers.2021.foss4g.org/foss4g2021/talk/3MNBBB/).
> For me personally, it was very hard to find the energy back.
>
> Personally I need a mission I want to work on.
> The world is changing very fast, so the reasons I started engaging for
> FOSS now more than 15 years ago,  changed over time.
> One of the strengths of FOSS is that it starts from *‘givving’*. But
> to be able to *‘give’* you need others who receive and who are glad
> with the *‘gift’*. I need to find the right focus where my
> contribution helps our community forward, preferably with other people.
>
> It is this exercise we should do again.
>
>
> *Status of the ngo OSGeo Europe vzw*
> To fulfil all the obligations the Belgian law describes, I asked a
> account to help me with the legal stuff.
> This costs some money.
> Almost every year,  laws change in Belgium (and I think also in
> Europe), this also has impact on  ngo’s.
> The reporting becomes more demanding. f.i. a UBO-register is a new
> obligation. (https://financien.belgium.be/nl/E-services/Ubo-register).
> As we have an international board, this is a bit more complex than
> with only Belgian id’s.
>
> Also, as intrest rates are below zero, banks that previously provided
> free services now also charge a monthly fee. This also takes money
> from our accounts.
>
> June 30, 2021 we closed our accounts with a claim on the VAT tax
> department of dept to the accountant of 314,30 EURO. This is the
> amount of money we get back from government because we aply to the VAT
> rules.
> But for the work done by the accountant the last 3 years, we have an
> unpaid dept of 693,55 EURO. Every quarter this grows a bit.
>
> The status on the accounts is (OSGeo EU : 38,43 EUR, GRASS: 1389,57
> EURO).
>
> The income of OSGeo Europe is zero.
>
> Without organising events that produce the necessary income and VAT
> taxes that we can recuperate, this has no sense.
>
> So it is no rocket science that we only have 2 options (imho):
>
> Option a:
> Find the money to pay for the current depts.
> Find a way to get the minimal income to pay for the necessary Yearly
> costs (+/- 1000 Euro / Year)
> Organise elections for a new board
> Define/update/reactivate the mission and activities OSGeo Europe wants
> to do
>
> Option b:
> Execute the liquidation of the ngo
>
> option b would be a real shame, since we've devoted a lot of energy
> and community discussions to building this organization.
> If there is no other option, then this is unfortunately the only way
> to go.
>
> If option a is chosen, I want to organize the elections and help find
> the new mission. I am also available to engage myself if I can
> contribute to the mission and get the necessary energy from it.
>
> In case it becomes option b, I will take steps in October to organize
> the liquidation.
>
> Any comments are welcome,
> Thanks in advance for your contribution.
>
> Dirk
>
>
> On 24/08/2021 09:07, Till Adams wrote:
>> Hi Dirk,
>>
>> thanks for the "food" - that's a good idea. No, I am not going to
>> Finland, it's tha AM on FOSS4G Buenos Aires ;-)
>>
>> Till
>>
>>
>> Am 19.08.21 um 14:40 schrieb Dirk Frigne:
>>> Hi Till,
>>>
>>> I will give you some food for tought, later today.
>>> Good to hear you go to Finland!
>>> I've not yet decided.
>>>
>>> Dirk
>>>
>>> On 19/08/2021 08:10, adams at osgeo.org wrote:
>>>> Dear European chapter!
>>>>
>>>> I know there was not much activity, but at least we planned (and
>>>> postproned) a FOSS4G Europe! Did any further activities under the
>>>> European chapter umbrella take place and is someone willing to
>>>> present them.
>>>>
>>>> In case no one wants to, I can also present them, as I will join
>>>> the AM
>>>> anyway - but I need some "food" for this ;-9
>>>>
>>>> Regards, Till
>>>>
>>>> Am 18.08.21 um 18:13 schrieb Astrid Emde (OSGeo Secretary):
>>>>> Hello Europe Local Chapter,
>>>>>
>>>>> we invite you and your team to present the local chapter at the OSGeo
>>>>> AGM 2021.
>>>>>
>>>>> This year we will publish the OSGeo AGM video in advance of FOSS4G
>>>>> [1].
>>>>>
>>>>> You find all important information about the AGM at [5].
>>>>>
>>>>> It would be great if someone could volunteer to present the status at
>>>>> the AGM. Please send me an email and I will provide an upload link
>>>>> for
>>>>> the video.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Timeline
>>>>> -----------------------
>>>>> - 2021-08-30: upload your video and update the AGM slides [2]
>>>>> - 2021-09-10: AGM 2021 complete video will be published
>>>>> - 2021-10-01: 11h Argentinian Time Zone (14:00 UTC) Join the OSGeo
>>>>> AGM
>>>>> 2021 meeting at FOSS4G [3] [4]
>>>>>
>>>>> If you have questions or problems with the upload of your video
>>>>> please
>>>>> let us know secretary (at) osgeo (dot) org.
>>>>>
>>>>> Stay safe,
>>>>>
>>>>> Astrid Emde
>>>>> OSGeo Secretary
>>>>>
>>>>> [1] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDvJEf8hXbyeVqaYaS8sLvw
>>>>> [2]
>>>>> https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1brbBb7-sKRI6U4dZ7LKnBT_-NnWzyS2TaZqVXzy8RDo/edit#slide=id.p4
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> [3] https://callforpapers.2021.foss4g.org/foss4g2021/talk/WDEW3P/
>>>>> [4]
>>>>> https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meetingdetails.html?year=2021&month=10&day=1&hour=14&min=0&sec=0&p1=51&p2=26&p3=49&p4=155&p5=217&p6=312&p7=250&p8=71&p9=248&p10=240
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> [5] https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Annual_General_Meeting_2021
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Europe mailing list
>>>> Europe at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/europe
>>>>
>>>
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>>
>