[Journal] FOSS4G 2011 Special Edition

[Michael P. Gerlek]

I honestly don't see the Journal as a high priority for the board right now -- it would be a tough sell to get any funding for it in the next 6+ months certainly.  (Do you have any metrics on readership/downloads, etc?)

That said, I don't think the Board would mind you trying to get sponsors or sell advertising space.  If you can raise the money, more power to you!

( Speaking only for myself, I'm increasingly looking at OSGeo projects moving towards a three-part model to sustain themselves: (1) volunteer efforts, (2) 3rd-party sponsorship, and (3) foundation-level support.  The ratio of these three is not necessarily 1:1:1, but (3) would likely be a matching grant against (2) at best. )

-mpg


> -----Original Message-----
> From: newsletter-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:newsletter-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Tyler Mitchell
> Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 4:26 PM
> To: OSGeo Journal
> Subject: Re: [Journal] FOSS4G 2011 Special Edition
> 
> What's your sense on this Michael?  Is the board prepared
> to financial support the Journal?  In the past it was seen as
> out-of-scope for my position so it's production slowed down
> significantly.  So far the Journal hasn't actually reported to
> the board, as it's not an official recognised committee and
> never had a budget.
> 
> Everyone else... if we did want to, collectively,
> move forward with it to generate funds that could help
> raise the profile of OSGeo, GFOSS researchers and more in
> our community, then we should come up with a plan to present
> to the board.  e.g. what is the goal, how will it be implemented,
> who will be in charge of it, how will it be used?
> 
> If there is little interest from the board (has been minimal in
> past at least), yet sustained interest from those on this list
> and those helping with publication, then I'd consider
> taking it outside of OSGeo and producing a professional
> journal addressing the same issues.  But I doubt I'd do that
> if it at all threatened the volunteer spirit of this team.  Same
> as if we raise funds for any reason - if volunteers thought it
> was then no worth their time, I'd respect that.  Of course, I
> haven't only worked on this during work hours, but much of
> it I have, so I've already been working on so far :)
> 
> Not trying to find money to keep me afloat, but really don't
> want this great effort to die due to lack of trying.
> 
> Thoughts?
>