[Australia] FOSS4G in Australia

[Tim Bowden]

On Thu, 2007-07-12 at 15:35 +0800, Chris Tweedie wrote:
> Hi guys,
> 
> Regardless of the outcome of FOSS4G hosting success, maybe this would 
> be a good opportunity to formalise the Australian Chapter??


YES!  Well said Chris.

Some thoughts on how we should go about it:

Membership:  I'd like to see a formal chapter membership register
separate to the list membership, with only one class of (voting)
members.  Membership should be open to all who support the aims of
OSGeo, without imposing any financial cost.  We need to look at the
legal form we take.  From what I understand, some form of incorporation
would be a good idea.  This is not my area of expertise but as a general
guide to our options, I've found a few pointers [1] to the legal
requirements.  I've no idea if the state we incorporate in makes a
difference or not.  Before we go down that path we'll have to get some
reliable advice.

Supporters packs:  In order for people to be a bit more public in their
support of Aust OSGeo, we could have "supporter packs" made up of
T-shirt, stubby holder etc, for a reasonable price- $25 or so.  Thoughts
anyone?

Corporate membership:  I'm not sure this is a good thing, though at the
very least corporate sponsors would be great.  How much would depend on
the size of the organisation, but should be quite reasonable either way.
If we do have corporate membership, it would have to be non voting.

Aust/NZ Chapter:  There's been some interest to making this a combined
Aust/NZ chapter. So far I've not heard any objections.  It would require
a name change to the list, but that's no big deal.


Lets have a few days to argue the merits of any ideas that come up and
get a guiding document done, and then put it to a vote.

Regards,
Tim Bowden


[1]
Law Institute Victoria:
http://www.liv.asn.au/public/legalinfo/commassoc/

WA Govt: http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/associations/