[Australia] Time to get moving- Chapter formation

[Cameron Shorter]

Ok,
I think our key role is to promote OSGeo and the OSGeo goals. Our 
primary avenue for doing this would be to present at Geospatial 
conferences like SSC in Hobart in May.

Milton tells us that Autodesk has a talking slot at SSC which I believe 
will have an OSGeo slant.

I have a speaking slot at GITA 2007, 6-8 August in Brisbane where I plan 
to talk abuot OSGeo and OGC standards. Lisasoft will be paying my expenses.

So far, I don't see a need for a budget, and hence don't see a need to 
incorporate and initiate the extra overhead associating with incorporating.

What we do need is the ability to make decisions. Which in turn means we 
should have a management structure included voted representatives. I'm 
open to suggestions for how we register members. Voting for a 
representative board should be straight forward once membership rules 
are set in place.

Tim Bowden wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> If you have had your ear to the ground, you will know there are a few
> geospatial related conferences coming up this year, starting with
> SSC2007 in Hobart this May.  Aust OSGeo would like make its presence
> felt, but we need to do some housekeeping; ie, get our chapter formally
> recognised.  To refresh your memory, we have some notes here:
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Australia
>
> Some issues to think about:  There have been some people interested in
> extending the Aust chapter to cover NZ (AustNZ OSGeo?).  I think it
> would be a great idea, and I can't see any downside.  The issues facing
> the GeoFOSS world in NZ are more or less the same as here.  Taking a
> joint approach could only help as far as I can see.  If people could
> take a minute to indicate on list if they support this or not, it would
> be appreciated.
>
> Legal Status: We need to decide if we are to be incorporated or not.
> It's a bit more legwork to incorporate, but it does make it easier to
> handle money, insurance etc when we get around to holding events.  The
> question then becomes, which state do we incorporate in, and do we need
> to also have an incorporated entity in NZ (once there are enough NZ
> members)?  This is not an area I have much experience in.  Can anyone
> add anything here?
>
> Membership:  Do we want to have just individual membership or corporate
> membership?  Voting and non voting?  Paid membership or free? Your
> thoughts please.  If we go down the incorporation route, we need to get
> it right from the start.
>
> GeoFOSS consultants:  One of the benefits an organised chapter can bring
> is providing visibility to consultants.  Where can I find a GeoFOSS
> friendly consultant is a question I've been asked a few times lately
> (the latest being again today).  For those who are interested, this is a
> great chance to get some visibility ahead of SSC2007.
>
> GeoFOSS projects:  Lets get some exposure to the things being done with
> GeoFOSS here in our region.  There are lots of hidden corners where some
> amazing things are happening (esp CSIRO from what I have seen).  Lets
> show the world (where we can) so others can have more confidence in our
> tools.  It's also a chance to get to see things ourselves we wouldn't
> otherwise know about; GeoFOSS covers a lot of ground, probably much more
> than any one person can keep abreast of.  There's plenty happening I
> don't know about and I'm sure it's the same for others.
>
> Developers:  Lets create the opportunity for developers to network with
> local peers.  Sure, location doesn't always matter, but getting some
> occasional face to face time with other developers can sometimes make
> all the difference to a project.  Hopefully we can help this happen one
> way or another.
>
> Are there any other issues anyone wants addressed?
>
> Regards,
> Tim Bowden
>
> _______________________________________________
> Australia mailing list
> Australia at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/australia
>
>   


-- 
Cameron Shorter
Systems Architect, http://lisasoft.com.au
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5011
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254