[OSGeo Oceania] [Meeting invite] OSGeo Membership discussion and OSGeo Oceania election debrief

[John Bryant]

Thanks for this discussion. My thoughts:

Official "membership" of OSGeo Oceania is an important way to keep the
organisation accountable. By maintaining a register of engaged people
willing to pay attention and vote, we make sure there is a way to fix
things if they go wrong.

I like that there's a low threshold for belonging to our community, because
it feels inclusive and welcoming. But maybe it would be better to apply
these principles in a broader sense, making sure it's easy to join the
*community*, and take a narrow view of the role of "membership". This is
how I see it: "membership" is simply about participating in board elections
and voting on resolutions, as needed to maintain a democratic organisation.
Embracing this would mean putting a low emphasis on membership as a
day-to-day concern of the organisation.

This feels approximately similar to the OSGeo model Bruce has linked to:
Anyone can join the OSGeo community (we have the same, but maybe this is
not well enough articulated). OSGeo has "charter" members who must pass an
eligibility threshold and can vote, but the organisation is focused on
serving the whole community.

Related: the topic of "how do we deliver value to members" has come up a
few times in the past, but I think it's the wrong approach. For me, I think
members are best served when the organisation keeps its focus on the
mission of supporting a healthy community, rather than providing any
special access, benefits, or services to members. As a member, that's what
I want to see :)

On Thu, 17 Dec 2020 at 11:39, Bruce Bannerman <
bruce.bannerman.osgeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> I encourage everyone involved in our community to contribute to evolve how
> we want to work together. You may not think so, but your thoughts and
> opinion **are** important.
>

Hear hear!

John
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