[OSGeo-UK] Report from OSGeo Board meeting

[Mike Saunt]

Well done Jo as I reckon it would have been pretty tough for you having to
work over the weekend in Seattle (bar humbug)

--

*Mike Saunt*
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On 9 February 2012 16:16, Jo Cook <jocook at astuntechnology.com> wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> A very quick report from the OSGeo Board Meeting in Seattle last weekend.
> The minutes are beginning to be put together at
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Face_to_Face_Meeting_Seattle_2012, this is
> still ongoing as Michael Gerlek, the secretary, has also been running a
> Code Sprint for the last few days.
>
> In terms of what really matters to OSGeo:UK (everything matters, of
> course, but some things more than others!)- the main foundation is now on a
> reasonably sound financial footing after a very dicey year. It is, of
> course, a massive shame that this comes at the cost of removing the
> Executive Directors role, but declining sponsorship at the highest level
> meant that something quite drastic had to be done to survive. Some of the
> money that has now been freed up is being channelled into some areas that
> may impact on the local chapter, such as potentially some money for
> marketing and for "OSGeo ambassadors" who may find themselves in the role
> that we would normally have expected Tyler to play. Not much more has been
> decided about this yet, so I can't tell you anything more definite, but
> expect a push for better marketing materials and case studies etc from the
> wider organisation soon.
>
> You might have seen some announcements about a FOSS4G-NA event this year,
> as well as FOSS4G 2012 in Beijing. While this does seem like a cause for
> concern with our plans to bid for FOSS4G 2013 in the UK, we did thrash out
> a compromise which I hope will work for everyone. The decision to hold
> FOSS4G-NA in April was not a simple one- partially an opportunity came up
> to host a geo-event of some kind, and the organisers wished to tie in with
> the open source community. Since the event is happening anyway, it is to
> the benefit of OSGeo to endorse the event, and prevent too much dilution of
> the FOSS4G brand. I do still have some concerns about what an annual event
> will mean long term for sponsorship and attendance of the international
> event, but currently we can't really tell what will happen. Metrics from
> previous events show that there's actually only a small core of people that
> attend every event, with the majority of attendees being local to the
> hosting country/region. So to a certain extent we won't really know what
> will happen about that.
>
> What we decided to do additionally is support the founding of regional
> events in other regions- so we could do a FOSS4G-EU if we wanted. We're
> still working on the details, but the main event will still be the big
> global FOSS4G in the Autumn of each year- this will be where the OSGeo AGM
> will be held, the Sol Katz award will be presented, and the Board of
> Directors will have their normal Face to Face meeting (this one in Seattle
> was additional). That way we ensure that the core of committed FOSS4G'ers
> will continue to attend. We ran out of time working through all the details
> around this, unfortunately.
>
> There have been some changes to the conference organising committee (go
> see the emails on the main OSGeo Discuss list if you want more details on
> this), but basically there will be a Request for Proposals for the 2013
> event soon, at which point we will know slightly better where we stand.
> Some back gossip about this- there is an assumption that there will be a
> bid from Rome, but probably not one from Prague as they are hosting their
> own FOSS4G-CEE this year. I did my bit for promoting a UK bid!
>
> I think that's probably about it- if you read the minutes and have any
> questions, then don't hesitate to ask.
>
> All the best
>
> Jo
>
> --
> ***Jo Cook*
> Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT18
> 7RL, UK
> t:+44 750 095 8167
> iShare - Data integration and publishing platform<http://www.isharemaps.com/>
> See the new Helpdesk and Customer portal<http://support.astuntechnology.com/home>
> *****************************************
> Over 35% of the 4 star council websites use iShare - SOCITM Better
> Connected 2010
>
> See our customer commendations and awards<http://astuntechnology.com/customers/awards-and-commendations/>
>
>  Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
> Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT no.
> 864201149.
>
>
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