[OSGeo-UK] Report from OSGeo Board meeting

[Jo Cook]

It was a rough job but someone had to do it!

On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 4:29 PM, Mike Saunt <mikesaunt at astuntechnology.com>wrote:

> 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.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> UK mailing list
>> UK at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/uk
>>
>>
>


-- 
***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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