<div dir="ltr">+100<br><div><br></div><div>My quick take is that an organizing / governance structure would:</div><div>a) create greater credibility as an org / better explanation of who we are</div><div>b) attract more users</div><div>c) possibly serve as grounds for funding</div><div>d) give greater transparency into its operations</div><div><br></div><div>I'm sure there are many other reasons, as well, but those are the first at the top of my mind.</div><div><br></div><div>Noel's interesting comparison was to Mapzen, which is another OSM ecosystem organization that ended its commercial run and became a <a href="https://www.mapzen.com/blog/mapzen-is-now-a-linux-foundation-project/">Linux Foundation project</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks, Jeff</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 12:19 PM Richard Welty <<a href="mailto:rwelty@averillpark.net">rwelty@averillpark.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">over on slack, a new OHM user, Noel MacLochlainn (who is not on this<br>
mailing list) brought up a couple of issues relating to transparency<br>
and status that got me thinking. it's appropriate for me to bring those<br>
thoughts over here for discussion.<br>
<br>
i’ve been pondering @Noel MacLochlainn’s suggestions and comments; i<br>
think the real issue right now is that OHM lacks any sort of<br>
governance structure. it’s a smallish, informal project and on the one<br>
hand you could argue we don’t need one; on the other hand, if we wish<br>
to grow and be in a position to obtain and deploy greater resources,<br>
we likely need to do something more formal. we would need such a<br>
governance structure in any case if we wanted to become a non-profit<br>
in whatever jurisdiction, and becoming a non profit is probably<br>
necessary if we want to be in a position to take meaningful donations<br>
of resources.<br>
<br>
the last time non profit status came up was a few years ago and the<br>
discussion fizzled out; i personally think we should try to find a way<br>
to formalize the organization and its processes. it doesn't require<br>
instant progress or decision making, but we ought to start a serious<br>
discussion with an aim of moving it forward.<br>
<br>
richard<br>
-- <br>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><font size="1">Jeff Meyer</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="1">206-676-2347<br></font><div><span style="font-size:x-small">osm: </span><a href="http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Open_Historical_Map" style="font-size:x-small" target="_blank">Open Historical Map (OHM)</a><span style="font-size:x-small"> / </span><a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/jeffmeyer" style="font-size:x-small" target="_blank">my OSM user page</a><br></div><div><div><font size="1">t: @OpenHistMap </font></div><div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><font size="1"><br></font><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>