<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica Neue Light, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div id="yiv4346471643yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_107478" class=""><span id="yiv4346471643yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_107664" class="">Hi,</span></div><div id="yiv4346471643yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_107380" class=""><br clear="none" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_108680" class=""></div><div id="yiv4346471643yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_107379" class=""><span id="yiv4346471643yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_107378" class="">Happy to clear up any confusion. By "financial management", I was referring more broadly to ability to plan, budget, audit, and be accountable. These things are complex, and I'd love OSMF to have some means to draw on professional advice to help us. </span></div><div id="yiv4346471643yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_107379" class=""><br clear="none" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_108685" class=""></div><div id="yiv4346471643yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_107379" dir="ltr" class="">-Mikel</div><div></div><div> </div><div class="signature">* Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron</div>  <br><div class="qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div class="yahoo_quoted" style="display: block;"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica Neue Light, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> On Wednesday, November 18, 2015 2:05 PM, Simon Poole <simon@poole.ch> wrote:<br> </font> </div> <blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-left: 5px;">  <br><br> <div class="y_msg_container"><div id="yiv1202059834"><div>
    <div class="yiv1202059834moz-cite-prefix">Mikel, it is not quite clear what you
      are referring to. <br clear="none">
      <br clear="none">
      We are not discussing accounting systems or similar. The OSMF has
      had professionally operated and managed accounting for at least 4
      years now and with the recent alignment of the financial and
      calendar year the reporting has become more punctual and doesn't
      suffer from the effects from SOTM and financial year timing that
      historically made the accounts difficult to understand for lay
      persons.  I'm further not quite sure where you believe the wiki
      enters the picture.<br clear="none">
      <br clear="none">
      The discussion is about planning, accountability and good
      corporate governance. The board asking us to let it off the hook
      with respect to a simple trivial formal requirement that it is
      unable to meet and as already said I'm OK with that, but, my whole
      point, I would expect improvements in planning and similar in
      exchange, for example a budget that indicates what increased funds
      from the fee changes will be budgeted for.<br clear="none">
      <br clear="none">
      Simon<br clear="none">
      <br clear="none">
      Am 18.11.2015 um 18:48 schrieb Mikel Maron:<br clear="none">
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite">
      <div class="yiv1202059834yqt0407366719" id="yiv1202059834yqt85451"><div style="color:#000;background-color:#fff;font-family:HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica Neue Light, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;">
        <div class="yiv1202059834" id="yiv1202059834yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_65086" style="margin-bottom:16px;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol';line-height:25.6px;margin-top:0px !important;">Frederik
          mentioned the "can do attitude". Exactly, thank you. It's easy
          to forget ourselves when we delve into financial and legal
          issues in OSMF. If there is ever a problem in the map, we
          don't seize up with fear and panic "this OSM thing is never
          going to work". We can have the same audacious attitude about
          OSMF. Sometimes those actions need to be more creative than
          hitting an edit button... for instance, it would be great to
          update OSMF's financial management systems, but that's
          probably not something we can do in a wiki --- let's find
          someone with finance experience to help OSMF out. I bet even
          one of the current or prospective corporate members would be
          willing to help. This is just an example, maybe there's
          another way too. Point is, let's find actions we can take to
          make things better.</div>
        <div class="yiv1202059834" dir="ltr" id="yiv1202059834yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_65088" style="margin-top:0px;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Segoe UI', Arial, freesans, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol';line-height:25.6px;margin-bottom:0px !important;">Regarding this
          resolution and corporate membership, I think it helps move
          things ahead. No doubt there's more to do. Btw, I don't think
          this is about "what can OSMF do for my company". OSM and OSMF
          already do tons for business, for government, for non profits,
          for hackers. Rather, I see membership as an opportunity for
          greater engagement with OSMF, and a channel to commit to
          making OSM and OSMF even better. Mapbox recently stated its
          public commitment to HOT (<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv1202059834" id="yiv1202059834yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_65090" target="_blank" href="https://www.mapbox.com/blog/hot-commitment/" style="color:rgb(64, 120, 192);text-decoration:none;">https://www.mapbox.com/blog/hot-commitment/</a>)
          and can imagine similar commitments by all sorts of
          institutions for OSMF.</div>
        <div id="yiv1202059834yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_66508"> </div>
        <div id="yiv1202059834yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_66508">-Mikel</div>
        <div id="yiv1202059834yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_66508"><br clear="none">
        </div>
        <div class="yiv1202059834signature" id="yiv1202059834yui_3_16_0_1_1447795546425_66509">*
          Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron</div>
        <br clear="none">
        <div class="yiv1202059834qtdSeparateBR"><br clear="none">
          <br clear="none">
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        <div class="yiv1202059834yahoo_quoted" style="display:block;">
          <div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica Neue Light, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;">
            <div style="font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px;">
              <div dir="ltr"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> On
                  Wednesday, November 18, 2015 12:40 PM, Robert Banick
                  <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv1202059834moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" ymailto="mailto:rbanick@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:rbanick@gmail.com"><rbanick@gmail.com></a> wrote:<br clear="none">
                </font> </div>
              <blockquote style="border-left:2px solid rgb(16, 16,                 255);margin-left:5px;margin-top:5px;padding-left:5px;"> <br clear="none">
                <br clear="none">
                <div class="yiv1202059834y_msg_container">
                  <div id="yiv1202059834">
                    <div><span id="yiv1202059834mailbox-conversation"></span>
                      <div>Hi all,</div>
                      <div><br clear="none">
                      </div>
                      <div>I rather like most OSMers, our foundation
                        board included, and trust them to do the right
                        thing. They’ve yet to prove that instinct wrong
                        and I will definitely be voting for this
                        proposal. It sounds exactly like the kind of
                        improvement I look for the Board to think
                        through on my behalf.</div>
                      <div><br clear="none">
                      </div>
                      <div>Given how bright OSM’s future is, and how
                        many wonderful things could be done with
                        increased resources, increasing the
                        opportuntiies for corporate sponsorship makes a
                        lot of sense. Other non-profit groups I’m
                        connected to receive corporate funding and
                        without exception they’ve continued to act with
                        independence, only now better funded. I
                        certainly prefer this route to increased
                        membership fees. </div>
                      <div><br clear="none">
                      </div>
                      <div>Improved controls and reporting would be
                        great. I appreciate however that the financials
                        are a thankless task and not a natural draw for
                        mappers. Perhaps we should discuss ways to make
                        that easier or get pro bono assistance in a
                        separate thread or at the AGM.</div>
                      <div><br clear="none">
                      </div>
                      <div>Cheers,</div>
                      <div>Robert</div>
                      <div class="yiv1202059834mailbox_signature">
                        <br clear="none">
                        —<br clear="none">
                        Sent from <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://www.dropbox.com/mailbox">Mailbox</a>
                      </div>
                      <br clear="none">
                      <br clear="none">
                      <div class="yiv1202059834yqt7524728678" id="yiv1202059834yqt15837">
                        <div class="yiv1202059834gmail_quote">
                          <div>On Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 10:55 PM, Andy
                            Allan <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:gravitystorm@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:gravitystorm@gmail.com"></a><a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv1202059834moz-txt-link-abbreviated" ymailto="mailto:gravitystorm@gmail.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:gravitystorm@gmail.com">gravitystorm@gmail.com</a>></span>
                            wrote:<br clear="none">
                          </div>
                          <blockquote class="yiv1202059834gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
                            <div>On 18 November 2015 at 13:02, Simon
                              Poole <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" class="yiv1202059834moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" ymailto="mailto:simon@poole.ch" target="_blank" href="mailto:simon@poole.ch"><simon@poole.ch></a> wrote:<br clear="none">
                              > I've been on the brink of commenting
                              on the proposed change for a while,<br clear="none">
                              > now that the board has come forward
                              with a reasoning it seems like a<br clear="none">
                              > good time.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              For me, this is a storm in a teacup. I'm
                              more than happy for the Board<br clear="none">
                              to get on with improving the corporate
                              membership options.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              If something becomes terribly wrong with
                              it over the next few years,<br clear="none">
                              then we can discuss it, or intervene with
                              a resolution at a general<br clear="none">
                              meeting, or even vote in new Board
                              members. I don't see what's so<br clear="none">
                              important about this to have to put it to
                              the membership any time<br clear="none">
                              there is a change.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              > However at the same time I do have to
                              echo Christophs concerns that it<br clear="none">
                              > gives the board practically
                              unrestrained power to change the economics<br clear="none">
                              > of the OSMF.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              This already exists. If the board want to
                              sell all the servers and<br clear="none">
                              move all the infrastructure to some
                              hosting service or other, then<br clear="none">
                              (modulo various practical things) it can
                              do, and run up £x million in<br clear="none">
                              fees. If it wants to fundraise only from
                              arms manufacturers, it can do<br clear="none">
                              so. If it wants to provide Board members
                              with unlimited secret expense<br clear="none">
                              accounts, it can do. If it wants to run
                              SotM at a loss, or at a<br clear="none">
                              profit, it can do either. It can drain the
                              bank accounts and splash<br clear="none">
                              out on an ad in the NYT. Whatever. These
                              decisions are why we have a<br clear="none">
                              Board in the first place - this isn't a
                              direct democracy organisation.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              > A a consequence I would have expected
                              the board to provide at least a<br clear="none">
                              > token concession on the controls
                              front, but that seems to be completely<br clear="none">
                              > missing from the current proposal.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              I agree with the need for improved
                              controls (or at the very least,<br clear="none">
                              half-decent reporting), but it seems
                              strange and somewhat<br clear="none">
                              disproportionate to make this issue where
                              you take a stand.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              Also, this discussion seems to return to
                              the theme of "Oh no, what<br clear="none">
                              happens if nasty Board X does something
                              diabolical" without any<br clear="none">
                              evidence that this is even likely. The
                              constant - usually baseless -<br clear="none">
                              distrust might be one of the reasons why
                              there are so few people<br clear="none">
                              willing to stand - with only 3 days to go,
                              we still only have the same<br clear="none">
                              number of candidates as there are seats
                              available.<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              The Board is full of nice people, trying
                              hard, and until there is<br clear="none">
                              evidence otherwise, we should give them
                              the benefit of the doubt .<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
                              Thanks,<br clear="none">
                              Andy<br clear="none">
                              <br clear="none">
_______________________________________________<br clear="none">
                              osmf-talk mailing list<br clear="none">
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                  <div class="yiv1202059834yqt7524728678" id="yiv1202059834yqt91051">_______________________________________________<br clear="none">
                    osmf-talk mailing list<br clear="none">
                    <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org" target="_blank" href="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org">osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org</a><br clear="none">
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      <pre>_______________________________________________
osmf-talk mailing list
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</pre>
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  </div></div><br><div class="yqt0407366719" id="yqt18476">_______________________________________________<br clear="none">osmf-talk mailing list<br clear="none"><a shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org" href="mailto:osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org">osmf-talk@openstreetmap.org</a><br clear="none"><a shape="rect" href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk" target="_blank">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk</a><br clear="none"></div><br><br></div> </blockquote>  </div> </div>   </div></div></body></html>