[Osmf-talk] should OSMF AGM include time for discussion debate?

[Jaak Laineste]

On 13.09.2011, at 3:37, Serge Wroclawski wrote:

> On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 09:17:04AM +0200, Frederik Ramm wrote:
> 
>> Even so, paid staff tends to shift the balance of power in an  
>> organisation.
> 
> Do you have examples of organizations which started out all volunteer and then moved to having some paid positions, and 
> they shifted power?

We had some local funding for a 1.5 year project of our OSM group, and part-time paid position also. One negative impact was that if one guy was paid, then others (like myself) were more likely to let things undone because "he/she is paid for that, why should I now bother with my volunteering". I don't say its a rule, but this should be considered. Having paid people did change significantly how things worked (or did not work anymore), it was not just that some boring things were done better. Another mistake we made was to have part-time paid person. It is tricky to mix paid and volunteer - it seems to be more like an all or nothing thing. So I would not hire anyone until we have clear need and funding sources for small dedicated team with office and all the extras. Currently we clearly don't have this kind of money, probably also no real unavoidable needs. 

Jaak