[Osmf-talk] Question to board members

[Mikel Maron]

Hi

> Which of these was most effective in terms of accomplishing the
> business of the board, ability of members to attend, and minimum
> burden on board members?

Really, the intention of forming the Management Team was to reduce burden on Board Members to high level decisions, official duties, strategy. MT would open regular business decision making to more OSMF members, and facilitate more dialogue between working groups. Board would then meet maybe quarterly. That was a great idea, but then no one showed up to MT.

I think there was, and still is, confusion about the role of the Board, other members of the Foundation, and the Foundation as a whole. That really needs distinct written clarity ... none of this is comprehensively and objectively documented, but captured in various minutes and mailing list posts. Makes decision making confusing. And decisions need to be made, with a reliable method for canvassing the community for opinions. This just doesn't magically happen ... the OSMF is the manifestation of the OSM's community will for things to happen for OSM.

Minimum burden on Board members. It's about doing things smarter, not simply doing things less. It does involve being pro-active, but with the support of the community. It requires more foundation members to step up and give their time. Something like the MT is a good idea, but I'm not sure exactly how it will work. But in order to do all this, we need to be organized smarter. And that's not going to happen without an investment of effort and probably money to fix the status quo of OSMF.

The license change took what, 4 or 5 years? It's *almost* done. One of the key things that happened was hiring Andy Allan to finish the redaction bot. We have to recognize that in select situations, volunteer time is not going to do it. And it's not a substitution for volunteers, but rather a way to organize and set the pace. Once Andy was driving the process, you actually saw an increase in volunteer coding (in contrast to the accepted wisdom of "poisoning the well"). We need to identify more situations where a little intervention gets things moving.

> Which approach to future board meetings would you prefer to see?

Face to face meetings are crucial. If you are running for Board, I think you should expect to give up time to travel at least once over the year to meet your fellow Board members.

Otherwise, I would suggest meetings move to IRC. I think conference calls are a big time sink. And more discussion and decisions made over email, with a reliable methodology.

> How much time did you commit to board meetings and other obligations?

It varies. Maybe on average, 1 day of the month.

> And, if you are looking for an opportunity to write an essay, how do
> your accomplishments with the board align with any of your previously
> published manifestos or position papers?

 
Poorly. We're still in the status quo that OSMF has been in the past four years. We're stuck on mostly the same problems, no reliable way to resolve them. Things need to change, constructively, with leadership that has a practical approach.

-Mikel

* Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron


>________________________________
> From: Richard Weait <richard at weait.com>
>To: osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org 
>Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 12:04 PM
>Subject: [Osmf-talk] Question to board members
> 
>Dear All,
>
>With the board election upon us, and a year full of accomplishments
>wrapping up, I have a few quick questions for all board members.
>
>Background: the board has tried to find ways to meet effectively, even
>while being in various time zones, and having many obligations outside
>the board.  Regular board meetings have been have, at different times,
>been scheduled:
>
>- weekly
>- biweekly
>- monthly
>- ad hoc / spontaneously
>
>Which of these was most effective in terms of accomplishing the
>business of the board, ability of members to attend, and minimum
>burden on board members?
>
>Which approach to future board meetings would you prefer to see?
>
>How much time did you commit to board meetings and other obligations?
>
>And, if you are looking for an opportunity to write an essay, how do
>your accomplishments with the board align with any of your previously
>published manifestos or position papers?
>
>Best regards,
>Richard
>
>_______________________________________________
>osmf-talk mailing list
>osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
>http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>
>
>
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