[Osmf-talk] Past - present - future

Tue Dec 1 14:23:33 UTC 2015

Thank you for your board-parting message Henk. If I understand it, you are
not departing OSM as a whole (simply reducing your level/time of
involvement). So I shall not thank you for all the hard work,  because that
feels oike an end to it.

I do thank you that the hard work will continue and in even the little bits
of time(or longer bits when it happens) you will continue to be giving
100%+ dedication and passion. Particularly your participation in the SotM
WG is brilliant. You know from the meetings & emails how much we use your
experience & guidance and how valuable that is. Together, we're making a
great SotM 2016!

Without having served on the board myself, I think your recommendations are
spot on. I'm not sure ever candidate will see the e-mail, after the board
is elected and e-mail group updated then I think you should send it
directly to their address.

All the best with your new job, and thank you for serving on the board for
so many years.

>From a cold Durham,
Gregory.
On 1 Dec 2015 05:58, "Milo van der Linden" <milo at dogodigi.net> wrote:

> Hello Henk,
>
> Thank you for your effort, good luck in your new job!
>
> I disagree that the mantra is wrong, I think it is why OpenStreetMap
> is the wonderfull project it is and it is what makes me happy about
> OpenStreetMap, to not be controlled, but be "facilitated".
>
> Cheers,
>
> Milo
>
> 2015-12-01 2:41 GMT+01:00 Henk Hoff <henk.hoff at osmfoundation.org>:
> > Hi all,
> >
> >
> >
> > As you all have noticed, I’m not running for re-election for the Board of
> > the OSM Foundation. Although I think I still can bring my expertise to
> value
> > within the Board, I think I will not be able to dedicate enough time the
> > coming year. I have just started a new job, which will demand a lot of
> time
> > from me.
> >
> >
> >
> > The OpenStreetMap project is a great project in which I have spent a lot
> of
> > my time and money. I’ve experienced a lot of happy moments, but also sad
> and
> > deeply frustrating.
> >
> > The saddest moment by far is hearing that a fellow Board member, Ulf
> Müller,
> > had been brutally murdered. I still have no words to describe the shock
> and
> > horror of how Ulf was taken from us. May he rest in peace.
> >
> >
> >
> > Taking that moment aside, there are other not so great moments. We are
> all
> > passionate people. We are also different people; different upbringing,
> > culture, work/study, friends, etc. That creates the need to talk and
> listen
> > in order to understand each other and find the common ground to build
> upon.
> > Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many cases where the listening stopped and
> the
> > whole thing turned into a trench war. As a result, everyone loses. We can
> > and should do better.
> >
> >
> >
> > But enough about sadness. There have also been plenty of highlights.
> > Starting with the State of the Map events. I am getting so much energy
> out
> > of these events. It’s a place to meet the people that make the
> community. To
> > talk with them, have fun with them, learn from them. Every single one has
> > been a success in its own way. Take SotM 2014 in Buenos Aires: it
> resulted
> > in a SotM LatAm 2015 in Chile and in having now two candidates for the
> Board
> > of the OSMF. Fantastic!
> >
> > I’m glad to see a new group of people having joined the SotM organizing
> team
> > to make SotM 16 in Brussels yet another awesome event.
> >
> >
> >
> > I’m thankful that I have also been able to work on the license change,
> the
> > rewrite of the Article of Association, setting up the structure for Local
> > Chapters, the membership registration (and moving it to CiviCRM), the
> > Management Team, and so many other things.
> >
> >
> >
> > I would take the opportunity to give the following advice to the next
> Board:
> > Be a *Board*, not “yet another working group”. We have a structure of
> > Working Group doing the operational work. The Board should be busy with
> > giving direction to the Working Groups; set procedures to enhance
> > transparency throughout the organisation; think about how to strengthen
> the
> > organisation; have a vision of where you want to be in a couple of years
> and
> > work out a plan how to get there. But stay away from doing day-to-day
> work:
> > create functioning Working Groups to do that.
> >
> > Ideally a Board member should not be active in a Working Group. A
> volunteer
> > Board member will already need to spend plenty of time on his/her work
> > within the Board
> >
> >
> >
> > We need a good functioning organisation in order to be able to protect
> the
> > project. The mantra “to support, not control” has let us into a situation
> > where other organisations get into a position where they can get control
> > over (parts of) the organisation. Which is not good. The OSMF should be
> > running the ship. Not by telling others what not to do, but take the
> > steering wheel and lead it in the right direction.
> >
> > To be clear: I’m not talking about control in the way that the OSMF is
> going
> > to determine what and how to map. That should always be the community’s
> > prerogative.
> >
> >
> >
> > To do that you need the resources to make that happen. At some point we
> > cannot compete as a low budget volunteer organisation with organisations
> who
> > have plenty of people and money to spend. We need to have full-time
> people
> > working on the organisation becoming better.
> >
> > I’m definitely not suggestion we should become a big organisation like
> > Wikimedia. We are miles away from that. Let the fear for something not
> > prevent us from setting the first step to a better future.
> >
> >
> >
> > Talking of Wikimedia: I personally think it is wrong to have Wikimedia
> Italy
> > represent the OSM community in Italy. (Wikimedia Italy has applied to
> become
> > the Local Chapter for OSM in Italy).
> >
> >
> >
> > Let me end with a positive note: it is amazing to see how OpenStreetMap
> has
> > changed business, society and people. That is all thanks to you.
> Together we
> > are a strong community. And strong communities can achieve amazing
> things.
> > Now and in the future.
> >
> >
> >
> > Happy mapping!
> >
> > Henk
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > osmf-talk mailing list
> > osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
> > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Milo van der Linden
> web: dogodigi
> tel: +31-6-16598808
>
> _______________________________________________
> osmf-talk mailing list
> osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/osmf-talk
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/osmf-talk/attachments/20151201/37e757f5/attachment.html>