[Osmf-talk] Past - present - future

Alex Barth alex at mapbox.com
Wed Dec 2 22:02:51 UTC 2015


A big thank you Henk for all the hard work you've put into OpenStreetMap as
a board member of the OSMF!

On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 1:42 PM, Martijn van Exel <m at rtijn.org> wrote:

> Henk —
>
> I can’t even begin to thank you enough for the years you served the
> community on the OSMF board. I hope we will continue to benefit from the
> passion and positive energy that makes you such an exemplary OSM community
> member and leader!
>
> Talk soon,
> Martijn
>
> On Nov 30, 2015, at 6:41 PM, Henk Hoff <henk.hoff at osmfoundation.org>
> wrote:
>
> 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
>
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