Board Meeting 2006 12 15

The 22th board meeting has been tentatively scheduled for the 15th of December at 16:00 UTC (fixedtime), by phone and IRC (#osgeo) at the same time.
Communication will use the new Conference Call facilities.
== Agenda ==
* Appoint meeting secretary
* Review and approve Twenty First Board Meeting minutes
* Establish a process for consulting legal advice
* Update from Tyler
* Confirm selection of Victoria for FOSS4G 2007, discuss financial controls.
== Minutes ==
* 15h07 - 22nd board meeting called to order
* Board members present: Frank Warmerdam, Jo Walsh, Chris Holmes, Markus Neteler, Gary Lang, Venka Raghavan
* Others present: Tyler Mitchell (Executive Director), Heather Meeker (GT Law, legal counsel via Autodesk), Laura Rivera (Autodesk)
* Tyler as scribe, Frank as chair
=== Motion to accept previous meeting minutes ===
* Reviewed minutes from previous mtg.
* Gary moved to accept, Frank second, all voted in favour
=== Legal advice process ===
* Discussed formalising a process for asking/receiving legal counsel (Frank leading)
* Goal is to not overuse/misuse available resources and to keep the board in the loop
* Chris mentioned a software law group that may provide pro bono support for osgeo as a non-profit, they have open source IP experience, can also help with incorporation stuff. Chris to bring back more details about building a relationship with this group.
* Heather explained that they remain available for helping OSGeo as well
* Discussed what we have been doing already, some questions from Geotools developers are soon to be answered via Heather
* All agreed there should be 1-2 personal contacts established as gateways to/from legal counsel.
** Frank to be primary contact for software IP, incubation types of issues
** Tyler to be primary contact for other general issues
* Q&A will be posted to wiki FAQ pages as a legal knowledge-base
=== Executive Director Update ===
* General update on various facets of work Tyler has been doing
==== Fundraising / Sponsorship ====
* Starting to get more interest
* Wrote up several docs. in course of dialogue with sponsors (help sponsor osgeo, summary/overview of organisation, fundraising invitation letter)
* Invoicing procedure in place now, need some follow-up on A/P now :)
* 1Spatial background - unsolicited interest, via Geoff/Gary, various discussions/emails
* At least 2 more sponsors waiting in wings for new year
* Several GDAL sponsors
* Planning for meeting in Ottawa, it went well, believe we can find common ground.. requires follow-up recommendations
** continuing to polish our pitch and documents
* Open Tec. Development - Wash. D.C. conf. shaping up.. need OSGeo part to start iron out
* Sponsorship web pages needed now (?)
* Confusion about how other local chapters tie into the overall sponsorship plan
==== Finance ====
* summarising various account payables, ensuring invoices are being paid, answering questions as needed
* day-to-day expenses are now more manageable,
* worked with Laura regularly
* weekly follow-up discussions
* TODO: In near future - need detailed summary of accounts... etc to build transparency, waiting for software to arrive
* TODO: Tyler/Frank to discuss final approved budget
==== Infrastructure ====
* negotiated final pricing and coordinated hosting provider contract
* several other DNS-related services now subscribed to and ready for changeover
* regular semi-weekly meeting/touching base with indictrans, CN, Bob, Shawn, Jason re: various migration tasks, reviewing migration plan and priorities
* setting up various applications and services as required for testing on community.osgeo site
* following development of content porting - focused on primary content / tools, new features are secondary
==== Promotion & Visibility ====
* Booth/attendance at GISIDEAS successful
* AU event
** Helped organise booth at AU with Nathalie/Heather, etc.
** MapGuide OS user meeting sounded great
** Great OSGeo promotion from on-stage - Andrew M, Andy M, Carsten, etc. met Liam
** Met many faces.. many more opportunities to suggest direction to MGOS marketing, education potentials, etc. .. OSGeo well received with all I spoke to
* Three specific upcoming events that have approached us: GeoTec, Location Intelligence, Where 2.0 (sort of)... how to best connect?
* Various branding/design items are wrapping up final vers. - likely by year end
* Potential to work with new sponsors marketing groups now
* Discuss conference bid with Victoria bid group
* Spoke at Ottawa local chapter meeting (~20 people)
* Newsletter status - migration to osgeo, provided editorial
==== Legal ====
* no significant progress made
* some review of budget started.. will pass crystal ball past board
** this needed also for sponsorship solicitation
** need to go through application form in more detail
* question of insurance for officers/directors
* TODO: Tyler to gather quotes for O&D insurance
==== Office / General ====
* now have a public mailing address (PO Box)
* Do we need to set up a permanent address for foundation - my office PO box is fine, otherwise need virtual service.
* Set up pretty well with supplies, etc. - will aim to get some good letterhead, etc. 
* Can order biz cards if wanted
* Tracking expenses
* Various benefits forms, etc. completed
* Available more now in IRC :)
* Gary recommended a service called http://remotecontrolmail.com
* Generally agreed this was a good idea to get for OSGeo
* TODO: Tyler to check into options for this service
=== Motion to confirm FOSS4G conference venue ===
* Victoria, BC, Canada was chosen by Conference Committee as venue for 2007 conference
* Frank motioned to confirm this selection, Jo seconded, all were in favour
* Discussed need to have point person for helping contract set up for venue confirmation needed, etc.
* Agreed to ask conference committee to come up with a process for how to manage funds, etc. approval process, and have board agree on process
* Tyler will be available for signing, coordinating on behalf of OSGeo proper
=== Other Items ===
* Discussed support request for some training events in India next year
* Tyler to follow up with indictrans/schuyler to see if OSGeo India has funding already and if this is an official OSGeo India initiative
=== Motion to close meeting ===
16:00UTC - Gary moves to close, Jo seconded, all voted in favour
Category: Board