Board/Minutes/2024-01

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< Board‎ | Minutes

Date and time: Thursday 25 January 2024, 13:30 UTC
Minutes approved by the board on 2024-02-29.

Please note that the individual points mentioned below usually reflect the opinion of one or more board members and not necessarily of the whole board. Official board decisions are taken during the meetings or by voting using circulars, and votes are listed in the minutes.

The topics of the agenda got locked one week before the meeting.

Location: Video room https://osmvideo.cloud68.co/user/dor-2cd-qah-rim
using BigBlueButton.

Acronyms

Participants

["talk" time*] Name

  • [05'] Arnalie Vicario
  • [08'] Craig Allan
  • [01'] Dani Waltersdorfer
  • [27'] Guillaume Rischard (Chairing)
  • [04'] Mateusz Konieczny
  • [11'] Roland Olbricht
  • [09'] Sarah Hoffmann

*Includes time when the microphone was activated due to noise.

Officers and board
Biographies
Minutes by Dorothea Kazazi.

Guests

  • 16 guests, including Martin Raifer (Presenter)

Open to all OSM Foundation members. (Become a member of the Foundation, even for free if you are an active OSM contributor)

You are welcome to ask questions or to comment (via voice or on the chat) at the end of the meeting.

  • Please mute your microphone when you join, and to preserve bandwidth, refrain from turning on your webcam.
  • If you are in a low-bandwidth environment, you may benefit from using BigBlueButton's low-bandwidth settings. To assess them, click on the 3 dots on the top right of the black video-window.

Preliminaries

  • Welcome by Chair
  • Determination of quorum

Presentation on iD editor by Martin Raifer

10 minute presentation by Martin Raifer, iD maintainer.

On recurring contributors to iD code

Question by Sarah Hoffmann on whether most of people are contributing code to iD just once, or if they are recurring ones.

  • Similar to every open source product:
    • A few people contribute a lot with iD.
    • A lot of single pull-request contributors, especially from people who want to get to Google's Summer of Code program, as there is a requirement to have at least one pull request.

On iD suiting specific people's needs

Question by Dani Waltersdorfer on going into more depth about iD suiting people's specific needs.

  • iD could offer different rendering styles / predefined filters, so that not all OSM data is displayed.

On thoughts on mobile/field mapping

Question by Dani Waltersdorfer about whether Martin has any thought on mobile / field mapping.

  • Not such direction at the moment.
  • The area of the display on mobile phones is typically too small to do something productive.
  • Got feedback that iD works reasonably well on a tablet.

On plans for 2024

Question by Arnalie Vicario on plans for this year and what Martin is looking forward to.

  • Currently prioritising incoming pull requests, so that external contributors get feedback as soon as possible and don't feel left out.
  • Idea to have a dedicated tool to more easily add buildings.
  • Would like to add better support for lifecycle prefixes i.e. so that mappers can more easily mark a shop as closed.

On the support that Martin would need to help his work with iD

Question by Martin-kokos on what kind of support Martin would need to help his work with iD.

  • Currently in contact with and reaching out to some more people to help with "ticket triage", e.g. replying to feature requests, testing bug reports, closing duplicate issues, etc. – that should be a good help and hopefully reduce the workload a bit.

Other comments

  • Arnalie Vicario and Dani Waltersdorfer agreed on iD's friendliness and that - as it is the main point of entry for everyone - it should be very welcoming and easy to navigate.
  • Harrison Devine mentioned that he would love to favorite presets, as, when he types "s" to search presets he almost always wants sidewalks not slipways.
  • Martin-kokos thanked the speaker for all the work on iD.

Administrative

Vote on multiple resolutions

Motion by Guillaume Rischard to approve the resolutions listed on the following items, in order to have more time for the rest of the agenda:

1. Approval of previous minutes

2. Circular resolutions

3. Topic: Nomination of Board liaison for Digital Public Goods Alliance
The Board nominates Craig Allan to be the liaison between the Foundation and the Digital Public Goods Alliance. This appointment will lapse when Craig Allan ceases to be a Board member.

4. Topic: Resolution on licensing use of OSM trademark on OSM.tips websites
Resolution: The board authorizes the Licensing and Legal Working Group to work out a trademark agreement with OSM.tips. The agreement must include arrangements for the disposal of trademarked domains in case the service ceases to exist.

5. Topic: Graded spending policy
The Board notes the concern among members that the procedures for entering into contracts on behalf of the OSM Foundation are not sufficiently controlled. The Board agrees to take steps to improve the security of contracting by introducing mandatory spending caps and graded requirements for reviewing and approving small, medium and large contracts.

Unanimously approved on 2024-01-25 with 7 votes in favour: Arnalie Vicario, Craig Allan, Daniela Waltersdorfer, Guillaume Rischard, Mateusz Konieczny, Roland Olbricht, Sarah Hoffmann.
Proposed by: Guillaume Rischard, Seconded by: Sarah Hoffmann.

The following topics were initially proposed by Guillaume Rischard to be approved with the items above, but were taken out of the bundle after explicit request:

  • OSM Belgium Local Chapter re-application - request for discussion by Arnalie Vicario.
  • Ensure review of signed contracts - request for discussion by Sarah Hoffmann.
  • Board liaisons for working groups - request for discussion by Sarah Hoffmann.

Approval of previous minutes

Minutes of November 2023
Resolution: The Board resolves that the minutes of the November Board meeting are an accurate reflection of the meeting. Decision: Approved. See: Vote on multiple resolutions.

Minutes of December 2023
Resolution: The Board resolves that the minutes of the December Board meeting are an accurate reflection of the meeting. Decision: Approved. See: Vote on multiple resolutions.

Circular Resolutions

2023/Res46 Provisional 2024 budget

Board Resolution for Adoption of Interim Budget

The Board acknowledges that the OpenStreetMap Foundation has not finalised the annual budget for the upcoming year. To ensure continuity of operations, the following resolution is adopted:

1. Interim Budget based on 2023 figures:

The Board approves the use of the 2023 budget as the interim budget for the Foundation for the initial part of the fiscal year 2024. This interim budget will be in effect from 1 January 2024, until the approval of the 2024 budget.

2. Authority for Expenditures:

The Treasurer and designated officers are hereby authorised to make expenditures as per the 2023 budget during this interim period. Working groups within the Foundation are permitted to submit purchase requests and expenditures as usual, within their allocated budgetary limits.

3. Expedited Final Preparation of 2024 Budget:

The Board emphasises the importance of completing the 2024 budget, and commits to finalising the annual budget promptly. A draft should be presented for review at the January public board meeting.

4. Stakeholder Communication:

The Treasurer is tasked with communicating this interim measure to all relevant parties, ensuring transparency and understanding.

5. Ongoing Financial Oversight:

The Board shall continue to monitor the Foundation's financial status closely and be prepared to make necessary adjustments once the 2024 budget is finalised.

Approved on 2023-12-28 with 6 votes in favour: Guillaume Rischard, Mateusz Konieczny, Roland Olbricht, Arnalie Vicario, Craig Allan (This is an interim measure will keep us operating through to Thursday 25th Jan.), Sarah Hoffmann (The proposal itself is okay. I do not agree with the implicit assumption that an absence of the proposal would have meant that all operations of the OSMF had stopped. This is an interpretation that is at odds with current practice and as such surprising to everybody involved).
1 did not vote: Daniela Waltersdorfer.

Circular by Roland Olbricht.

2024/Res01 Decision on Mollie

This poll is to make a Board decision on migrating our instance of Mollie, the funding gateway software, from the current version to the UK version.

There are no financial implications. Financially everything will continue as before. Mollie will process incoming donations and charge us a small % fee on each donation for their service.

There is a software implication in that the API key we use to access Mollie will need to be changed.

Guillaume set the software up and is is the only board member able to make this change. He will need to follow the instructions emailed to him by Mollie to change the account and then insert the new API key into our code.

Vote below to Agree/Disagree/Abstain with regard to the following resolution: "We, the members of the OSMF Board, hereby resolve to authorise Guillaume to implement the change in the Mollie account."

Approved on 2024-01-04 with 6 votes in favour: Arnalie Vicario, Craig Allan, Guillaume Rischard, Mateusz Konieczny, Roland Olbricht, Sarah Hoffmann.
1 did not vote: Daniela Waltersdorfer.

Circular by Craig Allan.

2024/Res02 Approve active contributor membership application #2023122710000044

The Board currently decides on active contributor membership applications based on non-mapping contributions on a case-by-case basis.

Did not pass on 2024-01-14 with 6 votes against: Arnalie Vicario (Need more info about OSM projects they’ve been working on), Sarah Hoffmann (Please provide more information about concrete projects. The active membership program is for engagement in the OSM community. Engagement in projects using OSM data is great but not necessarily sufficient for the program.), Craig Allan (This is a minimalist application, with very few mapping days and no attached information on the applicants contribution to OSM. The HOT employment is noted, and very likely the applicant has made good contributions, but we don't give HOT staff automatic ex-officio membership. I'd like to say Yes, but I would like to see something concrete in the application to base my Yes on. I'd encourage the applicant to revise and re-apply.), Mateusz Konieczny (per others.), Guillaume Rischard, Roland Olbricht.
1 did not vote: Daniela Waltersdorfer.

Application initially processed by the Membership Working Group.

2024/Res03 Approve active contributor membership application #2024010310000081

The Board currently decides on active contributor membership applications based on non-mapping contributions on a case-by-case basis.

Did not pass on 2024-01-16 with
3 votes against:
- Guillaume Rischard (Only 7 days of mapping ever. Many changesets, but they're tiny. I encourage the applicant to participate more in OSM and gain more experience by contributing over a longer period of time.)
- Sarah Hoffmann (While very active, the activities seem to be focused more on the Youthmapper organisation than on OSM.)
- Mateusz Konieczny (for the same reasons as Rischard and Sarah.).
3 votes in favour:
- Arnalie Vicario
- Roland Olbricht (Knows how to map, although does binge mapping - according to some random samples. Is willing to write about his OSM experience. Definitely invested in OSM.)
- Craig Allan (Supported. The applicant is appreciated for his role in supporting open mapping in [Country]*</sup, though very little record of mapping on OSM. Noted also during Googling that he has WordPress skills).
1 did not vote:
- Daniela Waltersdorfer.

Application initially processed by the Membership Working Group.

* Redacted.

2024/Res04 Approve active contributor membership application #2024010310000091

The Board currently decides on active contributor membership applications based on non-mapping contributions on a case-by-case basis.

Did not pass on 2024-01-17 with
3 votes against:
- Roland Olbricht (Let us encourage them to reapply with information specifically about 2023 activity.)
- Mateusz Konieczny (What has happened in the last year? Note that active contributor membership is not honorary membership for past mapping activities, but for people with ongoing activities. I looked at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Organised_Editing/Activities and nothing is listed there, I looked at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/[Project name]* etc Please, reapply with more info if some relevant activity happened in last year. I really want to vote "agree".).
- Guillaume Rischard (I agree with Mateusz, and would encourage the applicant to reapply and include more information about active contributions in 2023.)
3 votes in favour:
- Sarah Hoffmann (This is good community work and seems to be a long running program that was still active in 2023.)
- Craig Allan (SUPPORTED. The applicant has ~5500* changesets historically so is easing off on the mapping a little lately, but the community work in [Place]* is useful and growing local support for OSM.).
- Arnalie Vicario
1 did not vote:
- Daniela Waltersdorfer.

Application initially processed by the Membership Working Group.

* Redacted.
** Number rounded.

2024/Res05 Approve active contributor membership application #2024010810000036

The Board currently decides on active contributor membership applications based on non-mapping contributions on a case-by-case basis.

Did not pass on 2024-01-17 with
3 votes against:
- Roland Olbricht (The Google results I have found were for mostly 2022 (one academic course going into 2023, one broken Nitter link from a WeeklyOSM), and the application itself does not refer to any activity in 2023.)
- Mateusz Konieczny (what has happened in the last year? Note that active contributor membership is not honorary membership for past mapping activities, but for people with ongoing activities.).
- Sarah Hoffmann (For an extension of the active member contributorship, the focus on the supplied information should really be on the activities in the last year. This seems to be missing.)
2 votes in favour:
- Craig Allan (Supported. The non-mapping activities are sufficient for membership. A quick Google search confirms. For someone who trains, advises and attends conferences on mapping the applicant has done remarkably little OSM mapping, but despite that the extensive non-mapping activities are valued.).
- Arnalie Vicario
2 did not vote:
- Daniela Waltersdorfer
- Guillaume Rischard

Application initially processed by the Membership Working Group.

Action item updates

https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Board/Action_Items

Arnalie Vicario

Revitalise the Diversity and Inclusion Special Committee

#70 - To revitalise the Diversity and Inclusion Special Committee

Emailed the members of the Diversity and Inclusion Special Committee, looking at their interest in revitalising and resurrecting the committee.

How to encourage participation of OSMF members

#52 - To touch base with the Membership Working Group and other Working Groups regarding how to encourage participation of OSMF members

Plans to do a membership drive, together with the Membership Working Group.

Local Chapters: Redesign and make explicit our relations

#103 Async discussion via board private GitLab on "Local Chapters: Redesign and make explicit our relations"

There will be an Local Chapters and Communities Working Group (LCCWG) meeting this month, and hopefully Dani Waltersdorfer will attend.

Craig Allan

Executive director

#9 Executive director - Establish what we'd want an executive director to do/not do

  • Pending, as focused on budget and Secretary tasks.
  • There's an informal action item, to transform the OSMF's mission statement in 9 languages.

Daniela Waltersdorfer

https://gitlab.com/osmfoundation/board-action-items/-/issues/?sort=updated_desc&state=opened&assignee_username%5B%5D=DW2515&first_page_size=20

Guillaume Rischard

Trademark registration from Brazil
  • There was an application in Brazil for registering a trademark that contained "OSM" in the name, by an organisation that's not yet a local chapter.
  • We came to an agreement with the organisation, and they have changed the trademark application to not include the word OpenStreetMap.
  • They gave a presentation during September's board meeting.
  • We encouraged them to become a Local Chapter.

Mateusz Konieczny

Attribution enforcement

#65 Attribution: To maybe make a blog posting thanking some data users with exemplary attribution
#112 Mateusz Konieczny to provide a draft letter for the selected two sites which lack OSM attribution

There was some activity.

State of the Map Europe 2024

  • Communication with one of the organisers, regarding coordination and help with the SotM trademark application (which has been granted by OSMF).
  • The conference will take place in Poland this summer.

Other work

  • Attempts to improve future contract handling and some other protocols.

Roland Olbricht

No updates.

Sarah Hoffmann

No updates.

Secretary's report

On what should be included in the reports

  • News from the last month.
  • Monitor of progress that the organisation is making towards its goals.

News:

  • Conference participation: looking at sending a board member to the Wikimedia East and Southeast Asia conference
  • Board: Face-to-face board meeting being planned.
  • Tile traffic: there is software which has caused increased tile traffic - we're negotiating with the organisation to get this fixed.
  • Domains: We received an enquiry about handing our sotm.org domain by an orchestra (Symphony of the Mountains orchestra). We politely declined and pointed them to the top-level domain .music
  • Corporate Members: ioki became a Silver Corporate Member.
  • Legal: Making sure we comply with laws - e.g. EU's general data protection regulation and UK acts.
  • Trademark:
    • The OSMtips topic was just voted and we'll have a trademark agreement with them.
    • OSMers applied for a trademark licence for organising a SotM Europe 2024 conference in Poland.
    • Came to an agreement with the Brazilian team who applied for a trademark which included "OSM" in the name.
  • Financial: We use Mollie to handle credit card and PayPal payments to the organisation - there was an issue which was solved.
  • Communication: Dealing with bans and blocks in community.osm.org. Only the most extreme cases come to the board for rulings.
  • Presentations: Looking for more speakers for the monthly presentations during board meetings.
  • Supporting regional SotMs: OSMF has a LimeSurvey account and we provided access to it to the SotM Africa 2023 organisers. Other SotM organisers and Local Chapters can use it too - as well as the osmvideo OSMF instance.
  • Mission statement: Craig will translate the recently-updated OSMF mission statement in several languages.

Treasurer's report

Issues

  • Some financial discussions took place during finance committee meetings in order to gain time - however, this practice excludes half of the board.
  • Preparing the budget in a rush, as the board was just elected and there was the traditional pause for circulars at the end of December.
    • Suggestion: Move the election next year.

Budget for 2024

Harrison Devine has professional experience in preparing a budget and offered support.

On the draft budget

  • Draft budget is based on numbers acquired from Working Groups and from existing numbers.
  • The budget is not yet ready to be accepted.
  • We have a deficit, which is good because we started to spend money.

Harrison Devine and the finance committee were thanked for their work on the budget.

Other points mentioned

  • Various ideas have been suggested on spending the money, which can be presented to donors.
  • There was a complaint by a bug donor that it took OSMF years to start spending the money donated by them.
  • Need to fundraise this year again.

Draft budget presentation by Harrison Devine

The document shows each of the working groups with the prior year (2023) actuals, except the SotM-WG, which shows the 2022 actuals.

Income for 2024

  • GBP 49,000 increase in revenue, related to SotM.

Expenses for 2024

  • GBP 121,128 Deficit/loss.
  • GBP 188,000 increase in expenses, related to CWG, EWG and SotM.
  • GBP 81,000 projected
  • Biggest expenses: personnel and contractors, SotM, grants and fiscal sponsorship.

On currency

  • The majority of the budgets were prepared in euros
  • The currency exchange component is mitigated by the fact that we also receive revenue in a variety of currencies.
  • Most likely to even out, but we have to watch it.

CWG

  • Requested budget increased from GBP 800 in 2023 to GBP 19,000 in 2024.

EWG

  • Largest increase in expenses in contractors.

LCCWG

  • Numbers projected based on 2023 actuals.

LWG

  • Numbers projected based on 2023 actuals.

OWG

  • They submitted a detailed budget.
  • Numbers similar to last year, few shifts.

SotM WG

  • GBP 6,000 deficit - in the past it had generated a surplus.
  • Projected SotM 2024 revenue: 4/5 of 2022 revenue.
  • Projected SotM 2024 expenses: for 400 attendees, based on 2022 actuals.
    • USD 10K savings if the attendees are reduced to 300.
  • SotM: uncertainty around the attendance and the expenses.

SotM Europe 2024

  • Fiscal sponsor income and fiscal sponsorship expense net out.
    • Comment that it shouldn't be included in the budget

Questions and answers on the draft budget

Points raised by Sarah Hoffmann, as needing discussion between finance committee and board:

  • Missing:
    • Board travel budget for face-to-face board meeting, SotM 2024 and local events.
    • Budget for advancing the move to EU. 30K estimated for the whole process.
  • Clarifications needed: Personnel costs for LWG and LCCWG.
  • LWG: Need to ask them of they expect any expenses for trademark renewal, as in 2023.
  • OWG:
    • Suggestion: Higher amount. Cost looks low, as expected more than 160K.
    • Important that they can work without coming to board for approval of expenses, e.g. replacements.
  • SotM Europe 2024: should not be included.
    • Mistake, transferred from last year.
  • Awards and entertainment: Provided to two working groups. Clarification required on what people can spend money one.
    • Suggestion to give to all working groups a low amount.
      • Pizza fund/money for new keyboard/headsets.
      • Wouldn't want to give Working Group budgets they haven't asked for or trim budgets that have been asked for.

On administrative assistant costs: These were split across the working groups which are helped, for cost transparency.

On LWG

  • The LWG didn't have time to discuss the budget.

On OWG

  • There was a push to renew hardware 2 years ago and we don't expect big repairs.
  • The hardware we use is often cheap.
  • OWG low cost is based on actual.

Question by imagico on the chat on whether OSMF had net expense on SOTM-EU last year and that this was not in the financial reporting.

> There were travel cost for some board members to attend SotM Europe 2023.

Question by imagico on the chat on whether the OSMF intends to run SotM Europe 2024.

> No. This is an oversight in this projection.

Suggestions for board meetings on budget

  • Plan mid-month chat for two hours.
  • Meeting at 13:30 UTC on 1st of February.

Next step: The board to schedule a meeting on the budget.

OSM Belgium Local Chapter re-application

Vote on OSM Belgium Local Chapter application

Resolution: After careful review and consultation of the reapplication of OpenStreetMap Belgium to become a local chapter, the board found that the requirements are successfully fulfilled. Motion to approve the reapplication of OpenStreetMap Belgium, under the organisation OpenStreetMap Belgium, as a local chapter.
Decision: Unanimously approved on 2024-01-25 with 7 votes in favour: Arnalie Vicario, Craig Allan, Daniela Waltersdorfer, Guillaume Rischard, Mateusz Konieczny, Roland Olbricht, Sarah Hoffmann. Against: 0, Abstentions: 0.
Proposed by: Arnalie Vicario, Seconded by: Craig Allan and Roland Olbricht.

Nomination of Board liaison for Digital Public Goods Alliance

Vote on Craig Allan becoming the OSMF liaison for the Digital Public Goods Alliance

The Board nominates Craig Allan to be the liaison between the Foundation and the Digital Public Goods Alliance. This appointment will lapse when Craig Allan ceases to be a Board member.
Decision: Unanimously approved on 2024-01-25 with 7 votes in favour: Arnalie Vicario, Craig Allan, Daniela Waltersdorfer, Guillaume Rischard, Mateusz Konieczny, Roland Olbricht, Sarah Hoffmann. See: Vote on multiple resolutions.
Voted together with multiple other resolutions. See: Vote on multiple resolutions.

Resolution on licensing use of OSM trademark on OSM.tips websites

Vote on working on a trademark agreement with OSM.tips

Resolution: The board authorizes the Licensing and Legal Working Group to work out a trademark agreement with OSM.tips. The agreement must include arrangements for the disposal of trademarked domains in case the service ceases to exist.
Decision: Unanimously approved on 2024-01-25 with 7 votes in favour: Arnalie Vicario, Craig Allan, Daniela Waltersdorfer, Guillaume Rischard, Mateusz Konieczny, Roland Olbricht, Sarah Hoffmann.
Voted together with multiple other resolutions. See: Vote on multiple resolutions.

Ensure review of signed contracts

Need for:

  • all contracts are filed for everybody to be visible.
  • which contracts need to be reviewed by the board.
Motion by Sarah Hoffmann for addition to the Board rules of order:

"The following contracts require a board vote before being signed:

  • Any contracts that are in part or in full written for a single specific order. This includes contracts that are copy&paste of former custom contracts. It does not include template contracts where only a few fields are filled out and where the template contract has previously been approved.
  • Any contracts with contractors/consultants that are paid on a time-basis (per hour, per workday etc.).
  • Any contracts and purchases with a volume larger than 10000 GBP. For long-running contracts like subscriptions, this would be a volume of 10000 GBP per year.

Board members should always notify the board of contracts before signing, even when they do not require an explicit board vote as per rules above. Any contract that is not a simple purchase must be sent to the administrative assistant for filing. This includes subscription contracts as well as non-monetary contracts like NDAs.

Suggestions

  • Merge with topic "graded spending policy" - the Finance Committee can discuss this and consult the LWG.
    • Different angle and not for the finance committee.
  • Further discussion during mid-month chat, due to:
    • Contradiction with topic "graded spending policy"
    • "Template contracts" is not defined.
    • Stops OWG getting a taxi.

Other points mentioned during discussion

  • Already agreed to review any contract over EUR 10,000.
  • Would cover very tiny contracts, but not purchases.
  • All board members have the legal power to sign anything for the OSMF and the board should agree that i) anything board members sign is visible to the board and ii) anything slightly difficult should be reviewed by more than one person.
    • Craig happy to incorporate that.

Comment by Dani Waltersdorfer on the chat that she agrees with Sarah's suggestion for transparency purposes and wonders if it would delay minor emergency expenses if Board consensus is needed for every minor expense.
Comment by Arnalie Vicario on the chat that she agrees that contract signing must be discussed and that all board need to be aware before signing. No board member should unilaterally act/sign as a board.

Decision: Discussion to continue during the February mid-month board chat (not open to observers).

Graded spending policy

Vote on noting that that the finance committee is preparing a new policy to introduce better financial controls on OSMF spending

Noting resolution: The Board notes that the finance team* is preparing a new policy to introduce better financial controls on OSMF spending.
Decision: Unanimously approved on 2024-01-25 with 7 votes in favour: Arnalie Vicario, Craig Allan, Daniela Waltersdorfer, Guillaume Rischard, Mateusz Konieczny, Roland Olbricht, Sarah Hoffmann.
Voted together with multiple other resolutions. See: Vote on multiple resolutions.

*refers to the Finance committee.

Timing of fiscal year and the Annual General Meeting

Issues

  • The first board meeting after the election takes place 14 days after the time when the budget should be in place (the board is elected on the beginning of December).
  • The first task of the new Treasurer should not be preparing a budget.

Suggestions

  • Move the beginning of the fiscal year.
    • Would add another layer of complication.
  • Move the board election.
  • We could achieve the same result by just preparing the budget before the annual general meeting in December.

Options on moving the board election

  • Earliest: end of June, when it's possible to have the figures from the last fiscal year.
  • Latest: end of October, when the newly elected board still has a chance to set up a budget for the fiscal year.
  • Board election in March and AGM - with the presentation of the fiscal numbers - at a different time.

Next step: Roland to bring up a resolution at the next board next meeting.

On March option

  • If March option is chosen: next election in March 2025.
  • No advantage in March election, as the budget will be prepared by one board and executed by another one.

On getting the numbers of the previous fiscal year

  • Previously we signed the accounts mid-year, even later than June.
  • Our accountant has confirmed that getting the final numbers of the previous fiscal year is possible for June - would have to check for March.

Other points mentioned during discussion

  • Feedback from OSMF members welcome.

Decision: Discuss this at a separate meeting.

Board liaisons for working groups


Suggestion: Define an official role of board liaison for communication with Working Groups and reporting and distribute the load between board members.

Decision: Discussion to continue during the February mid-month board chat (not open to observers).

2024 face-to-face board meeting

  • Timing: Should take place in the first quarter of the year.
  • Location; Depends on venue and Visa requirements - 2-4 weeks might be required for Visa processing.

Suggested:

  • March 2 weekend
  • March 9 weekend

Other points mentioned during discussion

  • Need to approve budget, as the cost of the face-to-face meeting might need to be cut.
  • The previous budgets for face-to-face board meetings were about EUR 10,000.

Any other business

None.

Guest comments or questions

None.

Next meetings

All Board meetings for 2024 have been planned. See the Monthly Board meetings page to find out where board meetings are announced and for a subscription link to have future board meetings automatically added to your calendar.

Open board meeting

Open board meetings take place online monthly: currently on the last Thursday of every month.

Dates: See this Framagenda calendar (green dots), and the monthly board meetings page. The dates of public board meetings are also added to https://osmcal.org/.

Mid-month board chat

Mid-month board chats are not open to observers.

Dates: See this Framagenda calendar (yellow dots), and the monthly board meetings page.

Closed session: Handling announcement of emergency meetings minutes

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