OSI Board Meeting Minutes, Friday, December 13, 2019

Quorum

Quorum reached and meeting called to order at 16:12 UTC

Attendees

  • Josh
  • Elana
  • Hong
  • Pam
  • Faidon
  • Simon
  • Deb (departed at 17:30 UTC)
  • Molly
  • Tracy

Regrets

  • Chris
  • Patrick

Officer Reports

Motion

Treasurer’s Report

President’s Report

  • Sustain NYC, talked to Digital Ocean about funding
  • Patrick’s got contracts ready for policy and FLOSS Desktops for Kids
  • Patrick and Molly following up on hiring an HR consultant
  • Patrick and Molly to work on 2020 goals soon
  • Discussion of recent press inquiries (Business Insider, New Stack x2)
  • Idea for a series of articles, general education on the role OSI plays and the processes (Deb)
  • Float idea to Patrick, get his thoughts on best channels and approach, level of effort required and resources

Board Topics

  • Process to keep track of,
    1. current licenses & license applications
      • Elana working on an RFP to hire someone who can overhaul the process (will present to License Committee, then to Board)
      • Must keep community involved in the process
    2. travels (suggestions: Travel Form Draft https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1zIkJ9uWwodO2rJ2F_hhANnQ0SJalqfiim3u5lnFfzDk/edit )
      • want to increase level of transparency around OSI-funded travel
      • wary of board sliding more into operational role
      • Action Item: Patrick, Hong Phuc, Josh, and Phyllis to meet RE financial reports
      • Action Item: Molly to discuss general transparency, possibility of budgeting ahead of time, with Patrick, and 2020 travel more generally
    3. members and sponsors’
      • This information is in CiviCRM
    4. press requests?
      • Probably should look into resourcing this (pro bono or otherwise)
      • Action Item: Deb to follow up with individual who formerly volunteered PR (for proactive PR) (what about reactive PR?)
  •  For review: agreement with OpenForum Europe

Membership Topics

  • Membership committee update from affiliate call.
    • Q4 affiliate meeting – lower attendance (not surprising, December)
    • Attendees included Open Forum Europe, Breathing Games, Open Source Community Africa, and a few others.
    • Discussion topics included:
      • CAL license – people weren’t aware it’s in process.
      • Why aren’t we announcing new licenses under review on social media?
        • Want to do so AND make sure there’s intro material for people who are new to the process.
        • Suggestion to have a process by which we can all contribute
        • Wary we’re sliding into operations, may want to spin up a Communications Committee and perhaps hire someone to support this work
      • Threats to open source.
        • “OSI Shenzhen” claiming to be OSI in China? -> refer to trademarks@lists.opensource.org

Communications Topics

  • Action item: Hong to put Pad link and user/password into Board Meeting Calendar

Fundraising Topics

  • What is the status of the hiring of an Executive Director?
    • Currently lack HR infrastructure to support staff
    • Board has not requested one be hired at this stage
    • Action Item: Josh to send schedule poll to staffing committee
    • Motion (Elana): Task the staffing committee with determining strategic organizational needs and how that may be met through hiring, which may include a search for an Executive Director, to be reported on at the January board meeting.
      Second (Josh)
      Discussion:
      Vote: 8 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain

Incubator/Project Topics

  • ClearlyDefined (Chris, added in absentia):
    • We have reached over 10 million definitions in our store, which is a huge milestone for the project. We have decided to trial two new contractors for work on the website and service, potentially replacing the contractors we did not extend a contract to at the end of November. The service remains stable and robust.
    • We have finished out the contract with our existing contracting service and have not extended it. We have started trials with two different potential new contractors we may extend with longer-term after the start of 2020. Financial resources remain stable, but we are currently looking for more potential funders in early 2020, and many of those conversations are ongoing.
    • We have now reached over 10 million definitions in our definition store, a big milestone for the project. The service remains stable and robust and has not had any major bugs reported in the last month. We continue incremental improvements and small changes to the website to help facilitate the curators.
    • The community continues to grow month-over-month. The curation meetings are now regularly attended by about a dozen people. The regular biweekly meetings have also continued to be well-attended. We have had two talks about ClearlyDefined accepted at conferences in the first part of 2020, and we will be using that opportunity to grow the community further if possible.
    • Upcoming goals
      • Decide on if we will be proceeding with longer contractors with either of the contractors. Those trials end this week.
      • Continue submitting talks to conferences where ClearlyDefined can be featured.
      • Secure funding for 2020 from at least 1 funder before the next board report.
  • FLOSS Desktops (Patrick , added in absentia):
    FLOSS Desktops has contracted with Cassidy Layman to serve as “Community Coordinator.”

    • Duties include:
      1.  Review, update, and coordinate FLOSS Desktops program, educational content, and community resources (curriculum, website, wiki, etc.) based on best practices identified from the Urban Scholars Program to meet Company goals,
      2. identify qualified leads (participants and hardware contributors) and engage communities/organizations for FLOSS Desktops participation,
      3. Develop marketing materials and communications plan for promoting FLOSS Desktops program.
      4. Develop self-directed training program to assist on-boarding new participants and programs.
      5. Provide monthly reports available to stakeholders (GNOME, Open Source Initiative, Siena College Urban Scholars Program), which includes: activities and status to date related to Goals.
    • Goals include:
      1.  Capture best practices, based on Urban Scholars success, as a reference resource for broader adoption across diverse educational programs.
      2. Increase participation in the FLOSS Desktops for Kids Program
      3. Identity and increase donations of required resources to support FLOSS Desktops programs (hardware, staffing, funding).
      4. Develop and foster community (online activities, real-time events).
  • Standards & Related Public Policy
    • Report circulated previously by e-mail (Simon)
  • Snowdrift
    • Elana is willing to volunteer as their board sponsor.
    • Motion (Josh): Appoint Elana as board sponsor of Snowdrift
      Second (Molly)
      Discussion:
      Vote: 8 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstain

Next Board Meeting
The next OSI board meeting is scheduled for January 10th

Meeting adjourned at 17:21 UTC