User:Ewmjc/2009 Board Candidates
I have had the pleasure and honour to meet all the candidates and to get to know many of them. All without exception would make good board members. If some of them are less known to you, here are my personal thoughts on their many good qualities. I hope I have been fair and not biased (I am standing too!). Any mistakes of fact are mine and I appreciate corrections.
For me personally, a good 2009 board will be one with both continuity and diversity. Continuity - from experience, it takes at least one year to be fully contributive as a member. It also takes time for the board to get up to speed on efficiently dealing with issues and making sensible decisions in the difficult environment of international telephone conference. Diversity - viewpoints, personalities and nationalities. A good board member is one who can think completely different to other members and generate good discussion but then participate in quickly reaching a consensus (preferably several times inside two hours!!)
Nick Black
A ball of energy. A major force behind the organisation and increasingly professionalism in our StateOfTheMap conferences over three years. Brings interesting ideas on how OSMF should mature and grow.
Steve Coast
If there is anyone I will fully endorse, it is Steve. Founder of OpenStreetMap and promoter of it at high profile events around the world speaks for itself. Recently voted one of the most influential people in the geospatial industry over the next five years by Directions Magazine. We need a well-known voice to the outside. He is passionate, energetic and remains firmly commited to what OpenStreetMap is about. Please give one of your votes to Steve.
Etienne Cherdlu
Etienne has been a good, cautious and careful Treasurer for three years. This is an important role. The foundation supports but does not control OpenStreetMap. An important (the most important?) support function is the proper handling of money … membership fees, donations, StateOfTheMap, server purchases, legal fees … ensuring properly transparent and auditable accounts and making sure that the Foundation does not take risks and get into financial difficulties (StateOfTheMap for example can involve large intiial outlays which need to be timed carefully).
Michael Collinson
Well that is me, so I will not "blow my own trumpet". I act as the membership secretary.
Simone Cortesi
Italian and English speaker. Despite not being on the board, Simone has taken the time to be part of our "team@osmfoundation.org" along with Richard Wieat and Ivan. He has attended a number of board meetings. Italy put in a bid for this year's StateOfTheMap. Despite it being held in Amsterdam, Simone did not waste the preparation work and went ahead with a sucessful complimentary Italian conference with, I believe, over 100 participants.
Henk Hoff
Speaks Dutch, German and near-native English so is able to, and does, take a very active part in board meeting discussions. Part of the Dutch ground team that did such a great job on StateOfTheMap 2009.
Mike Maron
A laid back guy with a refined sense of humour andf a good public speaker. Mikel travels the world promoting OSM, and importantly making concrete progress in setting up local OSM initiatives ... Palestine, Myanmar, Egypt, India. Growing OpenStreetMap and OSMF around the world and outside the advanced economies is a very important mission.
Hurricane McEwen
Hurricane I've only met once but she has done work with StateOfTheMap and would also like to work improving communication within the OSMF and within OpenStreetMap generally. As she says, she is the only lady standing. This is an important criteria if we want a truly representative organisation ... the lack of female participation in OpenStreetMap generally suggests that we could do a much better job.
Peter Miller
Peter has an eye for detail and a capacity for thinking it through. He has given me a lot ideas that I have (slowly!) worked through as a member of the License Working Group. I am sure he could bring the same value to OSMF as a whole. He would like us to work towards bringing in professional staff and has concrete ideas on how to achieve that.
Ulf Möller
German and English-speaker. Works with me on the License Working Group. I know from experience that it is not easy discussing complex items in a group in another language. Ulf does a great job. He argues points we had not though of, then actively works with the group to reach a consensus solution. This is an important asset for a member of a board of directors. Germany and german speaking countries form now our most active community in several ways - it would be good to have a direct representative.
Andy Robinson
In British law, a registered UK entity like OSMF needed (still needs?) a formal Secretary who will make sure all the paperwork and bureacracy is properly handled, for example making sure that audited accounts are filed. Andy has done a good solid job here for two years. He also patiently sets up all our meetings and herds us into attending. He is active in the Data Working Group which plays a vital role in the long-term legitimacy of our project by ensuring that any data with suspected copyright violation is properly removed.
Hope that help! Mike