[LinuxPicnic] Linux Picnic voting memberships & 2008 steering committee (fwd)

Wed Dec 19 11:34:16 PST 2007

Hey Folks,

I'm forwarding on part of a message from Ian Kluft with regards to the 
Linux Picnic which is an event that BayLISA has been participating in for 
the last 3 years (prior to that many members were associated with it as 
well).  This is an opportunity for BayLISA members to become more involved 
with the process of the setup, and organization of the Picnic as a whole 
and not just volunteering at the site.  Please do sign up at 
member-reg at linuxpicnic.org if you'd like to get involved with this 
process.  It's a great way to meet new people, and get some experience 
with event coordination/planning.

Jennifer

Voting Memberships
------------------
The idea behind voting memberships is that you must have volunteered at
a previous picnic to qualify.  That keeps it fair and simple.

So I'd like to use a process from the draft charter that anyone who has
volunteered at a previous Linux Picnic may state their interest in a
voting membership - and that's good for a year.  To renew your voting
membership, repeat the process.  For people who haven't volunteered at
the picnic (no remote participation accepted in this case) then it's
reasonable to ask them to volunteer at the next picnic to earn their
voting privileges.

Send a message to member-reg at linuxpicnic.org to claim your voting
membership.  Please include the following statements in your message:
* your name and e-mail address (mail headers are OK if clear & accurate)
* you are interested in being a member of the Linux Picnic
* which year(s) you volunteered at the picnic

Some time after Christmas, we'll set up a vote to approve the charter
and elect members to the 2008 Steering Committee.

Notes about voting memberships in the Linux Picnic will be posted at
    http://www.linuxpicnic.org/twiki/bin/view/Volunteers/LinuxPicnicMembers

Steering Committee
------------------
According to the current draft of the charter, the Linux Picnic Steering
Committee would be comprised of the following:
* up to 6 members who are Linux Picnic members elected by the membership
* up to 6 members representing Open Source Partner Organizations (OSPOs)
* up to 3 members appointed by the Board of Directors of the South Bay
   Community Network (sbay.org)

If the OSPOs send more than 6 representatives, the remainder of the
Steering Committee will narrow the list to 6.  The Steering Committee
may make policies with guidance on how to do that.

The Steering Committee will select one or two of its members to be the
Linux Picnic Coordinator(s) for a calendar year term.  The Coordinator(s)
act as the executive leadership of the Linux Picnic.  However, the
Steering Committee still has the final word on policy-making.

All the members of the Steering Committee will be considered officers of
the Linux Picnic.  The corporate By-Laws require officers of SIGs to be
members of the corporation.  That keeps a strong bond as a legal link
to protect volunteers under the "Volunteer Protection Act of 1997" and
any liability insurance that the corporation obtains in the future.
It also helps ensure that leaders are on the same page about maintaining
compliance with IRS 501(c)3 rules by which we've been granted tax-exemption
status.

Notes about the Steering Committee will be posted at
    http://www.linuxpicnic.org/twiki/bin/view/Volunteers/SteeringCommittee

Open Source Partner Organizations
---------------------------------
According to the current draft of the charter, Open Source Partner
Organizations (OSPOs) are any non-profit Open Source software organizations
which commit to the following:
* It will encourage its members to participate in the Linux Picnic.
* It will encourage readers of its mail lists, web sites and other means
   of communication that it operates to attend the picnic.

The participating organizations from 2007 instantly qualify for 2008:
* BayLISA - Bay Area Large Installation System Administrators
* Haiku OS - Open Source OS based on BeOS
* LUGOD - Linux User Group of Davis
* Smaug - Santa Cruz Microsoft-Alternative User Group
* SVWUX - Silicon Valley Wireless Users & Experimenters

(I'm not including sbay.org because it's in a different category as the
501(c)3 non-profit corporate umbrella for the picnic.)