Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Adam Holt]

On Sun, Apr 10, 2016 at 1:01 AM, Adam Holt  wrote:

> On Sat, Apr 9, 2016 at 10:33 PM, Dave Crossland  wrote:
>
>>
>> On 9 April 2016 at 11:26, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:
>>
>>> I also agree that $500 does seem excessive, and even inappropriate
>>
>>
>> FWIW, I thought it was small; it is under minimum wage for some places.
>>
>
> Some teachers I work with in Haiti make less than this amount in an entire
> year :(  When the TripAdvisor grant's defining 2013 document said "Sugar
> Labs is a 100% volunteer project" that may have been the case, but it is
> evidently no longer the case today.  Mako's point about volunteer
> motivations (
> https://mako.cc/writing/funding_volunteers/funding_volunteers.html)
> becomes all the more critical if we go too far flaunting nebulous
> Trump-told-me salaries in the faces of our hardest working volunteers,
> across the poorest places on earth (many on these mailing lists) when that
> breaks our global solidarity rather more than Leading Us Forward.
>
> Walter and Devin Ulibarri chose to invest $3579.68 of Sugar Labs' money
> going to Thailand's Constructionism 2016 (Feb 1-5) for a very good reason
> -- to do exactly that, Lead Us Forward.
>

(Correction: that's of course $3977.42 of Sugar Labs' money prior to the
10% deduction payable to SFConservancy for
accounting/legal/administration.  My mistake.)

As that purpose does not yet appear at http://planet.sugarlabs.org, Sugar
> Labs' community should help Walter and Devin articulate this through
> community channels that bring this impact to life, easing all our work of
> honoring TripAdvisor's request/requirement for (1) "Board-Approved Annual
> Budget", (2) biennial assessment if it has not already been submitted for
> August 2015, and (3) final 3-year report to be submitted August 2016.
>
> A preview from Feb 9:
>
> '4. I [Walter Bender] just returned from Constructionism 2016 (See [3]), a
> "bi-annual
> gathering of researchers and practitioners of the constructionist learning
> philosophy is intended to be a place to showcase lessons learned,
> innovative learning tools, new case studies, and novel approaches that has
> been happening throughout the world." A number of Sugar Labs community
> members were there, including Cynthia Solomon, Claudia Urrea, and Devin
> Ulibarri. Devin and I spoke about Music Blocks and along with Cynthia and
> Claudia, we ran several workshops for children and teachers. Lots of great
> feedback and many new and renewed connections. (Our host, Khun Paron, has
> been an advocate for Sugar for almost a decade.) The entire conference was
> videotaped and will be posted online soon. Be sure to watch Cynthia's
> keynote address in which she reviewed the history of Constructionism, which
> has had a great influence on the design and development of Sugar.
>
> 5. Music Blocks is a fork the Turtle Blocks program that we began last year
> during GSoC. Our goal is for Music Blocks to be an open-ended, yet
> musically relevant tool—one that invites learners to explore fundamental
> musical concepts that are both intrinsic to music yet transcendent of a
> specific discipline.
>
> The structure of our workshops included the concept of a "Power Piece". A
> power piece is a melody or a song that is taught because it is powerful and
> becomes more powerful as it is taught. Children took phrases of some
> familiar music as a basis of exploring and manipulating the music through
> programming.
>
> As a result of feedback from the workshops, I have made a number of
> improvements to Music Blocks [4]. It is much more robust and internally
> consistent. Please do try it (there is a guide at [5]) and give me
> additional feedback.'
>
> [4] https://walterbender.github.io/musicblocks
> [5]
> https://github.com/walterbender/musicblocks/blob/master/guide/README.md
>
> A postscript from March 25:
>
> '3. Devin Ulibarri and I had the opportunity to speak at LibrePlanet [2].
> Our topic was "Education needs Free/Libre Software needs education." [3]
>
> ABSTRACT: The bad news is that educational technology has
> largely failed to deliver on its promise. Its focus on efficiency rather
> than on learning has resulted in a further reinforcement of education as a
> system of instruction to curricula rather than one of student-driven
> construction of knowledge.
>
> The good news is that Free/Libre Software is the starting point towards a
> solutionnot just because it tends to focus on putting powerful
> tools into the hands of its end-users, but also because Free/Libre Software
> espouses a culture of doing and sharing in a context of critique,
> reflection, and personal responsibility.
>
> In this session, we will review some tangible ways in which Free/Libre
> Software is having and can have a positive impact on education and some
> things we can and should be doing better. We will then discuss strategies
> for advocating for Free/Libre Software in education systems both in 

Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Adam Holt]

On Sat, Apr 9, 2016 at 10:33 PM, Dave Crossland  wrote:

>
> On 9 April 2016 at 11:26, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:
>
>> I also agree that $500 does seem excessive, and even inappropriate
>
>
> FWIW, I thought it was small; it is under minimum wage for some places.
>

Some teachers I work with in Haiti make less than this amount in an entire
year :(  When the TripAdvisor grant's defining 2013 document said "Sugar
Labs is a 100% volunteer project" that may have been the case, but it is
evidently no longer the case today.  Mako's point about volunteer
motivations (
https://mako.cc/writing/funding_volunteers/funding_volunteers.html) becomes
all the more critical if we go too far flaunting nebulous Trump-told-me
salaries in the faces of our hardest working volunteers, across the poorest
places on earth (many on these mailing lists) when that breaks our global
solidarity rather more than Leading Us Forward.

Walter and Devin Ulibarri chose to invest $3579.68 of Sugar Labs' money
going to Thailand's Constructionism 2016 (Feb 1-5) for a very good reason
-- to do exactly that, Lead Us Forward.  As that purpose does not yet
appear at http://planet.sugarlabs.org, Sugar Labs' community should help
Walter and Devin articulate this through community channels that bring this
impact to life, easing all our work of honoring TripAdvisor's
request/requirement for (1) "Board-Approved Annual Budget", (2) biennial
assessment if it has not already been submitted for August 2015, and (3)
final 3-year report to be submitted August 2016.

A preview from Feb 9:

'4. I [Walter Bender] just returned from Constructionism 2016 (See [3]), a
"bi-annual
gathering of researchers and practitioners of the constructionist learning
philosophy is intended to be a place to showcase lessons learned,
innovative learning tools, new case studies, and novel approaches that has
been happening throughout the world." A number of Sugar Labs community
members were there, including Cynthia Solomon, Claudia Urrea, and Devin
Ulibarri. Devin and I spoke about Music Blocks and along with Cynthia and
Claudia, we ran several workshops for children and teachers. Lots of great
feedback and many new and renewed connections. (Our host, Khun Paron, has
been an advocate for Sugar for almost a decade.) The entire conference was
videotaped and will be posted online soon. Be sure to watch Cynthia's
keynote address in which she reviewed the history of Constructionism, which
has had a great influence on the design and development of Sugar.

5. Music Blocks is a fork the Turtle Blocks program that we began last year
during GSoC. Our goal is for Music Blocks to be an open-ended, yet
musically relevant tool—one that invites learners to explore fundamental
musical concepts that are both intrinsic to music yet transcendent of a
specific discipline.

The structure of our workshops included the concept of a "Power Piece". A
power piece is a melody or a song that is taught because it is powerful and
becomes more powerful as it is taught. Children took phrases of some
familiar music as a basis of exploring and manipulating the music through
programming.

As a result of feedback from the workshops, I have made a number of
improvements to Music Blocks [4]. It is much more robust and internally
consistent. Please do try it (there is a guide at [5]) and give me
additional feedback.'

[4] https://walterbender.github.io/musicblocks
[5] https://github.com/walterbender/musicblocks/blob/master/guide/README.md

A postscript from March 25:

'3. Devin Ulibarri and I had the opportunity to speak at LibrePlanet [2].
Our topic was "Education needs Free/Libre Software needs education." [3]

ABSTRACT: The bad news is that educational technology has
largely failed to deliver on its promise. Its focus on efficiency rather
than on learning has resulted in a further reinforcement of education as a
system of instruction to curricula rather than one of student-driven
construction of knowledge.

The good news is that Free/Libre Software is the starting point towards a
solutionnot just because it tends to focus on putting powerful
tools into the hands of its end-users, but also because Free/Libre Software
espouses a culture of doing and sharing in a context of critique,
reflection, and personal responsibility.

In this session, we will review some tangible ways in which Free/Libre
Software is having and can have a positive impact on education and some
things we can and should be doing better. We will then discuss strategies
for advocating for Free/Libre Software in education systems both in the US
and globally. The next generation of computer users are in school today. We
need to ensure that the next generation is empowered to take advantage of
the opportunities afforded by Free/Libre Software.

Unlike the session on Free/Libre Software at EdFoo, which was sparsely
attended, there was standing-room only for our session. The recording
should be on line within a few weeks.

It 

Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Dave Crossland]

On 9 April 2016 at 11:26, Caryl Bigenho  wrote:

> I also agree that $500 does seem excessive, and even inappropriate


FWIW, I thought it was small; it is under minimum wage for some places.
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Re: [IAEP] Motions to create position of Translation-Community Manager

[Sameer Verma]

On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 2:32 AM, Tony Anderson  wrote:
> I submitted motions to the Board as follows:
>
> I move that the SugarLabs Oversight Board approve the position of
> Translation-Community Manager as described at
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Translation-Community_Manager.
>

+1

> I further move that Chris Leonard be named to this position effective
> immediately.

Abstain.

>
> At Adam's request, I am adding a third motion:
>
> I move that the Translation-Community Manager be paid a stipend of $1000 per
> month.
>

Abstain.

Sameer
-- 
Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Professor, Information Systems
San Francisco State University
http://verma.sfsu.edu/

> I would like to call for seconds to these motions.
>
>
> Tony
> ___
> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
> IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
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Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Sameer Verma]

On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 5:23 AM, Walter Bender  wrote:
> Apparently we did not actually get all the votes necessary to approve a
> motion to pay Devin a $500 stipend for his time taken away from his Day Job
> to help with the Turtle Blocks workshops at the Constructionism Conference.
> The motion was made and voted on at the 2015-12-07 meeting [1]. There were
> only three votes cast. (I thought four had been cast.) There was no
> objection raised at the time and Devin did take a week off from work to
> attend the meetings and run the workshops. I'd like to reopen this motion
> with the new board and take a vote.
>
> Motion: offer Devin U. an honorarium ($500) to compensate him since he
> needed to take a week off from work to run two Turtle/Music Blocks workshops
> at the Constructionism Conference. The funds would be allocated from the
> Trip Advisor grant which are in support of promoting and advancing Turtle
> Blocks around the world.
>

Abstain.


> Please respond ASAP, as I feel we need to clarify the situation and not
> leave Devin hanging.
>
> Adam, in the future, it would be nice to get a heads up when you find
> mistakes and not just catch them by noticing a change to a wiki page.
>
> Also, I need clarity regarding the Trip Advisor grant. I believe that the
> oversight board has previously granted me approval to spend grant money on
> workshops under the conditions that (1) I inform the committee of my plans
> and (2) I don't exceed the budget. Apparently this is not the understanding
> of some of you and not the understanding of the SFC.
>
> Motion: Walter, as PI of the Trip Advisor grant, will inform the SL
> oversight board of his plans for workshops that fall under the guise
> promotion of Turtle Blocks but otherwise has discretion in organizing and
> funding these events, within the budget constraints of grant and the travel
> guidelines of the SFC.
>

Aye.

Sameer
-- 
Sameer Verma, Ph.D.
Professor, Information Systems
San Francisco State University
http://verma.sfsu.edu/

> Please take action on this ASAP as I am many months without reimbursement
> for travel for several workshops.
>
> FWIW, the large proportion of the travel and expenses associated with the
> workshops to date has been paid for by third parties. I've been able to
> stretch the budget quite far.
>
> thank you for your attention.
>
> regards.
>
> -walter
>
> -- Forwarded message --
> From: Sugar Labs 
> Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 4:45 AM
> Subject: Sugar Labs page Oversight Board/Decisions has been changed by Holt
> To: Walter 
>
>
> Dear Walter,
>
> The Sugar Labs page Oversight Board/Decisions has been changed on
> 8 April 2016 by Holt, see
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board/Decisions for the current
> revision.
>
> See
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/index.php?title=Oversight_Board/Decisions=next=97963
> to view this change.
>
> See
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/index.php?title=Oversight_Board/Decisions=0=97963
> for all changes since your last visit.
>
> Editor's summary:  -
>
> Contact the editor:
> mail: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Special:EmailUser/Holt
> wiki: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/User:Holt
>
> There will be no other notifications in case of further activity unless
> you visit this page while logged in. You could also reset the
> notification flags for all your watched pages on your watchlist.
>
> Your friendly Sugar Labs notification system
>
> --
> To change your email notification settings, visit
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Special:Preferences
>
> To change your watchlist settings, visit
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Special:EditWatchlist
>
> To delete the page from your watchlist, visit
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/index.php?title=Oversight_Board/Decisions=unwatch
>
> Feedback and further assistance:
> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Contents
>
>
>
> --
> Walter Bender
> Sugar Labs
> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>
>
> ___
> SLOBs mailing list
> sl...@lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/slobs
>
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[IAEP] Fwd: Re: SLOBs approval needed for Bender expenses of $1, 389.29 for Constructionalism 2016 (was Re: Sugar Labs travel)

[Adam Holt]

Hi Karen Sandler & Tony Sebro,

As experts on practical governance in the FLOSS space, does SFConservancy
have an opinion on Sugar Labs currently maintaining our legally-required
501(c)(3) bylaws on an open-to-all wiki at https
://
wiki.sugarlabs.org

/go/Sugar_Labs/Governance
 regularly changed by
passersby, without even mentioning the word "bylaws" curiously?

Any quick recommendations and best practices we should strive for to
improve our legal/governance stewardship, given your extensive experience?

Finally, thanks in advancefor your help clarifying whether Devin Ulibarri
needs a contract per Bradley Kuhn's careful reply and question below, or if
a $500 invoice suffices?

Gratefully,

Adam Holt
Sugar Labs Oversight Board Liaison to SFConservancy.org

--
Unsung Heroes of OLPC, interviewed live @http:// 
unleashkids.org !
Adam Holt wrote:
>Sugar Labs Oversight Board has passed 2 motions to retroactively
approve
>Devin Ulibarri's compensation of $500 for February 1-5 at
>Constructionism 2016 in Bangkok, and his travel/conf expenses of
>$1690.39.  If these presumably meet SFConservancy's travel/expenses
>policies, please arrange this total ($2190.39) to be paid without
>delay.  Presumably subtracting $787.31 to be paid to Walter Bender who
>bought Devin's flight, so the check to Devin would be: $1403.08
>
>Likewise Walter Bender's own travel/conf expenses ($1389.29) have also
>been restroactively approved.  Ditto if these presumably meet
>SFConservancy's travel/expense policies, please arrange for payment
>without delay.  Presumably adding $787.31 for Devin's flight, so the
check
>to Walter would be: $2176.60

We should be able to handle Walter's own expenses quickly, as they have
already been accrued and were only pending your approval, which I see given
above.  I'll send email to  when that (and any
other
reimbursement) has been processed.

Devin's travel reimbursement request hasn't been processed yet, including
the
flight portion that Walter paid for him.  I'll try to do it as quickly as I
can, and we should make our usual NET-30 payment on Devin's expenses, going
by the date which he submitted them.  I may or may not reimburse Walter in
one check or two depending on timing.


For Devin's $500, since that's a stipend payment (so it appears) and not for
travel.  At the very least, make sure Devin sends an invoice for the $500 to
Conservancy, and the NET-30 clock will start from the date which the invoice
is received at .  I don't have any such
invoice
currently on file.

Also, be advised that I'll be asking Karen and Tony if they feel a formal
contract is needed to process payment for Devin's stipend; that's not a
decision I'd make on my own.  As such, you may find it expedient to
pre-discuss that point with one of them.


>Separately, as experts on this matter, does SFConservancy have an
>opinion on Sugar Labs currently maintaining our legally-required
>501(c)(3) bylaws on an open-to-all wiki at
>[1]https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs/Governance regularly
changed
>by passersby, without even mentioning the word "bylaws" curiously?

I can't on first glance see how this is an accounting/financial question, so
 is definitely the wrong place to send the
above question.  Sorry to be stuck on procedure, but given the immense
volume
of work Conservancy has for our member projects and the very few staff we
have to handle them, I'd ask that you be sure to route requests properly to
save us time.

The normal place to have this kind of conversation regarding the above would
be to write to , possibly cc'ing Conservancy's
General Counsel, Tony Sebro as well, since it embeds a legal question.

Anyway, please discuss with Conservancy's Executive Director, Karen Sandler,
any other inquiries you have about launching governance issues about a
Conservancy project.  While it used to be my job to handle all of that when
I
was the only Conservancy employee, we fortunately do have two more now, so I
don't always have to do all the jobs. :)  Ideally, someday we'll be able to
afford a bookkeeper and I won't have to do that part, either. :)

Thanks for your understanding.
--
Bradley M. Kuhn
President & Distinguished Technologist of Software Freedom Conservancy
 |--> & also, de-facto Bookkeeper since we can't afford to hire one.
Pls donate so we can increase staff: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/
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Re: [IAEP] SLOBs approval needed for Bender expenses of $1, 389.29 for Constructionalism 2016 (was Re: Sugar Labs travel)

[Adam Holt]

Hi Bradley,

Sugar Labs Oversight Board has passed 2 motions to retroactively approve
Devin Ulibarri's compensation of $500 for February 1-5 at Constructionism
2016 in Bangkok, and his travel/conf expenses of $1690.39.  If these
presumably meet SFConservancy's travel/expenses policies, please arrange
this total ($2190.39) to be paid without delay.  Presumably subtracting
$787.31 to be paid to Walter Bender who bought Devin's flight, so the check
to Devin would be: $1403.08

Likewise Walter Bender's own travel/conf expenses ($1389.29) have also been
restroactively approved.  Ditto if these presumably meet SFConservancy's
travel/expense policies, please arrange for payment without delay.
Presumably adding $787.31 for Devin's flight, so the check to Walter would
be: $2176.60

Separately, as experts on this matter, does SFConservancy have an opinion
on Sugar Labs currently maintaining our legally-required 501(c)(3) bylaws
on an open-to-all wiki at
https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs/Governance regularly changed by
passersby, without even mentioning the word "bylaws" curiously?

Any quick recommendations for us to improve our legal/governance practices
here, given your extensive experience?

Adam Holt
Sugar Labs Oversight Board Liaison to SFConservancy.org

On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 4:45 AM, Adam Holt  wrote:

> On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 8:35 PM, Accounting at Software Freedom Conservancy
>  wrote:
>
>> Adam,
>>
>> The accounting department at Conservancy never received a reply to this
>> thread below.  As Representative, I would have expected reply to come
>> from you.
>>
>> > Walter Bender wrote on 10 February:
>> >> Please find attached my expenses for the Turtle/Music Blocks workshop
>> >> in Thailand this month.
>>
>> I wrote on  8 March:
>> > I have processed this expense report for a total expenses amount of
>> > $1,389.29 for Bender's travel to the Constructionalism 2016 conference.
>> > However, I don't see any records of SLOBs approval of this expense.
>> >
>> > Adam, as Representative, can you please communicate ASAP that the SLOBs
>> > have approved this expense?
>> >
>> > Once I have this, we can send the reimbursement.
>>
>> ... and, as such, Walter has still not been reimbursed for his $1,389.29
>> for travel to the Constructionalism 2016 conference.
>>
>> I really would appreciate if you'd either approve the expense, or
>> indicate that it should not be paid, so I can give a definitive answer
>> to the traveler about whether the reimbursement request will be paid.
>>
>> (I know that SLOBs tend to approve things via meetings, so you can just
>> send a link to SLOBs minutes if it was approved at a meeting already.)
>> --
>> Bradley M. Kuhn
>> President & Distinguished Technologist of Software Freedom Conservancy
>>  |--> & also, de-facto Bookkeeper since we can't afford to hire one.
>> Pls donate so we can increase staff: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/
>>
>
> Hi Bradley Kuhn who does all the hard work behind SFConservancy Accounting,
>
> Sorry I was away in Haiti when you wrote in March.  Your file
> Sugar/Ledger/sugar.ledger correctly shows Walter Bender's $807.22
> flight + expenses to Thailand's Constructionism 2016 = $1389.29 total.
>
> If SL's Oversight Board was supposed to vote on this affirmatively per
> SFConservancy policies, can you just clarify those policies,
> particularly with many new board members since February 2nd 2016, so
> that we're fully in compliance without confusion going forward?
> If SL Board pre-approval of expenses or budgets are necessary and/or
> wise then any particular suggestions for resolving this expeditiously
> most appreciated.  Thank you greatly in advance for your time.
>
> Aside: Caryl Bigenho and Dave Crossland have been working on a
> Treasurer suggestion for Sugar Labs to possibly make such financial
> clarity and promptness more of a priority for our community in future,
> relevant later this spring if SL's Board chooses to act on this or similar,
> but we are not quite there yet encoding norms of financial transparency/
> responsiveness/intentionality that our community agrees on broadly,
> and if so how we're going to get there:
>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/16jIFuZ9bX-Bv675BpA1KmcEcRcX4PRCOUEX0ICRUkOc
>
> > > Devin Ulibarri  traveled with me (I bought his plane ticket but he
> > > will submit his other expenses separately).
> >
> > On another related matter, I have not received a trip report and expense
> > report from Ulibarri.  Per instructions from Conservancy's Executive
> > Director, Karen Sandler, on this matter, I have not processed the part
> > of the Bender's reimbursement request but will do so as part of Devin's
> > full expense report when it arrives.
>
> I will presume Devin Ulibarri's Constructionism 2016 expenses ($787.31
> flight + $903.08 Music Blocks/conf-related expenses = $1690.39 total)
> approval process would follow the exact same process as you outline
> for 

Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Adam Holt]

On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 8:23 AM, Walter Bender 
wrote:

> Motion: offer Devin U. an honorarium ($500) to compensate him since he
> needed to take a week off from work to run two Turtle/Music Blocks
> workshops at the Constructionism Conference. The funds would be allocated
> from the Trip Advisor grant which are in support of promoting and advancing
> Turtle Blocks around the world.
>

Abstain.  Devin Ulibarri has been put in an almost impossible situation as
a result of this accident.  My own belief (as explained yesterday) is that
Sugar Labs should not be paying anybody $500 for 5 days, to any person at
this time (for any reason, forgoing a high-salary or a low-salary or
zero-salary) as volunteer solidarity should be a far higher priority.

As per Benjamin Mako Hill's paper conclusions (he is not the only one who
has observed this consistent pattern) "while paying developers [music
developers, ice cream developers, intl-devel, project curriculum
developers, any kind of developers] is easy, it can carry unintended
negative consequences" :
https://mako.cc/writing/funding_volunteers/funding_volunteers.html

In any case, the motion has now passed, and SFConservancy should send Devin
the funds without delay, and as Caryl reminds us, we're learning a lesson
here that a procedurally-minded Financial Manager avoid such accidental
situations in future, so each+all focus on what we are good at.

Motion: Walter, as PI of the Trip Advisor grant, will inform the SL
> oversight board of his plans for workshops that fall under the guise
> promotion of Turtle Blocks but otherwise has discretion in organizing and
> funding these events, within the budget constraints of grant and the travel
> guidelines of the SFC.
>

+1 as we continue to move forward towards timely public financials
(whatever level of granularity the community meaningfully agrees upon).
Dave Crossland and Cary Bigenho are working hard drafting this and I would
very much encourage others with financial savvy to get involved --
SFConservancy has asked that we use the term "Financial Manager" to avoid
confusion with their own "Treasurer" fyi:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16jIFuZ9bX-Bv675BpA1KmcEcRcX4PRCOUEX0ICRUkOc

Can Sugar Labs benefit from TripAdvisor's asking us for a "Board-Approved
Annual Budget" ?  TripAdvisor asks for a breakdown of expenses -- how do we
run with annual-style foresight/hindsight understanding of our own
patterns?  With a couple tiny financial pie-charts or similar?  We're
getting there I hope, but I myself still do not yet fully understand the
4-year financial history I've posted to http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Finance
regrettably.

Has the biennial (2-year) assessment report requested/required by
TripAdvisor by August 2015 been submitted?

Walter, do you need assistance on the final TripAdvisor report expected
August 2016 from Chris Leonard and/or others?

The #1 stated goal of the TripAdvisor grant being "Broaden the reach of our
indigenous language support" according to its detailed 2013 document, so
Chris Leonard and others of us can and will assist here as required.
Likewise Tony claims he does not believe in reporting and yet very
curiously he provides some of the best ground-truthed community/education
reporting of anyone worldwide (put this guy on a stand-up comedy stage
please, and have SJ Klein use his transcriptionist prowess on XO-1 to
live-blog Tony's best lines ;)  In short, if we hang together beyond the
lofty rhetoric of Magical Transparency (obvious risks of 2003's "Cascade of
Attention-Deficit Teenagers" @ https://www.jwz.org/doc/cadt.html and 1971's
"Tyranny of Structurelessness" @ http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm)
Sugar Labs will emerge much far stronger as we strengthen our
reporting-as-blogging/collaboration culture.  Very much like Walter Bender
favors Sugar Activities that compel you by default to report on what you
just learned, whether folks truly reflect purposefully every time or not,
and so avoiding clicking away lives.  And instead work towards growing our
lives with a culture of intentionality -> bookkeeping -> consequences -- if
we kids want to be unleashed to play in the big leagues -- *And Why Not?*

As such, can the above 1 budget and 2 reports be shared with the community
this year?

Back to the original motion for a small second: the completed TripAdvisor
Grant Application Form and final Terms and Conditions do not use the
phrases "PI", "Principal Investigator" or "Turtle Blocks" but this is a
completely insignificant matter in my opinion as a non-lawyer -- and a good
thing Walter has chosen to avoid technocratic legalese (IMHO).  I'm merely
stating for the clerical record (as SL's liaison to SFConservancy on
financial/admin/legal matters) that other expressions such as "The
governing board (“Board”) of Charity", "Turtle Art" etc are used within the
2 defining PDF documents themselves.  Which SFConservancy's General Counsel
has thankfully now clarified 

Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Caryl Bigenho]

Hi Folks,
Laura raises an appropriate question. However, since these expenses were 
incurred in the past, working under past policies, it seems only fair to 
reimburse them.  However, going forward in the future, if the two motions I 
propose for a Financial Manager (changed from Treasurer to meet SFC policies) 
are adopted, situations like this should not arise.  All expenditures under a 
certain amount (still labeled $X in the motions) would not need prior SLOB 
approval.
I also agree that $500 does seem excessive, and even inappropriate. Many folks 
donate their time and funds to attend and assist in conferences and workshops. 
Some even help fund each other. Why shouldn't they also be reimbursed? This 
payment sets up a dangerous policy that can quickly drain SL funds.  Going 
forward, I hope we do not see such "honorariums" (or whatever you want to call 
them). However, this one is a "done deal" and as such should be honored, as a 
majority of the SLOB have rightly decided to do.
If you would like to help draft the motions for Financial Manager and how 
funding will be approved in the future, go to this link: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16jIFuZ9bX-Bv675BpA1KmcEcRcX4PRCOUEX0ICRUkOc/edit?usp=sharing
Caryl
P.S.  I notice someone has changed the date for voting on this to yesterday? 
Was there a meeting yesterday?
From: la...@somosazucar.org
Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 22:32:59 +0800
To: lio...@olpc-france.org
CC: iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org; callaur...@gmail.com; 
sugar-de...@lists.sugarlabs.org; sl...@lists.sugarlabs.org
Subject: Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

According to this logic,
(a) Can any volunteer request retroactive funds / get reimbursed after giving 
related workshops? I understand now that Walter and Chris have total control 
over the Trip Advisor grant, still there are ~US$20,000 on SL accounts that 
could benefit many volunteers in this way. US$500 is not bad for 5 days!
and (b) Anyone that raises money in the name of SL has the title to decide 
how/when to spend this funds?
Thanks for addressing the issue,
Laura V



2016-04-09 22:02 GMT+08:00 Lionel Laské :
+1 for both motions for me too.
  Lionel.
2016-04-08 23:13 GMT+02:00 Walter Bender :
+1 from me as well for both motions.
-walter
On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 4:09 PM, Claudia Urrea  wrote:
+1 for both!
Claudia
On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 2:49 PM, José Miguel García  
wrote:
También quedé con la idea de que se había aprobado en la reunión del 2015-12-17 
[No 2015-12-07]
+1 ambas mociones
___
Lic. José Miguel García
Montevideo - Uruguay

2016-04-08 14:11 GMT-03:00 Tony Anderson :

  

  
  
+1 on both motions



Tony



On 04/08/2016 08:23 PM, Walter Bender
  wrote:



  Apparently we did not actually get all the votes
necessary to approve a motion to pay Devin a $500 stipend for
his time taken away from his Day Job to help with the Turtle
Blocks workshops at the Constructionism Conference. The motion
was made and voted on at the 2015-12-07 meeting [1]. There were
only three votes cast. (I thought four had been cast.) There was
no objection raised at the time and Devin did take a week off
from work to attend the meetings and run the workshops. I'd like
to reopen this motion with the new board and take a vote.



Motion: offer Devin U. an honorarium ($500) to compensate
  him since he needed to take a week off from work to run two
  Turtle/Music Blocks workshops at the Constructionism
  Conference. The funds would be allocated from the Trip Advisor
  grant which are in support of promoting and advancing Turtle
  Blocks around the world.



Please respond ASAP, as I feel we need to clarify the
  situation and not leave Devin hanging.



Adam, in the future, it would be nice to get a heads up
  when you find mistakes and not just catch them by noticing a
  change to a wiki page.



Also, I need clarity regarding the Trip Advisor grant. I
  believe that the oversight board has previously granted me
  approval to spend grant money on workshops under the
  conditions that (1) I inform the committee of my plans and (2)
  I don't exceed the budget. Apparently this is not the
  understanding of some of you and not the understanding of the
  SFC.



Motion: Walter, as PI of the Trip Advisor grant, will
  inform the SL oversight board of his plans for workshops that
  fall under the guise promotion of Turtle Blocks but otherwise
  has discretion in organizing and funding these events, within
  the budget constraints of grant and the travel 

Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Laura Vargas]

According to this logic,

(a) Can any volunteer request retroactive funds / get reimbursed after
giving related workshops? I understand now that Walter and Chris have total
control over the Trip Advisor grant, still there are ~US$20,000 on SL
accounts that could benefit many volunteers in this way. US$500 is not bad
for 5 days!

and (b) Anyone that raises money in the name of SL has the title to decide
how/when to spend this funds?

Thanks for addressing the issue,

Laura V




2016-04-09 22:02 GMT+08:00 Lionel Laské :

> +1 for both motions for me too.
>
>   Lionel.
>
> 2016-04-08 23:13 GMT+02:00 Walter Bender :
>
>> +1 from me as well for both motions.
>>
>> -walter
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 4:09 PM, Claudia Urrea 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> +1 for both!
>>>
>>> Claudia
>>>
>>> On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 2:49 PM, José Miguel García <
>>> josemig...@argos.edu.uy> wrote:
>>>
 También quedé con la idea de que se había aprobado en la reunión del 
 2015-12-17
 [No 2015-12-07]

 +1 ambas mociones


 ___
 Lic. José Miguel García
 Montevideo - Uruguay

 2016-04-08 14:11 GMT-03:00 Tony Anderson :

> +1 on both motions
>
> Tony
>
>
> On 04/08/2016 08:23 PM, Walter Bender wrote:
>
> Apparently we did not actually get all the votes necessary to approve
> a motion to pay Devin a $500 stipend for his time taken away from his Day
> Job to help with the Turtle Blocks workshops at the Constructionism
> Conference. The motion was made and voted on at the 2015-12-07 meeting 
> [1].
> There were only three votes cast. (I thought four had been cast.) There 
> was
> no objection raised at the time and Devin did take a week off from work to
> attend the meetings and run the workshops. I'd like to reopen this motion
> with the new board and take a vote.
>
> Motion: offer Devin U. an honorarium ($500) to compensate him since he
> needed to take a week off from work to run two Turtle/Music Blocks
> workshops at the Constructionism Conference. The funds would be allocated
> from the Trip Advisor grant which are in support of promoting and 
> advancing
> Turtle Blocks around the world.
>
> Please respond ASAP, as I feel we need to clarify the situation and
> not leave Devin hanging.
>
> Adam, in the future, it would be nice to get a heads up when you find
> mistakes and not just catch them by noticing a change to a wiki page.
>
> Also, I need clarity regarding the Trip Advisor grant. I believe that
> the oversight board has previously granted me approval to spend grant 
> money
> on workshops under the conditions that (1) I inform the committee of my
> plans and (2) I don't exceed the budget. Apparently this is not the
> understanding of some of you and not the understanding of the SFC.
>
> Motion: Walter, as PI of the Trip Advisor grant, will inform the SL
> oversight board of his plans for workshops that fall under the guise
> promotion of Turtle Blocks but otherwise has discretion in organizing and
> funding these events, within the budget constraints of grant and the 
> travel
> guidelines of the SFC.
>
> Please take action on this ASAP as I am many months without
> reimbursement for travel for several workshops.
>
> FWIW, the large proportion of the travel and expenses associated with
> the workshops to date has been paid for by third parties. I've been able 
> to
> stretch the budget quite far.
>
> thank you for your attention.
>
> regards.
>
> -walter
>
> -- Forwarded message --
> From: Sugar Labs 
> Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 4:45 AM
> Subject: Sugar Labs page Oversight Board/Decisions has been changed by
> Holt
> To: Walter 
>
>
> Dear Walter,
>
> The Sugar Labs page Oversight Board/Decisions has been changed on
> 8 April 2016 by Holt, see
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board/Decisions for the
> current
> revision.
>
> See
>
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/index.php?title=Oversight_Board/Decisions=next=97963
> to view this change.
>
> See
>
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/index.php?title=Oversight_Board/Decisions=0=97963
> for all changes since your last visit.
>
> Editor's summary:  -
>
> Contact the editor:
> mail: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Special:EmailUser/Holt
> wiki: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/User:Holt
>
> There will be no other notifications in case of further activity unless
> you visit this page while logged in. You could also reset the
> notification flags for all your watched pages on your watchlist.
>
> 

Re: [IAEP] [SLOBS] Action needed on two issues

[Lionel Laské]

+1 for both motions for me too.

  Lionel.

2016-04-08 23:13 GMT+02:00 Walter Bender :

> +1 from me as well for both motions.
>
> -walter
>
> On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 4:09 PM, Claudia Urrea 
> wrote:
>
>> +1 for both!
>>
>> Claudia
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 2:49 PM, José Miguel García <
>> josemig...@argos.edu.uy> wrote:
>>
>>> También quedé con la idea de que se había aprobado en la reunión del 
>>> 2015-12-17
>>> [No 2015-12-07]
>>>
>>> +1 ambas mociones
>>>
>>>
>>> ___
>>> Lic. José Miguel García
>>> Montevideo - Uruguay
>>>
>>> 2016-04-08 14:11 GMT-03:00 Tony Anderson :
>>>
 +1 on both motions

 Tony


 On 04/08/2016 08:23 PM, Walter Bender wrote:

 Apparently we did not actually get all the votes necessary to approve a
 motion to pay Devin a $500 stipend for his time taken away from his Day Job
 to help with the Turtle Blocks workshops at the Constructionism Conference.
 The motion was made and voted on at the 2015-12-07 meeting [1]. There were
 only three votes cast. (I thought four had been cast.) There was no
 objection raised at the time and Devin did take a week off from work to
 attend the meetings and run the workshops. I'd like to reopen this motion
 with the new board and take a vote.

 Motion: offer Devin U. an honorarium ($500) to compensate him since he
 needed to take a week off from work to run two Turtle/Music Blocks
 workshops at the Constructionism Conference. The funds would be allocated
 from the Trip Advisor grant which are in support of promoting and advancing
 Turtle Blocks around the world.

 Please respond ASAP, as I feel we need to clarify the situation and not
 leave Devin hanging.

 Adam, in the future, it would be nice to get a heads up when you find
 mistakes and not just catch them by noticing a change to a wiki page.

 Also, I need clarity regarding the Trip Advisor grant. I believe that
 the oversight board has previously granted me approval to spend grant money
 on workshops under the conditions that (1) I inform the committee of my
 plans and (2) I don't exceed the budget. Apparently this is not the
 understanding of some of you and not the understanding of the SFC.

 Motion: Walter, as PI of the Trip Advisor grant, will inform the SL
 oversight board of his plans for workshops that fall under the guise
 promotion of Turtle Blocks but otherwise has discretion in organizing and
 funding these events, within the budget constraints of grant and the travel
 guidelines of the SFC.

 Please take action on this ASAP as I am many months without
 reimbursement for travel for several workshops.

 FWIW, the large proportion of the travel and expenses associated with
 the workshops to date has been paid for by third parties. I've been able to
 stretch the budget quite far.

 thank you for your attention.

 regards.

 -walter

 -- Forwarded message --
 From: Sugar Labs 
 Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 4:45 AM
 Subject: Sugar Labs page Oversight Board/Decisions has been changed by
 Holt
 To: Walter 


 Dear Walter,

 The Sugar Labs page Oversight Board/Decisions has been changed on
 8 April 2016 by Holt, see
 https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board/Decisions for the current
 revision.

 See

 https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/index.php?title=Oversight_Board/Decisions=next=97963
 to view this change.

 See

 https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/index.php?title=Oversight_Board/Decisions=0=97963
 for all changes since your last visit.

 Editor's summary:  -

 Contact the editor:
 mail: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Special:EmailUser/Holt
 wiki: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/User:Holt

 There will be no other notifications in case of further activity unless
 you visit this page while logged in. You could also reset the
 notification flags for all your watched pages on your watchlist.

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 Sugar Labs
 http://www.sugarlabs.org



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 SLOBs mailing