[resent to include talk] Am 22.10.2014 21:24, schrieb Kate Chapman: > ... > I'd say the size of the board to me is not necessarily the issue. I do > think however having a board elected completely just from the OSMF > membership isn't the best approach. Those elected from OSM > contributors (I frequently have seen in the past people post people's > OSM edits for board elections) are not necessarily the best to be on a > board. It does not allow the flexibility to seek out board members > with specialized skills. For example most of the board would not claim > to be experts in finance, or legal matters. I certainly think election > from part of the community is not a bad thing, but perhaps it isn't > the only way. > Hi Kate
Your position on this seems to be similar to statements made during the just past OSM-US board elections. They seem to repeat a preconceived notion of a OSM contributor which is extremely one sided. OSM contributors big and small come from a wide range of professional backgrounds and without even venturing in to the realm of casual contributors, we have a pool of 50'000 to recruit board and working group members from. Many which will trash non-editing so called experts in any field with their right hand bound behind their back. We simply face the same challenge that every popular pastime faces that promises power, money and influence. The people that actually enjoy the pastime would prefer allocating their time to what they enjoy, instead of to managing the organisation and will need a lot of convincing to "waste" their time on meta issues and power games, leaving control to people with different motives. It is not by chance that this topic is rising now when OSM is a clear success. You just need to look at the governing bodies of any major sport to know what happens. It isn't even necessary to consider the extremes of FIFA and the like. Though I'm sure the arguments 110 years ago were very similar to those raised now. Non affiliated community members are already a minority in the OSMF board, not to mention OSM US that has a single token such member left. As of now, there is at least some democratic control by the cattle over these bodies, turning them in to self-electing masters of OSM is just a step more to our very own Blatter. Simon
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