Minutes, Sep 29 2005

Roll Call Attending: Joel, Geoff, Munwar, Ben, Limi, Jodok, Mark Not attending: none Observing: Paul, Mark Minutes Approved minutes from previous call. Approved by acclamation. Paul mentioned minutes from member meeting that need to be circulated. Geoff moved to accept the agenda, Ben seconded, and acclamation approved to accept agenda. Officer Reports President Joel discussed his activities at the membership meeting. Also discussed his presentation on licensing options, trying to gauge where people sat on some of issues. (a) Non-gpl license for use at organization (nervous customer case) and (b) products that can import CMFPlone but not ship source were two areas of interest. Vice-President No report. Secretary Marcel wasn't able to track down lawyers for State of Delaware for paperwork. Geoff has tried but not been able to get response from the registered lawyers. Joel offered to help find some non-profit helpers. Geoff mentioned his work on "How to Contribute' page. Some of the material needs help, as Geoff doesn't have all the info. Geoff needs people to own the various sections. Mark asked if Geoff has the fax from CD Corporation to law firm in Atlanta. Geoff: yes, he has the contact info. Joel noted that the PF has a PayPal account. Mark mentioned this was part of a board action. Joel knows lawyers that specialize in nonprofit corporations. Treasurer Mark mentioned invoices for ZEA regarding trademark expenses. Alan had suggested bundling invoices. Mark asked if we should pay as we go. Joel motioned to pay current invoice, Ben seconded. Joel: +1, Geoff: +1, Jodok: +1, Ben: +1, Munwar: +1, Limi +1, motion passes. Munwar asked about cash flow. Mark explained balance, liabilities, and income. Munwar also asked about board insurance. Mark suggested that we hire a tax accountant and give them the books. Also, look at what it takes to do gain non-profit status. Toby is a CPA, works with Enfold. Alan will ask him about doing taxes. Committee Reports Membership Committee Currently missing a chair. Joel mentioned a couple of people were approved. IP Committee No report. Joel asked how many forms signed and what remains. Paul said 43. Munwar asked where the forms reside. Joel said either at Enfold or Paul has them. Trademark Committee Alex did some recruiting for new trademark chairperson. Joel asked for a private page for the board to show the trademark status. Marketing Committee Paul discussed the recent marketing cmt discussion on USPs. Also, Jonah's recap from Vienna. Paul discussed plone.net and mentioned the revenue stream. Discussed press release and the 1k expense for putting it on the wire. Mark: discussion of whether we spend the money for the real wire release. Joel: good idea to put on the wire. Discussion about whether to wait for 2.1.1 to do a press release for 2.1. Stefan is ready to make a 2.1.1 release with a few days' notice. Mark and Alan both said the installers could be done during next 3 weeks. Motion, passed by acclaim: "We ask Stefan to make a release in 10 days. Regardless of any improvements to the marketing on plone.org/.net, we send out PR in 20-30d, as soon as installers, etc., are made for 2.1.1." Plan is to make the press release when 2.1.1 is ready. 2.1.1 freezes in 10 days. Discussion about opportunities for landing page. Munwar asked which committee handles fundraising. Joel replied that there isn't a body handling fundraising. Motion: we allocate the $1,200 and, if possible (but not required), get fundraising together. Motion passes by acclaim. Old Business None to discuss. New Business 1) (Joel) Review the licensing discussion at the Plone Conference and discuss next steps. Covered during president's report. 2) (Joel) Discussion on the timing on new officers. As Mark pointed out, current officers rollover until a new slate. Alan discussed officer selection process. Officers should be last resort, committee chairs should be primary focus. Chairs don't have to be board members. Need more people to get things done. Mark mentioned the bylaws, board is the oversight. Officer positions aren't electable, they are appointed/hired positions. Approach officers like we were hiring. We should lay out what we want for these positions and solicit resumes. Should be more permanent and not be turnover for each board election. Board should elect a chairman and vice-chairman. Alan mentioned that there are several people out there that are qualified, interested, and available. Wide-ranging discussion about status quo on roles and responsibilities, then onto what we want from these positions. Munwar noted that Mark's points are valid for a traditional company. But the PF is different. Good operational model: the board needs chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, all from the board members. Accountability, kick butts when needed. Responsible. Committees can come from outside. Alan discussed that the board should be more on oversight. Joel appointed Paul to lead an an hoc working group, charged with making a recommendation on governance structure for the board. Paul should report back at the next meeting on this. 3) (Joel) Plone.net update from Vienna Conference. Covered previously. Joel discussed the revenue stream, although the site will launch before that's figured. 4) (Joel) Removal of CA board seats. Joel moved that we change the bylaws to remove the special provision for CAs vote. Joel: +1, Geoff: +1, Alan: +1, Munwar: +1, Ben: +1, Jodok: +1, (Alex on mute). 5) (Paul) After-action on Plone conferences and plans for next year. Tabled till next call. 6) (Alan) Godefroid for membership committee chair. Seconded by Joel. No objection. Next Meeting Next meeting will be two weeks from today, same time and same number. Action Items 1) (Paul) Introduce Geoff and Dan at SFLC regarding our registered agent or Delaware. 2) (Geoff) Track down status in Delaware and 3) (Mark) Check status on current board insurance. 4) (Joel) Introduce Mark to non-profit specialists. 5) (Alan) Ask Toby about doing the PF books and taxes. 6) (Alex) Provide a private page showing which countries are covered on trademark. 7) (Alex) Get Stefan to cut 2.1.1 in 10 days. 8) (Mark/Alan) Installers for 2.1.1. 9) (Paul) Ping marketing committee for site updates for 2.1 press release. 10) (Joel) Write letter for PayPal for donating to cover press release. 11) (Paul) Chair a small group for a proposal on how to structure the board and foundation. 12) (All) Email Paul if you are interested in the governance team. 13) (Paul) Followup w/ Marcel and Norm to say thanks. 14) (Mark) Let Godefroid know about membership cmt chair and walk him through the process.