It has been a little while since our last Foundation meeting and I would like to propose a call for next week. Because we usually have only an hour, I would like to stick to subjects with predetermined time estimates.
Also, to keep things moving, I am proposing that an outline of the topic and any related materials get posted ahead of time on Discuss.erpnext and restricted to Foundation members. This would encourage discussion about ideas that had been considered and written down and would save all members time by providing background.
I am proposing that all Foundation Calls adopt a structure that has 4 parts:
Administrative update
News Update (from Frappe)
New Business
Recap and Action Items
So for the upcoming meeting, I am proposing the following agenda:
Administrative Update: (5 minutes)
Today’s Moderator: (to manage the conversation and run the clock)
Today’s Scribe: (will produce/post meeting summary within 24 hours)
Report of Foundation Finances. (changes from last month) Note large exceptions.
July Income
July Expenses
July Cash on Hand
Total Foundation Members
News Update: (Frappe Team Member) (5 Minutes)
3 biggest current projects
Any large concerns, issues that Frappe would like help/feedback on?
New Business: (Unique to this month) (40 Minutes Total. Breakdowns below.)
Topic 1: Governance: (10 minutes)
Should we have formal positions?
Are we required to? What are they? Are they paid?
What are the responsibilities/expectations?
How long do people serve?
How do we select them?
How do we raise and spend money?
How do we prioritize, define, and approve projects?
Topic 2: Finances (10 Minutes)
We heard about our current financial status. What does that say about what we do next?
If the mission is to Educate, Inspire, and Improve, how do we spend this money?
Topic 3: ERPNext outreach: (10 Minutes)
Are we attending Open Source India?
Who has ownership of the event?
What are the goals?
What materials can members produce to support the event?
Topic 4: Upcoming Conference 2018 (10 Minutes)
Do we want to hold a Foundation meeting (maybe at Mysore starting at 8:30 or 9AM? (or after dinner?)
Is there value in doing a short presentation to attendees to get them to join the foundation?
What percent of attendees are not Foundation Members or employees of Foundation companies
Recap and action items with due dates: (10 Minutes)
For instance, Person 1 has agreed to supply information on Project X. Company 2 has agreed to research Issue B.
I welcome your thoughts and comments. If this meets with the community’s approval, let’s schedule a call for Thursday Aug 23rd at noon IST.
I would also like to get an update on this ERPNext Roadmap - Help Define and Contribute. Since this was a hot button topic subsequent to the last call. It is important to review the progress to figure how we can go forward.
12 Month picture of the finances to tease out any seasonality and help start a budgeting discussion -@Basawaraj_Savalagi to connect with Prakesh to gather details
Keep working on the road map, @jayram offered to continue organization on this aspect
Carve out some time at the conference for a pitch for conference membership (was a person assigned - do we need a volunteer?)
Organize a foundation meeting around the time of the Conference to have an in-person meeting, road map to be among the agenda items (no person assigned, but maybe @Basawaraj_Savalagi said he’d do it? - please confirm or defer or delegate )
@Basawaraj_Savalagi to post a list of volunteer opportunities relating to conference
@Basawaraj_Savalagi@prakash_hodage, I can work with you to put it into structure & make an analysis. Let’s connect (Telegram is preferred) when the monthly P&L data is ready to work on.
Postgres is being integrated as an alternative to MariaDB
Work is continuing on the Hub
New Business Governance:
It was agreed that we would look to the current Board of Directors for information about how the Foundation was organized.
Several members spoke of the need to better define the role of governance of the foundation.
Upcoming Conference 2018:
It was suggested that we ask the Conference organizing team for a 20 minute block of time to make a presentation of the benefits of becoming a member of the Foundation.
It was also suggested that we set up a meeting for all Foundation members prior to the start of the Conference on Friday or Saturday.
Module Report:
We heard that the Agriculture Module was holding weekly calls on Telegram to discuss their progress. Any one with an interest in contributing to this module is invited to join the calls on Fridays.
Action Items
Meet with Prakash to get a 12 month history of the finances of the Foundation to better understand the seasonality of cash flows.
Continue to work on the Roadmap project that was started last month and try to have a version of it available for next months call.
Arrange Foundation meeting and presentation at Conference 2018.
Continue with this process of running the Foundation calls for the next 2 months.
Addendum: I apologize for the brevity of these notes. I had a hard time trying to keep to the agenda and making notes. As I noted in the agenda, it seems like a good idea to have a volunteer scribe to capture the key talking points. ~ Michael
Would love to see some more action!