OpenID Foundation/Board/Minutes/2008-01-17
Present:
- Martin Atkins
- Bill Washburn
- David Recordon
- Johannes Ernst
- Drummond Reed
- Scott Kveton
- Dick Hardt
Apologies:
- Artur Bergman
Contents |
Agenda
- General business (approve minutes, finance update, agenda additions)
- Finance committee update
- Membership committee update
- Trademark committee update
- Marketing committee update
- Plans for next board call
General Business
Minutes
The minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
Finance Update
It was reported that since the last meeting there has been no money in or out, though we are now expecting membership payments in the near future.
It was also reported that once membership dues are in and the membership agreements are signed off, the new corporate board members will be joining in time for the next call.
A joint announcement is being put together now by the Foundation and the companies involved. It was agreed that this is a very important announcement go get right because this is likely to be the one that people will refer to for some time to come.
Agenda Additions
- Approve the membership agreement
It was proposed that the board discuss issues related to marketing and core messaging, but it was agreed that this was probably better done on the marketing mailing list.
Finance Committee Update
The finance committee was asked to explain the assumptions underlying the estimates for membership income in the budget.
The finance committee explained how the estimates were derived. The board was satisfied with this explanation.
Motion 1: Approve the budget produced by the finance committee.
Proposed by Scott. Seconded by Dick. Motion passed unanimously.
It was also reported that the foundation's lawyer has advised that it may be necessary to register and incorporate as a non-profit in any state from which funds are recieved. There was some doubt among some of the board members as to whether this is the case, so Bill took on the task of following this up.
The board was also advised that Bill's current status as a contractor of the foundation makes the incorporation difficult due to the IRS's concerns about fundraising fraud. It may therefore be desirable to take Bill on as an employee at this point to reduce complications. Bill again took on the task of figuring out exactly what needs to be done.
Membership Committee Update
The membership committee reported that there have been some difficulties accepting individual membership payments via PayPal due to the fact that the foundation is not yet incorporated.
The board agreed that it may be worth investigating other options. One of the options raised caused some concern since the company that runs the service may be signing on as a corporate board member and this could create a conflict of interest.
The membership committee also reported that all of the current community board members have been invoiced for individual membership dues for the current year. The specifics of the "membership in kind" for the bounty sponsors is still being figured out.
Motion 2: To approve the membership plan that the committee has put together.
Propsed by Scott. Seconded by Drummond. Motion passed unanimously.
Trademark Committee Update
Johannes informed the board that he no longer had enough time to serve as the head of the trademark committee and offered to step down from this role.
David volunteered to help with this in the mean time, but it was decided to put off a final decision on this matter until the new board members have joined, as they may be interested in being involved in this committee.
The question was raised about whether new marks were going to be created, specifically a new logo for OpenID 2 and a badge indicating Foundation membership. The board decided to defer this decision for now.
Marketing Committee Update
The marketing commitee reported that the major plan for the year is to get the new corporate board members on the commitee and nail down the core messaging. This will then need to be rolled in to an revised main website.
However, it was noted that in the near future we will need some copy to use in the forthcoming announcements about the corporate board members, and these will need to be sorted out before the new members are settled in.
Motion 3: Approve the plan for the marketing commitee
Proposed by Martin. Seconded by Scott. Motion passed unanimously.
Plans for the next Board Call
The next official board meeting will be on 31st Jan at 11am PST. This will be the first meeting with the new corporate board members.
The board agreed that between now and then the current board will need to work on getting information to the new board members about how our meetings work and who everyone is. The new members will also need to be added to the board mailing lists.
Martin agreed to turn around the minutes quickly so that they can be distributed to the new members well in advance of the next call.
There was also some discussion about organising an in-person meeting of the entire board so that everyone can meet one another. However, it was decided that this discussion would be deferred until a later time.
It was agreed that the current board members would meet in advance of the next official board meeting. This meeting will be on Tuesday 29th Jan at 11am. This is to finalize anything that needs to be completed before the new members can be welcomed onto the board.
Membership Agreement
The board had some discussion about whether to approve the membership agreement in its current state. The membership committee reported that the document has been reviewed by various parties and there are some outstanding suggestions and questions.
However, it was noted that several potential members will not join until this agreement is finalized. It was agreed that the membership committee, along with Drummond and Gabe, would work on getting this turned around as quickly as possible and then posted for a final vote by the board.
Other Business
Working With Other Initiatives
The question was raised about how the Foundation should work with some of the fledgeling initiatives which are adopting OpenID as part of a portfolio of technologies. Specifically, the question was whether to encourage them to work under the umbrella of the OpenID Foundation, primarily so that they can benefit from the Foundation's IPR policy and process.
Further discussion and a decision on this matter were postponed until the new board members are present.
Leaks
There was some discussion about the recent TechCrunch article which reported that certain companies were about to join the OpenID Foundation. In particular, the board noted that there is currently no specific policy in place regarding confidentiality.
There was some agreement that there are certain inalienable responsibilities that come from being a director of a corporation which would likely include such issues as confidentiality and non-disclosure. However, the board remains unsure about Bill's responsibilities in this regard.
Dick agreed to take on the task of reviewing this matter.
The Vision for OpenID
The question was raised about what specific "vision" the Foundation should project for OpenID. Primarily this is a marketing concern, but the vision is also necessary in order to align people around a particular course of action.
Next Meeting
The next official board meeting will be 31st Jan at 11am PST. However, the community board members hold a pre-meeting on Tuesday 29th Jan at 11am PST.
