On Thu, 2012-02-23 at 20:46 -0600, Norbert Thiebaud wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 5:07 PM, drew <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > A few questions:
> >
> > The Advisory Board
> >
> > 1 - Where would I find a rooster of what corporations constitute the
> > board and who their representatives on the board are?
> 
> I think the list has been advertised... 

So did I, but darned if I can find where.

> but I not sure the actual
> names of the people delegated to represent such companies are
> relevant.
> An AB seat is bound to the sponsoring entity, and they get to
> designate whom-ever they want at any time to represent them.
> AB is the only entity where people are not there as individual but as
> representative of some other entity.
> So I agree that the list of entity should be public, but the
> individual's name of the representative... not so sure it is required.

Right enough - just wanted to understand who represents TDF in those
meetings? [this point I may have just overlooked in my reading] 
Then, how does what comes from those meetings work it's way to the
general membership?


> 
> >
> > 2 - Minutes from AB meetings, where would I find those?
> 
> I don't think that such minutes are published, nor should they.

Actually public minutes are specifically mentioned on the wiki pages
discussing setting up the AB - though I, like you , expect to see them
heavily redacted and that is also covered on the wiki pages.

> If you want honest and frank advices/opinions  from big corporation,
> you can't have these advice being published publicly.
> 
> Similarly in order to get advice from these actors, I expect our
> representatives to present to them ideas, line of inquiry, nascent
> projects that are being considered... most of them in a state of
> development that would render them premature for public disclosure at
> that time...
> So once you remove all that meat from the minutes, you would be left
> with nothing substantive... I don't see the point.

I feel strongly however, that who and when are important to have out
there. 

> 
> >
> > Current Budget (expenses paid primarily)
> >
> > 1 - Where, or when will financial statements become public, either for
> > general availability (my preference but I know that cuts across the
> > grain form many), or restricted to TDF membership?
> 
> Since we are collection money from the public, under charitable
> status, I think we should publish publicly  at least a top-level
> 'Income Statement' and Balance Sheet.
> 
> Members on the other hand should have the ability to audit the full
> detailed accounting ledger, provided some confidentiality requirement
> (every member is entitled to see the books, but not to publish or
> disclose to non-member information contained herein that has not
> otherwise been made public. the idea is to empower the membership to
> trust-but-verify, not to allow competing entity to gain inside
> knowledge)

Yes - I'd be in favor of public top level figures but for details,
absolutely there should be a condition of confidentiality.

> 
> Otoh the stifung was just created... up to now the accounting were
> somehow mixed with frodev... so I would no expect to have anything
> published for a while. Realistically public disclosure of some
> accounting would prolly be an end-of-fiscal-year event... since the
> work needed is already done for tax purpose it would not be an extra
> burden on our volunteers.

I'd fall of my chair if someone said, 'it's all put together already' -
though end-of-year figures with nothing but sub totals is no real
disclosure, IMO.

> 
> Norbert

//drew




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