TL;DR: Everyone reading this is a member of HOT. Some of the people who aren't voting members are actually more "members" of HOT than those who are nominally entitled to vote in the organization. You are all doing work that has the amazing potential to make the world a better place. Thank you.
On Jan 2, 2013, at 12:17 PM, Schuyler Erle wrote: > > If you have any comments or questions about this process, or thoughts you'd > like to share on the Team and on the responsibilities of voting membership > within the Team, I wholeheartedly invite you to reply to this message and > kick off the discussion forthwith. Actually, speaking in an unofficial capacity, I'd like to start the discussion myself. First, I hope you will note that in my announcement I took great pains to emphasize that the election that we held last month was specifically to induct new _voting_ members. I want everyone to note that the only reason we make any distinction at all between voting membership and any other form of participation in HOT is that, as a formally incorporated non-profit organization, our bylaws legally oblige us to maintain a set list of voting members who have certain duties. We do this because formal non-profit status makes it possible for us to obtain donations that vastly increase our ability to fulfill our mission. The duties of voting members merely include electing the Board of Directors, altering the voting membership, and for approving changes to the bylaws themselves. Voting membership holds no other responsibilities, and no other distinction, beyond this. In a real sense, if you are reading this message, you are truly a member of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. Everyone who has ever edited the OSM database, or written a line of code, in the service of humanitarian relief and preparedness is a member of our team. It's your volunteer efforts that enable us collectively to make the world a better place, and to support the work of those who ease the suffering of people in need. Without you, there would be no "Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team" worthy of the name. I think I can speak for the Board certainly, and perhaps everyone else, when I say that, voting member or otherwise, we appreciate all of the work that you selflessly put in on behalf of the team to help us achieve our goals and live up to our ideals of enabling humanitarian efforts through our maps and our software. That said, I would like to note that many of our voting members barely fail to live up to the responsibilities that are expected of them by virtue of having been elected to such duties by their peers. I won't name names, but the fact is that getting some of you to vote in elections, and even getting you to fill out a simple form indicating your continued interest in the organization, feels like pulling teeth. I feel that voting membership in HOT begin the implicit responsibility of setting a positive example of activism, volunteerism, and engagement for the rest of the team. I will tell you honestly that I think some of you are terrible at this. If you think I am trying to shame you into being more involved, you are absolutely correct. I will also admit that I am being pretty hypocritical in leveling this criticism at my friends and compatriots. But I think it has to be said. What is the reward for all this work for which we are not paid and rarely thanked? It is simply the ability to go to sleep at night knowing that you have rendered a service to your fellow human beings, that you have made some contribution, however large, to improving the world for everyone. The maps that we make, and the work that we do to make them, have an impact on the world. They have saved lives, and helped communities in need. They will continue to do so, as long as we remain committed to the the idea that geographic information, freely made and freely shared, can transform our world for the better. In this brief life that we share, I can think of no greater achievement than this to claim for ourselves, and I say that you claim it for yourself every time you exert yourself through the labors of our team. I hope that you will all take heart in this thought, and redouble your efforts in 2013, that we may see the world a year hence a more hospitable and more charitable place for everyone. SDE _______________________________________________ HOT mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot
