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PSF Meeting Minutes for May 11, 2009

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The Python Software Foundation
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors

May 11, 2009

A regular meeting of the Python Software Foundation ("PSF") Board of Directors was held over Internet Relay Chat beginning at 16:01 UTC, 11 May 2009. Steve Holden presided at the meeting. Pat Campbell and David Goodger prepared these minutes.

All votes are reported in the form "Y-N-A" (in favor – opposed – abstentions; e.g. "5-1-2" means "5 in favor, 1 opposed, and 2 abstentions").

1   Attendance

The following members of the Board of Directors were present at the meeting: Brett Cannon, David Goodger, Steve Holden, Andrew Kuchling, Martin von Löwis, Tim Peters, Jeff Rush, and James Tauber. Also in attendance were Kurt Kaiser (Treasurer) and Pat Campbell (Administrator).

2   Minutes of Past Meetings

The 12 January 2009 Board meeting minutes were approved by a vote of 6-0-2.

The 9 February 2009 Board meeting minutes were approved by a vote of 6-0-2.

The 12 March 2009 Board meeting minutes were approved by a vote of 6-0-2.

The 27 March 2009 Members' meeting minutes were approved by a vote of 7-0-1.

The 27 March 2009 Board meeting minutes were approved by a vote of 7-0-1.

The 13 April 2009 Board meeting minutes were approved by a vote of 7-0-1.

3   Votes Taken Between Meetings

No votes were taken since the last Board meeting on 13 April.

4   Status of Past Action Items

(Pending action items appear like this.)

Action items are tracked in the private PSF wiki and their status is recorded in the regular minutes. The numbers in square brackets (like "[0]") refer to the action item ID on the wiki.

4.1   Carried Forward

The following are action items carried forward from the 13 April 2009 meeting, as highlighted in the minutes (Section 4, Status of Past Action Items). Numbers in [brackets] represent the item ID in the PSF private wiki.

  1. [11] Originally from June 2006, Section 6, PSF Records: The Board agreed to assemble the existing records in one place, have them scanned, and enter them into the PSF data repository. D. Goodger will coordinate this work and maintain the records. [Update 2008-12-08] D. Goodger will identify the records for scanning and send photocopies to P. Campbell. [Update 2009-03-10] Copies received by P. Campbell.

    Status: active.

  2. [30] Originally from August 2006, Section 10: T. Peters will ask the advice of Larry Rosen regarding concerns with the contributor agreement.

    Status: pending.

  3. [13] Originally from December 2006, Section 4, Jython Contributor Agreements: D. Goodger will write to the Jython contributors and ask them to sign contributor agreement forms, in combination with item 1 [11] above (transferred from A. Kuchling).

    Item transferred to A. Kuchling on 2009-05-08 (item [57]).

    Status: dropped (transferred).

  4. [23] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 5, Treasurer's Report: S. Holden will assist K. Kaiser with accounts receivable reminders.

    Item transferred to on 2009-05-08 (item [57]).

    Status: active.

  5. [15] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 7, PyCon Asset Record-Keeping: D. Goodger will update the assets file in PSF CVS with the details of the laptops and VGA2USB boxes purchased for PyCon 2008.

    Status: active.

  6. [16] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 12, Sponsor Membership Issues: D. Goodger and P. Campbell will update the member information in members.xls (sponsors & nominated members) & sponsor-addrs.txt, in PSF CVS.

    1. Campbell added to the action item 2009-04-15.

    Status: active.

  7. [22] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.1, Treasurer's Report: K. Kaiser will submit an expanded report to psf-members.

    Status: pending.

  8. [4] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.2, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding the PyCon transaction analysis.

    Status: pending.

  9. [5] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.3, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will ensure that documentation for unpaid PyCon tutorials is found and provided.

    Status: pending.

  10. [9] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.7, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding unpaid PyCon sponsorships.

    Status: pending.

  11. [10] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.8, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding unpaid PyCon registrations.

    Status: pending.

  12. [25] Originally from 11 August 2008, Section 6.2, PyCon UK Sponsorship: R. Hettinger will propose a blanket policy for sponsorships, instead of one-off requests.

    Status: pending.

  13. [17] Originally from 8 September 2008, Section 7, PSF Logo: D. Goodger will produce final layouts for a PSF logo.

    Status: pending.

  14. [34] Originally from 8 December 2008, Section 5, Role of Administrator: D. Goodger and P. Campbell will verify and update the member contact information.

    Status: active.

  15. [38] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 7.2, Trademarks Committee (TMC): J. Tauber will work with the Trademarks Committee on establishing voting procedures.

    Status: pending.

  16. [39] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 7.3, Trademarks Committee (TMC): J. Tauber will document the Trademarks Committee procedure as discussed at the Board meeting.

    Status: pending.

  17. [40] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 7.4, Trademarks Committee (TMC): J. Tauber will work with counsel on a proposal to register Python trademarks.

    Status: pending.

  18. [42] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 10, Legal Issues: K. Kaiser will look into acquiring errors and omissions insurance for the Board of Directors.

    Status: pending.

  19. [43] Originally from 9 February 2009, Section 9, Internet Domain Management: S. Holden will frame a motion regarding the management of the PSF's Internet domains.

    Status: pending.

  20. [44] Originally from 9 February 2009, Section 12, PSF Community Awards: D. Goodger will ask the members for nominations for the PSF Community Awards.

    Status: pending.

  21. [46] Originally from 12 March 2009, Section 5, Internet Domain Management: S. Holden will ask Sean Reifschneider about domain management services.

    Status: pending.

  22. [50] Originally from 12 March 2009, Section 8, Account Signature Authority: K. Kaiser will obtain signature cards from the PSF's bank and coordinate their signing.

    Status: pending.

  23. [51] Originally from 27 March 2009, Section 4, New Members: D. Goodger and P. Campbell will inform the new members of their election, invite them to join the psf-members list, and will update the membership records.

    Email sent to new nominated members 2009-04-16.

    Status: active.

  24. [52] Originally from 27 March 2009, Section 5, PSF Community Awards: P. Campbell will add "PSF Community Award nominations" to the Board agenda quarterly.

    Status: pending.

4.2   New On 13 April

These action items originated at the 12 March 2009 Board meeting on IRC.

  1. [53] Section 6, PyCon Italia: S. Holden will notify the PyCon Italia organizers of the PSF's funding, and will request an invoice.

    Email sent 2009-04-16.

    Status: done.

  2. [54] Section 8, Grant for Vern Ceder for NECC Talk: S. Holden will write to Vern Ceder about the PSF's grant towards his talk at NECC.`

    Email sent 2009-04-16.

    Status: done.

  3. [55] Section 9 Request for PSF Support of FOWABE: S. Holden will write to Xavier Heymans to explain the Board's position regarding FOWABE support.

    Email sent 2009-04-21.

    Status: done.

  4. [56] Section 10, Request for Support of the "NiceTime" Proposal: S. Holden will request a reformulated proposal for NiceTime.

    Proposal received 2009-04-15.

    Status: done.

4.3   New Between Meetings

The following action items were added since the last Board meeting on 13 April.

  1. [45] 2009-05-08: A. Kuchling will design, write, and deploy a Python for Beginners site. (Discussion/notes in public wiki).

    Status: pending.

  2. [57] 2009-05-08: A. Kuchling will analyze how much 'coverage' we have in contributor agreements and if there are any high-profile contributors who haven't signed agreements. Go after people to improve our coverage. (Transferred from #13, Dec 2006 §4.)

    Status: pending.

5   New Memory for PSF Computer

RESOLVED, that Martin von Löwis be authorized to spend up to Euros 1,000 to replace memory on a PSF computer.

Approved, 8-0-0.

[58] M. von Löwis will purchase new memory to replace faulty memory on a PSF computer.

6   PyCon Funding for GSoC Administrator

RESOLVED, that the Google Summer of Code administrator each year be paid travel, registration and accommodation to the following year's PyCon.

Approved, 8-0-0.

[59] S. Holden will notify Titus Brown and Arc Riley about the PyCon funding for the GSoC Administrator.

7   "NiceTime" Grant Application

The Board received a grant application from Ian Benson of Sociality titled "NiceTime" requesting $10,500 funding for teacher training in the UK.

S. Holden: "It offers the chance to get Python high visibility as a mathematical teaching tool, thereby fulfilling our mandate to promote the language."

B. Cannon: "Will [Python] really be promoted, though? I read that proposal and I didn't see an explicit mention that they would be slapping a Python logo on the packaging."

A. Kuchling: "I'm still not happy with the level of detail." Others agreed.

S. Holden: "I think we need an explicit description of who will benefit from these funds if they are paid as salary or fees."

A. Kuchling: "Personally I'm sympathetic to the problem area -- making materials for education with Python is useful and important -- but I just feel I can't sign off on spending $10K on this proposal. I'm OK with giving him another chance to expand further ..."

T. Peters: "I suggest we ask him for a plain budget..."

[60] S. Holden will ask Ian Benson for an updated "NiceTime" proposal with a detailed budget.

9   Support MSU/Snakebite Funding Application to Mellon Foundation

The Board discussed PSF support for an application for Mellon Foundation funding by the "Python Buildhaus" project. Voting on a resolution was deferred to email.

10   Funding Application for EuroPython

B. Cannon noted that EuroPython and PyCon UK are being held together this year, so we would be funding the two at once.

RESOLVED, that the PSF will provide a grant of $6,000 to the EuroPython conference to be held in the UK in June 2009.

Approved, 6-0-2.

[61] S. Holden will inform the EuroPython organizers of the PSF's funding and will ask for an invoice.

11   Nominations for Frank Willison Award

The Board discussed some possible nominees. Assuming that Guido van Rossum will again ask the Board to select the recipient, a vote should take place at the June meeting.

T. Peters: "Since Frank was an author, I prefer to give this award to people who've done something significant with books or docs."

  1. [62] D. Goodger will confirm the Frank Willison Award selection process with Guido van Rossum, and will communicate the Board's feelings as discussed at the 11 May Board meeting.
  2. [63] D. Goodger will coordinate the gathering of nominations for the 2009 Frank Willison Award.

12   Quarterly Nominations for PSF Community Awards

D. Goodger followed up regarding two potential nominees.

Nominations for the second-quarter PSF Community Awards should be finalized by email, and the vote will take place at the June Board meeting.

[64] P. Campbell will mail out awards to first quarter recipients of the PSF Community Awards.

13   Board Email List and Repository Access to PSF Administrator

The Board discussed adding the PSF Administrator to the Board mailing list in order for her to be informed of Board deliberations and to therefore prepare the monthly Board meeting minutes. Also, PSF Administrator access to the Repository was discussed.

After speaking with V. Lindberg, S. Holden reported that there should be no legal problem.

[65] S. Holden will initiate further discussion via email about adding the PSF Administrator to the Board email list and granting access to the repository.

14   Contract Renewal for Conference Coordinator

D. Goodger left the meeting at 16:48 and returned at 17:24.

After lengthy discussion, the Board (in the absence of D. Goodger) agreed that the PSF should offer a formal contract renewal with certain conditions to David Goodger, the current PyCon Chair, for a period of one year starting June 9, 2009 to act as Conference Coordinator for PyCon 2010 and other events.

Summary of informal offer to David Goodger:

A one-year contract renewal at the same rate as currently being paid, contingent upon:

  1. A requirement to document both the PyCon Chair and the Board Secretary roles completely by the end of July 2009.
  2. A requirement to complete an approved Time Management course of at least a week's duration by the end of August 2009.
  3. Resignation of Board Directorship and position as Board Secretary to avoid any conflict of interest.

The Board reached an informal consensus without a vote. Details are to be discussed by email in the coming weeks.

After returning to the meeting, D. Goodger agreed to the informal proposal.

D. Goodger's status (employee vs. contractor) was discussed. Further discussion was deferred to email.

K. Kaiser: "I'd like to suggest that PyCon be budgeted to include the [Conference Coordinator] expense and 2/3 of the Treasurer expense. ... Officers need to be employees. However, the [Conference Coordinator] could be a contractor. Right now, David's an employee."

D. Goodger to K. Kaiser: "I'd like to work with you on next year's budget."

  1. [66] S. Holden will draw up a formal renewal contract for D. Goodger, with the assistance of V. Lindberg.
  2. [67] S. Holden will make a formal written offer of employment as Conference Coordinator to D. Goodger once the contract is agreed.

15   PyCon Report

S. Holden requested an updated financial report on PyCon 2009 from the PyCon Chair. D. Goodger replied that the master account invoices were not available yet.

[68] D. Goodger will update the Board by email as soon as the PyCon 2009 financial information is available.

16   Adjournment

  1. Holden adjourned the meeting at 17:38 UTC.