Draft Excom Minutes
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ESIP Federation Executive Committee, December 9, 2010
Attendees: Jim Frew; Carol Meyer; Rob Raskin; Erin Robinson; Marilyn Kaminski; Karl Benedict; Patricia Huff; Annette Schloss; Rahul Ramachandran
The meeting was called to order by President Jim Frew at 2:17 pm EST.
1. Winter Meeting Planning Update
Early registration ended last week and ended with 139 participants. The program is mostly finalized, with most speakers having confirmed. Erin is working on getting abstracts and tech needs for all the sessions. We also are looking at reducing competing session issues, though, conflict is probably unavoidable. A new question will be added to the survey that will help us identify whether attendees have to make difficult choices on which sessions to attend.
The business meeting agenda is basically finished, with only minor edits expected. Staff is working to ensure we have a quorum for the business meeting, with proxies being requested in advance, an agenda being posted early and enabling remote participation.
For future meetings, Karl Benedict noted that AGU has meeting space at DuPont Circle in D.C. It was pointed out that the available space at AGU would not accommodate our meetings as they currently are configured. A discussion ensued about whether or not too many tracks were being offered at the ESIP Federation meetings. Rob noted that it is not a good idea to limit track expansion in the future, especially with growing attendance at the meetings. Karl inquired about the possibility of offering a group discount for members with multiple attendees.
Action items: none
2. Executive Director Report The nomination process is ongoing for the annual election. All comers are welcome, especially new faces. The partnership election is underway, with many more votes still needed. We are experimenting with Google Docs as our ballot.
The ESIP Federation website will need to be redeveloped. When the new site was developed, much of it was hardcoded instead of taking advantage of available Drupal modules. We will need to spend money to get the site right so that it can be built out using standard modules. After consultation with two ESIP members with Drupal expertise, it was recommended that a clean reinstall be done and that we accept bids from Drupal developers for the overhaul.
Action items:
- Issue RFP for website work
3. Proposal Repeal Bylaw IV.2.7
Rob Raskin noted that it will be important to convey that ESIP Federation's environment is different from when the organization first started. There is a much more diverse group of partners. The provision under consideration requires that the Assembly achieve unanimous consent in order to compel any member to do something. Membership is voluntary so any member can leave for any reason at any time. The Constitution and Bylaws Committee agrees that this is a positive step.
Rob asked if there is a mechanism for electronic debate prior to the meeting. Carol noted that a discussion thread could be set up on the wiki.
Annette Schloss inquired whether the proposed changes to the Partnership definitions would be on the business meeting agenda. Carol noted that these also would be up for consideration.
Action Items:
- Add a discussion thread to wiki for proposed Bylaw changes
4. Adoption of Minutes
A motion to adopt the revised minutes was offered by Patricia Huff and seconded by Annette Schloss. Without further discussion, the minutes were adopted by acclamation.
5. Other Business
A quick discussion about the ESIP Federation initiating a micropublishing activity was presented. With questions about the vitality of the ESIP Federation website, it was decided to initially use Google Knol. In order to contribute, users will need a Google id. The Google Knol is expected to be a stop gap until a Drupal-based solution can be implemented.
Rahul noted that the main issues with formal e-journal/open journal are that they are heavy weight and need a lot of resources (human and capital).
A question was raised if there are already drupal modules explicitly for journals (no specialized workflow needed). Rahul didn't think there were modules that fit our specific needs and the solution would need to be customized.
Action Items:
- Try Knol for short term
- Build out Drupal site in long-term
Motion to adjourn by Annette Schloss seconded by Karl Benedict. The meeting adjourned at 2:40 pm.
