Plone Foundation Board Minutes February 6, 2025

Call to Order

  • Meeting started at 20:04 UTC

Attendance

  • Present: Rafahela Bazzanella, Eric Brehault, Brian Davis, João Henrique Gouveia, Mikel Larreategi, and Martin Peeters
  • Excused: Guido Stevens

Approval of the minutes of

  • January 23, 2024: Mikel motions to approve. Martin seconds. All in favor, except Eric who abstains.

Action items

  • Guido contacted Jens
  • Mikel contacted Alec
  • Martin did not yet contact Jakob about Bethoven Sprint
  • Martin informed Steve and Victor about copyright infringment and wrote a draft for the response

Incoming Correspondence

  • TKim - Govt sanctioned lists (discuss next meeting)
  • GSoC student reimbursement
  • Sprint funding request Red Turtle
  • Jens re: Alpine City Sprint

New Business

  • Sprint funding
    • From discussions at conference:
      • Fund sprints as strategic when key PLIPs are addressed
      • Need a plan for to see all the sprint requests at same time
    • Proposal from (most) sprint organizers to change the way we allocate funding:
      • Assess community and basic needs for organizing a sprint
      • Having key people attend and helping those folks with expenses
    • Jens missed the discussion, but raises good issue on veterans vs newbies.
      • How do you define a strategic contributor? We are considering specific contributor names that mentioned in the PLIP.
      • But we also understand Jens' point, that sprints should also bring new people in.
      • So for Alpine City, what funding is for newbies, what funding is for veterans?
      • Can fund regardless, as long as sprint topics align with Plone goals and strategic topics that are in the roadmap
    • Issue is we have more sprint requests this year than last, so becomes trickier to decide how to allocate funding.
      • Thus why it was recommended that sprint topics are aligned with strategic goals.
    • Mikel to contact Guido and see what needs to be done.
  • 2025 Budget
    • Need more transparency on what we spend, more clear report, more detailed budget. We can improve.
    • Martin will create copy of previous year budget and see how we can break out bigger categories into smaller line items.
    • Need general projections forecast at beginning of year, and need more details at end of year. This means two steps in our budget process.

Continued Business

  • Board priorities - Reviewed summary and assigned topics to board members
  • GSoC reimbursement
    • Need to have a policy on what the students are promised.
      • Often students are from poor countries and the cost is expensive.
      • If we set hard limit, that is difficult to manage for economic diversity.
      • But it is money well-invested and we are welcoming community.
    • Let's reasses the base budget for new policy.
      • Cost of travel has gone up, should we increase budget?
      • Should state "If you are in need of more, you can apply for more."
    • Future considerations
      • Two different issues
        • How will we handle the current request?
        • How will we handle future requests? Discuss later.
      • Let's talk to Erico and see how PloneConf24 brought back former students.
    • Mikel motions to cover the expense requested. Gouveia seconds it. All in favor.
  • New Treasurer - Considering transition aspects and reviewing candidates
  • Copyright - Reviewed Martin's response
  • Zope funds - No new news, Mikel to ask Eric.

Review Ongoing

  • Mikel contacted Alec regarding Romania sprint.
    • Alec is already in coodination with Timo, Stefano, and Victor.
    • Alec has shared document and is writing topics.
    • They don't need funding right now, just want to know how it is managed so they can pay in advance and get reimbursed.
    • Looking at March 24-28.
  • PloneConf25
    • Starting to get website setup.
    • Organizing is proceeding well.
  • SteveP Grants/Funding discussion
    • What is Board role in this? What should we consider? What should we approve? How should we facilitate? How should we support?
    • Last year we thought SteveP's ideas were good. We didn't have any suggestions on current grants or funding sources to pursue, but remained open to exploring ideas.
    • Regarding access to charitable accounts, this should be a matter for the treasurer.
    • Brian suggests forming a Grants Team to formalize the process. This would help define duties and responsibilities.

Adjournment

  • Mikel motions to adjourn. Martin seconds. All in favor.
  • Adjourned at 21:31 UTC