[Grants] New Zealand Open Source Society Grant Request

[Steven Ellis]

We've look at the current technology options being used by LA, and in part
it comes down to local capability within the NZOSS team. I did raise the
pathway LA was taking during our selection model and we've headed off down
a different route.

Also our membership model is somewhat different from LA as we're funded by
membership, grants and sponsorship rather than via events. We're currently
operating on a very low paid membership base and can't afford potentially
expensive infrastructure. If it wasn't for donated hosting from Catalyst
IT's Cloud we'd have some real issues, hence the request for funding.

We're currently focused on going live with our new environment
 - Odoo - for membership management
 - Stripe - for online payments
 - Drupal as the NZOSS frontend

In addition we're provided a bunch of shared services for a number of NZ
based community events and open source projects via our
 - RocketChat
 - GitLab
 - NextCloud + CollabraOffice

The concern is being able to pay for this infrastructure as we're currently
working of historical capital.

A couple of key current goals are
 - to make becoming a "paid" member easier
 - allow better access to some core facilities like the GitLab and
RocketChat environment.
 - boost our advocacy program

Steven

On Thu, Aug 2, 2018 at 11:40 AM, Jonathan Woithe <jwoithe at just42.net> wrote:

> Hi Steven
>
> On Thu, Aug 02, 2018 at 08:16:16AM +1200, Steven Ellis wrote:
> > NZOSS Mission Statement - The NZOSS exists to "share the freedom of open
> > source software, open standards, and open information for the benefit of
> > New Zealand."
> > :
> > In order to grow we need to re-invest in our infrastructure and grow the
> > awareness of the society. The 2015 linux.conf.au helped raise awareness
> of
> > Open Source technologies and capabilities and we can't afford to loose
> > momentum. With the return of linux.conf.au in 2019 to NZ we've got a
> > perfect opportunity to expand the awareness of Open Source, Open
> Hardware,
> > Open Govt and Open Data.
> >
> > Our short term plan is to improve our membership management system while
> > continuing to support out Open Source awareness and outreach.
> >
> > NZOSS have monthly council meetings and the minutes/actions can be made
> > available to the Linux Australia Council.
> >
> > Request is for the sum of NZD $5000 to enhance our infrastructure to
> > increase membership growth and sustainability whilst continuing our
> current
> > local advocacy.
>
> Could you clarify what infrastructure you are planning to enhance in the
> event the grant application is successful?  Is it solely the membership
> management system you mentioned earlier, or are other items conceptually
> included as well?  Has any preliminary planning been done, and if so, are
> you able to outline where you think things might head if the grant were
> successful?  For example, do you have a specific membership system in mind?
>
> On the subject of the membership management system, I note that LA is in
> the
> process of reviewing and modernising its membership management system.  Has
> NZOSS spoken to LA about possibly sharing the outcome of this process?  The
> aims of the two organisations are quite similar, so it seems plausible that
> a membership system which suited LA would at least form a solid base for
> NZOSS as well.
>
> To be clear, I'm not suggesting the sharing of a single membership
> management system instance since the two organisations are completely
> separate entities.
>
> Having both organisations use the same software (with the necessary local
> customisations) would possibly provide a number of benefits: more people in
> the region being familiar with the system, the opportunity to share
> maintenance costs of the basic platform, and so on.
>
> Regards
>   jonathan
>
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