Python Software Foundation: Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting (January 11, 2005)

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

January 11, 2005

A regular meeting of the Python Software Foundation (the "PSF") Board of Directors was held over Internet Relay Chat at 18:00 GMT. Stephan Deibel presided at the meeting.

1. Attendance

The following members of the Board of Directors were present at the meeting: Jeremy Hylton, Stephan Deibel, David Ascher, Tim Peters, Martin v. Löwis and Steve Holden. Neal Norwitz was also present. Steve was taking minutes.

2. Meeting minutes of past IRC meetings

No minutes were available for approval.

3.Reports

Neal informed the Board that Kurt Kaiser had volunteered to act as Assistant Treasurer. It was agreed Kurt should be added to the psf-board mailing list.

Neal further informed the Board that a contribution of stock in a public company had been received. The general feeling of the Board was that speculative investments were not appropriate at this time, and so Neal will investigate disposing of the stock. No resolution is necessary for this sale.

4. PyCon PSF Q&A Session

Stephan reminded everyone that there was to be a "PSF Question and Answer" sessions at PyCon, probably of 15 or 30 minutes duration, and asked for volunteers to represent the Foundation. All agreed they would be happy to do so, and so it was decided that this should be a plenary session, possibly around lunch time.

5. Sponsor Member Application: Active Grid

Stephan reported that Active Grid wished to be considered for Sponsor Membership at the next Members Meeting. It was

RESOLVED that ActiveGrid is accepted as a pending Sponsor Member for approval by the PSF Membership at the next PSF member meeting (in March 2005). Approved 7-0-0.

6. PyCon Attendance: Travel and Accommodation Support

Steve reported that Guido had requested funding to attend PyCon, as his employer would not fund the necessary travel and accommodation. Given Guido's special position in the Python community it was

RESOLVED that the PSF will pay for Guido van Rossum's expenses to attend PyCon 2005, up to $2,500 total. Approved 6-0-1.

A discussion followed about similar support for individuals whose presence the Board felt would enhance the conference. While it was too late for this year the Board as a whole felt that this should really be the subject of policy in future years to avoid the appearance of favoritism. It was

RESOLVED that the Python Conference Committee is given additional funds of up to $3,000 to pay attendance costs for individuals attending PyCon 2005 , at the discretion of the Conference Committee. Approved 7-0-0.

7. Web Site Redesign

Steve reported that a proposal had been received from Tim Parkin of Pollenation Internet to revise the www.python.org web site's structure and means of content management. It was

RESOLVED, that the board approves payment of a total of 4,000 GBP to Tim Parkin for redevelopment of the python.org website as described in his proposal. Payment will take place in two installments of 2,000 GBP, at the prevailing exchange rate of up to US $2/GBP), one payment before the work commences and one after the deliverables described in the proposal have been provided. Approved 6-1-0.

6. Adjournment

There being no further business, Stephan adjourned the meeting at 19:03.

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