NPO

Hmm, how about mixing the word 'advocacy' in there somewhere:

Open Source Software Advocacy of Arizona (OSSAA)
Open Source Software Advocacy Consortium (OSSAC)

The mission statement looks very good. For some reason I'm not entirely
comfortable with the third sentence, but I can't really give a clear
reason. Call it gut feeling.

One approach could be to create something based on OSI's 'The Open Source
Definition': http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.html.

rna

On Fri, 20 Apr 2001, Jim wrote:

> I just talked with David Colby, the accountant Bob Ambrose put us in touch
> with. He said that we need very little to get the NPO started. We need:
>

>     a name for the umbrella organization
>     a list of officers for the new organization
>     a mission statement

>
> Some suggestions for a name:
>
> Arizona Open Software Information Exchange (AOSIX)
> Open Source Software of Arizona (OSAZ)
>
> Any others to throw into the name pool?
>
> Anyone want to be officers?
>
> Another suggestion:
>
> Mission Statement
>
>
> ____________ is a non-profit group of volunteers from the Arizona software
> community dedicated to promoting the awareness, acceptance, and use of
> Open Source software in the state of Arizona. ____________ sponsors and
> participates in events to expand the use of Open Source software. We
> believe that software users, both individuals and organizations, have the
> right to own, use, and modify, if necessary, any software that they find
> necessary to meet their own individual needs.
>
> __________ receives its direction from a voluntary Board of Directors,
> which includes a President, Vice-president, and Treasurer. None of the
> members receive monitary compensation for their efforts.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The first sentence identifies the purpose of the organization.
>
> The second sentence states the identifies the types of activities that the
> organization uses to accomplish the purposes. It covers any event that the
> organization hosts, like the proposed conference and exposition, and
> participation in existing events like ITEC.
>
> The third sentence states the open source values that inherently guide the
> organiszation.
>
> The second paragraph, while optional, does clarify the minimal structure of
> the organization and emphasizes the voluntary nature of it. It states a
> minimum number of Board members, but does not restrict the size of the
> Board.
>