1   Attendance

The following members of the Board of Directors were present at the meeting: Stephan Deibel, Andrew Kuchling, Brett Cannon, Steve Holden, and David Goodger. Also in attendance was Guido van Rossum (President).

2   Election of Officers

The following officers were elected by acclamation:

3   Motion to Dissolve the Grants Committee

As the Grants Program begun in 2004 has concluded,

RESOLVED, that the Grants Committee is dissolved.

Approved by a 5-0-0 vote (in favor – opposed – abstentions).

A new Grants Committee may be formed in the future for a new Grants Program.

4   Motion to Dissolve the Public Support Committee

As the Public Support Committee (PSC) has been inactive for some time,

RESOLVED, that the Public Support Committee is dissolved.

Approved by a 5-0-0 vote.

5   Discussion of the "Twisted Foundation"

The Twisted project is actively working toward establishing a foundation, and have informally approached the PSF for sponsorship. After discussion, it was decided to take no action at present. The idea of the PSF as an umbrella organization was revisited.

6   Conference Committee

D. Goodger summarized the PyCon 2008 bids presented at morning meetings during the conference (Saturday February 24 & Sunday February 25).

Chicago: Ted Pollari presented a bid from ChiPy (the Chicago Python User Group) for Chicago at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare hotel, with talk days on March 14-16 (Friday-Sunday), a tutorial day before, and sprints after. The hotel's meeting space is much larger than that of the Marriott in Dallas: a ballroom almost triple the size, and many more rooms for tutorials and break-out sessions. The hotel has more sleeping rooms as well. The hotel's room rate is $99/night (+ tax), with a 10% commission to PyCon. The Chicago bid includes provision for hiring the meeting planner they have been working with; the meeting planner will handle hotel negotiations and many logistical tasks.

San Francisco Bay Area: Alvin Wang presented a bid for PyCon 2008 & 2009 at the San Mateo Marriott, with talk days February 22-24 2008 and February 20-23 2009, a tutorial day before, and sprints after. The attraction of the Bay area is the proximity to so many high-tech companies, and the warmer weather. The room rate is $119 (+ tax), non-commissionable. The meeting space is comparable to that of the Dallas Marriott, with more small & medium-sized rooms but a slightly smaller main ballroom.

After some discussion, considering the potential for growth of PyCon in 2008 and considering the room rate,

RESOLVED, that the Chicago bid be accepted for PyCon 2008.

Approved by a 5-0-0 vote.

The San Francisco Bay Area may be revisited for a future PyCon. The Board thanks Alvin Wang for his efforts.

The Conference Committee should decide on venues with a lead time of at least 18 months. The venue for PyCon 2009 should be decided well before PyCon 2008 is underway.

Regarding PyCon 2007, the experiment of piping sound into the hall for the lunchtime presentations was deemed less than successful. Perhaps presentations during lunch should be rethought.

7   Budget & Action Plan

S. Holden suggested that a focus on travel grants and sprints may be the most effective use of our funds.

The concept of a target asset balance or reserve, and the $150,000 figure for a target asset balance, were both approved informally.

Idea: establish funding guidelines (bright-line rules) and/or a funding FAQ.

8   Adjournment

S. Deibel adjourned the meeting at 13:45 CST (19:45 UTC).