OSE Member Organizations

=Organizations=

There are several kinds of groups that might be considered part of or related to OSE:


 * 1)  A local chapter
 * 2)  An intentional community (OSE villages)
 * 3)  A regional group (OSE Europe, for example)
 * 4)  A commercial affiliate
 * 5)  The umbrella organization (OSE International)

See also OSE Standards

Local Chapter
A group of people who come together to explore, discuss, and work on OSE-related projects together. They are non-profit oriented, though fabrication of OSE parts/assemblies/tools could be a fund raiser activity for them. They exist under the OSE umbrella organization (eventually under the OSE regional organization). They are formalized by a "charter" which grants them the right to use the OSE name in return for abiding by OSE guidelines.

See OSE Local Chapters for more details on starting a local chapter.

Intentional and Right-Living Communities
A group of people who have come together to form an OSE-style community of the kind described by the "Organizational Strategy" wiki page. They would be looking for land together, working out divisions of labor, tooling up, expanding skills sets needed to create an OSE community. They might apply to OSE to receive a set of OSE tools with the understanding that they have the obligation to create additional tool sets to others that apply later, see Karmic Debt for OSE Villages.

Initially, OSE villages will be treated as a special case of a Local chapter.

Regional Group
A national or continental group in which local chapters and individuals can come together periodically (annually?) to share ideas, present projects, present proposals, etc. It is a networking event that allows people to meet like-minded OSEers. The regional groups are considered branches of the central OSE organization. Regional groups could offer OSE training on a variety of topics and may serve as a fundraiser to support regional and local projects.

Commercial Affiliate
A company, shop, fab-house, etc. that is for-profit. They are registered with OSE to be suppliers of parts, assemblies, or whole tools. They offer repair, maintenance, and enhancement services for existing OSE products. They might create custom extensions, modifications, and add-ons which they offer exclusively.

The Sakai project has a very successful commercial affiliate program which substantially enhances the overall community. They pay a nominal annual fee. In return, they are allowed to attend conferences and promote their products. They are have representation on the Sakai board of directors and are allowed to vote on the selection of new directors.

OSE International
OSE International is the umbrella organization for all OSE activities. Run by an executive director (currently Marcin Jakubowski), this organization oversee the following activities:


 * Regional OSE Organizations
 * Commercial Affiliations
 * GVCS and Technology Related Projects
 * OSE Collaboration Platform (wiki, forum, chat, project mgmt, etc.)
 * IT Infrastructure (web sites, servers, etc.)
 * Global Promotion and Marketing
 * Association Relationships (other OS organizations, technology groups, etc.)

The executive director is assisted by a small paid staff and volunteers to manage the day-to-day operations of OSE as a global community of people who share it's goals, standards, and ethos.