[Ofa_boardplus] OFA XWG Agenda 9/14

[Atchley, Scott]

> On Sep 14, 2017, at 3:18 PM, Coulter, Susan K <skc at lanl.gov> wrote:
> 
> 
> Thanx for the input Scott.
> This is an important discussion.
> 
> Comments in line …
> 
>> On Sep 14, 2017, at 12:16 PM, Atchley, Scott <atchleyes at ornl.gov> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Susan,
>> 
>> Here are a few thoughts about the budget, operating reserve, etc.
>> 
>> 1) The operating budget that we are discussing is only $160-170K/year
>> 
>> Given that the plugfest dollars are a pass-through and that we incur no expenses if the income does not come, I am ignoring this $140K, which is how I arrive at a budget of $160-170K.
>> 
>> 2) We have 2.3 years in reserve
>> 
>> Clearly, this is too much.
> 
> Agreed.
> There has been talk about being fiscally responsible with our reserves - and that goes both ways.
> It could be said that “sitting on” 2.3 years of complete funding is not fiscally responsible.
> 
>> I would be comfortable with 1.0 years in reserve or less. I would even consider Jim’s mention of shut-down funds or perhaps 1.5x that value just in case we overlooked something.
> 
> Since we are a different beast, I am leaning towards something slightly less than 1 year.
> ( i.e. If all our members jump ship - we would have no operating expenses )
> Coming to a sensible decision on the right operating reserves is paramount.
> 
>> 
>> 3) The bulk of the remaining budget is marketing
>> 
>> What is this used for? Is it really Workshop expenses that should be classified as such? If so, the Workshop operates ~$75K in the red and is not break-even.
> 
> I do not believe it is work shop related - but this is a question for Bill to answer.
> 
>> 
>> 4) I am opposed to using reserve money to pay operating expenses
>> 
>> I do not believe in using “one-time” money for on-going expenses. If we hire or contract with someone to perform a job (ED or maintainer), that funding should come from income from day one. If not, it will simply draw down the reserve until it runs out and then you can no longer pay the staff/contractors. I would not be comfortable with bringing someone on with the expectations that we will raise dues without firm commitments from all current members to accept the higher levels. If you have that, then simply raise the dues and cover the added costs (i.e. don’t draw down the reserve for this).
> 
> Normally I would agree with you.
> In this case, the OFA is going through a serious transition.
> If you read the common literature on organizations whose mission/focus changes - most of them do not survive the transition.
> That is a possibility here.
> Therefore, it seems important to be willing to work outside the normal envelope, but within reasonable boundaries.

Even if I agree that we need to take the risk, we might not find someone to hire/contract willing to take the job under that same risk. I assume that it would be much easier to get someone who knows the position is covered by recurring income and not 1-2 year money and hoping for increased revenue.


>> 
>> 5) So what is the reserve good for?
>> 
>> I do not know. New training materials? Upgrading the IOL equipment? Other?
> 
> Exactly.
> I like the idea of upgrading IOL equipment.
> Per my comment above, we should also be willing to consider making a one time decision to spend the reserves on these staff positions.
> Such a decision would be tightly coupled with an agreement on what those positions will cost and what that means for membership fee changes >and< a majority of the current members expressing support for those higher fees. 

Again, this is from our point of view. Also consider the point of view of the person you want to hire.


> Again, as I said on the call, it was originally my goal to active the current membership so we could continue as an “all volunteer” organization.
> It has been a slow realization that an all volunteer alliance was a pipe dream.  :)
> We are now up against a deadline to resolve this issue and, I believe, we need to be willing to take some risks to succeed.
> 
> 
>> 
>> Scott
>> 
>>> On Sep 13, 2017, at 5:52 PM, Coulter, Susan K <skc at lanl.gov> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Attached is the agenda, minutes from the last XWG, and a preso from the conference earlier this year about the IWG/InterOp.
>>> We will >not< be going through the slides during the XWG, but we will have a discussion about the IWG - led by Paul Bowden.
>>> The preso is included for background in case folks want to check it out between now and the call.
>>> 
>>> Talk to you tomorrow !
>>> 
>>> <OFAXWGAgenda20170914.docx><OFAXWGMinutes_20170824.pdf><OFA Workshop_IWG-and-CANDI_ 2017_0329.pptx>
>>> ==================================================
>>> Susan Coulter / HPC-DES
>>> Network Capability Lead
>>> (505) 667-8425
>>> “Once in a while you get shown the light
>>>  In the strangest of places if you look at it right”  Robert Hunter
>>> ==================================================
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
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>> 
> 
> ==================================================
> Susan Coulter / HPC-DES
> Network Capability Lead
> (505) 667-8425
> “Once in a while you get shown the light
>    In the strangest of places if you look at it right”  Robert Hunter
> ==================================================