September 18, 2025 Advisory Committee

Community Day-to-day project operations
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Attendees

  • Esther Jackson - Advisory Committee
  • Julie Faure Lacroix - Advisory Committee
  • Jan Ainali - Advisory Committee
  • Martin Magdinier - Project Manager

Discussions

Post BarCamp

Martin will share a survey by email with BarCamp participants to collect feedback.

Martin will request a list of attendees from CS&S, since they manage the Zoom account.

The group discuss the following take-away from he group included both first-time users and long-time contributors. A more traditional conference schedule, with different tracks or dedicated time, could better meet the needs of this mix.

Several participants requested that the schedule be shared in advance so they can plan their day. Since the event is fully online, many participants balance BarCamp sessions with other activities.

Martin noted that the BarCamp format helps build momentum in the community, with more activity seen on GitHub and the forum before and after the event.

The group discussed alternative formats for online-only meetings. Smaller, more frequent events (for example, a one-day event twice a year) with a dedicated focus might be preferable.

Store Review

  • The group reviewed store orders. (3 orders so far)
  • Martin will prepare a blog post publicly announcing the store and explaining the rationale behind it.

We want to add mention of the store on

  • Website (both header and footer)
  • Readme (maybe using a badge)
  • OpenRefine app along with fundraising (for example add a support link). This will be done along the 2025 fundraising campaign.

2025 Fundraising Campaign

  • Martin will finalize and merge the PR: https://github.com/OpenRefine/openrefine.org/pull/484.
  • Add a donation link in the software.
  • Update the website.
  • Revise the section on “double your impact with employer matching” to instead encourage people to tell us if their employer supports open source projects. We will leave this as-is as we finalzie the Institutional Support package. We don't want to delay the campaign further.

Institutional Support

Following the BarCamp conversation: 2025 Barcamp Session Proposal: OpenRefine budget, operating model, and upcoming fundraising campaign - #2 by Martin, the group discussed how to frame institutional contributions as purchasing “something” rather than making a donation.

The terminology is important, as institutions need clear justification.

  • “License” does not work, since no extra support or service is provided.
  • “Membership” may not work, as it could be confused with association membership and imply liability.
  • “Institutional Support” may be the right term.

Proposed benefits for institutional supporters:

  • Listed on the OpenRefine backers page.
  • Forum badge.
  • Certificate of support.

Other Funding Related Discussions