From the 'Australian Foundation' thread:
"proper" announcement, how is one announcement more proper than another?
anyway, it seems the association is also a good idea, but was not first to market, but maybe we should merge threads/objectives or something in the greater interest.
I'd like to make a proper [ANN] thread about BAA instead of hijacking an older thread where the original posts have no relevance to what we're discussing now.
Well done on taking the initiative, its definitely the time for such an organisation.
Cheers, it's been quite the ordeal getting everything set up - it's taken a few months. Nice to be up and running now
I have some questions that I hope you guys could answer
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- What are the members rights/benefits. What is the governance structure of the organisation?
Member rights/benefits are everything from the BF + some stuff from us. We're expanding the list now, but wiki editing rights, access to an as-yet not set up forum, voting rights, if we have grants then access to that (if things work out this is a matter of time I suspect), etc. There's some more stuff we might add down the line that I won't mention here, but it'd be cool if it works out.
Governance: our constitution is based on the template from fair trading NSW. Similar governance structure: board with no less than 5 and no more than 9 members; only 4 positions are president, vice, treasurer, and secretary. It's very loose: we've started working with an 'area-of-control' type model, not really needing approval for things you want to do within the area. This ranges from anything like the website or social media to an organiser of local events and the like. There's a lot of flexibility there.
- I personally really like the Canadian model for their Alliance and how it got started. Calling out for involvement, and electing the board by a vote of Canadian bitcoin enthusiasts. This allowed them to get the community enthusiastic and engaged, as well as giving a sense of ownership of their Alliance. What is the approach you guys will take?
As do I, we took a slightly different approach to the Alliance, though. Firstly we were a fairly well connected group - I knew half the board before we began. This might be taken as more 'exclusive' but we were put in contact with each other through the foundation and none of us knew any of the others had talked to the foundation about setting up an aussie assn. So we didn't collude to get together, it just sort of happened.
We decided to go with more of a closed setup phase because none of us could dedicate enough resources to opening it up. If one of us had no or few obligations through the week then it'd be far easier, but given we all have full time jobs it was simpler to coordinate by not opening it up till we launched. We (or at least I) want to have an AGM shortly after the 6 month mark to transition into a properly democratic assn. At the moment if you join up you get a 'founding member' flag (till the end of Jan) that will hopefully help the idea of community ownership.
- What exactly are you negotiating about with the US foundation? Are they going to be receiving money? Does the Australian foundation or its members have any say or vote in the US foundation?
Not sure what you mean when you say 'australian foundation'; I'll presume you're talking about BAA.
We were negotiating the affiliate agreement, which is what allows us to share members and resources.
We were always going to sign it at some point; we're (the board) all members of the Foundation and they're a good organisation. I've met many of them personally and I don't believe they mean any harm to Bitcoin. Furthermore, there are many advantages; cross-org membership being one of them - it will substantially aid accessibility for Australians; both to our organisation and the Foundation.
Since all members are shared being a member of BAA implies you're a member of the BF and you receive voting rights for both organisations.
Technically, BAA receives a proportion of membership funds from the Foundation when members from Australia sign up. The sign-up process for the Foundation and BAA is identical (or close enough to make no odds).
- On that note, what do you guys intend to do with the money you receive ?
Our goals are the same as the foundation: protection, promotion, standardisation.
We plan to use our funding on endeavours related to the above. Community events, educational videos or events, grants, development (I'm building a multisig wallet for BAA atm so we can distribute funds safely amongst the board members; there will be three 2-of-3 wallets.)
What we specifically use funding for is still up in the air. If you've got something you think needs doing let us know!
Oh, and there's expenses like website, email, fair trading fees, etc.
I just like the name foundation better than association. The Brand identity foundation may also be a benefit.
Association sounds more like a club.
but both have their merits
Using 'Foundation' in your trading name in Aust comes with strings. There's a great framework for Associations and ultimately it's just a legal framework.
actually, why even think about forming an australian bitcoin foundation ...
why not insist on australian representation on the executive of the bitcoin foundation as it already stands ??
Well we can't insist on something like that; we'd need to go through the process set out in the bylaws - IE getting elected.
In addition, without some sort of organisation backing such a request, how would you decide who that is and why would anyone listen?
We'll keep in regular contact with the Foundation and if any members would like the Foundation board to discuss something they should add it to the agenda.
