[General] OSAF Transitions

OSAF and the Chandler project are going through some big transitions.=20
Yesterday, January 7, we restructured the organization. This is the=20
biggest change since the inception of project six and a half years ago.

In September 2007 we delivered a Preview release of Chandler Desktop,=20
Chandler Server and the Chandler Hub web application. Since then we=92ve=20
been gradually acquiring users and building a community of people=20
interested in the project. We now have hundreds of people participating=20
in our users mailing list and thousands of users downloading Chandler=20
and creating accounts on Chandler Hub.

Chandler is an open source, standards-based calendar and task manager=20
built around small group collaboration and a core set of information=20
management workflows modeled on Inbox usage patterns. Users manage and=20
share calendars, tasks, messages, and notes with the Chandler Desktop=20
application and with the Chandler Hub web application.

The next phase of the project is about growing the user base, building=20
the community, and diversifying our funding sources. OSAF has been=20
primarily funded by one person up to this point, Mitch Kapor. Our goal=20
going forward is to modify our organization and our funding model to=20
grow into a publicly supported community project, not propelled by one=20
individual.

I will be leading the next phase of the project, and Mitch will be=20
winding down his role on the project. Mitch will provide transitional=20
financial assistance to support the organization through 2008. Mitch=20
will step down from the board, and I will replace him.

OSAF will maintain a smaller staff during the next phase of the project.=20
While figuring out the new funding model, it is prudent for the=20
organization to reduce expenses. OSAF=92s paid staff will go from 27=20
people to 10 people. While I expect that most former staff members will=20
move on to other endeavors, we certainly welcome them to remain involved=20
with OSAF and Chandler in some capacity. Developers will retain commit=20
privileges, for example.

Strategically, we find ourselves at a crossroads. The new Chandler team=20
will continue to address the needs of informal groups sharing calendars=20
and managing projects together. We=92ve gotten a lot of great feedback=20
from our current users, and intend to use that to fix usability problems=20
and shape the next set of feature work. We have several options before=20
us and will be ironing out a more focused plan for the next phase. We=20
will keep everyone updated on this blog.

The Chandler team did a fantastic job shipping the Preview release.=20
Building on this accomplishment, the project has many great=20
possibilities ahead. While saddened to see such a great team come to an=20
end, I=92m excited about the project=92s opportunities and looking forwar=
d=20
to next chapter.

Katie
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