A Bright Future for CloudCamp

[Reuven Cohen]

With all the discussion about CloudCamp and it's future, I though I'd take a brief moment to review our history as well as look at our future.

It's been almost exactly one year since I held the first CloudCamp in Toronto Ontario as part of the Mesh08 conference. Based on the success of that first event, I sent out an email to the Google Cloud Computing mailing list. Upon sending that email I was inundated with more then 100+ responses from both companies interested in sponsoring as well as individuals looking to help orgnanize. Of those responses I selected a few key people who really put together the first "major" CloudCamp at the Microsoft office in downtown San Francisco with Sun as our first paying sponsor. The initial team included Dave Nielsen, Jesse Silver, Sam Charrington, Sara Dornsife, Alexis Richardson and Whurley with the goal of organizing just one hell of a Cloud event/party in San Francisco.

Shortly after this Alexis Richardson and a team from the U.K. held another CloudCamp in London at which point CloudCamp's popularity exploded. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think CloudCamp would grow into the phenomenon it has become with something like 25 events at last count and dozens more planned. To be honest I am humbled by the communities rapid and overwhelming embrace of CloudCamp over the last year. But I'd like me remind you that CloudCamp has grown organically thanks to a dedicated team of hard working individuals (Dave, Alexis, Tom, George, Sam, Jesse, Sara as well as other regional organizers) who have gone out of their way to make CloudCamp a success and I would like to personally thank you for this. This would have never have happened without your hard work and dedication.

Recently a few have indicated that my intentions have not been honorable. This is completely untrue and not fair. Please keep in mind that CloudCamp has never had any real strategy, plan or organization other then a bunch of like mind folks who share a common passion for Cloud Computing. 

It appears to me that Sam Johnston, who I'd like to remind you has never organized or even attended CloudCamp until recently has only become involved for one reason -- to try to fork the community. This is not acceptable and puts a negative energy on all that we have accomplished over the last 12 months. Sam's continued harassment on this forum and others is insulting and demeaning to not only me but the entire community. That said, we will not and can not be bullied into others ulterior agenda's.

As many of you know we've been working to organize ourselves into a legal structure. This takes time, CloudCamp isn't our full time job, we all have other responsibilities, but I assure you this will happen, soon. Dave has been activily working on a CloudCamp plan that we hope to share with the community in the near future. Once we have solid plan and legal organization, I will happily transfer all related IP, domains, etc to the control of the organization.

Going forward I believe in what we've created and will do everything in my power to ensure a sustainable long term future for CloudCamp.

Thank you for your continued support.

Reuven Cohen

[Dave Nielsen]

Hello CloudCampers,

Ruv has committed publicly to what many of us have known for half a year.  We decided to turn CloudCamp into a non-profit last December. And with that came a commitment to contribute all Rights, Title and Interest in CloudCamp that Ruv, Sam, Jesse, and I hold. That includes domain names, trademarks, group accounts, logos and so forth. 

So as long as we continue to do what we have said we would do, I believe we can move past this issue and focus on moving CloudCamp forward. 

If for some reason you continue to have doubts or questions about our intentions ... GIVE ME A CALL. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. I try to make myself available, day and night, especially to organizers and sponsors. My mobile phone number is in my email signature along with my Skype ID. So you have no excuse! ;-)

So lets get back to work creating "A Bright Future" for Cloud Computing, CloudCamp our community.

Sincerely,

Dave

Dave Nielsen
Co-founder, CloudCamp
m: 415-531-6674
skype: davenielsen

twitter: davenielsen

gtalk: dnielsen

[Jesse L Silver]

Thanks Dave - I am honored to have been a part of this journey. Along with Ruv, Sam and the global CloudCamp community, let's continue working to ensure the CloudCamp organization enjoys many more years of success.

-Jesse

[Krish]

You guys are doing great. I just want to take this opportunity to
affirm my faith, as a happy cloud camper, on the team. Keep focused
and keep up the good work.

On May 28, 2:30 pm, Jesse L Silver <silverg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Dave - I am honored to have been a part of this journey. Along with
> Ruv, Sam and the global CloudCamp community, let's continue working to
> ensure the CloudCamp organization enjoys many more years of success.
>
> -Jesse
>

> >> mailing list<http://groups.google.ca/group/cloud-computing/msg/77e34050bc018411>.

[cynthia chan]

Agree with comment thread.

CAEAP just recently went through the chartering and 501(c) registration process - agreed, challenging for non-profits, especially when members are volunteers! Proud to say that CAEAP was successful.
 

 

Best regards,

Cynthia

 

Vice President, Governance Director for CAEAP

Member: Center for the Advancement of the Enterprise Architecture Profession

 

mobile: 917.554.1708

email: cynthi...@yahoo.com

profile: www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiafchan

 

---

From: Krish <krishnan.s...@gmail.com>
To: CloudCamp <clou...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 5:46:19 PM
Subject: Re: A Bright Future for CloudCamp

[Reuven Cohen]

Come on, give it up already.

r/c

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sam Johnston <sa...@samj.net>
Date: Fri, May 29, 2009 at 12:47 AM
Subject: Re: A Bright Future for CloudCamp

To: r...@enomaly.com
Cc: r...@enomaly.com


CONFIDENTIAL
Reuven,

Truth is an absolute defense for defamation and yet you have not
denied any of my claims, no doubt because they are well sourced.

You have until COB today to prove your claims or publicly retract them
and apologise. Note that denying me the right of reply exacerbates the
material damage you are causing.

If you fail to comply with this demand then our response will be
swift, severe and without further notice to you.

Sam

On 5/28/09, Reuven Cohen <r...@enomaly.com> wrote:
> With all the discussion about CloudCamp and it's future, I though I'd take a
> brief moment to review our history as well as look at our future.
>
> It's been almost exactly one year since I held the first CloudCamp in
> Toronto Ontario as part of the Mesh08 conference. Based on the success of
> that first event, I sent out an email to the Google Cloud Computing mailing

> list <http://groups.google.ca/group/cloud-computing/msg/77e34050bc018411>.

--
--

Reuven Cohen
Founder & Chief Technologist, Enomaly Inc.
www.enomaly.com :: 416 848 6036 x 1
skype: ruv.net // aol: ruv6

blog > www.elasticvapor.com
-
Open Source Cloud Computing > www.enomaly.com

[Reuven Cohen]

I just got off the phone with Sam. After almost a year of public feuding, we finally actually spoke in person. First let me say that email probably isn't the best method for dispute resolution. I probably should have called Sam long ago. It's clear we share the same passions for open cloud computing. In regards to my previous statements about Sam's intention to fork CloudCamp, he has assured me that isn't the case and he is committed to making the Paris CloudCamp event a success we can all share. I believe him.

Going forward we agreed that continuing our feud is childish and does more harm then good. We are going to actively work to strengthen our relationship and put this ridiculous feud behind us. My request to Sam is that in the future is if he does have a grievance he call me directly before we take our frustrations public, we both agree this is a better approach then a public battle.

r/c

[Alexis Richardson]

I am delighted to hear this.

Loud round of applause.

[Giefer, Troy [USA]]

Sam - I thought Reuven made it very clear in his last message that he will transfer all ClouCamp rights to the organization..."Once we have solid plan and legal organization, I will happily transfer

all related IP, domains, etc to the control of the organization."

 

So why the continued threats?

 

Troy Giefer

---

From: clou...@googlegroups.com [mailto:clou...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Reuven Cohen
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 8:22 AM
To: clou...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Fwd: A Bright Future for CloudCamp

[Sam Johnston]

+1 well said

It's a complete and utter waste of everyone's time or us to be
bickering rather than working together.

Sam on iPhone

[Michael Wilde]

In the spirit of a good old flame war circa 1995.  Let's move this to usenet!

How about. alt.cloudcamp.cohen.vs.johnston.all.out.war

Sent from my iPhone

[Prem Sankar G]

I am happy to hear this too. Let us all together make Cloud Camp an
interesting event around the world.

Cheers,
Prem
Cloud Camp organizer, Bangalore, India

On May 29, 7:00 pm, Alexis Richardson <alexis.richard...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> I am delighted to hear this.
>
> Loud round of applause.
>

> On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 2:58 PM,Reuven Cohen<r...@enomaly.com> wrote:
> > I just got off the phone with Sam. After almost a year of public feuding, we
> > finally actually spoke in person. First let me say that email probably isn't
> > the best method for dispute resolution. I probably should have called Sam

> > long ago. It's clear we share the same passions for opencloud computing. In

[Alejandro Espinoza]

Wow, I'm impressed. At last I see effort to fix things. Hopefully this will be left in the past, ad we can move further to create more than destroy.

--
Alex Espinoza | Axis Technical Group | Software Development Manager

phone: 714-491-2636 office | 714-470-7125 cell
blog: http://neonlabs.structum.net/blog/
website: http://structum.net/
twitter: http://www.twitter.com/alespinoza/
linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alespinoza/

[Samuel Charrington]

Reuven recently wrote about two watershed epochs in the development of
the cloud industry. Given the energy and passion of these two
individuals, this event might mark a third!

Sam

-----Original Message-----
From: clou...@googlegroups.com [mailto:clou...@googlegroups.com] On

Behalf Of Alexis Richardson
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 9:00 AM
To: clou...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: A Bright Future for CloudCamp

[JTreadway-CloudBzz]

Hear-hear!

John Treadway
CloudBzz.com

Local Organizer (co-orgnizer) - CloudCamp Boston

[Sam Johnston]

As this is addressed to this audience I'm going to take the liberty of reposting it here:

A Clear[er] Future for CloudCamp (and cloud computing in general)

Earlier today Reuven Cohen posted about A Bright Future for CloudCamp in which he publicly stated that he "will happily transfer all related IP, domains, etc to the control of the [CloudCamp] organization" in response to (if not necessarily as a result of) my Enomaly, Inc. owns CloudCamp™ - has it jumped the shark? post. The details of the organisation were light and there was indeed some confusion over the trademark but Dave Nielsen confirmed that "CloudCamp will be turned into a for-profit ... OVER MY COLD, DEAD BODY! Also, as you know, I have spent a lot of time researching the formation of CloudCamp as a non-profit (which is only fitting, since no-one has received any compensation ;-)."

Some key details are missing, such as how or indeed if the official(s) will be elected and what form of non-profit will be formed - a section 503(c)(3) created on the basis of educational and/or scientific services may also offer tax exemptions for sponsors in the US for example. I'm expecting these to be clarified at the anniversary CloudCamp event on 24 June 2009 and with lots of eyes on the details there will be no room whatsoever for shenanigans - as I won't be there be sure to ask plenty of questions if anything still seems out of place. In particular it should be burnt into the memorandum and articles of association that the organisation cannot be sold or have its assets transferred to another entity that is not similar in spirit (e.g. non-profit), and that the objective of the organisation should be to educate about cloud computing rather than promotion of commercial interests (e.g. the infamous trade association). The officials should also be elected by organisers and/or participants (within say the first year if not immediately at launch) who should be true members of/subscribers to the organisation and thus able to vote; that way if our illustrious leaders lose interest (or their minds) then the community can continue. These requirements remove all temptation and make us less of a target for subversion, thus guaranteeing CloudCamp's continued viability (at least until we're so successful that it's no longer relevant and "cloud" fades into the background like "client-server" did a few decades ago).

In order to further improve transparency relating to the handling of money I will set a good example by being 100% transparent with CloudCampParis. That is, I commit to make available all details of money received and spent for public scrutiny. So far we have a number of €250 and €500 sponsorships confirmed or in the works and quotes for €1,200 and €1,500 in catering (depending whether we go for bags or buffet - I'd still prefer beer & pizza though), as well as something like €750 in flights to get Dave there for this first French event - we're on track to break even. I have already committed to sponsors to ensure that all funds raised will be spent on the event itself and encourage other organisers to follow suit. For those who raised concerns about potential improprieties I encourage you to challenge the organisers to justify their expenses with receipts and hope that they will do so proactively in future; with complete transparency there is no need for trust (and angst when trust is lost).

The real news of the day though follows on from my being (again) silenced by a "consensus" (which included many of those implicated by my earlier allegations) and then immediately after flat out accused of "only becom[ing] involved for one reason -- to try to fork the community" (only now deprived the right of reply). This is clearly BS as if I wanted to fork the community I just would have done so by feeding the growing unrest rather than pushing the committee to put its cards on the table; I have about as much interest in being at the "top" of what I believe should be a completely flat structure as I do in contributing to something which I believe could/will be eventually subverted for the enrichment of a few individuals. Although I've been sharply critical at times (more often than I would like), everything I post is [believed to be] true and almost always links back to a primary source; this was a flat out lie and it resulted in a flat out threat should it not promptly be proven or retracted with an apology.

Immediately after Reuven forwarded my message clearly marked CONFIDENTIAL to the public list, he and I got on the phone for half an hour (the first time we've actually spoken) and discussed our differences. He does a good job of summarising it so I'll just quote him:

I just got off the phone with Sam. After almost a year of public feuding, we finally actually spoke in person. First let me say that email probably isn't the best method for dispute resolution. I probably should have called Sam long ago. It's clear we share the same passions for open cloud computing. In regards to my previous statements about Sam's intention to fork CloudCamp, he has assured me that isn't the case and he is committed to making the Paris CloudCamp event a success we can all share. I believe him.

Going forward we agreed that continuing our feud is childish and does more harm then good. We are going to actively work to strengthen our relationship and put this ridiculous feud behind us. My request to Sam is that in the future is if he does have a grievance he call me directly before we take our frustrations public, we both agree this is a better approach then a public battle.

Unfortunately those of you who found all this rather entertaining will have to go back to watching WWF as we're finally going to get on with furthering the interests of cloud computing rather than [in]fighting (which makes no sense whatsoever given we're not even competitors) or "inside baseball" according to one article. As TheOtherSam pointed out:

Reuven recently wrote about two watershed epochs in the development of the cloud industry. Given the energy and passion of these two individuals, this event might mark a third!

Given things like the ill-fated Open Cloud Alliance now have some chance of seeing the light of day, duplicate initiatives like the Unified Cloud Interface (UCI) and Open Cloud Computing Interface (OCCI) can work together and fiascos like the Open Cloud Manifesto are less likely to occur behind closed doors this may well prove correct - one thing you can be sure of is that where I'm involved there will be NoBullshit™

So let's close this chapter and get on with it...