OSE Member Organizations

This page is currently under construction and might undergo drastic changes within a short span of time.

There are at least four kinds of groups that might be considered part of or related OSE:

1. A local chapter
2. A regional group (OSE Europe, for example)
3. A commercial affiliate
4. An intentional community

See also OSE Standards

Local Chapter

A group of people who come together to explore, discuss, and work on OSE-related projects together. They are non-profit oriented, though fabrication of OSE parts/assemblies/tools could be a fund raiser activity for them. They exist under the OSE umbrella organization. They could be formalized by a "charter" which grants them the right to use the OSE name in return for abiding by OSE guidelines.

See OSE Local Chapters for more details on starting a local chapter.

Regional Group

A national or continental group in which local chapters and individuals can come together periodically (annually?) to share ideas, present projects, present proposals, etc. It is a networking event that allows people to meet like-minded OSEers. The regional groups could be considered branches of the central OSE organization. Regional groups could offer OSE training on a variety of topics.

Commercial Affiliate

A company, shop, fab-house, etc. that is for-profit. They are registered with OSE to be suppliers of parts, assemblies, or whole tools. They offer repair, maintenance, and enhancement services for existing OSE products. They might create custom extensions, modifications, and add-ons which they offer exclusively.

The Sakai project has a very successful commercial affiliate program which substantially enhances the overall community.  They pay a nominal annual fee.  
In return, they are allowed to attend conferences and promote their products.  They are have representation on the Sakai board of directors and are allowed 
to vote on the selection of new directors.

Intentional and Right-Living Communities

A group of people who have come together to form an OSE-style community of the kind described by the "Organizational Strategy" wiki page. They would be looking for land together, working out divisions of labor, tooling up, expanding skills sets needed to create an OSE community. They might apply to OSE to receive a set of OSE tools with the understanding that they have the obligation to create additional tool sets to others that apply later (two sets? three?)