Can I just say *thank you* to Evan for his openness here! That’s leading by example… (and I agree with most if not all of his points, by the way…)
W. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Evan Pettrey Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 7:09 PM To: Tom Limoncelli Cc: Derek Balling; Lopsa Discussion Subject: Re: [lopsa-discuss] Looking for an organizer for the first virtual LOPSA Chapter On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 6:59 PM, Evan Pettrey <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 6:24 PM, Tom Limoncelli <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 3:55 PM, Derek Balling <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Essentially, I don't think I'm going to agree with you here, and I'm not sure there's a compromise position to be found, so diametrically opposed am I. I can certainly be talked out of my position, Derek. I even gave the parameters by which that is possible: Either show me how your alternative would solve problem A or B, or convince me that those 2 problems aren't intended to be solved by this project. In fact, this thread has convinced me that LOPSA should have more discipline about making certain things members-only. I hadn't thought of the mentee issue, and I'm glad to see they'll have to be members in the future. The virtual chapter or periodic streaming speaker event, I agree there has to be some member-only-ness to it... I was pointing out that certain streaming services don't permit that (which doesn't have to be a barrier). I don't think LOPSA will ever be the advocacy group I had hoped it would be, and I've come to terms with that (just recently... perhaps today). I disagree with this. I don't think LOPSA is currently the advocacy group we'd all like to see it become. However, I believe provided the right leadership this is something within our reach. As a board member I've seen board members who got frustrated and failed to honor their commitment, board members who have contributed greatly and then lost steam (I believe I likely fall into this group), and others who have stayed the course and really made an impact. I was going to communicate this message to the board privately at the end of my term in a few months but I think my desire to embrace openness suggests putting it out there for everybody to see may be more effective. It will take a very strong (and committed) leader to fight through the indecisiveness and inaction we've seen within LOPSA for the past 9 years and bring the consensus necessary to start truly making a difference. However, I think that person is in our midst and I hope very much that we as a board (and an organization) take notice of this and give him the support he needs to become that leader. That isn't to say the other 7 of us on the board currently are not contributing, just that we're either too caught up in the details to see the forest for the trees or that we simply do not have the time necessary to devote to LOPSA. (The board member I'm referring to by the way is Matt Simmons...and no, this isn't a slight at the current administration, I'm simply looking to the future) With that said, I think the key to LOPSA advancing as an organization begins with us at the board level but will take a large cast of supporting people to help us realize this ambition. The things I would love to see from LOPSA are: * Embrace Openness - we need to do a better job as a board communicating with our members. Finances, board projects, problems we're facing, etc. Everything needs to be right out in the open for the world to see. Who/what exactly are we hiding from? Who are we protecting? * An Eye on Education - Ski does a fantastic job with this, we (the membership and the board) really need to back him with these things as much as we possibly can. Better yet, provide him with a supporting cast! * Seek Out Help - As sys admins it may not come naturally to us to find others to do things that we're capable of doing ourselves. However, this is the only way we're ever going to grow as an organization. Make open calls to our membership whenever and wherever we can for anything we're trying to advance! * Move Forward - Get rid of the hideous website we've been bickering about for as long as I can remember. Dump (okay, continue to use but move beyond) IRC and begin embracing tools the next generation of sys admins will be using (whether that be Google Hangouts or something else, but I think Hangouts for now). * Focus - Pick one or two projects at a time that we want to carry out and see them through to completion! We're entirely too consumed in the issue of the moment that we're not getting things done that we've identified as potential wins for the membership. * Take a Stand - When things come up that are relevant to our industry we need to take a stand and make our voice be heard! We completely botched the Edward Snowden incident. We were so worried about upsetting one side or the other that we released a statement that effectively said nothing at all. Instead of picking a side on the morality of Snowden's actions vs. the government's actions we should have let it be down that it is a tragedy sys admins are thrust into these types of moral dilemmas to begin with (thanks Tom L for the perspective on this one). Tom Limoncelli also generously offered to donate $500 to LOPSA every time LOPSA is mentioned in the NY Times (a line saying "yadda yadda yadda," Joe Smith, LOPSA Member, blah blah blah counts!). Let's make him regret ever making that promise! There's one other that I forgot to add that needs to be mentioned: * Be Flexible - I can't tell you how many great ideas I've seen killed by our rigorous adherence to bylaws that none of us created and procedure written by somebody none of us has ever met. Bylaws and procedure can be great and exist for a reason but we need to realize that often times we're sucking the soul out of projects that have a promising future simply because the idea wasn't presented correctly, the bylaws don't explicitly state something is allowable, etc. We need to go back to operating like a startup. We're simply not a large enough organization to be held back by things like this. That our strongest contributions to the membership seem to be our mailing lists and IRC tells me on thing for sure - currently the best thing about LOPSA is our community. We need to find more ways to give back to them. LOPSA is strongest on things like the irc channel, mailing lists, and other things and should emphasize them, stick with them, and grow by doing more of the things are like that. Tom -- Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Work: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Skype: YesThatTom Blog: http://EverythingSysadmin.com _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
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