Hi Karen, I think these are good suggestions. But I think it would be a mistake to leave this critical responsibility to a committee of volunteers. One of the many challenges we face is that our voice and message have been too inconsistent - too infrequently heard. Heard too late. Lacking authority. In want of good taste. And dealing with this is taking a huge toll on our ability to attract and retain contributors. Something needs to be done.
I propose that we hire or appoint a full time director of marketing. With the following responsibilities: * Organize and work with a team of "advocates" * Grok and channel the voice of the project rather than impose a separate agenda * Consult with the design, development, testing, and documentation teams * Help us clearly and effectively communicate our goals and objectives * Organize the creation of press releases / release notes * Blog regularly about ongoing initiatives and progress * Be a beacon of light to counter the darkness * Help us communicate proactively instead of reactively * Educate misinformed journalists * Be a point of contact for external parties that want information * Reduce the burden on volunteers * Delegate the above responsibilities If nothing else, it is clear that we are failing to perform these critical duties. We are paying a dear price for it. I think we need to admit we need professional help - a point I'm sure even our harshest critics will agree with. Jon On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 12:47 AM, Karen Sandler <ka...@gnome.org> wrote: > On Wed, November 14, 2012 8:40 am, Bastien Nocera wrote: > > > - And "discontent". Well, I think that I have reasonable doubts to think > > that those community managers wouldn't be able to carry the message of > > developers truthfully if said developers aren't being talked to. > > I think it's a fair point to raise issues of quality control for this > committee. One of the things I think we should start with for this > initiative is the creation of GNOME talking points/FAQ type of document. > The new team could do this by working with the release team, the board and > others in the community who would like to contribute. I think some of the > conversation we're having in other threads on this list are a good start > for that too. By going through that process, we'd be able to train the > volunteers and provide material to work from for the individuals to use in > formulating their own responses (so not a cut and paste document, but a > formulation of key goals, ideas and decisions). We could also create > infrastructure to help them out, like an IRC channel and private mailing > list where posts can be vetted. > > We'd also need to set up mechanisms for communication so that developers > can be consulted. In the end, I think this could wind up being a lot > easier for our core developers, who seem to be often put on the spot to > defend their work. Having a team that these developers can talk to and > count on to repeatedly respond on behalf of the project seems to me like a > great way to preserve those people's time. Are there other ways we could > improve this side of the conversation? > > karen > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-list mailing list > foundation-list@gnome.org > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list >
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