Re: Reducing the board size
It sounds like increasing the size of the board by 3 people could achieve both of the goals that Dave was talking about: to get more things done, and to have more contested seats (provided enough people decide to run so as to make a real contest). ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Minutes of the Board meeting 2005 Aug 31
El mié, 14-09-2005 a las 13:57 -0400, Daniel Veillard escribió: ... > Agenda: > === > > * Region events (e.g. Brazilian Forum - Tim has been talking to >the organizers there, about a second one) >GUADEC is the main event but not everybody can go so we should encourage >local events, and how we can help > > * How can we get GNOME hackers involved, get them there > > * How can we empower people locally to "represent GNOME" > >In general helping the user group developp is the main mechanism to create >such events. Promoting the work of existing user's group is probably one of >the most effective way. >The list at http://live.gnome.org/UserGroups show a number of local groups. >getting report published in the quaterly news letter. This is a very important topic, since we were asking how membership can offer more things to developers?, how can we get more developers and users for GNOME?, and of course answers change from country to country, and there are some big events for GNOME like GUADEC, Forum GNOME and the Summit, also there are GNOME meetings in Chile and Spain. On the other hand as member of GNOME Foundation we're always invited to Conferences and Talks, would be good to have some special merchandising to share, at least people are always asking for that kind of stuff. At the last, there should be a way to be a "certified" (or other way to be) speaker for GNOME, not only for talks but to be representative in other places like goverment or companies, as we say before, in some countrys you need credentials to be accepted. At least here in GNOME Chile has a lot of activities and we're happy to keep that way. cheers -- Fernando San Martín Woerner Jefe de Informática Galilea S.A. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Reducing the board size
On Wed, 2005-09-14 at 21:01 +0200, David Neary wrote: > Hi all, > > There has been some discussion on reducing the board size on the board, > and the one point which is clear is that this discussion should be in > public. > > I'm in favour of reducing the board to 7 people. I would like to see us > have a referendum on the issue next month. > > The board has huge problems being pro-active. Any issue which is > slightly contentious has an opposition in a board of 11 people. It's > inevitable. And when there is opposition, there are many voices, and > when there are many voices, there is no resolution. I think cutting the board size by more that one third at once might be too drastic and the consequences not easily foreseeable. An intermediate reduction to 9 would be more reasonable if cut at all. -JP -- JP Rosevear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Novell, Inc. ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Reducing the board size
Hey, On Thu, 2005-09-15 at 08:20 +0200, Murray Cumming wrote: > I'm also in favour of reducing the board size to 7. It recognizes the > reality of how we work. That way of working is very good for lots of > other parts of GNOME, but the board is fundamentally meant to be > decisive. Me too. For the 2 years I sat on the board, I think having fewer people would definitely have been a good thing. I can't count the number of times we've all more or less agreed, but no one was willing to step in and take responsibility for seeing it through. Reducing the numbers will ultimately help that I believe. I guess it all hinges on whether you think the board should be a fast or slow moving entity. I personally think that 7 is more than enough, if you have a good mixture of people representing the project, eager to be there, sensible enough and willing to execute rather than continually holding back. Glynn ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Reducing the board size
Hi, I +1 holding a referendum on this. Christian On Wed, 2005-09-14 at 21:01 +0200, David Neary wrote: > Hi all, > > There has been some discussion on reducing the board size on the board, > and the one point which is clear is that this discussion should be in > public. > > I'm in favour of reducing the board to 7 people. I would like to see us > have a referendum on the issue next month. > > The board has huge problems being pro-active. Any issue which is > slightly contentious has an opposition in a board of 11 people. It's > inevitable. And when there is opposition, there are many voices, and > when there are many voices, there is no resolution. > > With 7 people, this problem will be reduced (not removed, I'm not that > naive). > > In addition, a fringe benefit is that people who will want to get > elected will have to run. With 11 seats, no-one runs for election. There > is essentially only competition for the last 3 seats. I would like to > see board elections have an election campaign, with people saying what > they want to do, why, and saying why they think other people's approach > will not be effective. > > There are potential down-sides. If you look at the most effective board > members over the years, they have typically not been among the 7 most > popular. I myself would not have been elected this year. But there is no > denying that the board structure as it is is fundamentally flawed. I > think this is one step towards improving it. > > Cheers, > Dave. > ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Reducing the board size
On Wed, September 14, 2005 23:34, Bill Haneman wrote:
> I agree; the fact that the people with the most votes don't necessarily
> have the most time to contribute undermines the whole "7 is more
> effective" position.
Isn't this a problem? It seems weird that people with not a lot of time
for the board get elected while some other people would have more time
and might thus do a better job (because they have more time, not
because they're "better").
I still feel that for many members, the elections are a popularity
contest ("yes, x is doing a really great job in GNOME and he/she
definitely should be in the board"). Probably something to discuss
during the next elections ;-)
Vincent
--
Les gens heureux ne sont pas pressés.
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Re: Reducing the board size
Murray Cumming wrote:... The fact that we are considering a referendum for this, even though it's not strictly necessary, proves that we have difficulty reaching consensus on stuff that can move us forward. I disagree; this is the sort of important decision that IMO should require a referendum. Bill ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
