Re: Need Leadership

["Thomas H.P. Andersen" <phomes gmail com>]

> That's a bit of an exaggeration, but there is something to what Leslie said.
> Personally, I felt that in the case of GHOP, the grand prize was more
> important to most people than the money or the t-shirt.

Well, maybe. I was not part of it. I do remember her saying that some
students who did not get picked wanted to continue anyway just of the
t-shirt. But sure. Money counts a lot too.

>> Wearing a soc t-shirt gets you recognition from your fellow hackers.
>> Having a "diploma" from google in your CV gets you recognition from a
>> future employer.
>
> It's a bit early to focus on specifics, but don't use the word diploma.
> Something like "First Place 2009 GNOME Design Winner" sounds better even if
> it's more verbose.

Sorry, I wasn't being clear. I should have told you my position and
motivation for this. I'm about to start the last year of my master and
will soon start doing job interviews. By "diploma" I meant a nicely
laid out document summarizing my contributions to gnome. I feel that
what I have learned from doing gnome stuff is almost as important as
my degree and I would like to be able to document that at a job
interview. Hence the "dimploma". (sorry about that word. I don't know
what to use instead.)

>> Could we do something like that? A t-shirt for mvp hacker(s) of the
>> year? Perhaps by vote from foundation members or the like? An official
>> looking pretty printed/printable "diploma" summarizing ones
>> contribution to gnome?
>
> That _does_ sound a bit lame, but perhaps thats just me. I think a better
> approach would be to have an awards ceremony at GUADEC (formal events make a
> much better impression), pay for the winner's flight, and give them a cash
> prize, no matter how small and insignificant it is. It's not necessary, but
> giving them a nice and shiny trophy like Apple does would also be a good
> idea.

That's great for getting credit among your fellow hackers. That was
what I thought the t-shirt would accomplish. Either way is good. One
is just more expensive and I think money is a very limited resource
for such a thing.

It's all about motivating developers to do more stuff. I personally
care about getting a pad on the back for doing good work from fellow
hackers and I also care about how I can do stuff to help me get a good
job. Whatever means gets us there is fine :)

- Thomas H.P. Andersen