Re: So what do people *except* me want from the foundation?

[john palmieri <john j5 palmieri gmail com>]

Now that I have had time to gather my thoughts - I would really like the Foundation to bring back the import of what it means to be part of something bigger than oneself.  GNOME needs to be a brand that is bigger than the sum of its parts, a place where people come not to further their own agendas but to grow GNOME itself.

That starts with a sense of belonging. How do we make people excited to join the Foundation?  It continues with positive reinforcement.  How do we make people feel their contributions continue to be appreciated?  It never ends.

I think the current atmosphere where there is a lot of bike shedding comes from a sense that outside forces view GNOME as a tool to be used and shaped to their own agenda as opposed to being an integral part of who they are.  We have at some point stopped being friends who came together for a common cause and at that point it just became easier to form islands of development.  Respect has gone out the door.

This is why I think the most important focus for the foundation going forward is a) the "marketing" team and b) social events like the hackfests.  Marketing because we really need to figure out how to get our messages across, even to our own members.  Generating excitement from things as simple as regular profiles of GNOME apps and their developers is important to a sense of community.  Social events because when people meet face to face they tend to start treating each other with more humanity, not the mention the boost in development efficiency that results when people get along.

I have other hopes for the Foundation but those are my main insights.  Take them or leave them.

--
John

On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 8:25 AM, Dave Neary <dneary gnome org> wrote:

Hi,

Now that we have clearly identified everyone who disagrees with what *I* hope for from the foundation and its board, I'm still interested in the question I asked previously:

  What do you expect from the foundation?

What are the things that the foundation is doing that it shouldn't be, the things it isn't that it should, the things the membership could be doing that it isn't, etc.? What is your vision of the foundation?

Cheers,
Dave.

--
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
dneary gnome org
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