Re: GNOME Speaker Guidelines

[Stormy Peters <stormy gnome org>]

On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 5:25 PM, Joanmarie Diggs
<joanmarie diggs gmail com> wrote:
>
> As a matter of fact, personally I am not jazzed by the entire ending:
>
>        Please keep in mind that the GNOME Foundation is not the right
>        forum to debate whether someone should feel offended or not; you
>        should simply avoid offending people even if you do not share
>        their views. These guidelines do not constitute censorship since
>        you have many other forums and opportunities to say whatever you
>        wish.
>
> It is neither "positive" nor "welcoming" to would-be speakers -- and
> thus contrasts rather starkly with bullet point 1 under "Guidelines."

I agree. And it is obviously a reaction and implies that we have problems.

I also agree with Lefty that it's there for a reason.

Perhaps we could replace the above text with something like this:

"If someone in your talk is offended, please try to avoid a
conversation about whether or not they should be offended. Remember
our community is very diverse and while we all share a common mission
to provide a free GNOME desktop to the world, we do not always share
religions, politics and other views. Focus on the subject of your talk
and stick to the issues being discussed without making them personal.
As the speaker, you may have to remind the audience of this. While
it's hard, do your best to do it in a neutral, non argumentative way.

Suggest that topics not relevant to GNOME (raised by you or others in
the audience) be moved to a more appropriate non-GNOME forum. If you
need help, please contact the GNOME board or GNOME Foundation member.

But don't worry! These problems do not happen very often - we are just
trying to help you out if they do. Most audiences are very friendly
and welcoming of topics about GNOME.

Please go out and speak about GNOME and enjoy!"

Perhaps we could link to a list of skills on how to deal with
difficult questions as a speaker? I don't know of a page like that,
but I've been taught a number of ways over the years, so I could put
one together.

Stormy