Re: A question for the candidates

[Dave Neary <dneary gnome org>]

Hi,

On 05/25/2012 09:24 PM, Germán Póo-Caamaño wrote:
> On Fri, 2012-05-25 at 18:33 +0100, Allan Day wrote:
> > > Why do you think the Board of Directors is "divorced" from
> > > the project?
> >
> > I personally don't hear or see very much of what the board gets up to,
> > and I don't feel like Foundation membership provides me with much in
> > the way of additional influence. As a member of the board, you might
> > be in a position to change that.
>
> On one hand, the meeting minutes should be a good way to know to be
> aware of what the board is doing (or not doing).  In my first year, I
> pestered to make them public as soon as possible (3 or 4 days after the
> meeting).  IMO, late minutes are meaningless.  I blame myself for having
> the time and energy in the last year to pester the new secretary, but
> definitively that is something that any member can do and influence.
> The meetings are every two weeks and any member can add topics the
> agenda.

I must admit, minute posting has been pretty lax this year. There have 
been a few occasions when a backlog of 3 or 4 meetings' worth has come 
out at once. I used to read the minutes every meeting to see if there 
was anything where I might be able to provide some historical context or 
help, and I have been doing that less this year, purely because (as you 
say German) late minutes are useless - by the time you comment on them, 
the decision's been made, announced, and everyone's moved on.

And since the agenda doesn't get posted here before the meeting, it's 
hard to even know what the board are working on at any given time.

Also, with the long "actions" list on the minutes, it's hard to know 
where things are moving, where they've been dropped, where they're on 
standby... for example, we still haven't seen an announcement of what's 
happening for next year's conference.

I think that the transparency of operation is definitely something the 
next board can work on.

Cheers,
Dave.

--
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
dneary gnome org
Jabber: nearyd gmail com