Re: Looking for community managers or enthusiasts!

[Stéphane Raimbault <stephane raimbault gmail com>]

2012/11/15 Karen Sandler <karen gnome org>

On Thu, November 15, 2012 2:39 pm, William Jon McCann wrote:
> Hi Karen,
>
> I think these are good suggestions. But I think it would be a mistake to
> leave this critical responsibility to a committee of volunteers. One of
> the
> many challenges we face is that our voice and message have been too
> inconsistent - too infrequently heard. Heard too late. Lacking authority.
> In want of good taste. And dealing with this is taking a huge toll on our
> ability to attract and retain contributors. Something needs to be done.
>
> I propose that we hire or appoint a full time director of marketing.

This is a great idea! And I agree that this is a major area of need for
us. Given the GNOME Foundation finances, it probably is also worth
considering someone part-time (especially if there is a team of volunteers
that can be trained and directed by such a person) or thinking creatively
about fundraising for the position.

I think the GNOME project must listen its users rather than trying to sell products.

I already see the headlines "GNOME foundation hires a director of marketing to defend its brand" ... and the associated flame wars.

It's not acceptable after 3 iterations to ignore/reject the most frequent complaints (I don't want to list them here...).

If we need a marketing director to convince people to use GNOME, we failed.

Stéphane