Re: Question for candidates

[Dave Neary <dneary gnome org>]

Hi Oliver,

On 05/18/2014 06:08 PM, Oliver Propst wrote:
> On Sun, May 18, 2014 at 6:58 PM, Dave Neary <dneary gnome org> wrote:
> > when looking for a profile, there are a number of dials to twiddle:
> > * Technical proficiency & reputation in the community, including free
> > software cultural alignment
> > * Strategy experience - the ability to formulate and communicate a
> > direction for GNOME
> > * Administrative and organizational experience
> > * Business acumen and experience growing a commercial ecosystem
> > * Communication/marketing/evangelism experience
> > * Cost
> >
> > Of these, which do you feel are the most important for GNOME right now,
> > and why? Are there other criteria which you think are important that I
> > didn't list?
>
> I personally believe a future executive director should have all the
> skills/experiences you describe and there is really no single skill
> that are more importent then ohter

I am afraid that "all of the above" is not realistic.

You may be able to get someone with a small base salary plus aggressive
bonus plan if they have a history of boosting revenue for organizations
like GNOME but that will come at a cost - a lack of focus on the
direction of the project and cultural alignment with free software and
open source principles, for example.

You might get a great organizer who is not a very loud mouthpiece. You
might get someone who does a lot of evangelism (with a resulting high
travel budget) but a lot of travel will result in a lack of focus on
revenue and organization.

You might get someone who is great at process, getting invoices out and
ensuring no future cashflow issues, but will that personality type be an
effusive communicator?

let me put it another way - if I give you 25 pebbles, and you can put
0-10 pebbles in each of the 6 boxes above, which ones do you want to
optimise for? We might get lucky and get someone great in all areas, and
also cheap. We might also have Microsoft and Apple decide that desktop
software isn't really interesting and see them discontinue their
products. But I think that's pretty unlikely.


> With that said, for me its very important that a future executive
> director are able to form, communicate and execute a direction for
> GNOME.

Thanks - that's a better answer, I think.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary, Lyon, France
Email: dneary gnome org
Jabber: nearyd gmail com