Friday, March 23, 2007

Should Bjorn and/or Ward attend board meetings?

Probably many folks are just like me and have found Bjorn and Ward to be of invaluable service to the committer community. When I have questions about processes or infrastructure, these are the guys I go to for answers. Their latest work on a new portal is just one fine example; of course they had some help too from people like Karl Matthias and Sharon Corbett. I've often wondered how some of the councils could function without Bjorn's no-nonsense attitude, organizational skills, and personal dedication. Of course I've gotten mad at him before too, and anyone who knows me well knows that I may seem like a nice friendly guy, but when I get mad, it's not a pretty scene. But let's not go there! I'm learning not to do that in public. The point is, at that time I was taken aback by his extremely constructive reaction to my harsh criticism; that really made me respect him a great deal. Bjorn's a very good listener.

So to get to the point, I think it would provide significant value to the committer community if Bjorn and/or Ward could attend Eclipse Board meetings as observers. This would help provide continuity over the years and would help both these guys to understand more about what's going on and hence be even better helpers for our community.

I'm very curious how other folks feel about this?

3 comments:

Doug Schaefer said...

Geese, I dont't know. I hear the board has 500 people on it. I would thing fire regulations would prohibit two more attendees in the room...

Gunnar said...

Mhm. An observer might not be the right role because from how I see it an observer can't influence things. Can't the board consult them whenever such questions arise? This way their opinion and there answers are not only heard but also requested and expected.

But I agree, Ward and Bjorn do provide a substantial value to the committer community and I don't even want to think of what would be if we wouldn't have them.

Ed Merks said...

My use of the word "observer" wasn't intended to imply that like children they would be best seen but not heard :-) but rather that they won't actually have voting rights. I would hope and expect that they would be welcome to contribute to the discussion and by virtue of actually being there will be in a better position to understand first hand where the board is headed...