Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
On Sat, May 17, 2014 at 4:14 PM, Karen Sandler ka...@gnome.org wrote: Affiliation: Software Freedom Conservancy. I'm also pro bono General Counsel of QuestionCopyright.Org, and an advisor of The Ada Initiative and sometimes help other orgs (like the FSF) on legal and other free software related matters. As promised when I left the position of Executive Director, I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for the Board of Directors. I think I can help bring continuity to the board (Stormy was incredibly helpful on the board when I started as ED). Also, as a lawyer I sometimes have an additionally useful perspective. I'm still doing volunteer work for GNOME both as pro bono counsel and as a volunteer on nonlegal matters for GNOME. I've been helping with fundraising, collecting on outstanding invoices and generally wherever I can. You are a very busy person with many responsibilities, if you get elected to the Board do you feel confident that you can spend the necessary time on Board work? Thanks! -- -mvh Oliver Propst ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
- Original Message - From: Zeeshan Ali (Khattak) zeesha...@gnome.org To: Oliver Propst oliver.pro...@gmail.com Cc: foundation-announce foundation-annou...@gnome.org, Foundation-List foundation-list@gnome.org, electi...@gnome.org Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 9:17:26 AM Subject: Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler Hi Karen, On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 9:36 AM, Oliver Propst oliver.pro...@gmail.com wrote: On Sat, May 17, 2014 at 4:14 PM, Karen Sandler ka...@gnome.org wrote: Affiliation: Software Freedom Conservancy. I'm also pro bono General Counsel of QuestionCopyright.Org, and an advisor of The Ada Initiative and sometimes help other orgs (like the FSF) on legal and other free software related matters. As promised when I left the position of Executive Director, I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for the Board of Directors. I think I can help bring continuity to the board (Stormy was incredibly helpful on the board when I started as ED). Also, as a lawyer I sometimes have an additionally useful perspective. I'm still doing volunteer work for GNOME both as pro bono counsel and as a volunteer on nonlegal matters for GNOME. I've been helping with fundraising, collecting on outstanding invoices and generally wherever I can. You are a very busy person with many responsibilities, if you get elected to the Board do you feel confident that you can spend the necessary time on Board work? While I think you do a lot for Free Software and your passion and work inspires many, I'm afraid I do share Oliver's concern here. It's not just the time commitment we are looking for in the board members, but also experience. Karen has a tremendous amount of experience in free software non-profit space. In the last two months, she has been very generous with her time as a volunteer for GNOME. Thanks, Marina -- Regards, Zeeshan Ali (Khattak) Befriend GNOME: http://www.gnome.org/friends/ ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
On 2014-05-20 09:17, Zeeshan Ali (Khattak) wrote: Hi Karen, On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 9:36 AM, Oliver Propst oliver.pro...@gmail.com wrote: On Sat, May 17, 2014 at 4:14 PM, Karen Sandler ka...@gnome.org wrote: Affiliation: Software Freedom Conservancy. I'm also pro bono General Counsel of QuestionCopyright.Org, and an advisor of The Ada Initiative and sometimes help other orgs (like the FSF) on legal and other free software related matters. As promised when I left the position of Executive Director, I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for the Board of Directors. I think I can help bring continuity to the board (Stormy was incredibly helpful on the board when I started as ED). Also, as a lawyer I sometimes have an additionally useful perspective. I'm still doing volunteer work for GNOME both as pro bono counsel and as a volunteer on nonlegal matters for GNOME. I've been helping with fundraising, collecting on outstanding invoices and generally wherever I can. You are a very busy person with many responsibilities, if you get elected to the Board do you feel confident that you can spend the necessary time on Board work? While I think you do a lot for Free Software and your passion and work inspires many, I'm afraid I do share Oliver's concern here. I am extremely busy. I was just reading through all of the emails to board candidates this morning, as the time I've had in the last few days for GNOME I've spent volunteering on time sensitive things that I think must be done. This includes following up on outstanding invoices and also tracking a GNOME trademark matter. I also reviewed and commented on the contract for the GUADEC local organization (there may have been other things that I'm forgetting). And this is all in the last week, and not counting recording the voice over for the cool documentation video that Bastian is putting together :) I have to say: being on the GNOME board takes a lot of time. It's not a small commitment that the candidates are offering to make! Most boards meet quarterly at most, so meeting every other week is really a lot. However, I think it's worth the time expenditure. I just recorded an oggcast on this topic (what it means to serve on a board of directors and whether you should want to do it), which unfortunately won't come out until next week. If elected, I'll probably use my time for GNOME by participating in the meetings and working on things like I've been doing as a volunteer mentioned above and am less likely than some other candidates to engage in lengthy discussions on mailing lists, but I think that's ok provided that some of the other board members focus on that important role (I will chime in on discussion, it just might not be right away or in great detail). karen ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
Hi Marina On 2014-05-20 11:17, Marina Zhurakhinskaya mari...@redhat.com wrote: In my view, having immediate feedback and ideas from someone with lots of experience during the board meetings is very valuable, and can't be substituted with occasional consulting. The board and the Foundation benefit from a diversity of skills and experiences of the board members. As both Karen and I mentioned, she has been dedicating her time volunteering on critical matters. Being on the board provides the best view into what these matters are, which she is able to help us with. I think the composition of the board and the skills and time commitments people can offer need to be considered together to create the best balance. Indeed, and there is no reason that the immediate feedback cannot be gained from Karen as an adviser if she is invited to board meetings. I do not think that a board composed of some members who are able to devote time to taking on many action items and some who are not able to take on many is a good balance, and certainly not the best balance. Karen, how much time would you have available to dedicate to board matters above and beyond your existing volunteering commitments? You mentioned elsewhere that you have been spending 5 hours per week on your volunteering efforts for GNOME. Would you be able to dedicate time above that to board duties, or would your board duties negatively impact your existing efforts? -- http://amigadave.com/ signature.asc Description: Digital signature ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
Hi Karen, On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 9:07 AM, Karen Sandler ka...@gnome.org wrote: I am extremely busy. I was just reading through all of the emails to board candidates this morning, as the time I've had in the last few days for GNOME I've spent volunteering on time sensitive things that I think must be done. This includes following up on outstanding invoices and also tracking a GNOME trademark matter. I also reviewed and commented on the contract for the GUADEC local organization (there may have been other things that I'm forgetting). And this is all in the last week, and not counting recording the voice over for the cool documentation video that Bastian is putting together :) I have to say: being on the GNOME board takes a lot of time. It's not a small commitment that the candidates are offering to make! Most boards meet quarterly at most, so meeting every other week is really a lot. However, I think it's worth the time expenditure. I just recorded an oggcast on this topic (what it means to serve on a board of directors and whether you should want to do it), which unfortunately won't come out until next week. If elected, I'll probably use my time for GNOME by participating in the meetings and working on things like I've been doing as a volunteer mentioned above and am less likely than some other candidates to engage in lengthy discussions on mailing lists, but I think that's ok provided that some of the other board members focus on that important role (I will chime in on discussion, it just might not be right away or in great detail). It seems, from the other responses, that the other candidates plan to spend 5 - 10 hours per week on board-related duties. How many hours per week do you plan to spend? Thanks, Meg ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
On 2014-05-20 11:30, David King wrote: Hi Marina On 2014-05-20 11:17, Marina Zhurakhinskaya mari...@redhat.com wrote: In my view, having immediate feedback and ideas from someone with lots of experience during the board meetings is very valuable, and can't be substituted with occasional consulting. The board and the Foundation benefit from a diversity of skills and experiences of the board members. As both Karen and I mentioned, she has been dedicating her time volunteering on critical matters. Being on the board provides the best view into what these matters are, which she is able to help us with. I think the composition of the board and the skills and time commitments people can offer need to be considered together to create the best balance. Indeed, and there is no reason that the immediate feedback cannot be gained from Karen as an adviser if she is invited to board meetings. I do not think that a board composed of some members who are able to devote time to taking on many action items and some who are not able to take on many is a good balance, and certainly not the best balance. Karen, how much time would you have available to dedicate to board matters above and beyond your existing volunteering commitments? You mentioned elsewhere that you have been spending 5 hours per week on your volunteering efforts for GNOME. Would you be able to dedicate time above that to board duties, or would your board duties negatively impact your existing efforts? I'm not sure Dave, it's a tough question. To be honest, if I'm not a board member I probably won't regularly join the board meetings. For reference, I was not invited to board meetings when I was just pro bono counsel to GNOME (from my SFLC days) and I'm unaware of any pro bono counsel being regularly invited to the meetings. While it's possible to join it's not really part of that role. I try to give the maximum amount of time I have free to GNOME (much to the annoyance of my family, it's actually some weeks been much more than 5 hours since I left as ED but I wanted to give a more conservative view of my time commitments). The volunteer work that I've been doing is in part driven by the momentum I've had as ED and being a part of the board meetings in the past. I would expect that to diminish if I'm not on the board. On helping to collect invoices and asking for sponsorship (I've done both for GNOME even in the last 2 weeks), it will be much easier if I am a board member, as I'd have the authority to represent the org. As I said in an earlier email, being on the board is a lot of work - I want to make myself available to serve, but am happy to leave it to others if the membership so chooses. I think I'd be an asset to the Foundation in this position which is why I've chosen to run. It's also hard for everyone to make promises about availability going forward. I've seen a lot of people promise to do a lot during the elections period and then fail to step up over the course of the term. I've avoided other boards in the past (I've been asked to serve on a lot of them) but I am making an exception this time as GNOME is special :) The current board has been really great, and very active. I've been glad to work with them. If elected, I will indeed have to readjust my priorities and overall commitments. And it might mean that I miss a marketing meeting in favor of a board meeting if I am very busy that week. I think that's probably true for every board member though. karen ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
On 2014-05-20 11:42, meg ford wrote: Hi Karen, On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 9:07 AM, Karen Sandler ka...@gnome.org wrote: I am extremely busy. I was just reading through all of the emails to board candidates this morning, as the time I've had in the last few days for GNOME I've spent volunteering on time sensitive things that I think must be done. This includes following up on outstanding invoices and also tracking a GNOME trademark matter. I also reviewed and commented on the contract for the GUADEC local organization (there may have been other things that I'm forgetting). And this is all in the last week, and not counting recording the voice over for the cool documentation video that Bastian is putting together :) I have to say: being on the GNOME board takes a lot of time. It's not a small commitment that the candidates are offering to make! Most boards meet quarterly at most, so meeting every other week is really a lot. However, I think it's worth the time expenditure. I just recorded an oggcast on this topic (what it means to serve on a board of directors and whether you should want to do it), which unfortunately won't come out until next week. If elected, I'll probably use my time for GNOME by participating in the meetings and working on things like I've been doing as a volunteer mentioned above and am less likely than some other candidates to engage in lengthy discussions on mailing lists, but I think that's ok provided that some of the other board members focus on that important role (I will chime in on discussion, it just might not be right away or in great detail). It seems, from the other responses, that the other candidates plan to spend 5 - 10 hours per week on board-related duties. How many hours per week do you plan to spend? I just wrote about this in greater detail but didn't want to leave a direct email to me unanswered. The short answer is 5 or more, possibly more like 2 (hopefully) when traveling or very busy :) karen ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
Hi Karen On 2014-05-20 12:27, Karen Sandler ka...@gnome.org wrote: On 2014-05-20 11:30, David King wrote: Indeed, and there is no reason that the immediate feedback cannot be gained from Karen as an adviser if she is invited to board meetings. I do not think that a board composed of some members who are able to devote time to taking on many action items and some who are not able to take on many is a good balance, and certainly not the best balance. Karen, how much time would you have available to dedicate to board matters above and beyond your existing volunteering commitments? You mentioned elsewhere that you have been spending 5 hours per week on your volunteering efforts for GNOME. Would you be able to dedicate time above that to board duties, or would your board duties negatively impact your existing efforts? I'm not sure Dave, it's a tough question. To be honest, if I'm not a board member I probably won't regularly join the board meetings. For reference, I was not invited to board meetings when I was just pro bono counsel to GNOME (from my SFLC days) and I'm unaware of any pro bono counsel being regularly invited to the meetings. While it's possible to join it's not really part of that role. I try to give the maximum amount of time I have free to GNOME (much to the annoyance of my family, it's actually some weeks been much more than 5 hours since I left as ED but I wanted to give a more conservative view of my time commitments). The volunteer work that I've been doing is in part driven by the momentum I've had as ED and being a part of the board meetings in the past. I would expect that to diminish if I'm not on the board. On helping to collect invoices and asking for sponsorship (I've done both for GNOME even in the last 2 weeks), it will be much easier if I am a board member, as I'd have the authority to represent the org. As I said in an earlier email, being on the board is a lot of work - I want to make myself available to serve, but am happy to leave it to others if the membership so chooses. I think I'd be an asset to the Foundation in this position which is why I've chosen to run. It's also hard for everyone to make promises about availability going forward. I've seen a lot of people promise to do a lot during the elections period and then fail to step up over the course of the term. I've avoided other boards in the past (I've been asked to serve on a lot of them) but I am making an exception this time as GNOME is special :) The current board has been really great, and very active. I've been glad to work with them. If elected, I will indeed have to readjust my priorities and overall commitments. And it might mean that I miss a marketing meeting in favor of a board meeting if I am very busy that week. I think that's probably true for every board member though. Thank you very much for the detailed response. I do not feel that my concerns have been completely addressed, but I think that everyone reading will be able to clearly understand your position. -- http://amigadave.com/ signature.asc Description: Digital signature ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Re: Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
On 20 May 2014 19:35, Sriram Ramkrishna s...@ramkrishna.me wrote: On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 6:51 AM, Marina Zhurakhinskaya mari...@redhat.com wrote: It's not just the time commitment we are looking for in the board members, but also experience. Karen has a tremendous amount of experience in free software non-profit space. In the last two months, she has been very generous with her time as a volunteer for GNOME. Time commitment is an elusive beast. I put about 5 hours as director, but put a lot more for engagement and QA. Other times I might spend more. It depends. Having Karen on the board will create a sense of continuity. Karen's experience in both being in ED and continuing to be an ED for another foundation will be benificial, on the ground experience. Sometimes you don't actually know WHEN to ask for an opinion.. I know that we've been bitten by our own experience from time to time. I don't think we should be putting too much stock on the question how much time do you have as a director? II expect somone who is a professional will be able to gauge how much time they have and are willing to do it. If you are going to apply for a position on the board, I expect that you've done the research and is able to commit to the time to be a director. Let's not ponder on whether someone has the time, let's focus on whether they are an asset on the board. As a current board member, I think that being able to put in the time goes a long way towards making one an asset to the board. There have been too many silences at meetings when action items came up for the taking. I find the lack of response from some board members when contracts need reviewing also rather disappointing. The Foundation board is unusual in that the board members do take an active role in the running of the Foundation, and I do not see this as changing in the near future, unless the Foundation takes on multiple new employees. If I am voted onto the board for the next year, I do not want to be volunteering other board members to take on action items, as I have had to do on occasion this year. Therefore, this is a very relevant question for me, and one that I expect every candidate who would take their duty seriously to answer. I am glad that so many of the candidates did take the time to respond to this question. Going by the current responses, I honestly think that some of the candidates are underestimating the time that board duties take and that they may not be flexible enough to put in the hours in times of need (such as the current financial situation). sri ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
Board of Directors Elections 2014 - Candidacy - Karen Sandler
Affiliation: Software Freedom Conservancy. I'm also pro bono General Counsel of QuestionCopyright.Org, and an advisor of The Ada Initiative and sometimes help other orgs (like the FSF) on legal and other free software related matters. As promised when I left the position of Executive Director, I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for the Board of Directors. I think I can help bring continuity to the board (Stormy was incredibly helpful on the board when I started as ED). Also, as a lawyer I sometimes have an additionally useful perspective. I'm still doing volunteer work for GNOME both as pro bono counsel and as a volunteer on nonlegal matters for GNOME. I've been helping with fundraising, collecting on outstanding invoices and generally wherever I can. Additionally, as you all know by now, I'm a huge advocate for software freedom. I'd love to help GNOME continue to partner with its nonprofit and corporate allies as well as ensuring that the foundation is solidly focused on promoting freedom. karen ___ foundation-list mailing list foundation-list@gnome.org https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
