Thank you, Mick, Sally et al. Appreciate this discussion. Coordinating media releases around open source releases is not something I've seen much of, or have much experience with. I can imagine that it is always going to be clumsy around an organic group of individuals around the world, individuals doing their best to be independent from the companies that employ them, companies that each have own stake in the project. We just have to do our best! If people know of other OSS projects doing this well it would be great to know and learn from them. > This is a new approach for C* and our aim as a contributor is to be transparent and follow community governance and norms. We're happy to share what's worked marketing OSS in our experience, perhaps as an ad hoc presentation or on an existing call -- just let me know. I've spoken to several people in the community (from a range of companies) and everyone shares an enthusiasm for seeing C* succeed and especially 4.0 -- from publishing content (discussed here: https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r45e124f34a05dc2871cf8b094e3f57476d651933b8a69837fda0d935%40%3Cdev.cassandra.apache.org%3E) to hosting meetups and webinars, and more.
Sally, thank you for reiterating the guidelines and will take you up on a review of the 4.0 messaging. Will be in touch! On Mon, Jul 20, 2020 at 8:07 AM Joshua McKenzie <jmcken...@apache.org> wrote: > > > > If you are criticised, it is often because of the action you took; > > Actually, in this case and many others it's because of people's unfounded > assumptions about motives, incentives, and actions taken and has little to > do with reality. Which is the definition of not assuming positive intent. > > On Mon, Jul 20, 2020 at 10:41 AM Benedict Elliott Smith < > bened...@apache.org> > wrote: > > > Thanks Sally, really appreciate your insight. > > > > To respond to the community discourse around this: > > > > > Keep your announcement plans ... private: limit discussions to the PMC > > > > This is all that I was asking and expecting: if somebody is making > > commitments on behalf of the community (such as that a release can be > > expected on day X), this should be coordinated with the PMC. While it > > seems to transpire that no such commitments were made, had they been made > > without the knowledge of the PMC this would in my view be problematic. > > This is not at all like development work, as has been alleged, since that > > only takes effect after public agreement by the community. > > > > IMO, in general, public engagements should be run past the PMC as a final > > pre-flight check regardless of any commitment being made, as the PMC > should > > have visibility into these activities and have the opportunity to > influence > > them. > > > > > There has been nothing about this internally at DS > > > > I would ask that you refrain from making such claims, unless you can be > > certain that you would have been privy to all such internal discussions. > > > > > there's really no reason not to assume best intentions here > > > > This is a recurring taking point, that I wish we would retire except > where > > a clear assumption of bad faith has been made. If you are criticised, it > > is often because of the action you took; any intention you had may be > > irrelevant to the criticism. In this case, when you act on behalf of the > > community, your intentions are insufficient: you must have the > community's > > authority to act. > > > > > > On 20/07/2020, 14:00, "Sally Khudairi" <s...@apache.org> wrote: > > > > Hello everyone --Mick pinged me about this; I wanted to respond > > on-list for efficacy. > > > > We've had dozens of companies successfully help Apache Projects and > > their communities help spread the word on their projects with their PR > and > > marketing teams. Here are some best practices: > > > > 1) Timing. Ensure that the Project has announced the project > milestone > > first to their lists as well as announce@ before any media coverage > takes > > place. If you're planning to time the announcements to take place in > > tandem, be careful with embargoes, as not everyone is able to honor them. > > We've been burned in the past with this. > > > > 2) Messaging. Keep your announcement plans and draft press releases, > > etc., private: limit discussions to the PMC. Drafting announcements on > > public lists, such as user@, whilst inclusive, may inadvertently expose > > your news prematurely to the press, bloggers, and others before its > ready. > > This can be detrimental to having your news scooped before you actually > > announce it, or conversely, having the news come out and nobody is > > interested in covering it as it's been leaking for a while. We've also > been > > burned in the past with this. Synching messaging is also helpful to > ensure > > that the PMC speaks with a unified voice: the worst thing that can happen > > is having someone say one thing in the media and another member of the > PMC > > saying something else, even if it's their personal opinion. Fragmentation > > helps no-one. This recently happened with a Project on a rather > > controversial topic, so the press was excited to see dissent within the > > community as it gave them more to report about. Keep things co > > ol: don't be the feature cover of a gossip tabloid. > > > > 3) Positioning. It's critical that whomever is speaking on behalf of > > the Project identify themselves as such. This means that the PMC needs to > > have a few spokespeople lined up in case of any media queries, and that > the > > spokespeople supporting the project are from different organizations so > you > > can . I cannot stress enough the need to exhibit diversity, even if > > everyone working on the media/marketing side is from a single > organization > > --the ASF comes down hard on companies that "own" projects: we take > > vendor-neutrality very seriously. What's worked well with organizations > > that have pitched the press on behalf of a project is to pitch the > project > > news, have spokespeople from other organizations speak on behalf of the > PMC > > and follow up with different spokespeople/companies that have supporting > > products or activities. The ability to showcase breadth of deployment > > demonstrates Project relevance. > > > > There have been instances of companies pre-announcing Project news > and > > milestones before the Project has done so themselves, in the form of > press > > releases, blog posts, articles on Medium/DZone/elsewhere, or on social > > media. Whilst we appreciate their enthusiasm, it has caused significant > > erosion of goodwill within the community, and issues with the press. > > > > Apache Projects that have been successful with outside (corporate) > > support to help with marketing and media relations have shared their > press > > announcements, articles, posts, and pitches prior to going live to ensure > > that they are balanced and have proper attribution and form. I'm happy to > > help with this if needed. > > > > Briefing analysts is a bit of a different situation, and I'm happy to > > help with that as well. > > > > Best of luck, > > Sally > > > > + forwarding to press@ as well to keep everyone in the loop > > > > - - - > > Vice President Marketing & Publicity > > Vice President Sponsor Relations > > The Apache Software Foundation > > > > Tel +1 617 921 8656 | s...@apache.org > > > > On 2020/07/20 09:44:31, "Mick Semb Wever" <m...@apache.org> wrote: > > > > > > > Our plan is to share the community-approved blog with reporters > > who have > > > > expressed interest in Cassandra, which may result in coverage. We > > also > > > > developed a 4.0 beta graphic that anyone is welcome to use. > > > > > > > > FWIW our timeline revolves around yours. We're ready to reach out > > just as > > > > soon as the beta is cut; no need to adjust anything on our > behalf. > > If > > > > you're available for emailed or live interviews, please shoot me > a > > note. > > > > > > > > We're here to help C*. I've spoken with a handful of folks > already > > about > > > > how to best achieve that, and the door is open - reach out > anytime! > > > > > > > > > Thanks Melissa! If all goes well there should be a 4.0 beta release > > ready for public this week. > > > > > > Coordinating media releases around open source releases is not > > something I've seen much of, or have much experience with. I can imagine > > that it is always going to be clumsy around an organic group of > individuals > > around the world, individuals doing their best to be independent from the > > companies that employ them, companies that each have own stake in the > > project. We just have to do our best! If people know of other OSS > projects > > doing this well it would be great to know and learn from them. > > > > > > To all non DataStax folk, I've only seen Melissa's work in this > > community (dev and private ML). There has been nothing about this > > internally at DS. The only thing I've heard about the media coordination > is > > from Josh's post here, and I made mention of it when raising the vote: > > > https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r537fe799e7d5e6d72ac791fdbe9098ef0344c55400c7f68ff65abe51%40%3Cdev.cassandra.apache.org%3E > > > > > > DS of course benefits from a successful OSS project, but so do we > > all, so do please help Melissa (and all new contributors) out, there's > > really no reason not to assume best intentions here. > > > > > > regards, > > > Mick > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org > > > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org > > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@cassandra.apache.org > > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@cassandra.apache.org > > > > >
