On Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 7:55 AM Kevin A. McGrail <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 6/27/2019 10:39 AM, Sam Ruby wrote: > >> I like the roadmap we have in place right now with 19.5K coming from a > >> sponsor to outreachy providing us 3 interns at which point we can report > >> on the success of that initiative and look to expend if successful or > >> contract if it isn't. > > > > I'm very concerned about the optics of this. The ASF has a > > demonstrable diversity problem. The board is refusing to take an > > small, obvious, and careful first step. A sponsor has stepped forward. > > > > Now imagine you are a journalist for a trade rag looking to increase > > your click rates. How would you spin this? > That sounds dangerously close to a threat. But assuming good will, do > we care about external optics or how some journalist might spin > something for clicks? If so, I recommend you get with M&P and get a PR > drafted sooner than later so at a minimum it is in the can for a quick > response. > I'll note that this is a public mailing list. I'll also note that many other tech companies have tried to do a "PR spin" when their diversity efforts have issues. People from marginalized groups see right through the words, and look for what specific actions the company has taken. There's also the Striesand effect, so calling attention to this discussion through a press release may backfire: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect I think everyone should be much more concerned about how this discussion will be read by people from marginalized groups in tech who are either a) thinking of contributing to an ASF member project, or b) are a current contributor thinking of trying to improve diversity in ASF member projects. Sage Sharp Outreachy Organizer >
