-----Original Message----- From: Graham [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 10:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Marketing] Looking to do a briefinterview about openoffice.org?
> It might be that no one reacted because they didn't want flack if they > got it wrong. But that means that fear of being wrong paralizes the > project. I think it's important to delegate work (e.g. to MarCons) and > let them make reasonable judgements without fear of reprimand. Accept > that the people you delegate work to may not do everything exactly the > way the project lead would have done it, but that having an effective > project is more important than getting your way all the time (even if > you /are/ right about the details). The job of a manager/lead is not to > approve every little action, but to delegate. MarCons and other > volunteers are resources, and the manager's job is to manage those > resources effectively. The fact that there are 5 MarCons in North > America who could have replied here and none of them did tells me that > the project's resources are not being managed properly. > > Cheers, > Daniel. > This is exactly why I did not raise my hand. I've seen what happens to people who take the ball and run with it. They get chastised or "fired" (how do you "fire" a volunteer, anyway?) Or you volunteer and Jaqueline declines it because she didn't receive a response to her welcome letter (that somehow I missed) when she wanted it. A volunteer is just that, a volunteer. They are not employees. If she or anyone wants to treat volunteers that way she had better send out W-2s first. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > You think? > > Sorry, I sit on the sidelines and watch all this and all I can say is, it > figures. > Heh, It figures that you would sit on the sideline or that you were sorry? Very funny. See? This is exactly the kind of response I am talking about. I stated an observation based on my own experiences with the Marketing Project and I get this. Look, it's nothing personal but that's not exactly a response that fosters a positive view. Sure, mine was not a happy post. But I received a nicer response from Cor Neuws. Daniel stated it well. I think his observations should be taken to heart. > I wanted to participate in the Marketing Project a year ago but the general > attitude toward those who were volunteers - not employees and the politics > just turned me off to it. This is Marketing. It's about debate and information and propoganda. Marketing people tend to be Opinionated, when you have differing opinions on a subject amongst a large group of people you get politics. The only time I've not had politics in marketing is when I owned the Company. Large group interaction creates politics. > I still subscribe to this list just to keep an eye > on what's going on because I am still a Community Distributor and I still > support OpenOffice.org. Unfortunately, I find this Marketing Project > somewhat disorganized and this is one example that proves my point. > As you will have no doubt observed, Louis responded to the OP offlist without informing the list, which he has acknowledged was an error. The next time I have a mistake-free month I'll inform you so that I may bask in your praise. ;) Goodness. I'm not asking for perfection here. All I'm asking is for project leads to be considerate to the volunteers. They are donating their time and sometimes money, just like most of you are. Example. I produce two weekly podcasts. As a Community Distributor I wanted to promote OOo so I produced a 90 second and 60 second audio spot. However, as of yet I have not used them in my podcasts or anyone else's simply because I am concerned that I will incur the wrath of someone here who didn't "approve" it, doesn't like the way it sounds or thinks it should be scripted differently or is upset because he or she was not informed or did not have creative control of it. I am a partner with other software companies and a member of other organizations and I certainly don't want Jaqueline or someone kicking me off the list because I might have a conflict of interest or something, either. So rather than run it or distribute it I will just keep it on the shelf for awhile. Sure, I invested a little time and money in it but I would rather not deal with the flack resulting from broadcasting it across the net than raising awareness of OOo slightly. You think I'm overreacting? Look back. I'm not the only one, either. Yes, Daniel had it right. There are others but they are afraid to raise their hands. Sarcastic and condescending remarks don't promote more participation among volunteers. They discourage them. Rick --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
