Now that I have had time to gather my thoughts - I would really like the
Foundation to bring back the import of what it means to be part of something
bigger than oneself.  GNOME needs to be a brand that is bigger than the sum
of its parts, a place where people come not to further their own agendas but
to grow GNOME itself.

That starts with a sense of belonging. How do we make people excited to join
the Foundation?  It continues with positive reinforcement.  How do we make
people feel their contributions continue to be appreciated?  It never ends.

I think the current atmosphere where there is a lot of bike shedding comes
from a sense that outside forces view GNOME as a tool to be used and shaped
to their own agenda as opposed to being an integral part of who they are.
We have at some point stopped being friends who came together for a common
cause and at that point it just became easier to form islands of
development.  Respect has gone out the door.

This is why I think the most important focus for the foundation going
forward is a) the "marketing" team and b) social events like the hackfests.
Marketing because we really need to figure out how to get our messages
across, even to our own members.  Generating excitement from things as
simple as regular profiles of GNOME apps and their developers is important
to a sense of community.  Social events because when people meet face to
face they tend to start treating each other with more humanity, not the
mention the boost in development efficiency that results when people get
along.

I have other hopes for the Foundation but those are my main insights.  Take
them or leave them.

--
John

On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 8:25 AM, Dave Neary <dne...@gnome.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Now that we have clearly identified everyone who disagrees with what *I*
> hope for from the foundation and its board, I'm still interested in the
> question I asked previously:
>
>   What do you expect from the foundation?
>
> What are the things that the foundation is doing that it shouldn't be, the
> things it isn't that it should, the things the membership could be doing
> that it isn't, etc.? What is your vision of the foundation?
>
> Cheers,
> Dave.
>
> --
> Dave Neary
> GNOME Foundation member
> dne...@gnome.org
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-list mailing list
> foundation-list@gnome.org
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list
>
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