Hi all,

I agree with most of the concerns voiced in this thread. 

In the initial email David wrote:
> To help new contributors understand more about what they're getting involved 
> with, we've drafted a new volunteer agreement.

If this is the real reason for the agreement, we should emphasize positive 
aspects. Mozilla is a fun place to be at! Let's search for a concise, positive 
way to describe that. 

I am wondering if there are also other reasons for the agreement. Do we want or 
need to cover legal aspects?

If we agree on the "why" (i.e. reason for the agreement) I am sure we will find 
a good way of conveying that message in a volunteer agreement. 

Regards,
  Henrik

-- 
Henrik Mitsch

> On 30.05.2014, at 21:43, Majken Connor <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> I'm wondering if we're misunderstanding the purpose of this agreement, or
> maybe people are approaching it from different angles?
> 
> It seems worded to me to address the need to have a formal agreement when
> we want to give certain responsibilities to volunteer contributors. We're
> missing something generic like this, and this is partly why it's much
> easier to give Reps responsibilities and include them without being able to
> give the same trust and responsibility to other volunteers.
> 
> Especially the part where you need to notify or get notified that you're no
> longer contributing, that seems incredibly overkill if this is a general
> understanding between Mozilla and volunteers, but it makes perfect sense if
> it's in the context that we've just given a volunteer a responsibility or
> leadership role.
> 
> 
>> On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Emma Irwin <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> This feels exclusionary of casual contributors, of which there are many.
>> 
>> I'm assuming they wouldn't even know  who to contact when ending
>> contribution - does that mean I can't come back?  I also prefer this
>> wording which uses the term 'participation' rather than 'work'.
>> 
>> The contributor has turned up because, more than likely they feel connected
>> to a specific piece of the project - they're excited.  Onboarding should
>> feel less like you're starting a new job, more like opportunity to make a
>> difference and contribute. +1 to citizenship.
>> 
>> I would also warn that legalize in such a contract will concern those with
>> work visas.  Original version made me feel uncomfortable as well.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 12:00 PM, Sheeri Cabral <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> I agree with what others have said, and I'll throw in an alternative
>> idea.
>>> 
>>> Here's some changes I made, taking out redundancies (e.g. behaving
>>> appropriately is covered under the participation guidelines), and putting
>>> the "you can end your participation" part at the end. Because that's not
>>> the first thing we should tell a new person, in my opinion.
>>> 
>>> --------------
>>> 
>>> DRAFT Volunteer Agreement
>>> 
>>> Welcome to Mozilla! We're pleased that you will be working with us to
>>> volunteer your expertise, knowledge, and skills to our Project. We are
>>> happy to have you along as a Mozillian.
>>> 
>>> Before we begin, you might want to be aware of the following:
>>> 
>>> 1. Mozillians behave in a professional and respectable manner when
>>> participating in the Project. Mozilla's Participation Guidelines can be
>>> found at
>>> http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/governance/policies/participation/
>>> 
>>> 2. Legally, you are not an employee or contractor of Mozilla and should
>>> not represent yourself as such. As a volunteer, you cannot bind Mozilla
>> to
>>> any agreements or sign any agreements on behalf of Mozilla.
>>> 
>>> 3. We love it when people talk about their contributions to Mozilla!
>>> However, Mozilla does own some trademarks, so please do not use logos or
>>> trademarks inappropriately. Mozilla's trademark policy can be found at
>>> https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/trademarks/policy/
>>> 
>>> 4. You or Mozilla may end your participation at any time for any reason
>> on
>>> immediate notice. If you wish to end your participation, simply let us
>> know.
>>> 
>>> We are excited to have you on board and hear your creative ideas!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --------------
>>> 
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: [email protected]
>>> To: [email protected]
>>> Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 1:11:02 PM
>>> Subject: Creating a volunteer agreement
>>> 
>>> One of Mozilla's goals for this year is to increase the number of active
>>> contributors by 10x. That means that many new people will be joining the
>>> community and we want to make sure they have a positive experience.
>>> 
>>> A few teams have contributor agreements that provide details about what
>> it
>>> means to volunteer in that specific area, but there's never been
>>> information that covers contributors in general.
>>> 
>>> To help new contributors understand more about what they're getting
>>> involved with, we've drafted a new volunteer agreement. I wanted to share
>>> the text of that and talk about how we would make this available.
>>> 
>>> First though, I'd like to be clear about a couple of points:
>>> 
>>> * This is not intended to be a document that people will sign.
>>> 
>>> * This is not something that applies to existing contributors, just to
>> new
>>> people who are joining the community.
>>> 
>>> After sharing the text of this here, on Planet and at an upcoming Monday
>>> project call, we'd like to add this text as a new page on
>>> http://www.mozilla.org.
>>> 
>>> We would then link to that from the Get Involved page (
>>> mozilla.org/contribute), the entry point for most new contributors. We
>>> would add this to the existing opt-in on the form that references
>> Mozilla's
>>> Privacy Policy.
>>> 
>>> Please take a look at the text below and share your thoughts on that and
>>> on how we would make this available to new contributors.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> David
>>> 
>>> -----------------
>>> 
>>> DRAFT Volunteer Agreement
>>> 
>>> Welcome to Mozilla! We're pleased that you will be working with us to
>>> volunteer your expertise, knowledge, and skills to our Project.
>>> 
>>> Before we begin, there are some basic terms you should be aware of and
>>> agree to. The following is an agreement between you and Mozilla that
>>> describes your volunteer work with the Project:
>>> 
>>> 1. You or Mozilla may end this Agreement at any time for any reason on
>>> immediate notice. If you wish to end the Agreement, simply email a
>> Mozilla
>>> staff member to let us know.
>>> 
>>> 2. As a volunteer for our Project, you will be working with Mozilla
>> staff,
>>> employees and other volunteers.
>>> 
>>> 3. We have policies at Mozilla to protect the Project and you. While
>>> working with us, we want you to be creative and help us to grow the
>>> Project, while observing the following rules:
>>> 
>>> a. As a volunteer, you cannot bind Mozilla to any agreements or sign any
>>> agreements on behalf of Mozilla, but you can introduce Mozilla to
>> different
>>> ideas, processes and ways of doing things;
>>> 
>>> b. You are not an employee or contractor of Mozilla and should not
>>> represent yourself as such;
>>> 
>>> c. You cannot engage in any activities that violate the laws of your
>>> locale, Mozilla's policies, or the rights of any group or individual;
>>> 
>>> d. You agree to behave in a professional and respectable manner when
>>> acting as a Mozilla volunteer. Mozilla's Participation Guidelines can be
>>> found at
>>> http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/governance/policies/participation/;
>>> 
>>> e. It's definitely okay to talk about your contributions to Mozilla, but
>>> you should not use Mozilla's logo or trademarks without Mozilla's prior
>>> written consent. Mozilla's trademark policy can be found at
>>> https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/foundation/trademarks/policy/; and
>>> 
>>> f. This Agreement is about you and only you. You may not transfer or give
>>> this to any other person or group.
>>> 
>>> g. If you violate any of these rules, Mozilla has the right to end this
>>> agreement and your volunteer activities.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> governance mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> governance mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Emma Irwin
>> @sunnydeveloper
>> Mozilla Reps Council Member
>> _______________________________________________
>> governance mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance
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