As a newly elected member of Sugar Labs Oversight Board, I've been reminded several people cannot get important answers they need in public places.
To this end, Bert Freudenberg (Sugar Labs' current Ombudsperson), Michael Stone, Henry Hardy and I have talked by email/phone/in-person over the past week about clarifying peacemaking channels, to convert a sometimes pattern of anger and misunderstandings in our community, over to what we all really want: Curiosity over assumptions/fear; building a genuine Culture of Constructiv(ist!) Critique; Participation not just from the Loud but also from the Shy, etc. We refuse to be enemies! To this end, we propose a Co-Ombudsperson (perhaps female) step up to this not-quite-judicial role ASAP, to assist Bert with: * responsiveness -- acknowledging receipt of substantive communications (even if delusional in appearance) within two days of receipt, and providing regular status updates at tempos similar to weekly for long-running items, whenever possible. * peacemaking -- vigorously pursue peacemaking with a speed and manner which are not in-and-of-themselves threatening. Offline listening to Voice/Tone can sometimes help. * reporting/advertising -- quasimonthly email to iaep (at) sugarlabs.org, very succinctly summarizing how many people approached ombudsman (at) sugarlabs.org for roughly what reasons, carefully preserving confidentiality. Or a more comprehensive quarterly report in Walter's weekly Sugar Digest could also be fine. Please apply/forward/nominate a friend if you can help fill this role! Let's keep an informal antibureaucratic approach, with above checks & balances. While Bert believes we'd benefit from a reflective/patient Ombudswoman, we also encourage All to apply. This is not an activist role and should Not require a heavy time commitment. You will however have criticial fiduciary responsibilities, managing a very sensitive channel, and will certainly be able to put this on your resume. Finally, the recently elected Sugar Labs' Oversight Board (http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board) will have the final say on this decision and your appointment, thanks! "[t]here never was a good war or a bad peace" --Benjamin Franklin, Sept 11th 1783 PS read some Great Ombudsfolk Resources, if you are new to this key Swedish invention from 200 years ago (trustbuilding privacy is not just for whistleblowers, it also enhances enhancing participation _and_ institutional transparency if we get this right!) 1. http://ombuds-blog.blogspot.com eg. "confidentiality, independence, multipartiality" 2. http://mit.edu/ombud/publications eg. "neutral, confidential, independent, informal" 3. http://mit.edu/mediation/resources.html 4. http://mediate.com _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) [email protected] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
