Simon, Thanks for that. I want to make it clear that my frustration is not based on any one incident, but rather that I just wish the board did more to recognize the hard work of the dozens of individuals who volunteer hours of their time to this project in so many ways.
I feel that the working groups often get short shrift. The board gets a lot of attention (positive and negative) but it's the working groups (and a special and emphatic emphasis on the work of Operations Team) that make OSM possible. The DWG gets a lot of abuse thrown at us, and I think something in Kate's email really spoke to that idea of "fun". I've never considered the work I do for the DWG to be fun. I find it stressful and frustrating. Sometimes I find it sad, but never fun. We may need a staff to do certain jobs, but whether we do decide to hire a staff or not, it'd be great if the volunteers we do have now got a bit more recognition for their hard work. - Serge On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 5:04 PM, Simon Poole <si...@poole.ch> wrote: > > Serge > > I want to apologize in case you missed explicit support from me (and the > board), it was likely just a miscommunication given that the person in > question lambasted essentially everybody that he had ever had contact > with and you in discussion suggested that we simply ignore him. > > Simon > > > Am 22.10.2014 22:54, schrieb Serge Wroclawski: >> I want to actually apologize for one mis-statement. Michael Collinson >> from the MT actually was very good about this and one-on-one, board >> members who I speak with have been kind/supportive, >> >> I want to also point out that this is not about me getting recognition >> for my work on OSM, but about the general lack of support that the >> volunteers can get from the board, when just a pat on the back would >> be nice. >> >> The board is under incredible stress and strain, and they're >> volunteers like the rest of us, but there's a ton of work being done >> by groups like the Operations Team, the License Working Group, the >> Management Team, the Communications Working Group, the Data Working >> Group, etc. All of these folks deserve more support and recognition. >> >> - Serge >> >> On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 4:15 PM, Serge Wroclawski <emac...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> Hi Kate, >>> >>> Replies in-line. >>> >>> On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 3:24 PM, Kate Chapman <k...@maploser.com> wrote: >>> >>>> I'd say the size of the board to me is not necessarily the issue. I do >>>> think >>>> however having a board elected completely just from the OSMF membership >>>> isn't the best approach. Those elected from OSM contributors (I frequently >>>> have seen in the past people post people's OSM edits for board elections) >>>> are not necessarily the best to be on a board. It does not allow the >>>> flexibility to seek out board members with specialized skills. For example >>>> most of the board would not claim to be experts in finance, or legal >>>> matters. I certainly think election from part of the community is not a bad >>>> thing, but perhaps it isn't the only way. >>> I think you're connecting board membership with officer positions and >>> that doesn't need to be connected. >>> >>> It's possible (and often preferable) to have a board of people who >>> oversee the officers but are not one of them. That also gives you >>> flexibility because your board can say "We will nominate so-and-so to >>> be CEO and so-and-so to be CFO, rather than using terms like >>> "President" and "Treasurer". It also means the board positions can be >>> equal, if the board so chooses. >>> >>> I think that this argument of separation of concerns makes a lot of >>> sense, I think that board members should be members, but officers may >>> not need to be. >>> >>>> Yes, I think that paid staff can certainly help with some of the tasks. >>>> Financing this is a different issue however. I used to work as paid staff >>>> on >>>> an animal shelter for abused/neglected horses that had many volunteers >>>> while >>>> attending uni. When there was 2 feet of snow in the middle of January it >>>> was >>>> the paid staff usually out feeding the animals and shoveling the manure. >>>> Volunteers were great for the "fun" tasks such as giving tours, grooming >>>> horses and giving pony rides at fundraisers. We need to seriously look at >>>> what the OSM equivalent is of "shoveling manure" and if it is appropriate >>>> hire people to do it. >>> Yes, and adding on, some recognition would also be nice, even for >>> volunteers. >>> >>> Last month I received an extremely nasty, rude email from someone >>> about actions that I took as part of my DWG duties. That email >>> insulted me, attacked my sexuality, was vaguely threatening to my >>> fiancee, etc. and the board was CCed by the original author. None of >>> the board members or members of management team (who was also CCed) >>> said a word about it. >>> >>> This kind of dismissal for our feelings as individuals as we put work >>> into the project is really disheartening. >>> >>> - Serge >> _______________________________________________ >> talk mailing list >> talk@openstreetmap.org >> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk > > > > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > talk@openstreetmap.org > https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk > _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
