Oh yeah, forgot to mention : I like the website redesign, except -- the half-naked woman at the top is not good. We have enough trouble attracting women to IT, without turning them off. Using the image of a woman is a good idea, but put some clothes on her, eh?
Personally speaking, I like half-naked women, but there's a time and a place. ;) Steve On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 7:06 AM, AndrewG <[email protected]> wrote: > Apologies, I am reposting this as I have been informed that the > 'Format' of the previous post made it a bit difficult to read. > Hopefully this rectifies it. I have made no contextual alterations. > > > To the Ubuntu Au community, > > On Monday, I posted an email to this list with a proposal to create an > 'Australian Community Council' (ACC). > Resulting from this post there have been about 58 replies with about > 16 contributors. > > Firstly, I would like to thank everybody for making a contribution, > having the courage to speak up and express an opinion. There have > been some well thought out replies, some have vented their anger & > frustration, some have been constructive & others not so. > > Over these last few days I have been pondering on how to write this > email, how to try and re-unite the community. (It might be lengthy, > these are my own opinions, some may share them, some may oppose.) > > We all have one thing in common, a passion for 'UBUNTU'. > If we didn't why would we bother to engage in a discussion about this > important issue. > > THE DISCUSSION: > From the discussions it is pretty clear (I think), that there seem to > be five themes. > > 1. Some people are in favour of an 'ACC', giving the community a say > in how things are run. > 2. Some people are happy with the way things are now. > 3. Some people have real grievances about how they have been treated > in the past (& present). > 4. Some people think that 'Less Talk - More Action' is required. > 5. The Silent Majority. > > "Everybody is right and all of your arguments are valid." > We bring with us, our own Prejudice, Ego, Agenda, Thoughts and > Perceptions. > We just differ on how we perceive the situation. Does it need fixing? > How to fix it? > > THE MODEL: > When I presented the Model, I admit that it might have scared some > people (Maybe I didn't sell it enough). > It is not really a scary document, it does talk about 3 levels, > 'Local, State, National' and it goes into some detail about Roles, > Responsibilities, Elections and 'what if' scenarios. I apologise, it > is due to my 'Systems Analyst', 'Big Picture thinking' and my > 'Applications/Programmer', 'small details' background. (That's enough > about me) > > The Model was a collaboration so I can't take all of the credit. (Not > that I'm seeking it) > As there has been NO comment on the structure of the model, IMO, it > must be pretty close to the 'money'. > Not to say that there is no room for improvement or changes. > I have made slight changes to it see > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-au/council/structure-detailed > > > Out of the discussions a couple of concerns that people raised: > 1. "The Model is three(3) levels of 'Bureaucracy' > It is NOT a 'Bureaucracy', there are just three(3) levels > 'Local'- A group of people on the ground, at a local level, 'City' or > 'Region' > 'State'- IF the numbers on the ACC get too large for meaningful > discussion/decision making > THEN a 'State Council' would be formed. ELSE a possible 'Talk-Fest' > with no decision making at the ACC meetings. > 'National'- A collection of representatives(leaders), from the 'local' > groups. > > Everybody is autonomous, just like it currently stands. > Anybody can make a contribution in anyway as they see fit (within > reason, that doesn't damage ubuntu-au). > > 2. "There is no need for 'Titles'" > It is true that you don't need a 'Title' to make a contribution or be > a 'Leader'. > It is also true that you need to 'Earn' a 'Title', through your > 'Actions'. > > However, people are identified through their 'Title', it gives us a > clue as to their role within an organisation. > A 'Team Contact' performs a role, a 'Local Contact' performs another, > a 'Web Master' performs another. etc. > When a 'New' person comes along, they look for people with a 'Title' > and have certain expectations. > An organisation that doesn't APPEAR to have many people with a 'Title' > does little to inspire peoples' interest (& confidence). 'Who do I > contact?, Who do I talk to about this?, Is there somebody local?' > You may argue that 'what we currently have', addresses these issues, > IRC, email list etc. But is it really enough? > > 3. "We don't have the numbers?" > Is this a 'Chicken & Egg' scenario? Acccording to the 'Official > numbers' there are 211 members(launchpad), with 337 subscribers to > this list. Duplicates ?? > Who knows how many 'Un-official' members we have, Ie. Those who > register on the 'ubuntu.com.au' website and go no further! (This is a > question I have been asking, for a long time and have yet to get an > answer. It seams to be a secret! I see new people every time I take a > look at the website.) Then there is 'Facebook', 'Google Groups', > 'flickr' and numerous other groups around the place. > > Maybe the Question should be, "How do we Motivate this silent majority > to become active?" > My answer would be "Put in place an environment & structure to foster > participation" > We just need to look at the phenomenon of 'Ebay', 'Facebook', > 'Twitter' to see this. (These may not be the best examples) When you > build a structure around a sound concept things happen, the 'snowball' > effect. > > One 'Goal' of the ubuntu-au community could be to have a 'Local' group > in every 'Capital city'. > Whether it be a part of a 'LUG' or another organisation or > independently organised. > > Currently it seems that we have 'active' groups in 'Brisbane & > Adelaide'. > I don't know what happens in 'Melbourne & Sydney', either nothing or > nobody else hears about it. (I shouldn't have to ask) According to our > 'wiki membership list' there seem to be many people in 'Sydney & > Melbourne'. > I'm sure that there is enough 'leadership' material, for a 'local- > Contact' & someone to organise. > > For the other Capitals, Nothing much happens in 'Hobart, Canberra, > Darwin or Perth', from what I can tell. > There needs to be 'Support' & 'A Mechanism' to bring people together > wanting to form their own 'Local Groups'. > It is not enough to 'tell' people 'That they need to become more > active' without helping them. (Less talk More-action) > > We have the tools, Website, Wiki, IRC, mailing list but we are not > using them properly. > I have created a 'mock' website at www.ubuntu-au.gandella.com to > illustrate extra information that could be > conveyed to current & new visitors on our ubuntu.com.au website, but > this is not the subject of this post. > > Currently the numbers on an ACC could be 'Team-Contact, Web-master, > Brisbane, Adelaide' with possibly 'Sydney & Melbourne' That makes > six(6), a nice number to start with. > > > TRIAL PERIOD: 18 Months > As it has been previously stated there would be a review in 18 months > time as to the effectiveness of an ACC and the Model. If it doesn't > work we can scrap it, if it needs changing we can change it. > In my mind, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained" > > SUMMARY: > Nothing really changes, Individuals & Groups are autonomous. > Nobody will be 'telling' anybody what to do. 'Guiding' yes - 'Telling' > no. > > The ACC (Leadership group) is a visible 'Contact' that provides > 'Support & Consultation' to the ubuntu-au community, the community at > large and to each other. > > Adopting this model has many advantages, with very few disadvantages. > Among the best: > 1. It shares 'leadership' amongst many. (Currently there is very > little) > 2. A 'Visible' contact at a local level for existing and new people. > (Currently limited) > 3. Co-ordination at a National level. (None at the moment) > 4. Group goals can be set and implemented. (Currently they are very > loose) > 5. Extra communication channels going both-ways. (Currently limited) > 6. A 'Roadmap' for the 'Present' with the 'Future' in mind. (???) > 7. We could be a well organised group that is to be taken seriously. > > > IMPLEMENTATION & ACTION: > Hopefully, I have convinced some of the 'nay-sayers' that this model > is a good one and that it needs to be implemented. In some respects > it is 'already' implemented, anybody has the freedom to create a > 'Local' group or 'BE' a leader. It 'Formalises' it a little bit and > hopefully it will foster more participation amongst ourselves & in > turn the wider community. > > I know that some of you still don't care either way because you are > happy with how things are currently or that you think that things are > not broken so why fix. Some think that there is a problem and that > this may go part of the way to solve it. Others just want 'Less Talk > and More Action'. Then there is the 'Silent Majority'. > > For it to work, it needs the support of this community and especially > the 'leaders' in the group. > > Most importantly it needs the support of out 'Team Contact' Melissa > Draper. > > Melissa, You have been very quiet, observing these proceedings! > I'm sure that you have an 'Opinion' we would like to hear? > (You do hold a certain 'Sway' in this community) > Will you Work (& Share) with the members of an ACC (The > representatives from 'Local' groups) ? > Will you allocate access to resources to implement 'change' if it is > deemed necessary? > > > MOVING THINGS FORWARD: > > Can we get some sort of 'CONSENSUS' that this 'PROPOSAL' be > implemented? > > Do we need to take it to a 'VOTE'? (if we take a vote, how will it be > validated?) > > FINALLY: > Thanks to Daniel for asking this > "The question we should be asking is what needs to be done and what > isn't > being done with the current system and how adding this will help. " > > I hope that I have gone some of the way in answering your question. > > We all have one thing in common, a passion for 'UBUNTU' and that #1 > bug to work on. > > > Regards, > > Andrew G. > > > PS. I have tried to follow the guidelines set down in > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoResolvingProblems > This post has been made available as an attachment at > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-au/council/structure-detailed. > > -- > ubuntu-au mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au >
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