[Ambassadors] FAmSco meeting 2011-12-14 minutes

[Christoph Wickert]

Am Mittwoch, den 14.12.2011, 17:39 -0800 schrieb Max Spevack:
>
> A few months ago, I sent out some of my thoughts of what I thought 
> FAMSCO should think about and do in the coming year.
> 
> http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/ambassadors/2011-October/018319.html
> 
> Reading this thread brings me back to that email, in particular the part 
> of it where I talk about having a strong focus on identifying key 
> Ambassadors in each region of the world, and in connecting potential 
> Fedora contributors in those regions of the world to the global Fedora 
> community.
> 
> Sidestep the timezone problem by ensuring that the majority of what 
> FAMSCO members are doing is working with, and providing a leadership 
> presence, in their own region.

I think we have already identified the key ambassadors, more precisely
the ambassadors have identified and elected them into FAmSCo.

I don't see how we can sidestep the timezone problem, it is a
consequence of what we want to achieve.

> But what do I work on, you ask?  Again, I reference you back to the 4 
> main categories that I discussed back in October.
> 
> Use the mailing lists (this one as much as possible, but also the famsco 
> list) to share the key points of what is going on, and come up with a 
> way to get status updates pushed out to the list, rather than in an IRC 
> channel.
> 
> It will lead to more discussion, better discussion, and a larger group 
> of engaged Ambassadors.

While I agree it could increase transparency and will get more
ambassadors involved, I consider this ineffective. I don't want to write
10 mails and read 100 for something that can be easily be discussed in a
meeting in 10 minutes.

I don't see how this can be replaced with a discussion on a mailing
list. Take the budget for example: Do we really want to forward every
ticket to a list and discuss it there?

> So then what do you do with the FAMSCO meetings?
> 
> One of several things:
> 
> * An open conversation for anyone who wants to show up at that time, 
> FAMSCO or non-FAMSCO.
> 
> * A chance for a subset of FAMSCO to work together on a single topic.
> 
> * An opportunity to lock down a fixed time each week during which a Red 
> Hat contact is available to focus entirely on FAMSCO issues.

That's all nice and fair, but IHMO that's not a FAmSCo meeting any
longer. And adding an extra Red Hat person will certainly not make it
easier to agree on a time.

We do need these meetings to discuss certain things and we need a quorum
to make a decision.

> My point is, all the tools exist for FAMSCO members to collaborate 
> strongly together outside of IRC.  

What tools exactly? We have mailing lists and we have a wiki, but that's
all. When it comes to efficiency, none of that can compete with a
direct conversation. I really wish we still had Fedora talk.

> Try it -- but try it in an organized 
> and simple fashion by choosing one or two things to start with -- and 
> change the culture of FAMSCO so that the mailing lists and the wiki are 
> more important, and visible, collaboration points than any one IRC 
> session.
> 
> This is easy to say, and hard to do, because it breaks the habits that 
> FAMSCO has fallen into over the past few years.  That's why I'd say 
> start small, prove that it can work, and grow.

You know FAmSCo business better than many of us. What part do you think
could be moved over to another form of collaboration easily?

Really, I don't think the problem is breaking the habits. I am willing
to try something new, but IHMO we should be very carefully to change
things that have proven to work for years.

Regards,
Christoph