As a new member to the Ambassadors mailing list, may I offer the "Outsider moving in" view?
In both business and military careers I have seen measurable advantage in providing a new group member a "sponsor". Small problems that can overwhelm the newbie are quickly resolved because the sponsor knows where to find the answer. Joining a group and integrating in can be emotionally exhausting for those of us who are introverts. It is very important to have a 1:1 person we can discuss with and talk to when the 1:700 overwhelms us.
Beyond the "how much do I know about Fedora" question you might want to know what I *feel* about it before you send me off to represent it! If an Ambassador is to be a person with some field experience then they probably come with a few opinions as well. Maybe some baggage, too. The FA program might want to ensure the potential representatives are in fact representing Fedora well.
There is also a significant advantage in having a Mentor actually find out what I know, or do with my time. For example, if I do some volunteer work it might spark some conversations about how I can introduce Fedora to the non-profit. Or the ham radio group. Or the sports group that needs some scoring software help. Or the adoption service that could use a webserver group.
A Mentor might even be useful to find out what latent talents I'd love to develop and hook me up with someone who can help my progress. That way the other person gets an apprentice, Fedora gets a welcome worker, and I get some personal growth.
While having some small conversations with David and Joerg neither of them have proposed a requirement to join that really bothers me. The clarity of the process could be improved and Joerg has responded well in that. David has made himself available for local events and put forth a good image for Fedora. In both cases there has been a social exchange based on equality. They listen to me, I listen to them, and I have come to trust their opinions based on the interactions we've had. Both Joerg and David have earned my respect and now are free to provide critique if I need to evaluate some personal behavior before representing Fedora to the world.
If there is a process to go through before becoming a full privileged Ambassador, I have no problems doing so. Call me a Diplomat, an Ambassador in Training, or just a flunkey; it doesn't matter. But show me by your willingness to invest in me that I'm important and that by association Fedora is important. You will then get a clear view of what I can provide and have a motivated worker on your team.
Leam
On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 6:08 AM, Leam Hall leam@reuel.net wrote:
As a new member to the Ambassadors mailing list, may I offer the "Outsider moving in" view?
...snip a bunch of stuff ...
Hi Leam,
With an attitude like yours someone is going to tell you, so it might as well be me. You are going to be a terrific Fedora contributor. Welcome.
John
On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 10:07 PM, inode0 inode0@gmail.com wrote:
On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 6:08 AM, Leam Hall leam@reuel.net wrote:
As a new member to the Ambassadors mailing list, may I offer the "Outsider moving in" view?
...snip a bunch of stuff ...
Hi Leam,
With an attitude like yours someone is going to tell you, so it might as well be me. You are going to be a terrific Fedora contributor. Welcome.
John
This cover part of my feelings ... I spend a couple of months trying to figure out what I can do and how. That was a waste for people eager to contribute. Mentoring can unleash a great potential for our community.
best regards
Neville A. Cross wrote:
On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 10:07 PM, inode0 inode0@gmail.com wrote:
On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 6:08 AM, Leam Hall leam@reuel.net wrote:
As a new member to the Ambassadors mailing list, may I offer the "Outsider moving in" view?
...snip a bunch of stuff ...
Hi Leam,
With an attitude like yours someone is going to tell you, so it might as well be me. You are going to be a terrific Fedora contributor. Welcome.
John
This cover part of my feelings ... I spend a couple of months trying to figure out what I can do and how. That was a waste for people eager to contribute. Mentoring can unleash a great potential for our community.
best regards
Yes, I am agree.. I am a newbie one.. The newbie needs mentor to show how to do..
Best Regards,
Hi All,
until now i tried to back off from this topic, because i'm a so called "Ambassador Newbie" myself.
But since there were some interessting postings, i could not longer hold off. And just to make it clear: I don't want to offend several people here on the list, i just want to say a few words.
First, i totally dislike the suggested "point system" (like "Beeing at a event -> +100pts). Remember, beeing Fedora Ambassador doesn't mean to be a hero in a MMORPG where you can earn Experience Points for succesfully finishing quests. I don't want to come to a a point in future, where i pay someone 200€ to get a eminently respected 100.000 Ambassador Points worthy Fedora Ambassador identity (or avatar).
And there is another critic point at this method. Who decides, wich activity drops how many points? I mean i can stay for 2 weeks on an event or convention and tell all people about fedora. What if (i know it is exaggerated but it is just an example) everyone i talk to on the event already knows Fedora, contributes already to another distro and is absolutely not interessted in my "drivel"? Then, my spent time was without succes, and i should get 0 points, because i have achieved nothing. But if i convince 3 friends of mine to use fedora (and offer them support) (wich i did in my few weeks as Ambassador now) do i now get 300 points (for just much less hours of engagement)?
The point is: No matter what someone does or doesn't, no one here is able to rate his engagement in points.
Another suggestion was to send every month (or every half year e.g.) a validation mail. This would be more acceptable to me than the points system, but it is still unsatisfying. There would be too much troubles and sentences like "oh, please give me my Ambassador Status back, i haven't known anything from the mail, you know, my Spam filter...". Maybe i'm a bit pessimistic, but in my experience, it is always the same.
I think, the main problem and reason for this debate is: We have many Ambassadors, many inactive and every week a few new Ambassadors.
Problem A): Too many inactive Ambassadors.
The Validation mail is as i said not the best method. And it has another disadvantage. You can be as inactive as you want, as long as you answer a short "i'm still active" mail to the mailing list.
Problem B): Too many new Ambassadors who become inactive after a few days/weeks/months and who have no idea how to contribute.
I think it is also our topic to tell new fedora people, how and where they can start contributing. If we don't manage this task inside the Ambassador the team, how can we handle it for the rest of the Fedora Project? So my idea would be, to spend time with talking to new ambassadors about their abilities and give them some hints where they can start contributing with their abilities. For example, Joerg read, that i'm a ongoing social/cultural anthropologist stressed on central asia, so he introduced me to Mirlan (i wrote him already a mail, waiting for his response). Maybe it would be helpful to create a mindmap wich clearly describes the organization of the Fedora Project with all ways of contributing. Also we maybe should concentrate some work on the New Ambassadors Guide someone here works at (sorry, i forgot who exactly it was).
Just my 2 cents. Yannik
ambassadors@lists.fedoraproject.org
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Dichi Al Faridi -
inode0 -
Leam Hall -
Neville A. Cross -
Yannik Stadelmaier