It’s YOUR maemo.org council

Before I get into the details surrounding my participation in Maemo Summit 2009 and its aftermath, I wanted to make something clear:

As your newly-elected maemo.org council representative for the next six months, I expect input and feedback on what YOU expect.  So I’m not just begging for participation, I’m insisting on it.

The way I see it, there is a “currency” to complaints.  By that I don’t mean timeliness but rather value and cost.  Registering a complaint against an individual or organization is an implicit demand for response.  Usually the level of response is disproportionate to the original demand or request; i.e., more time and resources are spent addressing the issue than in presenting it.

So if you’re lodging a complaint, keep in mind that there is an expectation of further engagement on your part.  Dropping a little bomb into a discussion and running is trolling.  We can all do better than that.  Your bombs create craters that require filling; complainants should participate in that.  Such an effort takes many forms but it could be as simple as providing greater detail to your original issue or even nurturing it through to a conclusion of some sort.  Take ownership of your ideas!

Only a few hundred people out of perhaps thousands of potential voters bothered to indulge us in this past election.  I won’t go into the theories around that but I will say it is humbling.  It suggests to the current council we have no community-driven mandate and that it will be difficult overcoming the perception of a “government of, by and for the few”. We intend to face that challenge head-on.

One way to overcome the stigma of low voter turnout is high member follow-up.  Don’t just complain idly about issues– post clear, detailed and objective complaints or suggestions at talk.maemo.org and participate constructively in the subsequent discussion.  Try not to succumb to raw emotional impulses or appeals; stay objective and focused on your goal.  Be tolerant of minor distractions but firm in your resolve.

I am hoping you will use the Comments section of this blog, twitter, maemo.org channels or any other means you have of contacting me openly and honestly.  I will gladly respond in kind.  Together we can achieve Great Governance of maemo.org which will lead to other great things!  YOU decide what those should be.

🙂

After Amsterdam

Okay, I’ve been asked to update everyone on my experience during and after Maemo Summit 2009 and I apologize for being late in doing so.  Catching up with work (the $ kind) came first.

I’m putting some things together so this post is just to let you know I didn’t fall into the Atlantic on the way back.  For one I want to work further on what was to be my presentation (more on that embarassing fiasco later) and I also owe the Maemo Guru a piece on the N900 that Nokia so graciously loaned me.  Not to mention entering a few pages of bugs, quirks and ideas into Maemo Bugzilla.

So, bear with me a bit and I’ll try to do some serious word crunching tomorrow.

Bracing for Amsterdam

In anticipation of possibly attending the Maemo 2009 Summit in Amsterdam, I recently began soliciting input first for a presentation topic and second for guidance on content.

By a slim margin, “engaging communities” was the top choice for subject matter.  On one hand the topic is hotly debated by passionate talk.maemo.org community members, but on the other it is a mostly “soft” subject very open to experimentation and subjective interpretation of data.

The good news here is that I’ve identified a wealth of data upon which to feed.

The bad news here is that I’ve identified a wealth of data upon which to feed.

Request for comment: Community Engagement

I’m going to take a break from my series on the data cloud and interrupt with a request for my readership.  I’m putting together a presentation proposal for the Maemo Summit 2009, titled “From corporations to communities: responsible and effective engagement”  and could use some opinions and experience.  If you have anything to offer on the items below, feel free to comment!

• What could corporations do better when engaging user and developer communities?
• What incentives drive developers to work for free (i.e., Linux)?
• What are some examples of successful corporation-community engagement?  What made them work?
• How can the challenges of working with virtual communities be overcome?  Any examples?
• Are corporations responsible for success of the communities supporting them, vice versa, both ways, or neither?
• How do we strike a balance between corporate commercial interest and community free enterprise?
• Etc

I already have some good material but I really want to hear from the crowd.  If I use your RFC contribution you will be credited!

Thanks.