Hi Jesse, On 02/23/2015 12:09 AM, Jesse Proudman wrote:
While I agree that Bangalore would have been a great venue and many folks on the board would have had a wonderful experience, it appears that the majority of the other 23 members didn't feel that experience outweighed the cost in time and monetary value it would take to achieve that.
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Further, each board meeting is available for real time interaction digitally. Location ultimately doesn't matter for those whom truly have the desire to interact with the board.
Is there any reason that this discussion couldn't have happened on foundation-list, before the board decision? There doesn't seem to be anything unreasonable here - I am sure that an open debate with members, followed by a decision by the board members, would be accepted by the membership. In other organizations I have been involved in, we have had issues like this arise. For example, in the GNOME Foundation, cities bid to host our annual conference. Bids are sent to the public foundation list, and are debated in public - arguments about the relative benefits of the bids, cost of travel, accommodation and living expenses in the host cities are raised, and even potentially visa issues. After the debate, the board makes a decision, which is announced to the bidders and the community. This general pattern of public proposal and debate, followed by a private executive decision which takes that debate into consideration, has proven effective at building consensus and maintaining a level of participation of the membership in the workings of the foundation. Regards, Dave. -- Dave Neary - NFV/SDN Community Strategy Open Source and Standards, Red Hat - http://community.redhat.com Ph: +1-978-399-2182 / Cell: +1-978-799-3338