Re: [tdf-discuss] Community Management

Hi Charles,

On Dec 14, 2010, at 5:29 AM, Charles-H. Schulz wrote:

> I will download the book. This being said I'd like to share some thoughts
> about the notion of Community Management. Going out of OpenOffice.org
> community, I'm not the only one who feels an intense need for a community
> that seizes its own destiny and fulfills it. What this means, beyond the
> nice words, is that I will not be -will never be - a community manager and
> don't wish one for our community. I don't really like the notion of managing
> a community in the context of FOSS. <Barack Obama> you can certainly
> organize a community </Barack Obabma> but I believe that it's important that
> contributors see their contributions valued and that they feel a sense of
> ownership. Beyond that point, proper governance make the sauce. What's
> important is to have a community of contributors that behave in an adult
> way; and community management include the notion of "management", or rather,
> the notion of management from the outside. I don't like that. Inside OOo, if
> you remember, we had several layers of community management. We know how it
> ended.

I agree with you about the possible negative connotations of the term "manager," but I think it's 
just a terminology problem. You could think of the role as "Community Facilitator" or even "host" 
if you prefer. The actual tasks inherent to the role are similar to the host of a 
party--introducing people to others with similar interests, helping to coordinate times, places and 
necessities, etc. 

In practice, it's hugely helpful to have someone walking around to make sure that good ideas don't 
get lost and plans receive encouragement and assistance until they are completed. They can also 
play the role of matchmaker, to help find volunteers for important initiatives that don't have 
enough helpers.

I also understand the desire to form a clean break from the past and to build our own thing this 
time. I think it's the right approach, but I don't think it means we can eliminate the role of the 
community manager, though renaming it to better suit our project's culture certainly makes sense.

-Ben

Benjamin Horst
bhorst@mac.com
646-464-2314 (Eastern)
www.solidoffice.com


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