Sally, this initiative is fantastic, thank you for articulating it and bringing it to life. This is a strong example that the ASF put community over code.
re:Sharan's comments. I agree with the steps proposed, and here's how I'd like to contribute: 1) Drafting Guidelines and Process - Happy to contribute Guidelines for this, perhaps taking some of what I suggested for Beam [1]. I'm also interested in providing input for the process. Could we do this over a call or collaborative document? How should we proceed here? 2) Providing Support & Mentoring - I'm happy to become a mentor for new projects in the incubator and projects looking to expand their non-code contributors. Also happy to produce a slide deck on the importance of recognizing these contributions and how to build a process to do it. 3) Cleanup & Maintain Help Wanted - This is something I wasn't aware of and looks good! I'd love to help revamp this, it looks like a central-service repository for projects. I'd need to learn how to maintain it in the background and how we go about this. I agree with Sharan that we need to promote more the use of this and keep it clean and updated. I can help with this, but I won't have the bandwidth until March. >From this points - How should we move forward Sally? [1] https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/6a592632766d999d02922efab439348caa5c91da6e75eab2ab71f7ec@%3Cdev.beam.apache.org%3E On 2019/01/10 08:53:43, Sally Khudairi <s...@apache.org> wrote: > Hello ComDev-ers! I hope you are all well and that your 2019 is looking > bright thus far. > > I wanted to share my proposal for recognizing non-technical contributions at > the ASF. Whilst some of us have spoken about this issue for many years, this > discussion formalized during ApacheCon Montreal (September 2018; select > excerpts at the end of this message) and moved onto the ASF Members list for > review and vetting. > > We have received both signoff from VP ComDev Sharan Foga, as well as careful > consideration and positive feedback from more than a dozen Members. > > Let's proceed! > > Proposed Contribution Process for Non-Technical tasks: > > 1) Contributions must be associated with an existing ASF project or > committee. For example: > > - Creating supporting graphics for ASF Marketing & Publicity > > - Providing marketing support for an Apache TLP > > - Onboarding new contributors to an Apache podling community > > - Developing a new Website for an existing project > > - Participating in Apache Community Development activities --staffing the > ASF booth, coordinating events, etc. > > - Writing project/process documentation > > - Helping with ASF Operations activities --legal/accounting support, etc. > > ...there are more ways folks can contribute. We just need to give them the > ability to do so. > > 2) The TLP/podling/committee involved must have at least one community member > (internal; e.g. PMC) to help provide guidance on the task/activity involved, > and at least three PMC Members who may be able to nominate the individual for > Committership, as per the ASF's established contributor > committer process > http://community.apache.org/contributors/index.html . > > 3) All project/committee participants are encouraged to sign an ASF ICLA in > order to have their contributions recognized. > > 4) Recognition must happen on-list. > > 5) All PMCs and podlings are encouraged to consider non-code contributions > and establish their own sub-processes for determining how to accept, > integrate, and recognize non-technical participation. > > 6) Recommend that a team of advisors for this process operate under ComDev, > and for any serious issues to be escalated to the ASF President and the > individuals identified in the ASF Code of Conduct who act as ombudspeople for > conflict resolution. > > 7) Recommend that all non-ASF-Member-confidential tasks/Requests for > Assistance be posted publicly on https://helpwanted.apache.org/ ...the form > makes it easy to do so! The related details on the tasks themselves may be > published on a project's JIRA, blog post, mailing list, Webpage, community > forum, Slack channel, etc. > > 8) Projects/committees are encouraged to share their initiatives with ASF > Marketing & Publicity <pr...@apache.org> for additional visibility across ASF > communication channels. > > ...as we build the program, I'm sure we'll be able to flesh out more details > and areas of activity. > > And to kick it off, ASF Marketing & Publicity have some graphics/creative > tasks that we will be leading as part of a "Central Services sub-group" under > our committee. We will be posting details on blogs.apache.org and promoted to > the greater community. Those who are creatively inclined and are able to help > are welcome to join us. > > I hope the proposed process will help encourage broader participation. In my > review with Sharan, she wrote: > > > ... this is just the sort of thing I think Comdev could be doing. It is > > also something that could focus us a bit better. > > > > So +1 from me. > > > Thank you in advance for taking this under the ComDev umbrella and helping > pave the way for a more inclusive, robust community. Once you're ready to > proceed, I'll be happy to forward/socialize the process to the PMCs if needed. > > Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or how I can otherwise be > of help. > > Thanks, > Sally (ASF's first non-technical member!) > > - - - > Vice President Marketing & Publicity > Vice President Sponsor Relations > The Apache Software Foundation > > Tel +1 617 921 8656 | s...@apache.org > > = = = > > [BACKGROUND/CONTEXT; excepted from my emails to ASF Members] > > <snip> > > During ApacheCon, there were many discussions about two things: > > 1) "diversity". A pattern was clearly emerging: > a) diversity of humanity --one's DNA/gender/ethnicity/background/life > choices, etc. > b) diversity of contribution --promotion, community building, onboarding, > outreach, etc. > > 2) "(more efficient) ways to get non-code stuff done": > a) semi-one-off instances --graphics/logos, marketing/media assistance, > etc. > b) longer-term items --technical writing, documentation, case studies, etc. > c) ongoing support --community building, onboarding/guidance, events > coordination, etc. > > > As a firm believer in our process/principles of meritocracy, our often don't > knowing who you are is a good thing: if you make decent contributions, > there’s a chance that you will be able to establish yourself in the Apache > community. Your work should speak for itself. However, it can be difficult > for some folks to participate if there’s no clear entry path for them to do > so. > > Much of the history behind what's being discussed goes as far back as my > initial participation in the ASF (1999), but the issue became pronounced in > 2004. Here's what happened: > > A certain Web Services-oriented company was heavily involved with a few > Apache projects. Not only had they submitted a project to the Incubator, they > had a handful of very active committers on their payroll. Their products were > Apache-dependent and they worked very hard to bring visibility to their team, > their contributions, and, of course, their products (driving sales, and all). > Their marketing director wanted to get involved with promoting the project > itself, but the PMC said "no, go away". Although their hands were tied, they > kept trying different approaches, but were continually rebuffed. Eventually > that person left and the company tried again, this time using their community > manager. There was a little progress (remnants of "after all, can't trust a > marketing person"-itis), but there was still considerable frustration. > > Through the years, I've regularly received requests to help projects with > their marketing and promotions beyond the "Foundation"-level support already > provided.The request often comes from a corporate that's heavily invested in > the project. And, of course, my answer is "sorry, no", aside from the > experiment where I joined a podling that had considerable marketing resources > prior to coming to the Incubator, and they had assigned an individual > specifically to oversee that project's marketing. I joined the pPMC's new > (private) press and (public) marketing lists, and was engaged somewhat > passively, and was definitely not driving the effort. A year later, the > dedicated marketer jumped ship to their competitor and the project has been > struggling to manage this > on their own. I eventually unsubscribed from their lists after some years. > > The reality is that this is not a unique situation. Many projects have active > users with their own marketing and PR teams who get assigned to help out in > any way possible, and more often than not, the end result gives off the > impression that CompanyX "owns" or appears to be inappropriately influencing > the project, which, in turn, causes Brand Management, Marketing & Publicity, > and at times even the ASF Board to intervene. Those who have been on the > receiving end know that you don't want me to come after you <g>. > > PMCs often want to focus on code and community-builing, and rightfully so, > considering that they are the two areas that we actively target/hone our > resources. Yet our projects often also need additional support in the form of > documentation, graphics/Website development, community events management, > marketing/PR/AR, and more. This may not be a full-time role within the > project, yet is valuable and necessary to be coordinating with several ASF > groups (Brand Management, M&P, ComDev, > etc.). Plus, very few technologists/developers/software engineer-types are > interested/skilled in these areas. > > <...> > > *Recognizing Contributors and Contributions.*** > > Let's get more people to help with the heavy lifting. Reduce resentment due > to lack of recognition. Reduce volunteer fatigue and burnout. > > We need to establish participation guidelines/requirements. Allow others to > offer assistance --even if it’s only for a single project to start. To ensure > parity and promote collaboration, any contributor interested in supporting > any Apache project will need to participate on the respective Central > Services’ list(s). > > Contributors will be encouraged to help each other out and work through > issues together. A "no silo-ing" policy will be enforced. > > Get on the list, prove yourself, get your wings. > > <...> > > I wish others could help drive some of these activities because, #LoveApache. > > </snip> > > # # # > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@community.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@community.apache.org > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@community.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@community.apache.org
