[plug] Re: Installation discussion list, Jan 2005

[James Devenish]

In message <200501301813.53612.bob at fots.org.au>
on Sun, Jan 30, 2005 at 06:13:53PM +0800, bob wrote:
> On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 12:57 pm, James Devenish wrote:
> > In message <200501300136.04767.bob at fots.org.au>
> > on Sun, Jan 30, 2005 at 01:36:04AM +0800, bob wrote:
> > > What about having someone being given the task of at least
> > > acknowledging the post.
> > if you already have your eye out for "newbies" and think you have a
> > solution that will work for everyone, why haven't you been doing it
> > already?
> I already do, generally off list...I don't expect everyone on the list
> to feel they have to respond. I asked for "someone being given the
> task of at least acknowledging the post."

I realised that and understood. However,...

> and had hoped that it would be read as "some committee person",

In reality, this sort of volunteer group doesn't function that way. In
practice, the person who can do the job is the person who puts up their
own hand -- it doesn't work if you make a suggestion for someone else to
pick up. Almost every sustained innovation depends upon a random person
with inherent motivation for the task. My impression is that if you
already have some experience doing this, then you have to "show the
rest of us how it's done".

> I hope that what you are implying - The committee does not care enough
> about new members to make them feel welcome - is in no way true.

No, that is not what I am implying. I am thinking is that if you are a
"non-newbie" who's spending several hours at a workshop, you're going to
be focused helping people. Your awareness of new-coming quiet people in
the sidelines is effectively "impaired" (or maybe that's just a male
thing...?). If there's someone on committee who's happy to read books
and keep their hands away from the computers, I guess they could do the
job well for a year, until the next committee is elected. Alternatively,
keep thinking laterally to find solutions that are "failsafe" (I think
one or two have already been suggested).