RE: [chairs] Membership for open source implementers

["David RR Webber \(XML\)" <david@drrw.info>]

Arshad,

 

That's very eutopian - but I suspect a little impractical given that the infrastructure for OASIS will remain US-centric for a while yet.  Logistics and geography are the determining factors.  The W3C has a more global membership mix - but it remains really tough to balance as a chair - a TC with members in Asia, Europe and US - with teleconference calls alone- and F2F are necessarily even more challenging - inevitably someone will drop short.  Email seems to be the majority medium then - but we do what we can to maximize contributions - and especially from core members.  James Clark running the RELAX NG work would be one memoriable example for me lifetime of how incredibly indebted OASIS is to the dedication of people worldwide in making successes happen.

 

Seems to me if chairs have a specific need - they can turn to Patrick and the OASIS staff and board to help them - and we have the mechanisms to reach out when appropriate - as indicated in the email thread.

 

I really don't think at anytime I've seen people abusing the situation on a TC to skew things.  Bottom line is you have to be committed to attending meetings and participating in ballots to retain your voting membership - and that in of itself is a much bigger investment through the year than just paying the annual dues.

 

Having read the email dialogue here - seems we've reached a sensible point where chairs are aware that if they need help they can get it.  Beyond that - you are getting into the realms of outright abuse of the system - and its then up to Patrick and board to address that as they see fit.  I'm not sure we need any more checks and balances in place at this point.

 

I agree with Eduardo - being on a TC and actively participating is worth so much more just in learning and understanding from your peers each year - without even factoring in all the other potential facilitators.  As with so many things in life - the return is equaled by the effort you put into it.

 

Thanks, DW

"The way to be is to do" - Confucius (551-472 B.C.)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [chairs] Membership for open source implementers
From: Arshad Noor <arshad.noor@strongauth.com>
Date: Thu, April 05, 2007 6:59 pm
To: chairs@lists.oasis-open.org

While US$300 is reasonable for most individuals based in the
US
and/or the EU, it may not be so reasonable for people who probably
earn $300-500 per month in some parts of the world.

What might be better, is to do what book publishers do: charge
prices according to what the market can bear.  A textbook in the
US worth $45 is typically sold in some parts of the world for $5
as a paperback, using less expensive paper, etc.

Perhaps OASIS should base their Individual Contributor membership
fees based on the ratio of a country's cost-of-living-index to
that of the US.  This allows for an equitable pro-rating of fees,
while giving OASIS the ability to review the fees each year for
each country.  I'm sure the Bureau of Economic Affairs (BEA) in
the US, or some UN agency, will have the appropriate statistics
they need to establish the annual membership rates.

Arshad Noor
StrongAuth, Inc.

Eduardo Gutentag wrote:


> I'm sure there may be other possibilities to explore -- but if you
ask

> me, I still think that individual membership at a basement
bargain
price
> like OASIS offers is about as good as it gets...
>