Re: [legalxml-ms] Draft revision Member Section Policy for your comments

[James E Cabral <jec@mtgmc.com>]

Scott,

Thanks for the clarification. I’m not implying that the TCs have crossed the line of delegating responsibility to contractors for developing specifications.  As you said, the TCs have and want to continue to have the ability to hire a contractor to write the specifications based on the decisions and guidance of the TC.  

To make the this explicit, should Section 6.22 provide examples of appropriate uses of funds that, among other uses, includes contracting for assistance with writing specifications?

--
Jim Cabral
502-509-4532

From: Scott McGrath
Sent: ‎Tuesday‎, ‎May‎ ‎13‎, ‎2014 ‎1‎:‎44‎ ‎PM
To: James E Cabral
Cc: legalxml-courtfiling@lists.oasis-open.org

Hi Jim,  all,

There is a difference between facilitating the specification development (which is what OASIS funds are used for) and developing the specification which is what members do as part of the consensus process.

OASIS funds are used to support the specification development in a variety of ways - providing the collaboration tools and processes as well as the occasional spec editor who brings a very unique skillset into play to capture and record the outcomes of the member collaboration and to structure that document properly so it can work as a formal specification document, with all the nuance necessary for machine readability etc.  Too few of us know a good schema when we see it. ;-)

We did find it necessary to call out this difference in the policy because it is too easy to conflate the development with the facilitation of the development and we hoped to prevent work from evolving into a disallowed area.   Are you suggesting the existing contracted services have already crossed that line?

Scott...

On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 12:42 PM, James E Cabral <jec@mtgmc.com> wrote:

Scott,

The ECF TC discussed the proposed changes to the Member Section Policy on our monthly conference call today.  The simplification of the SC election process makes sense. 

However, the TC is concerned about the new Section 6.2 Appropriate use of funds.  Section 6.2.1 Member travel seems to formalize the policy of generally not funding member travel for attendance at meetings.  The problematic section is 6.2.2 Standards development which precludes the use of funds to compensate individuals for developing specifications.  As you know, the ECF TC has, in the past,  worked with OASIS Management to contract for the development of specifications, other LegalXML TCs currently do this, and we have all found it to be valuable in achieving the goals of the TCs and Member Section.  The ECF TC, and we assume other LegalXML TCs, would like to continue to have the option to hire contractors to help in the development of specifications.

Speaking for myself, instead of or In addition to listing what funds should not be used for, I suggest that Section 6.2 should provide a list of, as the title implies “Appropriate uses of funds” similar to section 6f in the current Member Section Policy.

--
Jim Cabral
502-509-4532

From: Scott McGrath
Sent: ‎Wednesday‎, ‎May‎ ‎7‎, ‎2014 ‎5‎:‎21‎ ‎PM
To: legalxml-sc, legalxml-ms@lists.oasis-open.org

Greeting LegalXML Member Section members,

The attached draft of a new Member Section Policy is the result of a discussion among staff and the board, intending to improve and simplify Member Section operations.  Please review this and provide your comments and feedback within 30 days.  We intend to provide a final version of this to the board for approval at the end of July.  I'll be available for your SC meeting between now and then, to discuss the details and implications for your Member Section.

Generally, this new draft is greatly reorganized to improve the readability and concept flow for the new reader. And I note with pride that compared to the 2012 version and it's 6406 words, this draft is a lightweight policy of 3023 words.

The most significant changes in the proposed revision include:

 - dramatic simplification to the annual SC election process.  This draft acknowledges our experience in the past 10 years that most mature Member Sections do not have contests in the SC elections and allows the process to be completed by nominations - no balloting is required if it cannot effect the outcome.  This draft also allows for a dynamically sized and opportunistic  SC by having the ROP only state the *maximum* number of SC seats while allowing that any election cycle may not fill the maximum number of seats - which keeping seats available to fill if/when new candidates arise. 

 - reducing the requirements for SC meetings and reports for Member Sections not actively managing spending

 - changing the concept of "dues allocation" as expressed in earlier policies, to  the concept of "directed spending".  This change does not effect your group's ability to engage services to support your mission.  the change is intended to more accurately reflect 2 realities: (1)the vast majority of activities directed by SC funding are activities provided "by OASIS" for Member Sections that do not manages services so nothing is gained by the additional bureaucracy and (2) the Steering Committee directs spending by OASIS management, they are not an independently budgeted autonomous group.   You will note that future Member Sections will be formed with an expectation of Directed Spending of being available only for the first 2 years,  again recognizing the vast majority of spending currently directed by Member Sections is for services all Member Sections receive -if they are funded or not.  and clearly the need for those exceptional services diminishes over time after the special transitional work is done.  ***Note the footnote that this 2 year limit does not apply to your group as you were formed prior to this policy*** 

Please do read through this draft, consider how it will effect your group and share your questions and  comments.  When we finalize this draft in the coming months I want to ensure it reflects all of our best thinking.

thanks,

Scott...

--
Scott McGrath
COO
scott.mcgrath@oasis-open.org


Tel +1 781-425-5073 x202
Fax +1 781-425-5072

Follow OASIS on:
LinkedIn:    http://linkd.in/OASISopen
Twitter:        http://twitter.com/OASISopen
Facebook:  http://facebook.com/oasis.open

--
Scott McGrath
COO
scott.mcgrath@oasis-open.org


Tel +1 781-425-5073 x202
Fax +1 781-425-5072

Follow OASIS on:
LinkedIn:    http://linkd.in/OASISopen
Twitter:        http://twitter.com/OASISopen
Facebook:  http://facebook.com/oasis.open