Re: [xtm-wg] Re: Charter: Participating Member conditions

["Steven R. Newcomb" <srn@techno.com>]

[Sam Hunting:]
> Actually, what I think STEP is asking for is Founding Member status.
> Wouldn't that solve the problem of recognizing STEP's contributions
> even though they weren't at the last two meetings?

I'd like to do that, but not at the cost of setting a precedent that
would be procedurally indefensible.  What would we say to others who
also want to be regarded as founding members who just did not happen
to come to either of the organizational meetings?

In answer to my own question, I hereby propose that Graham Moore's and
Kal Ahmed's written contribution of an XML-ified version of ISO/IEC
13250:2000, and a similar contribution by Martin Bryan to the effort,
should all be considered sufficiently contributory to the founding
process that we should regard them as having been founding members.
By that same yardstick, I think that Steve Pepper, Daniel
Rivers-Moore, and any others who made contributions to the foundation
of TopicMaps.Org should also be regarded as founding members.  That
means that Kal Ahmed, Martin Bryan, Graham Moore, Steve Pepper, and
Daniel Rivers-Moore all would become founders.  I don't know who else,
if anyone, should be regarded as a founder by the same yardstick, but
at least the criterion of having made a written contribution at
founding time establishes both legitimacy and very limited franchise,
so we don't have to worry about an avalanche of requests for other
exceptions on the same basis.  I'd be delighted if we can all agree on
this idea and welcome all such people as founders.  I also think that
Graham's and Steve Pepper's status as founders should give either one
of them the right to vote on behalf of Bertelsmann, or to transfer
that right to another (permanent) Participating Member from
Bertelsmann.

Since he is a co-editor of 13250, I would prefer that Martin Bryan
should be regarded as a founder in any case, but the fact that he made
a written contribution (and a substantial one, I might add) at
founding time would make it unnecessary to make an exceptional
category just for him.

Anyway, if we all agree, I propose to add a statement to the beginning
of the Charter explaining how the founders came to have the privilege
of being regarded as founders:

  Be it resolved: The founding Participating Members of TopicMaps.Org,
  having attended one or both of the preliminary organizational
  meetings (in Alexandria, Virginia, USA in January, 2000 and in San
  Jose, California, USA in February and March, 2000), and/or having
  made other contributions to the process of founding TopicMaps.Org
  prior to the San Jose meeting,

  {insert list of names of founders here}

  do hereby form TopicMaps.Org, adopting the following as its Charter
  and By-Laws:

Come to think of it, I think it would be a good idea for us to have a
written, signed letter of endorsement of the charter from each of the
founders on the charter list so that TopicMaps.Org can prove that the
names listed on its charter did in fact adopt it.  I have no idea why
that might someday be necessary, but I like the idea.

-Steve

--
Steven R. Newcomb, President, TechnoTeacher, Inc.
srn@techno.com  http://www.techno.com  ftp.techno.com

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