Re: Initializing the PAC

[Eduardo Gutentag <eduardo@jurassic.eng.sun.com>]

"Jon Bosak" <bosak@boethius.eng.sun.com> wrote:

[...]
>If I include comments received privately, I have to say that a
>surprising number of us appear to be having a problem understanding
>this.  Guys, really, I'm not trying to exclude anyone; I'm trying to
>solve a procedural problem.  Let me put it as simply as I can: You can
>allow as many participants in a committee as you want, but you must
>appoint as voting members only those people who can be counted on to
>show up at a meeting.  Otherwise the committee cannot legally transact
>business.  The language I proposed would *not* remove anyone from the
>list or prevent anyone from taking part in a meeting.  It just
>attempts to ensure that enough voting members attend to make the
>meetings *legal*.  If you appoint as members everyone on the list, the
>committee won't be able to function under Robert's, because you can't
>count on most of those people showing up (even for phone conferences,
>which are in their way even harder to attend regularly than an
>occasional meeting in person).
>
>The self-selection process I'm offering here is actually pretty
>daring.  The traditional way is for the appointing power simply to
>appoint those few people it thinks it can trust.  I'm trying to make
>that process as democratic as possible by allowing interested people
>among those on a mailing list to certify themselves as people
>committed enough to attend meetings.  If we can't agree on some
>reasonably stringent level of commitment, then we will have to fall
>back on appointments made the old-fashioned way on the basis of
>personal experience with each applicant.  This works, but it tends to
>strongly discourage new blood.
>
>On the other hand, it's clear that the language I proposed Monday
>places unreasonable demands on us.  I will propose something that
>better reflects what we expect to have to do.  Maybe arriving at a
>suitable schedule in advance of appointment is something that every
>would-be committee will have to do.

Jon, I believe that the problem is that what you explain makes perfect
sense, but it does not percolate all the way down to the prose that is being
offered for sign up. Having already signed up for the PAC, mostly because
I think that time is of the essence, this is what I think many people would 
have liked to have received. Mind you, I am not proposing that you change 
what has been already sent, only that in the future the tone of the 
messages for other committees could be something like this:


====================================
The OASIS Process Advisory Committee is being formed to advise the
OASIS Board of Directors regarding procedures to be followed in
OASIS technical committees under the current OASIS bylaws and to
develop suggestions for changes to the bylaws that will enhance
the scalability of the OASIS process.  The PAC will meet (at times
to be determined) during the GCA XML conference in Philadelphia
1999.12.06-10, during the GCA XTech conference in San Jose
2000.02.28-03.03, and, if necessary, during the GCA XML Europe
conference in Paris 2000.06.12-16.  It will also meet regularly by
phone.  It is expected to complete its work by the end of the
Paris GCA conference, if not before.

Members of this list are hereby requested to respond
to this list no later than 27 November 1999 with the following
statement:

[ ] I hereby request to be counted as a voting member of the PAC

   I understand that OASIS committees regularly meet in person
   or by phone as determined by the committee or by the OASIS
   Board of Directors and that participation in the Process
   Advisory Committee as a voting member will require me to respond 
   in a timely manner to email ballots and to attend most of its
   meetings. I certify that I have the means and the interest
   to attend such meetings and that I intend to do so.

   I understand that the committee cannot transact business in
   the absence of a quorum or take action by mail ballot
   without the active participation of its members and that
   therefore failure to attend meetings and vote in mail
   ballots will result in my removal from the committee as a voting
   member.  I promise to submit a letter of resignation to the chair or
   chairs of the committee if in the future I find myself
   unable to participate actively in its work.

[ ] I hereby request to be counted as a non-voting member of the PAC

  I understand that as a non-voting member of the OASIS PAC committee
  I will have access to all email discussions, I will be able to attend
  all face to face meetings and participate in all telephone conferences, 
  and that I will be able to have my voice
  heard in all matters brought up for discussion, but that I will not
  be able to vote formally for or against any of the proposals, and I
  will not be counted in determining whether there is the necessay
  quorum for voting.

[ ] I hereby request to be taken off the list of PAC participants

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