response 26 of 66:

Sep 25 23:04 UTC 2006

The sysadmin is basically an appointed position by the prez.  If the
membership has a beef with the choice or conduct of said sysadmin then they
can issue a request with alternative choices.  If they still are unhappy, they
can ask the membership to issue a vote of no-confidence against the president
that made the appointment and ask him to step-down.

I would say that Grex should do that but once again, there are toes and
egos that might be bruised so I'd be almost completely blown away by such
an act of mature accountability.

response 28 of 66:

Sep 25 23:53 UTC 2006

I just think that more and more people fall into this "i am just a
volunteer" mentality because of the present way staff is organized. And
this is usually helped by instituting order on a professional level so
that instead of being "just a volunteer" you become an "unpaid
professional".

I've volunteered in a lot of organizations, most of which simply did not
accept the answer of "look, i'm just a volunteer". I mean, if my CAP
commander called for my availability for SAR sorties, what would I say..
"Gee Major, I dont really feel like flying today, uh, besides im justa
volunteer"? It'd be the last thing I said. Or when I was on a volunteer
fire fighter. Do you think those guys blew off their responsibility? No
way. Or when I taught CPR/First Aid/AED for the Red Cross...what if I
just said "nah, im just a volunteer, ill just not show up at that
class". Yes, you can fire a volunteer, and the Red Cross doesn't have
any problem with doing so.

Now you might say "Gee Nathan, thats different, we're just an
organization on the internet". And I say that is exactly the attitude
you should NOT have. Board of Directors, how many times do you sit down
and think "what is grex NOT doing to promote free speech and free access
on the internet that we COULD be doing right now?" I mean, looking at
the BoD minutes...(this is just my opinion, not trying to be
offensive)...the BoD spends WAAY too much time micromanaging Grex. I
mean, discussion of the PC weasel? You should be discussing
GOALS...planning on how you can better accomplish your mission
statement. Forming committees for initiatives. Need an
initiative?...here is one: What is Grex doing to help promote a neutral
internet?

I say you people need to THINK BIG. Not about becoming big in size, but
rather big in impact. Grex is supposed to be about much more than just
running a BBS.

response 30 of 66:

Sep 26 00:02 UTC 2006

re #27
Most places operate that way.  I mean..we're talking about gross misconduct
for a membership to make motions to remove a sysadmin but at the same time
someone with a good reason could probably muster a reaction.

response 32 of 66:

Sep 26 00:54 UTC 2006

Listen, I had lunch with Hellman so don't tell me about crypto, okay?
(Hellman's mayonaisse that is..)

response 34 of 66:

Sep 26 17:34 UTC 2006

re #33
(Me, too.  Not only that, I was on a speaker panel with him.)

response 36 of 66:

Sep 26 18:15 UTC 2006

His hair smells like strawberries.

response 38 of 66:

Sep 26 23:59 UTC 2006

I realize it's a bit late, but what's the phone number to dial into the board
meeting?

response 40 of 66:

Sep 27 01:45 UTC 2006

Guess that sort of rules out me calling in.  Okay.

response 42 of 66:

Sep 27 04:13 UTC 2006

Them's the breaks, I suppose.

response 44 of 66:

Sep 27 19:08 UTC 2006

nharmon in resp:28 :: deja vu all over again.  I heard that speech 
-- both parts of it, the "professional" one and "we should be a bigger
organization with more impact" one -- on M-net, maybe half a dozen times.
Usually it led to grief.

What sticks in my mind is a line from the non-profit organization 
lawyer who M-net consulted once.  As it was reported at the time,
the line was:   "You can't make the membership go somewhere it doesn't
want to go."

response 46 of 66:

Sep 27 19:38 UTC 2006

I dunno. I just feel that Grex has so much more potential. I feel that
Grex could do so much more for many more people if it just made that
next leap in terms of quality and intensity. So single person can get us
there, its going to need to be a team effort. Here is what we need to do:

1. Everyone needs to put more work into the organization. Everyone means
everyone, from members on the BoD to conference fairwitnesses. It isn't
enough just to attend regular meetings. We need to be creating,
experimenting, planning and implementing new ideas, encouraging new
members. I know that Grexers tend to be extremely busy people, but just
a few more minutes of brainfocus goes a long way. Maybe its just taking
5 minutes to pick up the phone and call the Free Software Foundation, or
spending a few minutes in party to meet and greet new users. Every
little effort helps.

2. Grex needs to incorporate professional development plans if it ever
hopes to recruiting more staff. You simply can't expect knowledgable
system administrators to come from nowhere. New staff should be
cultivated from the user pool because those people already have the
motivation and committment.

3. Grex needs to take advantage of its resources. I never cease to be
amazed by the talent we have on here. We have PhDs, professional system
administrators, programmers...the list goes on. We're sitting on a
goldmine of technical prowess that just isn't being tapped.

4. Grex needs to raise the level of professionalism. This isn't optional
in my opinion. And it isn't difficult. Those of us who are IT
professionals already do it every day. We simply need to bring the same
sense of responsibility to Grex that we bring to our careers.

I think if we put our personalities, egos, and personal agendas aside
and work on Grex's mission, a lot of other things will fall into place.
 It is all about "service before self" for our members and for each other.

response 48 of 66:

Sep 27 20:08 UTC 2006

It wasn't meant to be funny, Todd.