🚀 go-pugleaf

From: scs@lokkur.dexter.mi.us (Steve Simmons)
>There is a nominations committee for USENIX which is charged with the
>duty of ensuring that there are enough candidates to make a minimum
>slate.

There was a SUG nominations committee, and when things looked not so
great some of us also jumped in and pounded the streets a bit. I don't
know how many people were approached, but it was a lot more than
ultimately agreed to run. I suppose we could always hypothesize
arbitrarily more time and effort that could be spent on this.

Usenix has often had to work hard to get candidates. I've never seen
an election where all slots were challenged. In their most recent
election President, Vice President and Secty were all run
unchallenged. Yet you've gotten the impression that somehow Usenix is
at the extreme other end of the spectrum on this issue from SUG? Odd.

I applaud SAGE for getting a large and good looking slate of
candidates for their first election, it really does look good and I'm
as excited about SAGE as you are (I am sort of involved), but let's
compare notes again in five or ten years as you burn-out a lot of your
initial activists and there's less empire-building and more
maintenance in the job.

It's just the nature of user groups, you have a core of good, activist
people, and then a lot of people who just honestly don't have the time
or some other conflict that prevents them from serving in such a major
capacity, for no money, etc. On the two boards and twenty directors
I've seen go buy I only know of one who's directorship survived his or
her first child...for example, and damn that's reasonable, we'll wait
fifteen years and bug them again!

Anyhow, the important thing is MAKING STUFF HAPPEN.

That's the real goal. The rest is details.

--
        -Barry Shein

Software Tool & Die    | bzs@world.std.com          | uunet!world!bzs
Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 617-739-0202        | Login: 617-739-WRLD