[OpenID] What election?

Wed Dec 3 01:12:36 UTC 2008

+10?
I've been wanting to write a similar email ever since I found out,
accidently, that there was an election coming up.

The OpenID.net website is an embarrassment -- the homepage has nary a single
mention of the election and the foundation page doesn't either. It only
mentions the hunt for an ED, which I don't recall when we last were given a
status report on. Wasn't someone interviewed at IIW for the position? Why
are the results of that process not on the blog? And if it is, why is there
no pagination link on the website homepage linking to prior posts?

There is no mention whatsoever of the election, or how to get involved on
the OIDF page; the last piece of official news was from February 2008,
clearly leading one to question whether this indeed has been a banner year
for OpenID or a dud.

The lack of communication from the board or from the foundation or from
anyone to an audience outside and more diverse than the usual suspects is
appalling.

Unlike Eran, I've yet to decide if I want to run for the board. I know that
there's plenty that I could bring to the table, just as I offered over two
years ago to lead a SpreadOpenID project (instead I went on to start OAuth
shortly thereafter). However, in spite of how much faith I've put into
OpenID as a technology and how much I am an advocate, among many others, for
a user-centric conception of the web, it is unclear to me in any capacity
whether the OpenID institution and foundation is the vehicle that will
actually bring about that reality.

Now that I am a dues-paying member of the foundation, I am interested in the
notion of accountability. Where are the answers to Eran's questions? Why
hasn't there been more information about the election produced? And how, if
at all, does the board intend to remedy this situation?

Chris

On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 4:56 PM, Eran Hammer-Lahav <eran at hueniverse.com>wrote:

> The OpenID Foundation community election (which you might not know is
> happening) is a joke. A 100 or so members are going to choose 7 people to
> seat on the board. There are currently 12 people running which means each
> person have a little over 50% chance of winning. Not much for a democracy.
>
> I have been arguing for lower membership fees for about a year now, and
> finally, but embarrassingly secretive, the fees were dropped from $100 to
> $25. It is still not free, but at $25 it is very hard to argue about it.
> Still, the sum of advertising for the current election can be summed up in
> a
> single email sent to this list. The election of community members is the
> single real benefit members have. This is the first election and so the
> first time there is a reason for people to join.
>
> When were the elections announced? The day nomination started... Was there
> a
> membership drive associated? No. Were bloggers contacted about this event
> and the election and membership drive advertised (note the amount of bad
> press OpenID is getting this week because of Facebook Connect)? Not that I
> can tell.
>
> I have friends on the current board but that does not stop me from
> declaring
> it incompetent. I don't need to go after the big failures of how this board
> is unable to get anything done (other than establish itself). I can just
> point to how this election process is being (miss) managed to make my case.
>
> If we can't get 1000 people to join as members, even with a $25 ticket
> price, why do we have a foundation? It is *not* too much to expect 1000
> people to care enough about OpenID to join. Is the foundation there simply
> to make a bunch of large corporation feel more in control over this
> enterprise? (And yes, one of those companies is my employer).
>
> This board had a long meeting at the recent IIW, but ironically, there was
> no membership drive outside the secret meeting room. Is there any more
> relevant group of people to sign up? IIW had more than twice participants
> than OpenID has members. I am sure the foundation could have doubled its
> size right there. Or even ask the IIW organizers to add an option to the
> event registration to also join the OpenID foundation (since people are
> already paying a couple hundred dollars which they are likely to expense).
>
> I am running for a community board seat in the upcoming elections, and this
> is the kind of stuff that drives me nuts and motivated me to run in the
> first place, so consider this me campaigning. I'm not running on a message
> of change. I'm running on a message of a strong kick in the ass.
>
> EHL
>
> Ps. Knowing my gift to piss people off, I am going to do my part in helping
> increase the membership count. If you want to make sure I am not on the
> board, go to http://openid.net/foundation/, spend $25, and vote for
> someone
> else.
>
> _______________________________________________
> general mailing list
> general at openid.net
> http://openid.net/mailman/listinfo/general
>

-- 
Chris Messina
Citizen-Participant &
 Open Technology Advocate-at-Large
factoryjoe.com # diso-project.org
citizenagency.com # vidoop.com
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