[OpenID] What election?

David Recordon drecordon at sixapart.com
Wed Dec 3 01:22:52 UTC 2008 

Hey Eran and Chris,
One thing the Foundation's membership committee (which I'm a part of)  
is doing is reaching out directly to about ~250 individuals and  
organizations who started to register as a member of the Foundation  
but didn't complete it.  This is directly timed to coincide with the  
election.

That said, I don't personally disagree with a lot of your points  
either and do hope that Eran gets elected to the board to help change  
the organization.  I do however see the other side of this as well in  
terms of why the Foundation is currently in the state that it is.   
Were I to do the foundation again, I'd do it differently though I  
wouldn't still be involved if I didn't think where we stand today was  
fixable.

--David

On Dec 2, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Chris Messina wrote:

> +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.
>
> _______________________________________________
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> 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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