[Ubuntu-be] About the Belgian Local Community Team (Belgian LoCo Team) - follow up

[Jurgen Gaeremyn]

jean7491 wrote:
> To react on previous remarks :
>
> 1. Jürgen wrote about a "feitelijk bestuur" : if personally I am 
> active in the Belgian LoCo Team since 8 months, I've no mandate from 
> this LoCo team. To pursue initiatives or to start new ones, I need the 
> support of the LoCo Team, not through the mailing list, but as a 
> minimum a council, a kind of executive office. People don't like 
> responsibility and prefer a not formal organization where there is none.
> As a long term process, the Belgian LoCo Team will have to find its 
> own organization and volunteers to take over the responsibility to 
> lead the LoCo Team. The first step is to think about this issue and 
> define need and solution.
I think this is a much heard request - unfortunately mostly by persons 
not planning to engage in this responsibility (the ones actually taking 
the responsibility prefer a more community-driven approach).
All the threads tackling this issue right now (the blueprint idea not in 
the least!) are very promising! (let's hope something nice grows out of it)

I must admit though that this this seemingly "bantering" about issues is 
a typical given for open source movement. Actually closed businesses 
often need as much time to evolve (possibly caused by other bottle 
necks) - but they only present a finished result. We're actually 
standing in the kitchen to help prepare the food... we're not just 
sitting in the restaurant.

>
> 2. Within the members of the LoCo Team, there is a potential of 
> willingness to help the community. In the wiki, there is a page where 
> you can report about your skills, not limited to technical skills, 
> interests, contacts and other possibility to help : 
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BelgianTeam/Skills.
Mmm... not many people on that list :s
Adding my name to that list (of 5) feels a little pretentious...
>
> 3. IRC meetings: this is a synchronous channel of communication where 
> we can quickly exchange information. It was started with regular 
> meetings as a way to revive Ubuntu-be. The level of the exchange is 
> related to the participants and their input. It is not a decision 
> making organ. We can't expect 6 to 8 participants taking decisions 
> which are binding the community.
> If there is a better moment or a better way to conduct the IRC 
> meeting, just post it in the mailing list.
Point taken.
>
> 4. Events : in april 2009 we created the Events Team, with the 
> ambition to develop it as a driving wheel to organize events, with the 
> help of volunteers.  The team is working across the whole country and 
> should be operational during the second semester 2009. The Events Team 
> looks for contact with people offering to help Ubuntu-be.
> You can reach this team at https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-be-events  
> (Link Contact this team),  if you have a Launchpad account.
> For people without  such an account, contact  me. I am looking for 
> another solution to be included in the webpage to replace the existing 
> addresses (bart#ubuntu.com - Wesley#ubuntu.com).
> I've no idea who are these persons ?
With some PHP writing skills... this page can easily be inserted into 
the base pages of the site. I'm not skilled at Drupal at all (using 
Joomla myself), but I would gladly help developing a tool to extract 
content out of pages (have a look at the Snoopy class for logging in)
>
> 5. For basic and other issues, we should prepare the work not through 
> the mailing list, but first with task focused groups, ad hoc teams or 
> permanent teams, for example:
> - organization of the LoCo Team : an ad hoc team,
> - event : existing Events Team,
> - promotion material, sponsoring, event-boxes and logistic : a 
> permanent Marketing Team (to be created), ...
> Members of the LoCo Team are then informed about the products or 
> proposals of the teams through the mailing list.
Can't wait to see this grow! :)
>
> 6. To start with thinking about organization and structure, I will 
> start this week an ad hoc wiki page where to add ideas on this issue.
I guess you'll see me on there too :)
> Regards
> -- 
> Jean Huberts
> /Ubuntu Belgium Events Team/
>