The role of the president
Fri, 09-Dec-2005 by
Bill Odom
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If you've read through the first few posts here on the brand-new TPF blog (and you really should; they're good), you've learned at least a little about what we do and how we do it, and about some of the folks involved. It's a busy bunch of people, volunteering their not-so-copious free time to work on TPF tasks.
So what's the president do?
Well, I've spent these first few weeks helping to put people, processes, and tools in place for us to do a better job fulfilling TPF's mission:
<blockquote>
The Perl Foundation is dedicated to the advancement of the Perl programming language through open discussion, collaboration, design, and code.
</blockquote>
Of course, much of my "help" has consisted of me asking <a href="http://www.perlfoundation.org/sc/">others</a> to do the real heavy lifting. Many of the items in Richard's <a href="http://news.perlfoundation.org/2005/12/an_unofficial_welcome_to_the_n_1.html">earlier summary of activities</a> are a result of me poking and prodding, asking questions, and, well, generally being a pest. Thankfully, I'm surrounded by people that are really, really <em>good</em> at the heavy lifting, and at dealing with my pestering.
As we get more of the fundamentals in place, my role will shift to setting goals and direction, and toward executing specific projects in line with those goals. You can see evidence of this already; this blog, for example, is a step toward better and more frequent communication. The reporting that Richard mentioned in the <a href="http://news.perlfoundation.org/2005/12/working_on_reporting_working_o.html">previous post</a> will provide greater transparency and accountability. You'll soon see more activity around outreach and promotion. Sure, these are just initial steps, but they're important, and there are more to come.
In preparation for the goals-and-direction side of things, I'm spending a stupefying amount of time on the phone, in IM, and in e-mail. (I thought I couldn't possibly deal with any more e-mail. Turns out I was wrong. Heh.) I'm talking with lots of people, both inside TPF and otherwise, to learn how TPF can use its resources to best serve the community.
As I said in a recent e-mail to the TPF Steering Committee list...
<blockquote>
There are as many worthwhile things to do as we have time and energy to do them.
</blockquote>
The interesting -- and difficult -- part is determining where to focus that time and energy, and how best to execute once we've made that determination. These are also areas where we most want the community's input and involvement, so don't hesitate to let us know what you're thinking.
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Comments (2)
i just came cross this post on perlmonks
http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=514562
i guess someone from TPF can give some attention to
'perlmonks fund' as perlmonks people never get the fund donated thr tpf
'require of donation receipt" by saberworks
btw, the comments box in the form is so small. are you guys trying to limit the comment size? ;-)
my appology at last as i don't know where i can post this.
Kurt DeMaagd (TPF treasurer) has posted a follow-up in the Perlmonks thread, answering some of the questions raised there:
http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=517563
I'll also send a note to the right people about the donation receipt. Like nearly everything else, that process is in the middle of being overhauled, too.
As for where to ask questions like this, you can always send a note to the "pr" address at perlfoundation.org, and the question will be forwarded to the person or people best able to respond.
Thanks for the comment, and the heads-up.
