Chat with the .NET Foundation Board Candidates - for more information, see https://election.dotnetfoundation.org/
@ericsink hah! I never thought I'd be happy to be a mascot :laughing: but that's an honor and I hope to inspire many others! I appreciate that the service came through enough to be recognized, and I'll be looking for ways to increase the visibility of that service in the community.
@pascalberger / @Lakritzator To me, as someone not well known who was up against a lot of folks who are widely known, I really don't feel bad about it at all or feel like we need a different playing field. I think the reason those people are known is genuine, and I think the community clearly respects the type of contributions that the new members of the board have made so far. Name recognition is an advantage in almost any election. I was prepared for that & OK with it.
What I hear in these concerns is something a little different -- a concern that different kinds of contributions weren't as recognized, or were outweighed by the name recognition. To which I say -- we do not have to be in charge to lead. We have the ability to inform the Board, to provide input to the Board, to start our own initiatives. We have the ability to try to figure out how to reach more of the community, to form other groups, to help them know us and what we stand for. And given the large pool of candidates and the receptiveness of the board members, I think a lot of that may be able to naturally happen in the coming months already.
The people who ran for board seats this year are "helpers" in the best sense, one and all. When you put a bunch of helpers together, good things are going to happen. We don't have to be the ones powering the ship to make a big impact in this community. I encourage this group to stay in touch, to support the board in its endeavors, and to continue any of our own endeavors that we feel are valuable or that need to be more visible.
I had fun being a candidate for the election, never expected to have a good chance in the first place, learned something new and got to know a few people better.
The board turned out very good, I've voted for most of them. Almost 50% women is something I hoped for, but didn't expect, so π
There is just this small nagging feeling, which I tried to describe before, that the election was a bit of a of popularity contest. Due to the sheer amount of information our voters had to go through this was expected. But I agree with the point that this popularity that our board members have is deserved and in the right area.
My first question to them would be how they will represent minorities and promote inclusion. Just to be clear, I wouldn't know the answer either but I find this important as I only see positive effects at my work. I know one person on the board, where I have high hopes on.
Now that we are "out" I hope we can still do something for the foundation and board, so let's see their first actions.