[ovirt-users] [DISCUSSION] oVirt Weekly Sync Goals and Future.

[Brian Proffitt]

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brian Proffitt" <bproffit at redhat.com>
> To: users at ovirt.org
> Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2015 11:24:56 AM
> Subject: Re: [ovirt-users] [DISCUSSION] oVirt Weekly Sync Goals and Future.
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Sandro Bonazzola" <sbonazzo at redhat.com>
> > To: users at ovirt.org
> > Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2015 2:46:42 AM
> > Subject: Re: [ovirt-users] [DISCUSSION] oVirt Weekly Sync Goals and Future.
> > 
> > Il 01/04/2015 17:28, Yaniv Dary ha scritto:
> > > Hi,
> > > In my opinion the current format can be replaced by a etherpad update
> > > that
> > > is sent as a newsletter every week. The current format doesn't add a lot
> > > of
> > > value to the project work and doesn't create a real sync on the ongoing
> > > topics. No decisions are done today there as well.
> > > 
> > > What do you think should be the goal of the weekly meeting? How can we
> > > improve it? Is a newsletter a good enough update?
> > 
> > I think a newsletter can replace the current sync format.
> > 


[snip]

I have been thinking about this over the weekend, and I want to get my two cents in for a possible solution before the meeting tomorrow. Ironically, I will be unable to attend the weekly sync on April 15 due to a doctor's appointment for my daughter... but this in no way reflects that I am not taking the weekly meetings seriously.

I agree that in their current format, the weekly meetings can best be served by a newsletter format. An Etherpad could work, too, though I am concerned that it may fall out of date, since such rolling documents can get stale and a weekly newsletter would be deadline-oriented and thus less likely to be missed or ignored by contributors.

You will note that I stated "in their current format." I still firmly believe that it is imperative we have some kind of real-time public meeting for any interested members of the oVirt community. We often lament that there is a lack of "outside" contributions into oVirt. Closing the door on one way for users and developers to reach the rest of the oVirt community is a step away from being open. Mailing lists are not always enough. But if the meeting has turned into a weekly status report, then perhaps that is not serving the broader community as well, either. 

What I suggest, then, is a series of "office hours," where a rotating set of oVirt team members will commit to being on IRC to answer questions and be generally available. This could be done by one or two people, a few times a week/once a week, and not even a whole hour. Once a schedule is figured out, it would be posted and people would be openly encouraged to participate. This would be an open session on IRC... support questions, contributor inquiries, and just general commentary. It may be quiet sometimes, and sometimes it could be contentious, but the important thing would be that the community would know the office hours are there and they can use the time to address their questions directly to the oVirt team. This would reduce the requirement to attend a weekly IRC meeting by many people, but, if spread out a bit, will actually increase formal presence on the IRC channel.

I hope this suggestion is something that can help. I recognize that we all can use an hour of our lives back from yet-another-meeting, but the importance of real-time availability cannot be understated.

Peace,
Brian

-- 
Brian Proffitt

Community Liaison
oVirt
Open Source and Standards, Red Hat - http://community.redhat.com
Phone: +1 574 383 9BKP
IRC: bkp @ OFTC