[sakai-pmc] Final Final Community Survey - by Thursday, October 24

[Neal Caidin]

Hi Anthony,

I’m not claiming that these are the be-all and end-all of questions to get feedback, but I don’t think they are all that terrible either, and apparently neither do the 3 or 4 community members from whom I asked for feedback. Keep in mind that these surveys are completely voluntary, so if a CTO/CIO/VP or senior developer is somehow offended by the survey (not sure if that is what you mean?) or doesn’t like it for whatever reason, they can simply skip it. And I don’t mind saying that the survey is from the Sakai Community Coordinator and not from the PMC, so if it really is as bad as you make out, I could be the one being accountable. 

So here are a couple of other things I’m wondering about:

* Is there any reason that the ideas from the Educause discussion (future strawperson), and this survey, cannot both be done? Does one take away from the other?

* While I did ask for the PMC for approval to proceed, on reflection, as the Community Coordinator, and wanting feedback from the community,  would I be terribly out of bounds if I went ahead and sent the survey anyway, even if the PMC was not fully behind it? Shouldn’t I really be empowered to ask for whatever kind of feedback I would like anytime I would like? Isn’t that part of a Community Coordinator’s role?

My intention with this survey, unlike the primary focus of the two other surveys we’ve done this year, includes seeing if there are any trends that might help us decide what actions might be worth the effort to encourage community participation. I also envision using it as a way to initiate discussion with individuals in the community, it could be used as an icebreaker to open up new channels of communication. 

I would rather do something, even if it is not the greatest approach in the world, than do nothing. I could wait till your strawperson comes out, but on the surface I can’t think of why it makes sense. The main risk of waiting is (assuming that I proceed with this survey, which doesn’t seem like a given) would be that we will start getting closer to the holidays and would that impact response rates?

I have to admit that hearing what I interpret as a strong negative reaction from you, does make me think twice about whether this is a good idea (and what I am missing about why it may be a bad idea. I don’t get it.). I’ve had some, what I interpret as positive, feedback from several PMC members, but not exactly an overwhelmingly positive energy (but sometimes that’s just the way these email things go anyway, so it can be shaky to read too much into it, imo).

I’m still thinking about it and open to additional feedback.

Cheers,
Neal



Neal Caidin
Sakai CLE Community Coordinator
neal.caidin at apereo.org
Skype: nealkdin
Twitter: ncaidin









On Oct 22, 2013, at 6:14 PM, Anthony Whyte <arwhyte at umich.edu> wrote:

> While I appreciate the effort I am not a fan of this survey.  It is pitched at institutions/organizations but not necessarily at the right people.  It adopts the wrong tone and poses the wrong sorts of questions, especially Q6-Q9, and Q11.  The idea that we would ask "Executive Management (CTO/CIO/VP, Director, etc.)" or a senior developer with tons of game, let alone others, to fill out this questionnaire strike me as the wrong approach.
> 
> Personally, I'm not all that interested in querying people as to why their organizations choose not to participate actively in the life of the community (Q7).   I'm sorry but none of the options suggested in Q8 are going to change the current level of engagement in any fundamental way, so why suggest them?   Q9 strikes me as too polite in the asking and lists options tied to groups and tasks that reflect what we do today but not necessarily how we should organize ourselves for tomorrows challenges. The Q11 group already exists; it's called the Sakai PMC.
> 
> I think we should set this survey aside.   We should instead hammer out a strategy for a given period in which we articulate project goals, identify our needs, and then pursue aggressively whatever contributor talent we need to execute on our goals.  We lead with strategy not surveys.  We knock on doors rather than slip a questionnaire underneath and hope for a reply.
> 
> At Educause I engaged in a number of useful discussions with John Bush, Sam Ottenhoff, Chuck Severance (actually post-conference with csev) and others in the Sakai Community who were in attendance.  Along with Seth I'm going to distill the ideas that were discussed into a straw man strategy doc that we will deliver to the PMC on or before Friday, 8 November 2013 for discussion and hopefully, if it proves of value, action.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Anth
> 
> anthony whyte | its and mlibrary | university of michigan | arwhyte at umich.edu | 517-980-0228
> 
> 
> On Oct 22, 2013, at 10:14 AM, Neal Caidin wrote:
> 
>> To Sakai-PMC,
>> 
>> https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?PREVIEW_MODE=DO_NOT_USE_THIS_LINK_FOR_COLLECTION&sm=U0kajcfdi9qBPSVdaH%2bpVOrwTHuNSMKIOQR8MnBrHsU%3d
>> 
>> I think the only change I've made is that I consolidated the roles a little bit, and added an "other" textbox if somebody does not fit into any of those roles. So if you were okay with the survey before, you probably still will be.
>> 
>> If I don't hear back from anybody by this Thursday, October 24, by silent consent I will assume it is okay to send out to the community. 
>> 
>> BTW, I had a few community members (non-PMC types) take a sneak preview and they think it looks good.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Neal
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Neal Caidin
>> Sakai CLE Community Coordinator
>> neal.caidin at apereo.org
>> Skype: nealkdin
>> Twitter: ncaidin
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> sakai-pmc mailing list
>> sakai-pmc at collab.sakaiproject.org
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> 

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