Before we say anything else this week, a quick "Thank You" to the many, many people who responded to last week's blog both directly and by private e-mail. We knew the subject matter would inevitably prove somewhat controversial, but were still surprised by the reaction, both here in the blog and elsewhere.
That said, we think there are a couple of points/comments that we would like to make related to the past week's goings-on.
Before we do that, however, we would like to celebrate the good news today that a new branch of COMMON and an associated YiPs (Young i Professionals) group have been launched in South Africa. Back after a 14 year absence! After a long respite, the i and Power Systems community there seems to have decided that there's a need for an organization to unite and serve them. Best of luck to the newly re-born COMMON organization in Africa.
Now on to the comments:
1. Just to be absolutely clear. This isn't--and never was--just about money. As we stated in last week's post, the financial issue merely forced us to re-evaluate our involvement. We had been unhappy with the direction that COMMON has been taking for some long time. Like many other volunteers, we had tried to influence that direction from within the organization, but we haven't seen significant change in direction. We have been asked for input by the Board of Directors of COMMON and will be attempting to formulate our thoughts over the next few days to respond to that request, but we thought it would be good to hear a few more ideas from our readers first.
2. We're not the only speakers and volunteers affected by this. We personally know of others who will not be attending for similar reasons. While on the surface finances may be the issue, many have indicated to us via private e-mails that they have similar concerns to our own.
3. COMMON needs to reflect the needs and wants of its members. The current voting system really doesn't allow that to happen. Somehow, both the needs of the organizations that send the attendees and the attendees themselves need to have a far greater say in what happens at the board level. Right now the number of people who actually vote in the board elections is very very small. And this will likely continue to be the case because the vote attaches to the company who pays the membership. That company gets one vote, even if they send 20 or 30 people to the conference. We on the other hand, who never get to attend sessions or really participate as "real" members, get two votes! Why? Because it is cheaper for us to buy two individual memberships than a corporate membership and as a result we get twice as much voting power. That doesn't make any sense.
4. In the "old" days when COMMON didn't have a full-time professional staff running the organization, it made sense to only roll-off a limited number of board members each year. It aided in continuity. These days, however, there's staff to provide that continuity. And the limited number of changes that occur on the board each year just seems to make it harder to steer the ship with new blood. It also serves to discourage good people from standing for the board. We've talked to many excellent candidates who ultimately decided not to run because they felt that they couldn't have a significant impact as a lone voice. Heaven forbid we have "political parties" standing for electio, but if a larger group of people were elected to the board each time it would at least make it possible for a group of like-minded people to run with a specific agenda.
5. Last, but not least, we feel COMMON should decide on and focus on its raison d'être. In our mind it has focused on survival for far too long. It has been doing anything and everything to earn the dollars to keep it running without asking "Why" or even "If" it should continue to exist. Without knowing the answers to those questions everything else is irrelevant. In this day of instant answers via internet lists, world-wide internet Webcasts, Facebook and other social-networking sites each and every group needs to ask these questions.
What is the need? Is having a relatively large annual conference and a smaller event each year the primary mission? Are there other things an organization of the i faithful may be doing? Yes, we said "i faithful" since that's the community we are a part of and feel we can speak to. The COMMON organization has decided to embrace the Power Systems community as a whole. Does that dilute its support of i or does it strengthen it? Shouldn't there be a place for an organization devoted to i? Questions such as these are ones we're struggling with and think should be explored.
That said, we think there are a couple of points/comments that we would like to make related to the past week's goings-on.
Before we do that, however, we would like to celebrate the good news today that a new branch of COMMON and an associated YiPs (Young i Professionals) group have been launched in South Africa. Back after a 14 year absence! After a long respite, the i and Power Systems community there seems to have decided that there's a need for an organization to unite and serve them. Best of luck to the newly re-born COMMON organization in Africa.
Now on to the comments:
1. Just to be absolutely clear. This isn't--and never was--just about money. As we stated in last week's post, the financial issue merely forced us to re-evaluate our involvement. We had been unhappy with the direction that COMMON has been taking for some long time. Like many other volunteers, we had tried to influence that direction from within the organization, but we haven't seen significant change in direction. We have been asked for input by the Board of Directors of COMMON and will be attempting to formulate our thoughts over the next few days to respond to that request, but we thought it would be good to hear a few more ideas from our readers first.
2. We're not the only speakers and volunteers affected by this. We personally know of others who will not be attending for similar reasons. While on the surface finances may be the issue, many have indicated to us via private e-mails that they have similar concerns to our own.
3. COMMON needs to reflect the needs and wants of its members. The current voting system really doesn't allow that to happen. Somehow, both the needs of the organizations that send the attendees and the attendees themselves need to have a far greater say in what happens at the board level. Right now the number of people who actually vote in the board elections is very very small. And this will likely continue to be the case because the vote attaches to the company who pays the membership. That company gets one vote, even if they send 20 or 30 people to the conference. We on the other hand, who never get to attend sessions or really participate as "real" members, get two votes! Why? Because it is cheaper for us to buy two individual memberships than a corporate membership and as a result we get twice as much voting power. That doesn't make any sense.
4. In the "old" days when COMMON didn't have a full-time professional staff running the organization, it made sense to only roll-off a limited number of board members each year. It aided in continuity. These days, however, there's staff to provide that continuity. And the limited number of changes that occur on the board each year just seems to make it harder to steer the ship with new blood. It also serves to discourage good people from standing for the board. We've talked to many excellent candidates who ultimately decided not to run because they felt that they couldn't have a significant impact as a lone voice. Heaven forbid we have "political parties" standing for electio, but if a larger group of people were elected to the board each time it would at least make it possible for a group of like-minded people to run with a specific agenda.
5. Last, but not least, we feel COMMON should decide on and focus on its raison d'être. In our mind it has focused on survival for far too long. It has been doing anything and everything to earn the dollars to keep it running without asking "Why" or even "If" it should continue to exist. Without knowing the answers to those questions everything else is irrelevant. In this day of instant answers via internet lists, world-wide internet Webcasts, Facebook and other social-networking sites each and every group needs to ask these questions.
What is the need? Is having a relatively large annual conference and a smaller event each year the primary mission? Are there other things an organization of the i faithful may be doing? Yes, we said "i faithful" since that's the community we are a part of and feel we can speak to. The COMMON organization has decided to embrace the Power Systems community as a whole. Does that dilute its support of i or does it strengthen it? Shouldn't there be a place for an organization devoted to i? Questions such as these are ones we're struggling with and think should be explored.
The overall feeling I have is that of not being well informed by COMMON of why they are making these changes. That subsequently leaves me feeling a little messed with because they want me to donate my time without telling me why everything from my end now needs to be a freebee. As a vendor I am already paying around $3500 to a 10x10 booth.
In the past I have had conversations with some COMMON people about their challenges, but I don't feel like I have the full picture yet. I spoke with a COMMON person earlier this week and told them they should open up their situation to the community (after all, they are a user group, right?) and explain their situation to us so we can at least mourn with them instead of being mad at them. Right now they aren't providing much in the way of wanting to partner with the community/speakers.
I hope to do additional sessions at COMMON because I will be there anyway as a vendor, but I would at least like to barter for my sessions - money doesn't always need to exchange hands. We shall see if bartering is in the deck of playing cards that COMMON holds :-)
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com
Posted by: Aaron Bartell | November 18, 2009 at 10:30 AM
It's my opinion that the iManifest project realized in the U.S. market should probably have risen from COMMON roots, if COMMON were accomplishing some of the purpose I expect from it. The fact that it did not (as far as I know), and that ex-IBM notaries are subscribing to the iManifest advertising project, seems symptomatic of the dysfunction you describe. One might suggest that the iManifest is more of a focus on the profit side of the equation, whereas COMMON should maybe be focused on scholarly knowledge sharing and i user collaboration. Maybe it's my capitalist upbringing coming out here, but I don't see a conflict between those interests. After all, if we can't run IBM i at a profit, what's the point of having it in the first place? The profit makers and the solution wizards must be able to cooperate to complete the whole picture - which is what we all (should) have in COMMON.
Posted by: George Loose | November 18, 2009 at 12:40 PM
I'm "just a guy" who works in IT as a software developer. These are just some of my thoughts that may not be tightly organized, but I felt that a "regular guy" needed to comment.
The only time I have ever gone to COMMON was in 2008 in Nashville. The only reason I went was because the company I work for footed the bill. My manager has been very active in the LUG: MMSA and he is the real reason there was any budget for COMMON attendance. In 2009 most if not all of our education budget has been slashed. Not to mention that many within the company lost their jobs due to the economic downturn. Everyone else that kept their jobs, lost 5% or 10% of their pay. Ouch! Glad I kept my job.
We still have membership in the Dallas FtWorth Local User Group: MMSA (Metro Midrange Systems Association).
Prior to April 2008, I was an RPG-III programmer supporting JDEdwards World A7.3. Since attending COMMON in April 2008, I have gradually become an "RPG Freeform" programmer using a free copy of WDSC. I still have a lot to learn. Most if not all of my programs still have sub-routines (and not sub-procedures). Currently I prefer compiling everything as a program and have not "found a good enough reason" to complicate things with modules. In my RPG-III mind, everything is still a compiled program object called as an "external program" or an "external procedure".
I am very grateful to my manager and this company for "paying my way" to COMMON in 2008. I am also very grateful for everything I learned in Susan Gantner's classes at COMMON. Those classes in just a few days allowed me to use WDSC and to learn how to become an RPG Freeform programmer. Now, it's obvious that I didn't learn everything I heard, I only learned some of what I heard. But I am a much different programmer today than I was then.
All of that being said, I can't afford to go to COMMON and pay that out of my pocket. I also don't have many vacation days. This is my life. I have young kids. Young kids need time and attention and other stuff. I have a family. Families need vacations and other stuff. I attend church. Church needs my time, a little money and other stuff. Most of the "other stuff" costs money. Oh and by the way, work seems to take up more time lately. Projects designed to save the company money. Projects designed to reduce the burden of support. These are aggressive projects with deadlines.
While I would love to attend COMMON again in the future, realistically I can probably only afford the yearly 1-day seminars offered locally through the local user group. So in spite of what I would like to learn if "someone else paid my way" to COMMON, what I can afford to learn is really what is offered locally through the local user group or through a Web-cast on my home or work computer. I would love to attend COMMON. There is a lot to learn. In the past, I was a paying customer because the company paid, but the cold hard facts are this: it really is all about the money.
Now, I'm just a "regular guy" and just 1 guy. I have no idea if my situation can compare with other folks that attend COMMON. I hope this helps.
Posted by: Marvin Russell | November 18, 2009 at 03:15 PM