Re: GNOME Marketing Team Meeting Today

[Dave Neary <dneary gnome org>]

Hi,

Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier wrote:
> Long-term, what tools (aside from the mailing list) can we use for
> more efficient collaboration? The more we can do that doesn't require
> real-time meetings, the better. (We should have occasional real-time
> meetings, but the times will never work for everyone.)

I've been thinking of what kind of organisations need communication like
ours. The best I can come up with is globally distributed armed guerilla
groups.

Bear with me for a sec.

Typically, there are 3 key problems that guerilla groups have:
1. Local recruitment
2. Global co-operation and co-ordination
3. Local independent action

Local groups leverage globally visible events, both good (we struck an
important blow for the cause) & bad (the bad guys are conspiring against
us) to recruit new members into local chapters. Some of these members
get sent to different local chapters or to "corporate" based on their
skillset, others stay local.

Global groups co-ordinate the local groups from time to time, ask for
manpower for certain operations, but basically set a strategic direction
and are happy to recruit the jihadists who show the most potential in
the local organisations for further training & "higher goals".

And local groups are happy to have general direction set via regularly
communicated messages, while maintaining total independence to grow,
recruit & act locally.

Every now & then, new local groups arise from nothing, and get co-opted
into the global infrastructure through a network built on personal
connections and confidence.

Doesn't that sound like us?

Anyway - just brainstorming on what kinds of structures have our
problems, and how they've addressed them, to see if there's anything we
can learn. This thought is still quite vague, not sure how valuable it
is yet... let's see where the idea goes.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
dneary gnome org