From: Mike
Milinkovich [mailto:mike.milinkovich@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 5:11 PM
To: 'WTP PMC'; 'DSDP PMC list'
Cc: 'eclipse.org-board'
Subject: Invitation: Board Presentation on September 17, 2008
The Board of Directors of the Eclipse
Foundation has asked the EMO to begin inviting PMCs to provide updates
to the Board at least annually. I would like to invite the WTP and DSDP
PMCs to present to the Board at our face-to-face meeting on Wednesday,
September 17, 2008.
There is no need for travel, as we can arrange
for a conference telephone. However, if someone is willing to represent
the PMC at the meeting please let me know.
Setting Expectations:
In addition to the report outline below, here
is a little background on what the Board is looking for:
1.
The primary goal of this interaction
should be to increase board awareness of what is happening in the
projects today and tomorrow. These updates should be a positive
experience for the projects, an opportunity to inform that Board about
the issues they are facing and what the Eclipse Foundation can do to
help them be more successful.
2.
Expect that the call or presentation
with the Board will be approximately 30 minutes in length.
3.
The PMC report to the Board should be a
written report. Slides may be optionally provided, but are not required.
4.
PMCs will be given one calendar quarter
notice of when their report shall be presented to the Board.
5.
Each PMC will be invited to report once
per calendar year.
6.
The written report should be provided
at least one full week prior to the board meeting.
7.
The report will be a public document
available both via the public Board minutes and the project’s web
content.
8.
PMCs manage top-level projects which
are, in turn, comprised of projects. The PMC will have the discretion
to report to the Board at the level of detail it believes most
appropriate. E.g. some PMCs may wish to present themselves as a
cohesive whole. Other may wish to provide reports on each of their
sub-projects.
9.
The report will be presented to the
Board by the PMC (co-)leader(s).
10.
When actually presenting to the Board:
a.
The PMC leaders will typically be on
the phone, unless it is easy for them to be in person due to
circumstances (e.g. the board meeting is at EclipseCon)
b.
Board members will have the opportunity
to ask questions. They will be asked to please try to resist the
temptation to ask technical questions J
Subsequent to the
presentation to the Board, it would in my opinion be also extremely
beneficial if these reports were also presented to the Membership in
the next quarterly membership meeting/conference call. We can talk
about that separately.
Report Outline:
1.
Review of project scope and charter,
and a description of where within the defined scope work is actually
taking place. The PMC should also provide some guidance as to whether
the scope and charter documents should be revised. Things may have
changed since the charter was approved by the Board.
2.
A high-level review of technical
progress, strategy and release plans.
3.
Self-assessment of the performance of
the project under the following headings (inspired by the Three
Communities section of the Development Process):
·
Performance as an Eclipse open
source project, with specific self assessments on the following:
i.
Openness
ii.
Transparency
iii.
Meritocracy
iv.
Diversity
v.
Compliance with the Purposes (e.g. are
they successfully “…supplying
frameworks and exemplary, extensible tools..”?)
·
End user community and adoption.
E.g. are there lots of downloads, bugs, contributors, newsgroup
postings, …? Note that I believe that while the absolute numbers are
interesting, the more important data-point is the project’s assessment
of how those numbers compare to their own expectations for the project.
·
Commercial community and
adoption. E.g. is the technology from the project showing up in
products.
4.
Compliance with the Roadmap
5.
Board Assistance: What are the areas
where the Board could be helping the PMC be more effective? E.g.
Explain the “top three” problems that the Board needs to solve for the
Project in the next year? (e.g., IP backlog, improving diversity,
whatever).
·
The Board will provide a written
response to the issues raised.
6.
Noteworthy: What are the things about
the project not covered above which the Board should know?
Mike
Milinkovich
Executive
Director
Eclipse
Foundation, Inc.
Office:
+1.613.224.9461 x228
Mobile:
+1.613.220.3223
mike.milinkovich@xxxxxxxxxxx
blog: http://dev.eclipse.org/blogs/mike