Openness and transparency are two of the more important principles at Eclipse and outward communication is an important part of both. It is through outward communication that we let the community know what’s going on. I recently sent out an email, for example, declaring to the community that the Doc2Model project proposal is now available for review. This outward communication is an example of transparency as we are using to inform the community of what is happening. It is an example of openness, as it is intended to invite interested parties to bring their ideas and resources to the project. It is just one part of the communication story.
I’ve been thinking a lot about communication lately. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about the utility of sending notification emails. We send an email to notify the membership of new project proposals, up-coming reviews, and other such things. Are these emails actually useful? Do they end up in your “Junk” folder? Do you read them and say “I have got to get me one of those?”
Our “What’s new” page contains all the information you need to keep up with the project proposal and review activities. There’s even an RSS feed for it. I was starting to think that this was enough. But this morning, I received two responses to my recent email announcing the Doc2Model proposal. So, clearly somebody is reading the emails. I suppose that we could also set up a Twitter feed of some sort, and maybe blog more consistently about these events.
In any case, it’s all about the community. It’s all about making sure that everybody gets a chance to participate. I just don’t want to be part of the conspiracy.
I look forward to seeing everyone at Eclipse Summit Europe next week!
