In a community-led Project, it's crucial to collect feedback, comments and proposals from all the volunteers and shape the strategy and the direction accordingly. And if this is really easy for what concerns the "software" being completely Open Source and available to anybody who wants to submit a Pull Request or propose a Request for Comments, the same it's not so immediate when it comes to the organization, the teams and the leadership.
Sometimes, in fact, there has been the perception that the user base is disconnected from the leadership, the community far from the "inner circles", with someone considering also the Board being closed in its "ivory tower".
This misunderstanding is caused by a wrong or too little communication. The perceived distance is given by lack of discussion or even interest in reaching out the leadership to share or comment ideas.
Otherwise, as opposite of the software development that "happens" in a public repository open to everyone, the project/teams operations as well as strategic discussions occur in private places, email threads, Glip channels, online (closed) meetings and similar means.
All this led to low confrontation, little cross-pollination, no variety in perspectives and limited options.
That's why we decided to break up the silos and create a public place where to: share, propose, discuss, give feedback.
Everyone, no matter if member, contributor, leader, first-timer or outsider, can propose their ideas, comment others' proposals, give feedback. And for this, we are using the same tool as the developers: GitHub.
The public repository is called "Contact us" and it allows everyone to share ideas and contribute to others' ones.
And there are already several discussions going on: about membership, about the leadership structure, voting policies, accountability and much more.
So, don't be shy, your feedback is valuable and most welcomed.
