[TYPO3-UG US] IT Manager's Journal | Dana Farber turns toTYPO3 and Enomaly for cancer-research site

[Jennifer Lynch]

Well, there seems to be a competition on who gets the last word here--might
as well throw my submission into the ring....

I don't know anyone in the typo3 u.s. community that has done more for the
cause than Michelle and Alex.  While list members on typo3us have been
unceasingly involved in creating theoretical structures for accomplishing
the us site, building suppositional ways to "get a return" on their efforts
before committing to doing any volunteer work on the site, finding ways to
corner the market on being "official sponsors", or even, as Reuven suggested
starting an alternative effort that ignores the progress made on the typo3
us site so far, Michelle and Alex have been working like mad during a time
when their own business is really taking off and requiring their attention.
I KNOW how much work they've done, because it's there to be seen, and not
because they spend any time promoting themselves or boasting about the
amazing things they've accomplished.  Michelle has been an extraordinary
asset for typo3 here in the States, putting out effective press releases,
responding to public, corporate, and academic inquiries about typo3, and
constantly working to protect and improve typo3's reputation and visibility
here in the states.  It was Alex and Michelle's case study on implementing
typo3 in an academic environment that I presented at Harvard at the Oscom
conference there about three years ago that prompted Harvard, Stanford,
Texas Tech, the University of Toronto, and the university system of Rhode
Island (among others) to choose typo3 for their projects.  They are
amazingly generous with their time, their consideration, and their referring
clients to other typo3 developers for projects and recommending other
developers for awards.  I haven't seen a lot of appreciation on the part of
the list for their contributions.

For the list to use Alex's attempt to make sure the information that goes
out is accurate, as a pretext to attack his motivation and his sincerity
seems to me to be a piss poor way to repay his and Michelle's constant
efforts to promote typo3.  I have never known either one of them to be
petty, self-serving, or be anything less than ardent supporters of typo3 and
the typo3 community.  They have constantly put out that effort without
running a tally of how they will personally gain from it.  I think it would
be a good time to really find out how much they do and show some
appreciation for that.  (I'd hate to think Michelle's efforts have been
ignored because she's a woman, but sometimes, dear readers, I can't help but
wonder.)

So now to the final word.  Just try to be as clear and accurate about the
claims you make and the work you do--if you see something that's inaccurate
about typo3, speak up and try to make sure the inaccuracies are corrected.
Do as much as you can personally to contribute in a helpful way to the list
and to the typo3 us project.  Give credit where credit is due, and show some
appreciation for the people who really show their involvement by doing solid
work for the cause.  We need to be a cohesive group to be effective.
Cohesion comes from a shared understanding of our purpose as a group and
expressing support for each other.  It isn't a Monopoly board, it isn't a
game of Risk, it's not a Donald Trump aggressive practices apprenticeship.
If we all concentrate on doing our best and contributing as much as we can,
if we support all honest effort within the group, we'll all be better off.

Jennifer

On 3/13/06 7:47 AM, "Dimitri Tarassenko" <mitka at mitka.us> wrote:

> Michelle,
> 
> On 3/13/06, Michelle Heizer <michelle at typo3.us> wrote:
> 
>> Alex's comment was professional and didn't resort to any name-calling or
>> negative attitude.
> 
> Can I ask you and Alex for a favor - if you (and/or Alex) ever see my
> name or my company's name (Advanced Computing Technologies, Inc.) in a
> press release that has not enough "truth" to your liking, would you
> please check with me first and post your professional comments online
> later? You had a great idea yesterday that Reuven should've run this
> article by you before publishing - I am just elaborating.
> 
> As to Alex's comment not being negative - if he added something
> _positive_, like a link to typo3.org website or typo3 association, I
> would believe you. Or a link to typo3.us website - wait wait - this
> one is still where?
> 
> The problem here is not this particular post or Alex'es "fight for
> truth" - think in terms of how likely a U.S. business is to associate
> itself with TYPO3 in the future if members of TYPO3 community will
> screw up their publicity efforts and TYPO3's "official point of
> contact in US" will endorse this type of behaviour.
> 
> Whatever namecalling we resort to here in the list is not as important
> - it's our internal thing. Having a unified voice in the media is much
> more critical, and Alex'es post was not contributing to it. And if you
> think this unified voice is going to happen by you reviewing and
> endorsing ALL press releases in US - hate to break it to you, this is
> not how it works.
> 
> Go on, tell us about "truth", and some mythical people complaining
> about having incorrect information again. If you don't see any problem
> there, I do see a problem with your judgement. I am done with this
> discussion.
> 
> --
> Dimitri Tarassenko
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