Re: A proposal for revising the rules on TAG Participation

kudos to Noah - you have created a concrete, practical and simple proposal that should work in practice, addressing the various concerns.

regards, Frederick

Frederick Hirsch, Nokia
@fjhirsch



On Jul 4, 2014, at 12:23 PM, ext Noah Mendelsohn <nrm@arcanedomain.com<mailto:nrm@arcanedomain.com>> wrote:

I've been thinking about the recent controversy for the last few days. I think there's merit on both sides of the question, but on balance it seems that the Web community might benefit if the rules on TAG participation were somewhat relaxed. Specifically, I propose that the following be considered for the TAG (but not necessarily for the AB). The essence of the change I propose is

<current rules [1]>
2.5.1 Advisory Board and Technical Architecture Group Participation Constraints


Given the few seats available on the Advisory Board and the TAG, and in order to ensure that the diversity of W3C Members is represented:

  *   A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the TAG.
  *   A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the AB.
  *   An individual MUST NOT participate on both the TAG and the AB.

If, for whatever reason, these constraints are not satisfied (e.g., because a TAG or AB participant changes jobs), one participant MUST cease TAG or AB participation until the situation has been resolved. If after 30 days the situation has not been resolved, the Chair will declare one participant's seat to be vacant. When more than one individual is involved, the verifiable random selection procedure<http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/organization.html#random> described below will be used to choose one person for continued participation.

</current rules>

<proposed revision>
2.5.1 Advisory Board and Technical Architecture Group Participation Constraints


Given the few seats available on the Advisory Board and the TAG, and in order to ensure that the diversity of W3C Members is represented:

  *   An Member organization is permitted at most one participant two participants on the TAG. However, if a change of affiliation of an already seated member causes this limit to be violated, up to three members from the same organization may participate until results of the next TAG election become effective.
  *   A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the AB.
  *   An individual MUST NOT participate on both the TAG and the AB.

If, for whatever reason, these constraints are not satisfied (e.g., because a TAG or AB participant changes jobs), one participant MUST cease TAG or AB participation until the situation has been resolved. If after 30 days the situation has not been resolved, the Chair will declare one participant's seat to be vacant. When more than one individual is involved, the verifiable random selection procedure<http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/organization.html#random> described below will be used to choose one person for continued participation.

<proposed revision>

I would love to see a change like this made in time for Alex to resume his membership, or else that special dispensation be made in his case if the change is approved.

BTW: the deletion of the word "member" is because employees of non-member organizations can serve as invited experts (as I did after I left IBM). I believe the limits for both AB and TAG should apply to employees of any organizations, not just W3C members. In principle this change should IMO be made whether or not the limits are relaxed; in practice it doesn't seem urgent.

[1] http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/organization.html#AB-TAG-constraints