| vt102 | Okay, we are going to go ahead and get started. | 22:13 |
|---|---|---|
| vt102 | Hopefully, the other candidates will join soon. | 22:14 |
| vt102 | This is Andy Cowell. I’ll be moderating tonight and the format will be as follows: | 22:14 |
| vt102 | 1) Brief intro from the candidates | 22:15 |
| vt102 | 2) The moderated Q&A | 22:15 |
| vt102 | We’ll handle the questions by having anyone with a question direct message me that they have one and I'll prompt you in the order they came in by asking you to ask your question on the main channel. | 22:15 |
| vt102 | The candidates will take turns answering. The order will be varied to allow for everyone to have a turn being first. | 22:15 |
| vt102 | Sound good? | 22:16 |
| ssuehle | ack | 22:16 |
| Trev71 | Yes... works fine | 22:16 |
| +stevev | Fine with me. | 22:16 |
| @vt102 | Let's start with the candidate intros. | 22:17 |
| @vt102 | Scott Suehle, please begin | 22:17 |
| +ssuehle | Scott Suehle, Community Manager at Cumulus Networks. Relative newbie to the organization. Bring a different view on the job and hope to make a difference. Worked for Redhat, Duke University, and HP in the past. | 22:19 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. Trev Thorpe? | 22:19 |
| +Trev71 | I am Trev Thorpe, 45 years young, 14+ years in IT. I've done everything from Help Desk to System Administration to my current position VP of IT. | 22:20 |
| +Trev71 | Thanks | 22:20 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. Steven VanDevender? | 22:21 |
| +stevev | I've been on the LOPSA board for almost two years, a LOPSA member since 2006, and have worked in system administration for over twenty years, currently for the University of Oregon. My work on the LOPSA board has been mainly focused on improving membership processes. | 22:21 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. Currently absent or AFK are George Beech, Brian Globerman, and Thomas Uphill. I will note they participated in the earlier session, the transcript of which is linked from lopsa.org | 22:22 |
| @vt102 | If you have a question for the candidates, please message me and I will grant you voice to ask it. | 22:23 |
| @vt102 | I will have the candidates respond in a randomized order. | 22:23 |
| @theWarner | You're a sysadmin, you've won. What will you do as a board member that makes LOPSA better? | 22:25 |
| @vt102 | Trev71, you're first. | 22:25 |
| +Trev71 | Great question! So, what can I do as a board member to make LOPSA better?.. well I think listing to the membership and bringing in experiences and skill sets I have to the table will allow me to help move the organization forward. I believe working as a team with other board members, volunteers and committee members, those experiences will bring ideas and allow for them to be fruitful within the organization. | 22:27 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. I would add, if any attendees have a follow-up question for a candidate, you can msg me with those, too. | 22:28 |
| @vt102 | stevev, you have the floor. | 22:28 |
| +stevev | Listen to our members, work to serve our members within the organization, and pursue LOPSA's goals for education and outreach. | 22:28 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. | 22:29 |
| @vt102 | Suehle, you have the floor. | 22:29 |
| @vt102 | Ssuehle, sorry. | 22:29 |
| +ssuehle | Start with working on the membership base. We are only as strong as the members allow us to be as an organization. We need to actively engage our current membership and get them involved. Once we have a plan to get them engaged we can actively work on increasing the base with new users. | 22:29 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. | 22:30 |
| @vt102 | A question from the moderator: Where do you feel the future of system administration lies, and how should LOPSA address that? | 22:31 |
| @vt102 | Ssuehle, you are first. | 22:31 |
| +ssuehle | Sysadmins are embracing the future and the new face of DevOps. We as LOPSA must pick up that charge and drive it home. Help people embrace the change and help guide the future as new SysAdmins join the ranks. | 22:34 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. Trev71? | 22:34 |
| +Trev71 | That question seems to be pulled right from the last Lopsa-Live and the DevOps Segway that undertook. So, this is a great one I see systems administration simply expanding into new horizons, technologies and specialties, not to mention the amount of vendors with their own lines of equipment, and as always the need for jack of all trade type guys. There is more to technology these days than Windows or Linux or Mac The organiza | 22:35 |
| +Trev71 | tion should consider catering to more of these types of specialties, offering some insight, training perhaps (mentor or direction where to go for solid information/training etc..) vs. generalized System Administration. | 22:35 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. And stevev? | 22:36 |
| +stevev | I see system adminstration as becoming more automated and organizationally integrated, meaning that the role of the sysadmin is providing tools to other people in the organization to manage some things that used to be done directly by sysadmins. LOPSA can aid in this by providing education in new automation tools and methodologies and connecting existing sysadmins to help support each other in figuring out how to best use them. | 22:36 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. | 22:37 |
| @vt102 | I have not received any questions from attendees-- I would encourage you to ask your questions now while you have the opportunity. | 22:40 |
| +Trev71 | If you have them, please ask ! | 22:40 |
| @vt102 | Another question from the moderator then: Should LOPSA focus more on regional conventions, local chapters, the mentor program, or something else entirely? | 22:41 |
| @vt102 | stevev, you're first this time. | 22:41 |
| +stevev | Yes, all of those? I'd say those are the three things we have had at least some success with (but where we can clearly do better). I can't think of anything offhand that we should add to that, especially if it distracts us from improving those. | 22:43 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. Ssuehle? | 22:44 |
| +ssuehle | Focus #1 - Current state of Organization, Focus #2 - Organizational charter and programs, Focus #3 - Events local to users or where users are attending otherwise, Focus #4 - Re-entry to larger events and shows. | 22:44 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. Trev71? | 22:46 |
| +Trev71 | What are the requests coming from the membership, that would be my question prior to trying to answer that fully. Its also a bit difficult from the outside per say, giving a really qualified answer. That said, I do believe member engagement should be a priority for any organization. I see a lot of questions about the future of the organization and its relevance, that came up last time and perhaps that needs be looked into furt | 22:46 |
| +Trev71 | her. | 22:46 |
| +Trev71 | I have to be honest, finding that a hard question to answer quickly.... | 22:46 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. | 22:46 |
| +Trev71 | Not having the insight of being on the board and understanding some of the internal dynamics and challenges... | 22:46 |
| +scott5 | I’ve heard that memberships are on the decline across many organizations, not just technology ones. Do you have any ideas on member retention? | 22:47 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. scott5 has a question: | 22:47 |
| @vt102 | Go ahead, scott5 | 22:47 |
| @vt102 | Sorry, missed the question!! Trev71, you're first. | 22:49 |
| +Trev71 | Keeping people in an organization is based around a few things, value and engagement being a couple that rank highly. | 22:49 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. stevev? | 22:49 |
| +stevev | The theme I hear most in feedback from members and potential members is the question of what LOPSA offers in terms of benefits to members. And I'm not sure we've had a really compelling answer to that question. One of the factors is that it's much easier for people to find like-minded other people without being a member of a professional organization, so our offer of networking isn't as compelling as it used to be. So I think we need | 22:51 |
| +stevev | to focus on having some clear member benefits and a good explanation of them, and in aligning ourselves with those other ways (like meetup.com) that people use to find other sysadmins. | 22:51 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. And Ssuehle? | 22:52 |
| +ssuehle | Working to engage the base and showing that they are valued. Helping the base find ways that can be involved and active. Open paths of communications and actively listening and acting on the needs of the community. | 22:52 |
| @vt102 | Thank you. | 22:53 |
| @vt102 | This is the last call for questions for the candidates. If you have any questions at this time, please let me know. | 22:54 |
| @vt102 | If there are no further questions, then I will end the formal Q&A. I would encourage LOPSA members to engage the candidates on their own time, and come to the vote with a well-informed opinion. | 22:55 |
| @vt102 | Thank you for your participation! | 22:56 |
| +Trev71 | Thanks guys/gals... appreciate the questions | 22:56 |
| +ssuehle | Thanks everyone. Andy and Warner thanks for running this. | 22:57 |
| @theWarner | Thank you, Andy. Candidates, members, and the LC. | 22:57 |
Generated by irclog2html.py 2.14.0 by Marius Gedminas - find it at mg.pov.lt!