[candidate-sr2015] Rob Spanton for Sponsor Interaction

[Rob Spanton]

Hello Friends,

I'm announcing my candidacy for the "sponsor interaction" position on
the Steering Committee.

If I win the vote, then I will only accept the position if the following
SC positions are filled by the following people:

* Engineering: Rich Barlow
* Sponsorship: Rob Spanton
* Events: Sam Phippen
* Schools: Jeremy Morse

If this committee is elected we will run the SR2015 competition event in
a fashion that is identical to SR2014.

I will resign from the committee on the 1st of June.

We have all also agreed to halt the current charity application process.
We expect that it will be halted within the week.

Cheers,

Rob

[Peter Law]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for standing for a committee position and for the effort you
have put in over the last few years in this role.


Since the SC's primary purpose is to provide general direction for the
community, members of the community inevitably look to the committee
for guidance both explicit and implicit. The actions of those on the
committee are therefore reference points for what is expected of and
acceptable from ordinary members.

You have often written about the benefits of getting more people
involved in things, publicising work to share effort and knowledge and
working well in advance of deadlines with contingencies in place.
These are admirable goals which I'm sure everyone would agree have the
potential to make SR better for everyone.

However I think it's fair to say that you've been involved in a number
of cases where things have been done in ways that you appear to object
to. In some cases actions have been taken which either could have or
have had large impacts on the whole of SR, yet only very few people
were aware of them at the time.

While your contribution to SR has been, remains (and I hope will
continue to be) a large one, I have to ask whether, given the above,
you truly believe that you can fulfil the more general aspects of a SC
role?

Please prove me wrong by outlining how you will work to ensure that
clear communication between the SC and community can be maintained!


I sincerely hope that you will consider the topic I've raised here
and respond honestly.

Thank you,

Peter

[Rob Spanton]

On Sun, 2015-01-25 at 16:37 +0000, Peter Law wrote:
> However I think it's fair to say that you've been involved in a number
> of cases where things have been done in ways that you appear to object
> to. In some cases actions have been taken which either could have or
> have had large impacts on the whole of SR, yet only very few people
> were aware of them at the time.

Sure, I've been involved in many things that have gone down in ways that
I object to. I object to the plethora of situations in which I have had
to sacrifice my health and well-being over the last 3 or 4 years in
order to deliver this competition. The foundation of the charity was my
final stab at attempting to fix that, and I have no real interest in
continuing that pursuit now as I have no interest in jumping over more
arbitrarily-generated obstacles.

The only entity that SR has with a semblance of organisational
responsibility is the SC. When I take actions on behalf of SR, I confer
with the relevant set of individuals within the SC, and take their
recommendations into account (which may of course involve talking to
other specific individuals).

The general theme of my advice to volunteers over at least the last 4
years has been to speak to the right people before and whilst doing
things. The common-sense and failsafe way to find out who those people
are is through talking to the SC.

> While your contribution to SR has been, remains (and I hope will
> continue to be) a large one, I have to ask whether, given the above,
> you truly believe that you can fulfil the more general aspects of a SC
> role?

My aim as a member of the SC will continue to be to ensure that the
SR2015 competition is delivered to teams, whilst ensuring that neither
myself nor the people around me are being set on fire. I will do what
it takes to deliver that.

Thanks,

Rob