Ralph Meijer for Board 2022

Me and Jabber

I have been active in the Jabber community since late 2000, serving on the XMPP Council from 2004-2013, XSF Board 2013-2022, current Chair.

Motivation

I have found myself speaking or writing on behalf of the XSF or the XMPP Community on several occasions. I have also been involved in some capacity in most of the XMPP Summits that have been organized, especially the European ones. Both are tasks that are generally within the domain of the Board. I think I can usefully continue contributing to the XSF Board for this term, as well.

A reflection on the XSF and the 2021-2022 term

The XSF is designed as a legal entity capable of supporting the standardization efforts. The actual work on that happens through the XMPP Council and Editor teams, facilitated by the Infrastructure Team.

On top of that the XSF is used as a binding force in the community, so we have a Communications Team to tell the world about all the great things happening in that community, and we set up a team for Summits, Conferences, And Meetups. Then there are a lot of other things that happen in a more adhoc style. Our Executive Director is our "CEO", the person who makes sure that everything works as it is supposed. The board then assists all of this by providing a little direction and ensure the business side of running the foundation as a legal entity, together with our Treasurer and Secretary.

I would like to thank everyone for your contributions, your efforts, and just being there.

This term was rough.

You've probably noticed less energy in certain areas, and this certainly goes for me. World affairs have had a big effect on what we were able to organise. The yearly Summit and FOSDEM gatherings were always a focus point, and never failed to be that jolt of energy and enthousiasm to work on the great things we do as a community. There's no replacement for face to face gatherings. Even if the participants were just a subset of our membership or community, the effect has been clear.

Not being able to have that for two years in a row had a significant effect on me, and others in our community. Life also required different priorities, so people's participation in volunteer efforts in general has suffered as a result. Please don't hold it to anyone that we got less done. Thanks again for everything that did get done despite all this. Thanks for sticking around.

We will bounce back.