Volunteer for the RIPE Nominating Committee: In Conversation with Daniel Karrenberg

This committee will select the next RIPE Chair and Vice Chair.

You have one more week to come forward. Let’s get some more information about the committee so you can make an informed decision and see if you’re a good match.

First, we thought you may want to know more about the tasks and responsibilities of the RIPE NomCom members, so, we asked one of the authors of the RIPE Document that outlines these responsibilities, Daniel, to share his insight.

Why should you want to volunteer to join the RIPE NomCom?

You will serve the community by offering to be one of the 10 people who will select the next RIPE Chair and Vice Chair. Our community needs good leaders with far-reaching support. The NomCom will thoughtfully deliberate about which set of leaders will be best for the community at large. This is community service at its finest.

Can you briefly describe the tasks and responsibilities of the NomCom members?

First, you need to know the list of nominees by heart - there will be a pop quiz ;-). Seriously though, you will need to solicit community input about all the nominees before and during RIPE 80. It’s not required for all committee members to be present at that meeting in Berlin. Your main responsibility will be to take part in the deliberations and to vote on the final selection during the few weeks after Berlin. This includes sourcing enough feedback from the community about each candidate.

Can you talk a little more about the expectations of NomCom members, in terms of soliciting community input?

The community expects nothing special here. You need to be approachable and to listen carefully. Of course, it would be great if each NomCom member went actively searching for input. There is certainly no super-human effort needed. Just be yourself as a member of the community and make time for those who want to give you their input.

How much time do you expect NomCom duties will take up – and how long will the process take from start to finish?

The time commitment comes down to processing committee email and a small number of teleconferences plus of course the time to collect input from the community. You will start to organise yourselves, as RIPE NomCom members, in January 2020. After collecting input from the community, and deliberating via email and teleconferences, you will make the selection! This should happen within a few weeks after RIPE 80, which is in Berlin in mid-May 2020. The amount of time needed to deliberate will depend on the number and quality of candidates. Very often, this kind of process goes much faster and easier than one expects. And then the NomCom Chair, yours truly, will write up a report. Giving comments and voting on the draft report will be the last task of the committee. And then, of course, accepting the standing ovation at the autumn RIPE meeting!

Are there any other requirements for volunteers?

Volunteers have to have attended three out of five of the most recent RIPE meetings. These are:

• RIPE 79, Rotterdam, Netherlands, October 2019
• RIPE 78, Reykjavík, Iceland, May 2019
• RIPE 77, Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 2018
• RIPE 76, Marseille, France, May 2018
• RIPE 75, Dubai, UAE, October 2017

What if people don’t have much experience with this kind of role, will they have support?

While you, the volunteer member, will make the final selection, you will have help from liaisons and advisors, as well as from myself in the role as Committee Chair. Anna Wilson has agreed to be the advisor filling the role of ‘previous Chair’; we had a bootstrap problem there. Piotr Strzyżewski will be the liaison from the RIPE NCC Executive Board. I have asked both the RIPE Programme Committee and the working group chairs collective to appoint liaisons too. Advisors, Liaisons and Chair do not vote on the selection of candidates. That will be your task, as a RIPE NomCom volunteer.

Should committee members select people they agree with? 

First and foremost, the NomCom should select people who will help the RIPE community to function well. Usually, that leads to a selection of people no one really strongly disagrees with.

Who are the current volunteers? 

As of Friday, 22 November 2019 at 09:00, they are:

The current list of volunteers is not very diverse. Why do you think this is?

Indeed, the group is not yet very diverse. Both the age bracket and the background are narrower than I would personally like. Of course, this process is new, and maybe people need more information before they come forward. This interview should help with that. I have reached out widely, and I will continue to do so. I get the impression that some people who favoured a different process are now reluctant to take part in this NomCom process, I understand that. From a rational standpoint, however, this is quite counterproductive. I hope that more volunteers from different backgrounds will come forward now. In consultation with the RIPE Chair and the Chair of the RIPE NCC Executive Board, I have extended the deadline for volunteering by two weeks to 1 December 2019. This is your opportunity to help select our next leaders. Do not waste it!

How exactly will the 10 NomCom members be selected from the volunteers?

By an unbiased random process that can be verified by anyone. We will use the first six numbers from these ‘Lotto’ lottery results on Wednesday, 11 December 2019: Swisslotto, Deutscher Lottoblock and Loterie Nationale Luxembourg. The details of this method are described in RFC3797. 

Could you explain how the community chose this process?

The RIPE community arrived at this process after a long and careful debate. Some of the motivations expressed during deliberations were to avoid election campaigns because they are energy-consuming and possibly divisive. We wanted to use a process that selects people who can help the RIPE community to function well. How to organise elections within RIPE as the electorate is hard to define because we consciously avoid the notion of ‘membership’. The NomCom process has worked for the IETF, a community similar to ours.

You’re describing a role made for someone who wants to give back and take part in the future of this community. What do you think are some characteristics/strengths that would be the most useful to a person in this committee?

You should have a good idea of what RIPE is about. That is why the current process requires you to have attended at least three out of the most recent five RIPE meetings. You should be able to understand community feedback, even if you don’t agree with it. And finally, you should be able to work constructively with the other members of the committee to make the final selections.

So, what do you think? Could you be one of the RIPE NomCom members? Don’t waste this opportunity, fill out the form now at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ripenomcom