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    <title>cmdln.net_2008-05-28</title>
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    <outline text="Intro" Offset="00:17">
      <outline text="Balticon"/>
      <outline text="Memorial day">
        <outline text="War time efforts of tech geeks past and present"/>
        <outline text="Friend considering re-enlisting"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Word of the Week: deadlock" Offset="02:06">
      <outline text="http://catb.org/jargon/html/D/deadlock.html"/>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Monologue: Volunteerism" Offset="03:33">
      <outline text="Thinking about my participation at conventions">
        <outline text="Definitely a fan"/>
        <outline text="Most of the creators I associate with are writers or create entertainment content"/>
        <outline text="I spend a lot of my time behind the scenes"/>
        <outline text="Have earned a reputation as a volunteer"/>
        <outline text="More so than the actual work that I do"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="A little frustrated by some offers of help">
        <outline text="Seen many volunteer but not show up"/>
        <outline text="Not a criticism, just an observation"/>
        <outline text="Many seem eager online but hesitant in person"/>
        <outline text="Like they are waiting for permission"/>
        <outline text="Trust me, event organizers, others will rarely refuse offers of help"/>
        <outline text="No need to be shy"/>
        <outline text="Organizers don't always have time to chase down volunteers"/>
        <outline text="If you are worried they have too much help, don't worry"/>
        <outline text="Not likely possible they could ever have too much help"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Volunteering doesn't need to be big">
        <outline text="Part of the problem is that, like many things, some think contributions need to be big"/>
        <outline text="Just being available for the little things is enough"/>
        <outline text="Large events are just collections of small things, coordinated"/>
        <outline text="Coordinators will not always have a list of these little things"/>
        <outline text="Be solicitous, simply keep asking, &quot;How can I help?&quot;"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Why do I do it?">
        <outline text="After my first Dragon*Con, realized how over worked organizers were"/>
        <outline text="Immensely respected the job they did"/>
        <outline text="I wanted to see them succeed without such heavy sacrifice"/>
        <outline text="After the first volunteer work, found it very rewarding"/>
        <outline text="Didn't get huge accolades, most people didn't notice"/>
        <outline text="Meant a lot when the folks who noticed gave quiet thanks"/>
        <outline text="I'd go to the cons, anyway, but wanted to get more involved"/>
        <outline text="My show doesn't always lend well to being a program participant">
          <outline text="I don't have a book I can read from"/>
          <outline text="Of the topics I can discuss, many don't fit in with the SF conventions I enjoy attending"/>
        </outline>
        <outline text="Silver lining is meeting new people"/>
        <outline text="Recording authors I might not otherwise have discovered"/>
        <outline text="Recording podcasts, podcasters to which I might not have otherwise listened"/>
        <outline text="Learning new skills, like wireless mics, PAs, large mixing boards"/>
        <outline text="Improving my existing skills, more experience with my own portable gear"/>
        <outline text="To be perfectly honest, I kind of like the reputation I've earned"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Got me thinking more generally"/>
      <outline text="Role of volunteering in free and open software">
        <outline text="Large software projects are like large events"/>
        <outline text="Many, many smaller tasks"/>
        <outline text="Not always enough time to list them all"/>
        <outline text="One problem is prioritizing"/>
        <outline text="Software is horrifically more complicated"/>
        <outline text="Tracking dependencies to the critical path can be difficult"/>
        <outline text="I've heard criticisms of some want to be contributors taking advantage"/>
        <outline text="Simply re-formatting code or source without adding anything substantive"/>
        <outline text="In software, this is pretty transparent"/>
        <outline text="These kinds of contributors typically don't last but are a problem on more open projects"/>
        <outline text="They are one of the reasons some projects reserve commit rights"/>
        <outline text="If commit rights need to be granted, many projects will still provide a way to submit patches"/>
        <outline text="This affords them a way to review while limiting the code re-formatters"/>
        <outline text="The best advice I heard matches my experience volunteering at events"/>
        <outline text="Pick a small but real defect"/>
        <outline text="Write a patch, write the best code you know how, submit it"/>
        <outline text="I'd be willing to bet if you looked at most well known contributors, long list of small but significant commits"/>
        <outline text="Bear in mind there are other places you can contribute beyond code"/>
        <outline text="Many projects struggle with documentation--user guides, developer guides, etc."/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Role of volunteering in activism">
        <outline text="Activism doesn't work without volunteers"/>
        <outline text="Action also doesn't have to be big"/>
        <outline text="Much of it works because of the huge numbers, not because of any single effort"/>
        <outline text="This is a realization I have yet to put into practice"/>
        <outline text="Until I made the connection, thought it required more"/>
        <outline text="Now realize some part of successful activism is just showing up"/>
        <outline text="Asking, &quot;How can I help?&quot;"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Role in the workplace">
        <outline text="The best resources are the most self sufficient"/>
        <outline text="See something that needs doing and just pitch in"/>
        <outline text="Sometimes lose sight of it, myself"/>
        <outline text="Volunteer's attitude can lighten the stress"/>
        <outline text="Encourage that sense of cooperation, collaboration"/>
        <outline text="Many contributions we have to make, to collect pay"/>
        <outline text="The contributions we volunteer can be the most rewarding"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Outro" Offset="24:02">
      <outline text="Contact me">
        <outline text="Email to feedback@thecommandline.net"/>
        <outline text="Web site at http://thecommandline.net/"/>
        <outline text="IM to command.line@skype"/>
        <outline text="Listener comment line is 240-949-2638"/>
        <outline text="del.icio.us tag is &quot;for:cmdln&quot;"/>
        <outline text="http://twitter.com/cmdln"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="I'd like to thank libsyn.com for AAC hosting and Wouter de Bie for MP3 hosting"/>
      <outline text="These notes and the show audio and music are covered by a Creative Commons license">
        <outline text="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/"/>
        <outline text="Attribution, non-commercial, share alike"/>
      </outline>
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