[Biojava-dev] Call for Org Admins for OBF's 2014 Google Summer of Code participation

[Andreas Prlic]

The 2014 Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is coming up soon. The published
timeline [1] puts the mentoring organization applications fromFeb 3 to 14.

OBF participated on behalf of our member projects from 2010-2012, and those
participations were both important and successful. Through them, our
projects gained new contributors, new features, and new community members.
The mentors involved from our projects learned as much from the experience
as the students, and formed bonds. The mentoring organization payment
allowed OBF to sponsor community events and infrastructure.

To participate this year, we have to designate 2-3 people as primary and
backup organization administrators. This is an important role, and we are
looking for people from our community to step forward to serve.

An org admin’s role is in many ways that of a cat herder. The whole team of
mentors and admins creates the experience for the students, but it falls on
the admin to “keep it together.” Google holds the mentoring organization,
not its mentors, accountable for the actions (or non-actions) of its
mentors or community, and it falls on the org admin to carry that
accountability through to the org’s mentors. The org admin’s
responsibilities include:
        • Representing our online face to GSoC, in particular to GSoC
students.
        • Shepherding our mentoring organization application, and
submitting it.
        • Working out processes and rules for mentors as well as students
that promote transparency, fairness, and protect from late-in-the-game
surprises.
        • Knowing GSoC rules and processes, and making sure ours are
consistent with them.
        • Reminding participants of rules, and enforcing them in the event
it is necessary.
        • Mediating, and sometimes arbitrating between students and mentors
when needed.
        • Ensuring that GSoC timelines are met by everyone.
The person we are looking for will genuinely care about the well-being of
our communities, is well organized, stays calm in email storms,
communicates clearly, has good people skills, and generally is known as a
good listener.

If you are interested in helping us out in this role, please email us (by Jan
21, 2014) a statement at board at open-bio.org explaining how you would fit
well in this role, and what your vision for our GSoC participation is. You
need not be a developer or programmer to respond, but for now we do require
that you have been active in some capacity in at least one of our project’s
communities. Please include in your email a brief summary of such
activities even if you are a core developer for one of our projects.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Hilmar Lapp, OBF President, on behalf of the OBF Board of Directors
[1] http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/events/google/gsoc2014