[clue-admin] Presidential Duties

[Jeff Cann]

This bulleted list from the CLUE contacts page lists most of
responsibilities as bullets.  Below, I have added the descriptions to
it for clarification.  The items in total require perhaps an hour per
week of attention.

Information References referred to in this email:

1.  The CLUE Admin pages are hosted at http://cluedenver.org/admin/.
This requires a username and password for access.  Jed administers the
logins.
2.  I have a mirror in the CLUE admin wiki - hosted at
http;//isuma.org/clue/.  Also requires a login.  I administer these
logins.

I have personally found the wiki to be a useful way to collect the
documentation.  Perhaps we should install wiki software to replace the
http://cluedenver.org/admin/ static pages?  I would be happy to mirror
the data from this wiki.

Here's the list:

* Coordinate the activities of other volunteers - Such coordination
generally occurs when the CLUEbies have undertaken a project, such as
the projector fund or migration of the CLUE server to new hardware.
Essentially, the CLUE President acts as the Project Manager and helps
the volunteers work through issues, keeps track of status, etc.

* Call steering committee meetings - Historically, we have admin
meetings from 1 to 4 times per year, depending on what activities are
happening in the CLUE organization.  The President should set the
date, time and location with the admins, provide an agenda for the
meeting, run the meeting, and distribute meeting notes.  Feel free to
delegate minutes to a volunteer if possible.  Search the CLUE Admin
archives for past agendas.  The meeting coordination, agenda, and
meeting notes should all be posted to the CLUE Admin email list.

* Manage CLUE funds - After we signed up for VPSLink in January, 2007
we have approximately $500 remaining of CLUE funds.  Rather than
trying to track these funds or open a CLUE bank account, I propose
that I renew the VPSLink account for 2 more years [2008, 2009] to use
up the remaining funds.  This means by the end of 2009, we will have
to collect hosting funds for 2010.  The price we paid last year was
$249 per year.  It may cost less if we pay for more than one year at a
time.

* Manage CLUE e-mail lists - The mailman software is low maintenance.
Unmoderated requests from non-members [i.e., spam] expire and are
ignored.  Historically, the management involved list data migrations
[archives and members] between CLUE hosts.  All of these activities
are documented on the CLUE admin pages and are simple to follow.

* Send meeting announcements - The President should send two meeting
announcements each month, one for the DTC and one for the North
meetings.  Both include directions to the location within the emails
and links to the CLUE web site.  Refer to the CLUE Announce archives
for examples.  These should be sent in plain text as members typically
complain if email is in HTML format.  Generally, the President sends
the announcement 2-3 days before the meeting.

* Respond to general inquiries regarding CLUE - On average there are a
few emails submitted to the CLUE President from the CLUE contact page
- a web form.  The President should try to respond appropriately,
depending on the question or comment.  Often people that make the
request can be better helped by posting to our CLUE Jobs Yahoo group
or one of the CLUE email lists, like CLUE Tech.

* Conduct CLUE DTC meetings - The CLUE North meetings are conducted by
the CLUE North coordinator, currently Zach Geizen.  The President
should introduce the speaker, make any announcements about upcoming
events such as installfests and keep track of time during the meeting.

* Fill in for open positions - The most important role is the Speaker
Coordinator as this person is responsible for finding interesting
speakers for the monthly CLUE meetings.  To make life easier on the
President, he should strive to fill open positions.  When the
President tries to perform all of the volunteer activities, it becomes
difficult to manage CLUE and have fun at the same time.

In addition, there are two other duties not listed:

* Moderate CLUE Jobs - We have a CLUE President yahoo account that is
the owner of the CLUE Jobs list.  All postings to CLUE Jobs are
moderated.  Moderated requests send an email to
president at cluedenver.org with instructions to approve or reject the
posting.  The password to this yahoo account is documented in the CLUE
admin pages.

* Manage VPS Link Account - This is documented on the CLUE admin site.
 The technical details are described  on the CLUE admin pages.
However, the password is out-of-date, so I will send a note to Dennis
and Jed.

If I missed anything, please let me know.  I have really enjoyed my 5
years as CLUE President.  It's been a wonderful experience that has
affected me personally and the experiences crossed over to my IT
career.  Thanks to all of the past and present admins who have
supported the group more than they realize.  Many of you have been
instrumental in decisions and activities.  Also, I am happy that our
major achievement, CLUE North, has lived on, even after T-Rex
completed.  Finally, thank you to Dennis for stepping up for the 2008
term.  It's a relief to leave the group in his capable and caring
direction.

After I send the announcement email for the 2008 officers, I will
switch the president email alias over to Dennis.

Happy New Year!
Jeff