London.pm leader election

[Tom Hukins]

On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 03:45:11PM +0100, Denny wrote:
> Seriously then, I propose that we consider being an autonomous
> self-organising collective instead of having a leader.

That's a reasonable proposition.  Anyone who wants this can stand for
election as leader and let the cats herd themselves.

> Aren't pub meets and tech meets (and dim sum, and heretics) already
> organised by different people anyway?

Yes, but I suspect that London.pm benefits from having an individual
co-ordinate these different activities, occasionally gently guiding
the group in a suitable direction.

Dave, Paul, Mark, Simon, Greg and Leon have all done a good, often
thankless, job of leading London Perl Mongers.  I hope someone of a
similar calibre will offer their service this time.

> Alternatively, is there a duties and responsibilities list for the
> role of leader somewhere?

London Perl Mongers has no formal constitution unlike, say, Birmigham
Perl Mongers who operate as a limited company.

I believe London.pm works very well in this informal way and I hope it
will continue to do so.  Despite the benefits of informality, I doubt
that a self-organising collective would work as well as having a
clearly defined person checking tasks don't become neglected.

> That might lead to some more serious consideration of good
> candidates for nomination.

How so?  If someone wants to reform London.pm, what stops that person
becoming the next leader and defining their duties having satisfied
the voters?

Tom