In another thread here on the FAN forum, the public was invited to view a document which was to be used at an upcoming FAN Board Meeting. There was no link given to the document. The description implied the existence of a public documents folder, however, there is no mention of it elsewhere in the forum or on the website.
I asked about the document, and observed an indirect response. A day later, a Board Member reached out to me and provided an actual link, but I found that the document was locked, and could be viewed only by those given explicit permission. I find this contradictory to the spirit of the initial public post inviting everyone to take a look and say what they thought.
The Board Member spontaneously asked if I thought the public should enjoy full edit access to the document, and I clarified ânoâ, but that read access was desirable. 12 days later, the day after the meeting which the document was used at, the document was still locked, and I pointed this out. - The document was immediately unlocked by an unidentified party.
To be clear, I am not accusing anyone of anything. I only say that this represented a lost opportunity for the public to lend their resources to FAN. I do remain baffled as to why my request to make the document accessible was not comprehended by those able to make it so. Iâm also baffled as to why another Board Member characterized my request as a âcrusadeâ to make FAN more transparent.
I think everyone agrees that FAN should function with reasonable transparency to the public. I think everyone is very grateful for the time and effort the volunteers put into making FAN the success it is today, and wants to help make the best of their limited resources. It quenches the publicâs enthusiasm to encounter pointless obstacles to participating. It will not do to impose upon Board Members to cough up documents on an individual basis.
Therefore, I respectfully submit the following, common-sense process to address this snafu:
I move that FAN share a Google Drive folder as âPublic on the Webâ, âAccess: ⌠Can Viewâ and place FAN collaborative documents within it, including those referenced in the forum ⌠It appears Roger owns the calendar currently embedded in the FAN website [meaning a google email account is already being used for FAN].
Once established, a link to the folder itself should then be posted prominently on the website (such as the menu bar) and in this forum. This will make any documents within viewable to the public so they can see what those with edit access are working on. I know Pete can edit the website, so he would be a good candidate for that addition.
That should address the problems of undocumented resources, missing links, restricted links, and indefinite wait periods. It wonât take much time to set up, and it will save time from then on. @rcauvin @Pete_Gilcrease ? Will you set this up?
Frankly, I think this matter is as trivial as fixing a typo on the website. So letâs discuss this, bring it up for a vote if necessary (doubt it), and/or just plain do it.
-Chad