On 11/10/13 11:41 AM, Dave Crocker wrote: > Without changing the /authority/ of the AD to make appointments, what > about having the AD circulate a list of candidates to the pre-wg > mailing list and solicit comments. There are some serious tradeoffs here and I'm not sure where I'd ultimately come down on this question. I'm leery of things that might be contested on popularity or political grounds (I think we've all noticed orchestrated statements of support for this or that piece of work, right?), although I tend to think those are so transparent that they'd be noticed and noted. The other thing is a lot sketchier and I don't know if it's real or not, but it's consistent with broader social patterns. I was talking with someone about finding someone for a particular role and I suggested a woman, and the guy said "Oh no, she's toxic." So I suggested another woman, and he said "She's toxic, too." I dropped it and I shouldn't have so I didn't know what was really going on there (besides not thinking that either of these people are "toxic," myself), but I think we need to be wary that opening up the process for input from all participants will tend to mean sorting through more of those sorts of questions. On the other hand I think some really talented people are being overlooked and this is a way to give them a boost. Melinda