As a follow-up from Apply Now! Participation Leaders at Global Gatherings.
Feel free to use this topic to ask any questions about the Global Gatherings, this will continue to be updated with more questions and answers and also ported to the wiki.
1. What about ReMo?
Reps and mentors will be strongly encouraged to apply, and they are expected to be some of the strongest participation leaders. But their selection won’t be automatic.
2. Is the application open to any Mozillian?
Yes. There are volunteer leaders all around Mozilla. This initiative is about finding a great diversity of people who can lead the growth of participation in 2016.
3. What about ReMo Camp?
ReMo Camp is largely replaced by the Leadership Summit, including the parts that are focused on building ReMo. However, we encourage ReMo Mentors to consider whether one of the other opportunities is a better fit for them.
4. Can I apply to more than one?
You can indicate any you’d like to be considered for. However, one aim of this initiative is to encourage more focus in how you are building participation in 2016.
5. Why we are having this program? Isn’t the reps supposed to do so? Mentors are not considered as leaders too?
This program is fully integrated with Reps and Mentors who are certainly considered as leaders and should consider applying.
However, some Reps and Mentors are not as active and have particular plans for 2016 that prevent them from making a strong commitment to building participation. We need a set of people who are passionate and capable, and committed to building participation across Mozilla in 2016 specifically. The application is a way for mentors and reps to indicate their intentions for 2016.
In addition, Reps is not the only place where we have leaders in among volunteer Mozillians, which is why we’re opening this up more broadly than Reps.
6. Is this going to replace the Reps program in the future?
This isn’t a program so much as an initiative built around these global gatherings. While this initiative might continue in future years, it’s not meant to be a replacement for ReMo.
7. There are known mozillians that they are leaders in certain functional groups such as l10n, SUMO, etc… what if these people decided not join this program? Does this going to affect their relation with the functional team? What if others applied to this, are they going to be the “Official” leaders and the others are not?
First, this is not the only way that people can take leadership in Mozilla. So this initiative doesn’t prevent Mozillians from making great contributions or providing leadership. It’s not a “governance” system of any kind.
Second, taking part in one of these gatherings will naturally result in building stronger relationships with other Mozillians, including staff. It will be our challenge to figure out how we make sure that relationship is not exclusive.
Third, this is only one way to be part of a cohort that will help grow the scale and impact of participation in 2016. As 2016 plans get created, we’re certain there will be other opportunities available to more Mozillians and leaders.
8. How is the relation between these leaders and the local community is going to be? Each community has their own leaders now, why Mozilla now want to choose or “officially” identify these leaders not the communities themselves?
First, this isn’t an official governance system or creating official leaders.
People part of this initiative are simple a subset of leaders in Mozilla who are committing to growing the impact of participation around Mozilla, and who have been selected to be invested in as part of this initiative in 2016.
This isn’t meant to replace or infringe on any community leadership system already in place. In addition, there will be other initiatives rolled out in 2016 to invest in volunteer Mozillians and leadership.
9. Can the functional team nominate people even if they didn’t apply to the program?
We’re encouraging people to apply through this initiative and to have functional teams “Shoulder Tap” people to get them to apply: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Participation/Globalgatherings2015#The_Shoulder_Tap
But there is a process for functional teams to nominate contributors for the All Hands – these nominations will be combined by the functional teams with the applications to come up with the final selections.
10. Why 150 people? How did that number get chosen?
This balances 3 things: 1) Budget, 2) Having enough people who we think can give good geographic and functional coverage across Mozilla, and whose efforts will have an impact in Mozilla, 3) Having a small enough number of people for which we can organizing strong support and coaching.
11. Do we have any fixed format of Recommendation letter?
This covers most of the details:
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Participation/Globalgatherings2015#Recommendation_letter
“We want to hear about the impact you’ve had in Mozilla and on Mozillians, from the perspective of someone you’ve worked with in the organization.”
“The filename should be “firstlast”. The formats can be .odt .html .txt .pdf .doc”
This is a good general resource.
12. It is mentioned that filename should be “firstlast” for the letter of recommendation. So do we have to write our first name and last name ? Is it like that? or just “firstlast”?
The firstlast would be YourFirstNameYourLastName.
In Vaibhav’s case the file name might be VaibhavBajaj.pdf.
13. If I’m selected, do I have to pay something related with the travel myself?
Mozilla covers travel, accommodation and main meals expenses during the event days for all the people selected.
14. I’m under 18 years old, can I still apply?
Yes you can, be aware that you will have to come with one of your parents or a tutor. The process will be the same, but for two persons. The adult won’t need a recommendation letter.
15. How do we ensure that the recommendation letter is legitimate? Just thought that anyone can create a letter then put a name of someone who ‘signed’ it. Will the recommendation be confirmed with the undersigned at some point in the application process?
We will be doing a random audit to confirm that some recommendation letters are legitimate. If anyone is found cheating in this way, it would be very unlikely that they would be invited to official Mozilla events in the future.
16. What if the person whom we ask for recommendation letter is kind of busy and/or misses to write it before Sept-11? Asking more than one person for the recommendation may not look quite nice. Any suggestions?
We suggest giving people a deadline to confirm their ability to write the letter or not, then moving on to another person.
17. Can a person write letters of recommendation for several people?
Yes, because there is more than one spot.
18. Is there still a chance to be invited by a team, if ones does not apply through this process? Or will teams will choose the people they can invite only among those who applied?
For the All Hands only (in Orlando), some teams will have an internal nomination process. They will compare this internal nomination list with the applications to make a final decision on invitations.
19. Given the short notice, might the deadline for MozFest submissions be extended to align with the deadline for this application?
Yes, there will be a way to submit a MozFest session until the end of this week. Please email me (groter@mozilla.com) for details.
20. Do we need Signed Recommendation letter, like we sign Rep NDA, scan it and resubmit it, Is it or it could be words from Mozillian about him/her.?
Since .txt is also included in the preferred file types, attaching a signature is not necessary. Just their words would be enough.
21. What if you can’t decide now but would be able to pay your own way to Singapore later?
Paying your own way isn’t an option for joining the Leadership Summit. They are intended for leaders who come through the selection process.
22. Will there be spots at the Leadership Summit in Singapore for people who don’t come through this application process?
There are ~30% of the spots being reserved for emerging leaders, to be allocated through a second process in Oct/Nov. This is for Mozillians who are just emerging as leaders over the coming months.
Other than that, there are no other ways to attend the Leadership Summit.
23. I have multiple letters, how do I choose between them?
Choose the one that you think will best show your skills and what you have done. It is best if the letter reflects and confirms what you put in your application.
24. What happens if I make a mistake or forget something on my application? Can I submit another application?
You can if it’s before the deadline. Please indicate clearly that you are submitted a replacement application.
25. I want to know the reason behind - “staff letters will not be considered more credible”. And does this apply even for those who are applying for Orlando gathering alone (I thought the other way)?
The rationale is that you should find the Mozillian who can best speak to the impact you’ve had on Mozilla and on other Mozillians. For many volunteer Mozillians who are leading already, the person best able to speak to your impact is quite possibly from the community in which you are showing leadership.
There is a further belief underlying this statement: That we rely too much on staff opinions, even when staff don’t have good visibility into what’s happening in various communities around Mozilla. We are trying to expand the range of leaders considered by ensuring staff letters are not considered more credible. This is something we’ll monitor as it is certainly new.
26. What happens if I’m late with my application?
Applications close abruptly at midnight UTC on September 11, 2015. Late applications won’t be accepted unless there are urgent circumstances beyond your control – in which case email askparticipation@mozilla.com (ideally let us know in advance if you know there’s going to be a problem).