Attendees

  • [DC] Daniel Collins
  • [HP] Heidi Perrett (Chair)
  • [JB] Justin Baker
  • [NM] Nicholas May

Apologies

  • [NL] Nooriyah Poonawala-Lohani
  • [MS] Manodeep Sinha

Discussion

For the detailed agenda see: GitHub Issue 84

1. Approval of Previous Minutes

See link: Minutes from Meeting No.1. Passed unanimously.

2. Outcomes of eResAus2019

The RSE Mini-conference was discussed and slides reviewed (agreement that it was a very successful event).

The BoF poll results were discussed: the most popular goal that attendees wanted RSE-AUNZ to focus on in 2020 was Maintain & Build Community. In addition, the sharing of technical knowledge was a strong theme that emerged in both sessions.

3. Goals & Deliverables 2020

See document: Goals & Deliverables for 2019

D1 (Manifesto or Mission Statement)

It was agreed that the current tagline on the GitHub.io page does not match our target community. This needs to be updated before 2020. It was agreed that we should keep the abbreviation RSE-AUNZ. It’s a known and understood “brand” and we’d risk losing that if we selected something else.

D2 (Personas, Profiles, or Personal Stories)

It was suggested that we use the 1-page introductions from the RSE Mini-conference as an initial sample of personal stories. However, this will require approval by each of the participants for the reuse of their slide.

D3 (Create Impact Stories)

It was noted that the Australasian research context was sufficiently different from other regions that we can’t just reuse arguments from the UK, US and EU to make the case for RSE to local organizations. A proposal was shared that we should create a white paper to publicise the impact of RSE within Australasia and New Zealand. It was noted that NL-RSE have released a draft white paper (called Raising the profile of Research Software) and are asking for comment. In addition, this effort might benefit from collaboration with the Society of RSE, through the trustees such as Simon Hettrick (Professor of Research Software Engineering).

D4 (A permanent Web Presence)

Brief discussions about web sites, forums, etc. were had at eResearch Australasia 2019 with a potential host for a website. Further investigation will be required.

The committee identified several prerequisites to establishing a web presence:

  • Branding: aligned with the Society of RSE.
  • Content: initially from deliverables 1,2, and 3.
  • Domain: e.g. rse-aunz.org

Re. Forums. The limitations of Slack.com were discussed, and the committee agreed to trial AeRO Chat as an initial option. It was noted that further discussion will be required about appropriate options.

Re. Email. Continue with the Google Group for the present.

D5 (Run Face-to-face Meetings)

It was agreed that face-to-face meetings should be co-located with existing events and conferences, as we do not yet have the resources to run a program of independent events. In addition, we should focus on online meetings, advertising and communication channels.

D6 (lnfo pack for Local RSE Groups)

A suggestion was raised that we create stickers and postcards to advertise RSE-AUNZ at local meetups/hacky hours and national events. It was agreed that this was an excellent idea, but that we would need to have a permanent web presence and communications strategy established before advertising to local groups.

It was agreed that RSE Champions would be an excellent resource for the distribution of info packs.

Prioritisation

The relative priority of the deliverables was agreed as falling into three levels, with priority 1 being the most urgent and necessary to enable the other deliverables.

  • Priority 1
    • D4 (Establish a permanent Web Presence)
  • Priority 2
    • D1 (Publish a Manifesto or Mission Statement)
    • D2 (Define Personas, Profiles, or Personal Stories)
    • D3 (Create Impact Stories)
  • Priority 3
    • D5 (Run Face-to-face Meetings)
    • D6 (Create an Info Pack for Local RSE Groups)

Assignment to Committee Members

Tasks associated with deliverables were assigned during the discussion on deliverables and their priority. Oversight of each deliverable was not assigned to individuals. The management of tasks was discussed and the option of using GitHub Projects feature was raised. This feature of the RSE-AUNZ GitHub account should be for the committee and invited members only.

4. Casual Vacancies

No nominations have yet been received. Several conversations with potential candidates were reported. The reluctance to nominate was driven by ensuring that they could commit sufficient time to the RSE-AUNZ and that the committee was sufficiently diverse. The committee discussed the option to on-board these candidates as RSE Champions. This role would require less commitment than as a committee member but could serve as a local point of contact in areas/organizations without committee representation. It was agreed that this role would need to be clarified before appointing candidates to positions. It was agreed that there was no urgency to fill these vacancies at this time, as we can focus available efforts on the high priority deliverables. It was suggested that we have another round of advertising, but with a simpler message. Also, agreed that new members should aim to on-board in Jan. 2020.

5. Any other business

None.

Actions

Deliverables:

  • D1 (Publish a Manifesto or Mission Statement)
    • [HP] Create a poll about ideas for a new RSE-AUNZ tagline.
    • [NM] Publicize the poll via: Twitter, forums, AeRO news, etc.
  • D2 (Define Personas, Profiles, or Personal Stories)
    • [HP] Re. RSE mini-conference. Ask participants for permission to share publicly the 1-page intros as example stories on RSE-AUNZ website.
  • D3 (Create Impact Stories)
    • [MS] Draft an outline of a whitepaper re. the impact of RSE in Australasia.
    • [NM] Share details of NL-RSE whitepaper with [MS,DC].
    • [DC] Share Visual Representation of RSE in scientific workflow with [MS].
  • D4 (Establish a permanent Web Presence)
    • [DC] Contact potential hosts (after further discussion) of RSE-AUNZ website.
  • D5 (Run Face-to-face Meetings)
    • [TBD] Investigate subjects and presenters for an RSE focused ARDC Tech Talk.

Planning 2020:

  • [NM] Draft a planning document: achievements 2019, goals and deliverables 2020
  • [NM] Investigate the Kanban features in GitHub projects, as a method for managing tasks associated with deliverables.
  • [NL] Liaise with Rebecca Lange and document the poll results from the BoF.
  • [NM] Create Doodle poll and draft agenda for next meeting.

Next Meeting

In 5-6 weeks. i.e. Dec. 2nd-13th. Date/time to be confirmed by poll.

Discussion should focus on Planning for 2020.

Notes These minutes have been drafted under part of the Chatham House Rule. This promotes openness, and inclusion, by not attributing any specific comment to any individual/s. The exception is that participants are necessarily listed as attendees of the Steering Committee meeting.