[UK-TUG] Election for Chair of UK-TUG: Statement by Jonathan Fine

[Joseph Wright]

-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Jonathan Fine <jfine2358 at gmail.com>

I might be the last Chair of the UK TeX Users Group. This might be the 
last Annual General Meeting. Why? Because we have a committee stuck in a 
deep rut, disconnected from their purpose. I'm a long-time member of 
this committee. Perhaps we don't see our own failings. Why? Because UK 
TUG has senior members who wish to dissolve UK TUG and distribute its 
assets (about £13,000). Only you can allow or prevent this.

I apologise for the length of this statement. The situation is not 
simple. And I need your help, to succeed as Chair.

Here's my contribution this year, that most pleases me. The Committee 
now uses a mailing list for some of their work, that you can see and 
comment on [1].  You can see us at work. Please visit it. You'll get a 
sense of the committee, as a whole and as individuals. We've 8 committee 
members, not all active. Sadly, the dissolution of UK TUG occupies much 
of our time.

In 2006, when I was last Chair of UK TUG, we organised with the London
Mathematical Society a successful one-day LaTeX training meeting [2]. It
was well attended, particularly by graduate students. As Chair, I'd like 
to do something similar again. And make it easier to hold local half-day 
LaTeX training days.

In 1995, when I had more time and energy, I was the main organiser of 
the meeting: Portable Documents, Acrobat, SGML and TeX [3]. This was a 
joint meeting with the BCS Electronic Publishing SIG. About 130 
delegates heard 7 speakers. We made a profit of £3,500. We still have 
our share of this money. It's part of the £13,000, that these senior 
members want to distribute.

Malcolm Clark, UK TUG's first chair, was my co-organiser. It's he
that's nominated me for Chair.

The world of typesetting has vastly changed since then. Typesetting is 
now part of electronic publishing. Small businesses want websites as 
well as brochures. Many learn LaTeX to put math on a web page, using 
MathJax. Markdown, not LaTeX, is the most common user-friendly markup 
language. And the mobile phone in your pocket is a powerful, always with 
you and always on information appliance. (I turn mine off only at night.)

These senior members are moving AGM motions, on dissolving UK TUG. If
passed by the members, they will certainly or probably result in
the dissolution of UK TUG. This is because they destroy hope, that we
can promote and support the use of TeX in the UK. They also place
an immediate, and largely distracting, burden on the incoming committee.

I'm moving a motion on dissolution, that postpones decisions to May or 
June next year. This allows the incoming committee to settle and prove 
itself first. It allows members, who can decide distribution of funds, 
to find friendly UK organisations willing to accept funds, reserved for 
the purpose of promoting and supporting the use of TeX in the UK.

If any other substantive motion relating to dissolution is passed at the
AGM, then I'll resign as Chair at the end of the AGM. This is because 
I'll be unable to pursue the policies, or provide the leadership, that I 
am promising in this statement.

Voting on motions is not enough. We also need a renewed Committee. 
Without renewal, dissolution is delayed, but not avoided. Please 
consider standing for the Committee. The only real requirement is that 
you wish to promote and support the use of TeX in the UK, the purpose of 
UK TUG.

You don't have to attend the AGM to join the committee. I think five or 
six new committee members would be enough, to start renewal. I hope 
we'll get at least three as part of the AGM, and later more from the 
wider UK TeX community. Perhaps even LaTeX users who haven't yet heard 
of UK TUG.

For renewal, we need a stronger committee, with new members. If the 
wider community also repositions LaTeX, in the way MathJax has, I see a 
bright future for TeX and UK TUG for the next thirty years. But we 
desperately need new committee members.

Why? In September 2018 a major TeX-related organisation offered to 
sponsor or attend a UK TUG event. Sadly, nothing happened. A committee 
member (not me) reminded us of this in February 2019. Again, nothing 
happened. In this, I'm at least as guilty as any other committee member.

Why? In September 2019 I made a conditional offer, to be Chair until the
AGM. Partly due to misunderstanding, it was not discussed. Sadly, 
nothing came of it.

If this renewal does not happen, then over time my position on
the committee will become impossible, and I will resign. My goal is not
to prevent dissolution, but to serve the UK TeX community. Faced
with conflict I cannot reduce, I will retreat to save myself and my
energy for something else.

There we have it. My manifesto. Failing committee. Idle funds. A future 
is possible. Vote only for sensible dissolution resolutions, or I'll 
have to resign at the AGM. Some of you join me on the committee, or I'll 
have to resign later. With your help, a future is possible. In the 
meantime, please express your views to uktug-committee at tug.org, and if 
you wish ask for them to be shared with the membership.

I look forward to seeing some of you at the AGM. (We've only got a small
meeting room.)

[1] https://tug.org/pipermail/uktug-committee-public/2019/
[2] https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.tex/XG91s9do-2c
[3] https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.text.tex/06HzBxu2LbQ

Jonathan Fine
Email: jfine2358 at gmail.com
URL: jfine2358.github.io