Max Gendler

AB Meet the Candidates Responses

What priorities should the AB take on in the next year? How will you help accomplish them?

Over the last two years, it's been good that the Board of Directors have taken over oversight of the corporation, and the AB can now focus fully on issues facing the Consortium. I would want to focus on a priority that may seem less immediate. The AB positions are two year commitments, and I believe it's important to look at what issues we may be dealing with in the second year, and planning accordingly.

There are two main issues that I would like to focus on in particular. The work of the W3C has been overly focused on the interests of browser vendors and intermediaries at the expense of content creators and regular people. That dovetails with the second issue, community and expert burnout. It's hard for tech experts to understand why they should be involved in the standards process when it seems as if calls are orchestrated by a few major companies. These are issues that the AB has identified and are part of their ongoing priorities and I think we should continue to be responsible for monitoring membership and staff concerns on these fronts and be prepared to make any necessary updates to our thinking as we work through them.

The AB positions are unpaid but require regular meetings at inconvenient times/locations, preparation for said meetings, and collaboration with people you might disagree with. Why do you personally wish to take this on?

As a governance expert at a large, multi-national company, I'm used to taking meetings at all hours of the day and regularly working with folks that I disagree with. Joining the AB would not substantively change my day-to-day work efforts in that department. I am also on the board of my local tennis club, which similarly takes quite a bit of preparation and collaboration. I've found that when you care about something enough, even the weary work can feel immensely fulfilling. With that being said, even if the AB position was an unusual burden, I would still wish to take on this work.

I grew up on the web - my earliest memories involve the sound of dial-up modems, and I wanted nothing more than to be a wikipedia editor when I was young. The web is a wonderful place that provides so much to the world as a public good. It would be an honor to help in developing governance standards for it that would ensure it continues to be a space for all.

How do you think W3C should build consensus in large groups, and can you speak to your ability & experience building consensus (at W3C or elsewhere)?

I've spent a lot of time in the past few years working in trade associations like the News Media Alliance and the European Publisher Council. Those groups mirror the W3C; there are large and small companies and those that have more time to engage with issues and those that may not have the time to engage, but will be more affected by the issues being discussed.

Those experiences have taught me that lasting consensus is not just about building consensus amongst those who are able to actively participate and self-select into discussions. In order to build consensus, especially on critical issues, we must try to bring less-involved members along through education and outreach.

How can W3C improve its diversity and inclusion, and what is the role of the AB in improving those?

I believe that the AB has a responsibility to foster and model inclusion for the larger organization. There has been great progress within the W3C over the past few years, especially on the updated CEPC/Code of Conduct. One area we can surely improve is the AC Forum. With the same few voices speaking up, it can be difficult for new members to feel comfortable in raising their opinions and issues that they may be seeing.

I would also laud groups like the PATCG who have taken to scheduling each of their meetings in a different 'optimal' time zone each month so that the burden of operating globally is shared among all the membership, and not just optimized for a US and European core contingent.

The AB has been working on the Vision for W3C, as a member of the AB how would you put the Vision into practice? How might it impact our decision making or priorities?

The AB oversees the Consortium, and so the most important things for the AB to focus on is Section 5 of the Vision. These operational principles are aspirational for how the Consortium should work, and we're not currently fully equal to them.

Outside of applying these principles as part of Councils, the AB should be evangelists for these principles in working groups, charter reviews, as well as using them as general education for our constituency about our values.