[db-wg] WG Chairs Selection

Hi Denis, 

> Yes as a co-chair I would be able to attend RIPE Meetings. Since I left 
> the NCC there has not been any need for me to attend, but I still 
> followed many of them online.

I have a problem with this line of thinking. 

A chair should be present at the meetings and one can't say I'll come to the meeting once I'm the (co-)chair.. 
The chair should be selected from people in the room, not from the mailing list and if you have the feeling that you don't 'need' to attend as a regular community member, then that is not the chair I would want. 

Being the chair of most of the WG's and DB (or AP for that matter) in particular, have shown to be the MOST ungrateful job in the community.  I don't envy ANY of the chairs for some of the abuse or personal attacks some of them have to deal with.. 
It is not a thing to polish one's resume with ... 

What I want to avoid is that we come to a situation where we select a DB WG chair here on the mailing list, under the assumption that he/she will come to meetings .. but then doesn't ... 
Or if he/she does, that he/she will have/get a financial issue maintaining his/her presence at the meetings.  

Being a chair doesn't give any compensation .. a chair, like any other community member will need to pay for his/her own entrance ticket and lodging.. and travel.  
This would sum up easy to 1500 euro to 2500 euro cost per event..  And with all respect, if you don't have a (corporate) sponsor ( like an employer or are self-employed), that means that this becomes a very heavy burden to carry that might add undesired stress .. and from what I read in your replies, that might not be the best idea. 

I'm not talking here if you would be fit for the job or if you know what you are talking about in regards of the database, but this isn't rocket science Denis.. 
I don't think that the community would do you a (or any) favor by asking you that kind of (financial) commitment.. while you could steer less the ideas from the stage than you would be from the meeting room.  

So if the goal of your plan to run for (co-)chair is to work with the community to push a certain line of thinking into the future of the DB-WG, I would strongly suggest to do this in the community (in the room or on the mailing list) and not as a chair (at this moment..)  

Regards,
Erik Bais