Re: [MACCAWS] Legals and sponsorship - the Finance position

 > But we must retain our intellectual independence.

I agree, but I'd go further...

We may run into trouble and politics if we accept sponsorship from one
particular company. Especially in this industry where there are alliances
and betrayals and all kinds of junk -- especially with standards vs.
non-standards, closed vs. open source, and trust vs. anti-trust type issues.
Java anyone? I really think that we should try to appear neutral in the Sun
and Netscape vs. Intel and Microsoft type wars, and I'd like to resist
having a sponsorship-type relationship with any of these companies.

Some of the people we are targeting have strong brand loyalty and lots of
money invested in the technology of Microsoft (or Sun, or whoever). I'd
rather not have them say, "Oh this is just another mouthpiece for Sun, I can
dismiss their findings because they must be biased. I'd rather have someone
from Microsoft tell me what to do because I trust Microsoft's judgement".
Switch Sun for Microsoft in that previous statement and then see if you feel
any differently.

I'm not sure if we really need the sponsorship of Sun for a project like
this anyway. What benefits are there to us - I mean tangible benefits, I
know that it could lend credence to our argument (at least some people would
think so). I wouldn't go for a *sponsorship* but maybe for a nod, or a
checkmark, or a gold-star???  And I'd ask for that gold star from a wide
range of companies before publishing the connection between us and any one
company. Sponsorship definitely connotes a financial relationship -- and
possibly would make people think that it compromises our intellectual
independence (even if it doesn't in reality).

Having said that, I'd be willing to examine the issue again if we really do
need money (or sponsorship of some kind) for a specific purpose at some
point. For instance, Tom gets invited to speak at a conference and Sun is
willing to pay his plane ticket and hotel bill and expenses (not sure why
they'd do that, but we're still dreaming right? ;-) ).

Regards,
Tara
-- 
Tara Cleveland
Web Design and Consulting
http://www.taracleveland.com