Hi All,

If you have items for discussion, please post them to this thread. I'll post something in the next day or two.

or four ...

First, id like to have a discussion that I didn't even touch on in my first emails.

Should GTN continue to be a member of GOBLET?

What should GTN (and other members) get from being in GOBLET?  The goals for me in having GTN in GOBLET were

1. Increase exposure of GTN to those looking for bioinformatics training, and within the bioinformatics training community.
   
2. Increase exposure of Galaxy training materials in those same communities
   
3. Learn from other bioinformatics trainers about what works and what doesn't.
   
4. Support GOBLET (hey, I'm a fan of their workshops and outreach efforts)

I don't think we had a great first year achieving these goals.  I place some/most of the responsibility for this on myself.  As the project rep and the person who proposed and pushed for this membership, I should have taken a more active role in making this work.

So, 2015 was not so good. I propose we give this membership another year.  If we do that, then in 2016 I'll actively:

• Get reps from more or all GTN members listed in the GOBLET trainer directory. (Goal #1)
  
• I don't know if GOBLET will allow this, as we have the cheapest possible group membership. (see below)
• I don't know if the GTN members who actually pay for the GOBLET membership will want this either...
• Get more GTN materials listed in the GOBLET training materials directory. (Goal #2) 
  
• I'll upload any training material I had a hand in.
• I'll encourage and work with GTN members to register your training materials.
• Keep GTN membership updated (via the Galaxy-Training mailing list) on what's going on in GOBLET (Goal #3)
• I'll forward significant GOBLET announcements to this mailing list.
• Also see below for a second proposal 

Now on to ...

What to discuss at the 2015 GOBLET meeting

In no particular order

1. Increase the visibility of all GTN members within GOBLET

GTN now has 26 members (please welcome Noor Biotechnologies, by the way - tweet going out on Monday*).  Can we get all GTN members (not just the member that paid) listed in the trainer directory?

We can argue this benefits GOBLET be helping spread the word, and by making it more inclusive.  Others may counter that a generous acceptance policy may reduce GOBLET's membership payments.  We need to work out a solution that addresses this concern (and no, I don't have that solution).

Adding GTN GOBLET members would allow those members to include their training materials. (Goal #2)

2. Enable online discussion within GOBLET about bioinformatics Training

I think we (the "royal" we, Fourie would make the proposal - thanks again Fourie) should propose that GOBLET host an online forum for discussing bioinformatics training.  

GOBLET has an announcements mailing list, but it would be a huge win if GOBLET hosted a place to discuss bioinformatics training issues.  I argue this place should be open to anyone, not just GOBLET members.  

Could be a mailing list or an online forum (perhaps based on the Biostar platform?)

3. Should GOBLET have a monthly or quarterly newsletter?

GOBLET says they have a regular newsletter, but I haven't seen one this year.

I don't have an answer to this question.  I prepare the monthly Galaxy Newsletters.  This takes a little over a day of my time, every month, and I'm pretty sure that the number readers does not justify that effort.  (However, from a project point of view the effort is worth it - compiling this forces me to review what's going on and makes me and the project much more aware of the big, community, picture). It's also great for newcomers to see how much is going on.

If the decision is no, then GOBLET should stop staying there is a newsletter.

4. Should GOBLET push a bioinformatics trainer certification?

Does GTN have a position on this?  At last year's meeting there was frequent mention of GOBLET eventually supporting trainer certification.

I'm against certifications myself and view them as mostly a dubious way to raise money.  However, this is a personal position.  As far as I know, Galaxy has no position on this.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Dave C

* But we also lost the incomparable Mark Crowe to green pastures (but not QFAB)

PS: And keep in mind when you respond that this email thread is publicly archived.

On Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 4:40 PM, Dave Clements <clements@galaxyproject.org> wrote:

Hello all,

After watching from afar, I decided to attend last year's GOBLET meeting in Toronto.  I was impressed enough with that meeting to argue that GTN should become a member of GOBLET in 2015, and thanks to the contributions of 5 GTN member organizations, GTN is now a member of GOBLET.

The 2015 GOBLET meeting will be in Cape Town in November.  GTN will be represented by Fourie Joubert of the University of Pretoria. Fourie is our first GTN member in Africa and has been teaching bioinformatics with Galaxy for several years.

I'd like to start a discussion about the issues that GTN cares about and how we can help GOBLET, and how GOBLET can help us.  Fourie can then raise whatever issues we identify at the meeting.

If you have items for discussion, please post them to this thread. I'll post something in the next day or two.

And many thanks to Hans-Rudolf Hotz and Björn Grüning for raising the GTN/GOBLET 2015 question with me, and to Fourie for agreeing to represent GTN at this meeting.

Cheers,

Dave C

--

http://galaxyproject.org/

http://getgalaxy.org/
http://usegalaxy.org/
https://wiki.galaxyproject.org/

--

http://galaxyproject.org/

http://getgalaxy.org/
http://usegalaxy.org/
https://wiki.galaxyproject.org/