Non-Technical Delegates of the World Unite!

[fuzzy]

Well just so you know...the plan is to ask that all delegates who learned how from our tuts to do a few things:

A) donate a small % (perhaps 5%?) to Beyondbitcoinx.net so users who actively propagate content and earn Xpoints can redeem them for Shares in bitshares DACs

B) donate a sizable amount (perhaps 25%?) to a cause that will improve the world in some way (ex. Khanacademy, Cancer Research, Electronic Frontier Foundation...etc) -- In return, the donating delegates should ask these causes to help them produce project updates to post on their delegate page (users will earn Xpoints to propagate this content on social media)

C) vote for the delegates of those who helped to produce the tutorials

In return, if they follow these criteria they will be placed on the Beyond Bitcoin Delegate slate, which will have a "quick link" that enables people to easily vote for them from the homepage of their respective DACs.  I will likely make a video at some point to talk a little more about this, but for now I have to bash my head against the keyboard some more...

Oh, and as always, suggestions on how to make this project better are always welcome.

[infovortice2013]

yeah! the fuzz good to know the basics to run delegate!!  i'm interested too.

[G1ng3rBr34dM4n]

An update: I now have found a proper provider on which to run beyond bitcoin delegates and I will be learning over thr course of his week the best practices for doing so.  At that point, we will be setting up sessions for non tehcies to learn the basics.

Good work Fuzz, can't wait!

[fuzzy]

An update: I now have found a proper provider on which to run beyond bitcoin delegates and I will be learning over thr course of his week the best practices for doing so.  At that point, we will be setting up sessions for non tehcies to learn the basics.

[cube]

Hi,

I am looking for a non-techie to partner in being a delegate. Please PM me if you are interested.

[Gentso1]

Spoke to rivrhead about it last night and it seems it should be any more difficult than cloud mining pts was.

It's actually exactly the same. Get a host, build the CLI client, open/unlock your delegate wallet and make sure block production is turned on.


After that it's just tuning: Number of max/desired connections, some iptables (firewall) and sshd setup to lock things down a bit and Bob's your uncle, you're a delegate candidate.

Is there a link to a step by step guide?

http://wiki.bitshares.org/index.php/Bitshares-x-how-to

Thats a link on how to create a account, I am asking if their is a how to on setting up a server for running a delegate.

oops. wrong link, this is the right one http://wiki.bitshares.org/index.php/BitShares_X_Delegate_How-To

Its no big deal I just noticed if I clicked the Bitshares logo from the first link I could have found it......its my bad for needing to be spoon fed. Thanks

[soniq]

Spoke to rivrhead about it last night and it seems it should be any more difficult than cloud mining pts was.

It's actually exactly the same. Get a host, build the CLI client, open/unlock your delegate wallet and make sure block production is turned on.


After that it's just tuning: Number of max/desired connections, some iptables (firewall) and sshd setup to lock things down a bit and Bob's your uncle, you're a delegate candidate.

Is there a link to a step by step guide?

http://wiki.bitshares.org/index.php/Bitshares-x-how-to

Thats a link on how to create a account, I am asking if their is a how to on setting up a server for running a delegate.

oops. wrong link, this is the right one http://wiki.bitshares.org/index.php/BitShares_X_Delegate_How-To

[Gentso1]

Spoke to rivrhead about it last night and it seems it should be any more difficult than cloud mining pts was.

It's actually exactly the same. Get a host, build the CLI client, open/unlock your delegate wallet and make sure block production is turned on.


After that it's just tuning: Number of max/desired connections, some iptables (firewall) and sshd setup to lock things down a bit and Bob's your uncle, you're a delegate candidate.

Is there a link to a step by step guide?

http://wiki.bitshares.org/index.php/Bitshares-x-how-to

Thats a link on how to create a account, I am asking if their is a how to on setting up a server for running a delegate.

[soniq]

Spoke to rivrhead about it last night and it seems it should be any more difficult than cloud mining pts was.

It's actually exactly the same. Get a host, build the CLI client, open/unlock your delegate wallet and make sure block production is turned on.


After that it's just tuning: Number of max/desired connections, some iptables (firewall) and sshd setup to lock things down a bit and Bob's your uncle, you're a delegate candidate.

Is there a link to a step by step guide?

http://wiki.bitshares.org/index.php/Bitshares-x-how-to

[Gentso1]

Spoke to rivrhead about it last night and it seems it should be any more difficult than cloud mining pts was.

It's actually exactly the same. Get a host, build the CLI client, open/unlock your delegate wallet and make sure block production is turned on.


After that it's just tuning: Number of max/desired connections, some iptables (firewall) and sshd setup to lock things down a bit and Bob's your uncle, you're a delegate candidate.

Is there a link to a step by step guide?

[fuzzy]

I am interested in knowing how many people are wanting to take part in a Google Hangout with screensharing so people can see precisely how to do it. 

We will post it to the BeyondBitcoin Channel on Youtube and to the BeyondBitcoin SubForum.

that would be awesome!

thanks for the interest guys/gals.  Bumping this to keep it alive and well for a couple more days for maximum eyes on.

[Akado]

I am interested in knowing how many people are wanting to take part in a Google Hangout with screensharing so people can see precisely how to do it. 

We will post it to the BeyondBitcoin Channel on Youtube and to the BeyondBitcoin SubForum.

that would be awesome!

[Riverhead]

Spoke to rivrhead about it last night and it seems it should be any more difficult than cloud mining pts was.

It's actually exactly the same. Get a host, build the CLI client, open/unlock your delegate wallet and make sure block production is turned on.


After that it's just tuning: Number of max/desired connections, some iptables (firewall) and sshd setup to lock things down a bit and Bob's your uncle, you're a delegate candidate.

[donkeypong]

If anyone wants to team up with a non-techie (me) who can help promote you in exchange for a small cut, PM me.

[fuzzy]

I am interested in knowing how many people are wanting to take part in a Google Hangout with screensharing so people can see precisely how to do it. 

We will post it to the BeyondBitcoin Channel on Youtube and to the BeyondBitcoin SubForum.

Is there any background knowledge required? I woud love to be able to setup and run my own delegate instead of relying on a service.

Can you give us any idea of the the difficulty level ?

Spoke to rivrhead about it last night and it seems it should be any more difficult than cloud mining pts was.

[Gentso1]

I am interested in knowing how many people are wanting to take part in a Google Hangout with screensharing so people can see precisely how to do it. 

We will post it to the BeyondBitcoin Channel on Youtube and to the BeyondBitcoin SubForum.

Is there any background knowledge required? I woud love to be able to setup and run my own delegate instead of relying on a service.

Can you give us any idea of the the difficulty level ?

[G1ng3rBr34dM4n]

I am interested in knowing how many people are wanting to take part in a Google Hangout with screensharing so people can see precisely how to do it. 

We will post it to the BeyondBitcoin Channel on Youtube and to the BeyondBitcoin SubForum.

hands up

Same for me!

[soniq]

I am interested in knowing how many people are wanting to take part in a Google Hangout with screensharing so people can see precisely how to do it. 

We will post it to the BeyondBitcoin Channel on Youtube and to the BeyondBitcoin SubForum.

hands up

[fuzzy]

I am interested in knowing how many people are wanting to take part in a Google Hangout with screensharing so people can see precisely how to do it. 

We will post it to the BeyondBitcoin Channel on Youtube and to the BeyondBitcoin SubForum.

[G1ng3rBr34dM4n]

Totally missed the gun when this went live, I was real into PTS when it started but life got at me.  just saw BTSX went live.  how/what do i need to do to become a delegate? and what is the benefit for people making me a delegate and benefit for me?  sorry if this is noob question.  feel free to point me in right direction :-)

Same here. I'm really interested and curious and would really like to know more about this. Would really appreciate a Delegates 101 kind of thread, explaining the how to's, what is needed, what it is, duties and responsibilities, costs it might have, etc, etc

Posting to learn more about becoming a delegate.
What are some of the specs to look at when shopping for a VPS? 

My interest in setting up a delegate has actually been influenced by a couple of PMs with fuznuts; I'm looking to utilize the delegate earnings to bootstrap a startup I've been working on for a few years and transition the functionality of this "physical" startup into the DAC world to solve a major global problem.  I've been hypothesizing that beyond the "internet of things", there will be a "blockchain of things" where physical embedded systems will be connected through blockchains.  I'd like to attempt to do this with food production.

Looking for like-minded people to help out, PM me for details.  Will hop on the mumble server in the near future to explain more.

[Akado]

Totally missed the gun when this went live, I was real into PTS when it started but life got at me.  just saw BTSX went live.  how/what do i need to do to become a delegate? and what is the benefit for people making me a delegate and benefit for me?  sorry if this is noob question.  feel free to point me in right direction :-)

Same here. I'm really interested and curious and would really like to know more about this. Would really appreciate a Delegates 101 kind of thread, explaining the how to's, what is needed, what it is, duties and responsabilities, costs it might have, etc, etc

[RejectKid]

Totally missed the gun when this went live, I was real into PTS when it started but life got at me.  just saw BTSX went live.  how/what do i need to do to become a delegate? and what is the benefit for people making me a delegate and benefit for me?  sorry if this is noob question.  feel free to point me in right direction :-)

[GaltReport]

I'll admit I have not joined the effort as a delegate. However I would be interested in joining with the intention of building tools that make it easier for non-technical folks.

Also I'm thinking about ability to do nice monitoring features too - e.g. "is my node alive and well?"

What I would suggest is for Bytemaster to setup a node in AWS (Amazon Web Services) and make an image that then is easy to configure for each delegate.

Then all a delegate needs to do is fire up an instance with that public image, and then configuration of a private key should be MUCH easier, than trying to compile the whole thing from scratch.

Just my 2 cents. That's how I would go about it.

I agree that is where things should go.

 

That's is how TOR relays  work.  just point and click to launch in AWS.

[gamey]

Im looking for a link I seen earlier on how to setup a  delegate, cant seem to find now. Can you point me in right direction?

Also is it profitable right now to become a delegate? is there a break even point so far from existing delgates ?
It is not particularly profitable.  Profit will come later
Am I helping the network by keeping my bitsharesx wallet open?
This is a good question.  I am guessing, but likely an open wallet is only to allow user interaction.
Is there any other advantages to becoming a delegate other than supporting the  network?
Future potential is immense.
I am interested in creatign a delegate, but do not have the technical expertise
I have decided against running as one.  It requires a little time etc that I do not have. I'm still willing to help out anyone who I've previously discussed this with.
Cheers

http://wiki.bitshares.org/index.php/BitShares_X_Solutions#Delegate_HOW-TO

[soniq]

Im looking for a link I seen earlier on how to setup a  delegate, cant seem to find now. Can you point me in right direction?

Also is it profitable right now to become a delegate? is there a break even point so far from existing delgates ?

Am I helping the network by keeping my bitsharesx wallet open?

Is there any other advantages to becoming a delegate other than supporting the  network?

I am interested in creatign a delegate, but do not have the technical expertise

Cheers

[onceuponatime]

I'm in!   

[Stan]

I am a non-tech.

I have a question of some concern regarding this thread. Will it be possible to be a delegate if one is travelling frequently with only a laptop in his possession? Presumably the laptop would be off at least during plane flights and possibly longer.

There are lots of ways to be a delegate while letting someone else provide and manage the hardware.  As competition heats up, people will be looking for discriminators.  Before long, most delegate candidates will turn the hardware operations over to proven experts to get their credibility and thus "check that square".  Otherwise, they will have to work extra hard to convince voters that they have the technical end well covered.

Hardware operators will have to work hard to demonstrate that they are not centralizing the network if a lot of people use their services and equipment.  Interesting design challenge, no?

So while hardware operators compete in that domain, people who are able to motivate voters will be competing to be the most trusted, best managed, and most helpful to the industry.  These are business and marketing and political skills.

IMHO those two kinds of skills (technical and business) will not typically reside in a single individual.

That said, it may be a while before competition heats up, during which time a likable person with an intermittently connected laptop might be in the top 101.  This is a chance for anyone to earn some profit before somebody out-competes them for their slot. 

[onceuponatime]

I am a non-tech.

I have a question of some concern regarding this thread. Will it be possible to be a delegate if one is travelling frequently with only a laptop in his possession? Presumably the laptop would be off at least during plane flights and possibly longer.

[hasher]

im prepared to be a delegate from the pr-tech side, my native language is rus, i speak eng, i have made significant contribution to rus cryptocommunity during last 1.5 years for promotion, research, education. im a single individual, not involved deeply to any "party" or community, i just know economy/finances and it-futurology fields very well and want to grow in this sphere, though i dont have enough finances or big connections to make a really huge impact.
thought a bit, non tech delegate need to have large audience, which i doesn't have, only 500-1000 unique hits in my community blog, thats not enough for intercontinental representative

[Stan]

Maybe dumb, but if you're short of delegates, have you considered reaching out to the NXT community?
If there's a profit incentive, maybe some of the people running NXT nodes may have the know how and the desire to become delegates if they're made aware of the opportunity.

I would suggest that if competition heats up to be a delegate in this forum, delegates with a second (presumably much less important) community where they have become known and respected might go there to recruit enough cross-overs to get elected as a delegate.  Over time, I predict there will be one or more BitShares delegates from every major community - because that's where the votes may be easier to find.

Then all the radio and talk-show personalities will realize that they can recruit votes from their audiences.

Then people who belong to totally non-crypto communities (save the aardvarks!) will start drumming up supporters there.

It will come down to a contest of who can recruit the most new supporters from anywhere in the world where they can be found.  And all new recruits become BitShareholders.

If developers make their DAC delegate positions lucrative enough, the top 101 best crypto-evangelists in the world will be working to recruit more shareholders from people likely to support them.  They will have to keep doing it because to stand still is to be overtaken by more zealous evangelists.  It will become a good paying full time job bringing in new voters from outside the community.

(And THAT is our secret weapon.)

https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=4821.msg62779#msg62779

[Empirical1]

Maybe dumb, but if you're short of delegates, have you considered reaching out to the NXT community?
If there's a profit incentive, maybe some of the people running NXT nodes may have the know how and the desire to become delegates if they're made aware of the opportunity.

[liondani]

 

[JakeThePanda]

I'm one of the technically challenged and I'm willing to put in the time and investment. I just need the know how.

[AdamBLevine]

Yep, I'm interested if it's not a large time commitment or technical barrier but it seems like at least right now it requires specialized knowledge I do not have, or really want to spend the time to learn.

[xeroc]

nice controbution to the community.

[gamey]

What I would suggest is for Bytemaster to setup a node in AWS (Amazon Web Services) and make an image that then is easy to configure for each delegate.

Probably more simple solution (you don't need to know how to fire up EC2 instance from image) - just use Vagrant and the config files from this repo https://github.com/valzav/vagrant_bitshares_toolkit
Basically after installing Vagrant and specifying your AWS credentials you need to fire up a single command to configure instance and compile bitshares_toolkit on it:
vagrant up --provider=aws

It also supports DigitalOcean or you can use your local VirtualBox VM to give it a try.

    Excellent. 

I haven't tried this yet, but I love the idea.  Works across Digital Ocean, VirtualBox, and AWS.  Seems like a better solution than anything posted so far.  I'll have to go install Vagrant to see what it is about.

[valzav]

What I would suggest is for Bytemaster to setup a node in AWS (Amazon Web Services) and make an image that then is easy to configure for each delegate.

Probably more simple solution (you don't need to know how to fire up EC2 instance from image) - just use Vagrant and the config files from this repo https://github.com/valzav/vagrant_bitshares_toolkit
Basically after installing Vagrant and specifying your AWS credentials you need to fire up a single command to configure instance and compile bitshares_toolkit on it:
vagrant up --provider=aws

It also supports DigitalOcean or you can use your local VirtualBox VM to give it a try.

[bitmeat]

Fixed number of delegates is constraining the network with no scalability.

Isn't this effectively POS without the D?

[Kenof]

100 delegates seems a low number, and my gut feeling is that would be a good move to let more people have a chance of participating in the network in this way. I always assumed PoS to mean that everyone who wanted to would have a chance of participating / being rewarded for being in the network - but the PoS is currently limited to 100 delegates, right? (many of whom have spun up many VPS instances). I like the design with voting though, but limiting it to 100 seems top-heavy. Should the PoS not be a proportional system, with no upper limit on the number of delegates? This would have the effect of making it more distributed. I think more instructions are needed as a priority to make the process a little easier.

I was thinking about this a lot and must say that I agree with you completely. Fixed number of delegates is constraining the network with no scalability.

Maybe set 100 delegates as minimum and with more then 10 000 (100^2) active users add 1 delegate per 100 users. Using this approach network will always have similar ratio of users and delegates thus becoming more decentralized with more active users.

Also if there is number of active users fluctuating between for example 10 095 and 10 102 number of delegates will constantly vary between 100 and 101. Solution to this problem could be using some kind of hysteresis. Number of 100 users could be used but this needs to be chosen wisely.
If number of users is more then 10 100 then 101 delegates are active and if less then 10 000 users are ative there are 100 delegates.

[pgbit]

It seems to me that we still may have one nagging barrier to entry for delegates:  technical know-how.

I've noticed a few wistful postings on the delegate billboards indicating an interest in being a delegate "if it's not too hard" or "too fiddley".

It seems to me that some of our best delegate candidates (those with the ability to grow the industry, advocate a vision, engender trust, and/or represent constituencies) may be shut out, intimidated, or just too busy to keep up with the technical side of things.

I wonder if there are many who feel that way?

I suppose one solution might be to partner with a geek and become a formidable winning Delegate together.

Is anyone else thinking along this line?  Other concerns or ideas?

100 delegates seems a low number, and my gut feeling is that would be a good move to let more people have a chance of participating in the network in this way. I always assumed PoS to mean that everyone who wanted to would have a chance of participating / being rewarded for being in the network - but the PoS is currently limited to 100 delegates, right? (many of whom have spun up many VPS instances). I like the design with voting though, but limiting it to 100 seems top-heavy. Should the PoS not be a proportional system, with no upper limit on the number of delegates? This would have the effect of making it more distributed. I think more instructions are needed as a priority to make the process a little easier.

[Stan]

I'll admit I have not joined the effort as a delegate. However I would be interested in joining with the intention of building tools that make it easier for non-technical folks.

Also I'm thinking about ability to do nice monitoring features too - e.g. "is my node alive and well?"

What I would suggest is for Bytemaster to setup a node in AWS (Amazon Web Services) and make an image that then is easy to configure for each delegate.

Then all a delegate needs to do is fire up an instance with that public image, and then configuration of a private key should be MUCH easier, than trying to compile the whole thing from scratch.

Just my 2 cents. That's how I would go about it.

I agree that is where things should go.

Thinking ahead, the ultimate solution should have intercontinental diversity.  It shouldn't be possible for someone to order AWS to shut down most of a DAC's delegates in one swell foop.

[bitcoinba]

This is along the lines of what we are thinking here: https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=4987.0

[Stan]

Correct me if I'm wrong but a delegate's job is to sign messages. Nothing less, nothing more. A cell phone could do that. My point is a micro instance can totally do it, and it costs like what $15/mo? AWS instance would be much more likely to be always on, compared to my home internet, which goes out once in awhile.

Another reason I offer AWS is because it is extremely easy for someone to create an image, that then others can just fire up, may be edit a single file and reboot. This discussion is about bringing non-technical delegates on-board. Even if it is just 5 lines, it's never that simple, unless you use the exact same version for everything. Even then, sometimes you do an update and you get the wrong library linking mixed up, stuff doesn't compile. I'm advanced user so I can recover from these things, but it is very discouraging for the non-technical fellas.

Technically, a delegate's job is that simple, but we hope it will grow to be much more significant.  If we can make the job profitable enough, then it will get competitive and the way many will compete is to plow some of those profits back into the industry - doing things that will keep them elected.  Thus, much of the maintenance and promotion and further development work and strategic decision making could migrate into the hands of the delegates.

Decentralizing these decisions from individual developers and making it possible to cut the tether on the way to full autonomy.

Delegate positions will be far more significant roles than is yet foreseen in the minds of men.
https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=4821.msg62779#msg62779

[bobmaloney]

Non-technical delegate, reporting.

[gamey]

Correct me if I'm wrong but a delegate's job is to sign messages. Nothing less, nothing more. A cell phone could do that. My point is a micro instance can totally do it, and it costs like what $15/mo? AWS instance would be much more likely to be always on, compared to my home internet, which goes out once in awhile.

Another reason I offer AWS is because it is extremely easy for someone to create an image, that then others can just fire up, may be edit a single file and reboot. This discussion is about bringing non-technical delegates on-board. Even if it is just 5 lines, it's never that simple, unless you use the exact same version for everything. Even then, sometimes you do an update and you get the wrong library linking mixed up, stuff doesn't compile. I'm advanced user so I can recover from these things, but it is very discouraging for the non-technical fellas.

I agree 100% with what you're saying except if you install ubuntu 14.04 LTS and go through the list it should work 100% of the time.

AWS has a lot of advantages, but there is a disadvantage to having a recommended provider.  It adds to centralization but at this point it doesn't really matter.  Someone still has to do all the private key work on each instance after it is fired up and then upkeep it.  That to me seems to be the hard part.  Not the initial setup.  Thats why I decided against messing with this stuff.  Too much time commitment going forward keeping on top of things.

If you could make a tool to migrate the private keys (other data?) to each newly updated AWS image I think that'd be great.  Perhaps automating the whole thing.  install.sh and update.sh ?

[bitmeat]

Correct me if I'm wrong but a delegate's job is to sign messages. Nothing less, nothing more. A cell phone could do that. My point is a micro instance can totally do it, and it costs like what $15/mo? AWS instance would be much more likely to be always on, compared to my home internet, which goes out once in awhile.

Another reason I offer AWS is because it is extremely easy for someone to create an image, that then others can just fire up, may be edit a single file and reboot. This discussion is about bringing non-technical delegates on-board. Even if it is just 5 lines, it's never that simple, unless you use the exact same version for everything. Even then, sometimes you do an update and you get the wrong library linking mixed up, stuff doesn't compile. I'm advanced user so I can recover from these things, but it is very discouraging for the non-technical fellas.

[metalallen]

As a non-technical guy, I'm looking forward it.

[toast]

Sometimes they have TOS against "mining" FYI

only when your miner runs 100% cpu continuously... our nodes hardly compare even to normal web servers they are hosting

[gamey]

I'll admit I have not joined the effort as a delegate. However I would be interested in joining with the intention of building tools that make it easier for non-technical folks.

Also I'm thinking about ability to do nice monitoring features too - e.g. "is my node alive and well?"

What I would suggest is for Bytemaster to setup a node in AWS (Amazon Web Services) and make an image that then is easy to configure for each delegate.

Then all a delegate needs to do is fire up an instance with that public image, and then configuration of a private key should be MUCH easier, than trying to compile the whole thing from scratch.

Just my 2 cents. That's how I would go about it.

If people stick with the recommended version of linux and Bitshares devs make sure it compiles out of the box (given instructions) then there really should not be much of an issue. I think people are more scared to try to learn a rudimentary set of command line commands over anything.

If Bitshares devs make migrating to new versions as easy as possible then it would likely remove the largest hindrance towards adoption.

A node app that monitors the delegate and displays stats etc might be useful, but learning the ~5 commands it takes to run the delegate isn't exactly difficult.

Copy/move/delete, the git commands.  cd..  What else is there ?

If anyone wants to offer up a bounty I'll install virtual box and screen capture software and make a walk through.

 AWS is an expensive option on their higher tier offerings.  If delegate server would fit in a micro-instance then perhaps AWS would be a good solution?  (considering price.)  Sometimes they have TOS against "mining" FYI...  but the upside is you can fire up an instance in data centers all around the globe.

[bytemaster]

I'll admit I have not joined the effort as a delegate. However I would be interested in joining with the intention of building tools that make it easier for non-technical folks.

Also I'm thinking about ability to do nice monitoring features too - e.g. "is my node alive and well?"

What I would suggest is for Bytemaster to setup a node in AWS (Amazon Web Services) and make an image that then is easy to configure for each delegate.

Then all a delegate needs to do is fire up an instance with that public image, and then configuration of a private key should be MUCH easier, than trying to compile the whole thing from scratch.

Just my 2 cents. That's how I would go about it.

I agree that is where things should go. 

[bitmeat]

I'll admit I have not joined the effort as a delegate. However I would be interested in joining with the intention of building tools that make it easier for non-technical folks.

Also I'm thinking about ability to do nice monitoring features too - e.g. "is my node alive and well?"

What I would suggest is for Bytemaster to setup a node in AWS (Amazon Web Services) and make an image that then is easy to configure for each delegate.

Then all a delegate needs to do is fire up an instance with that public image, and then configuration of a private key should be MUCH easier, than trying to compile the whole thing from scratch.

Just my 2 cents. That's how I would go about it.

[donkeypong]

I hereby "out" myself as being non-technical.

[Stan]

It seems to me that we still may have one nagging barrier to entry for delegates:  technical know-how.

I've noticed a few wistful postings on the delegate billboards indicating an interest in being a delegate "if it's not too hard" or "too fiddley".

It seems to me that some of our best delegate candidates (those with the ability to grow the industry, advocate a vision, engender trust, and/or represent constituencies) may be shut out, intimidated, or just too busy to keep up with the technical side of things.

I wonder if there are many who feel that way?

I suppose one solution might be to partner with a geek and become a formidable winning Delegate together.

Is anyone else thinking along this line?  Other concerns or ideas?