/
2025-10-21 Release Management & Commmunication WG meeting notes

2025-10-21 Release Management & Commmunication WG meeting notes

 Date

Oct 21, 2025

 Participants

  • @Autumn Faulkner @Jeremy Huff @Charlotte Whitt @Jennifer Eustis @Tod Olson @Thomas Trutt

Agenda Oct 21, 2025

  • Meeting cadence and scheduling

    • This time works well for folks

    • Will set up a weekly meeting for the moment, reevaluate down the road

  • Drafting a charter

    • Will start a draft and discuss next meeting

  • Charter & scope of the group

    • Will review the retro board next for a quick refresher on our goals

    • Initial brainstorming:

      • Should this group liaise with all three Councils? Release management involves decisions about resources, time, and customers in the community.

      • Do we have the opportunity to suggest changes to governance/funding?

  • Discuss potential deliverables

    • Review and re-envision PC outreach to community around releases

      • Documentation audit

        • Every page related to info-sharing around releases

      • Interviews with stakeholders to understand outreach needs

      • Recommendations based on documentation audit & interviews

    • Clarify RMS/PC relationship & protocol, transparency of the RMS process

      • Why does this need attention?

        • Group members noting that there is some confusing overlap in terms of who is responsible for decision-making, as well as a lack of transparency around how release plans and decisions are made.

        • Because RMS group essentially sets the agenda for the entire product/project, release launches, etc. Important decisions about the project should be made by those elected by the community.

        • Make sure to specify this in our subgroup charter, referring to PC objective “Create a cohesive rollout plan for FOLIO as development matures; Develop cohesive rollout plans for future FOLIO releases”--PC charter.

      • FOLIO governance structure means PC officially has oversight of RMS, but historically they have operated somewhat independently and PC should probably acknowledge neglect in this area 😬

      • Whatever efforts we make to revive PC input/collab with RMS, we want to ensure we do not create a bottleneck and preserve some RMS autonomy to respond independently to some issues.

        • RMS folks are responsible for making difficult decisions and making them quickly in some cases; PC needs to be able to support that decision work while avoiding interference/delays to RMS work.

        • How do we set this up? What are the practical ramifications of increasing Council participation in RMS decisions?

        • Jennifer reminds us that members of RMS group have the opportunity to vote down proposed actions, so there is one channel of input in existence already. But PC has a role to play in increasing PC voice when big decisions are under consideration.

      • Preliminary ideas:

        • Keep RMS updates on PC agendas, include in Tri Council agendas as well.

        • FOLIO organization could fund Release Manager role so that it reports directly to the community and the Councils

          • Some supporting positions as well?

          • Would this result in long-term change? More self-sufficiency?

        • We could offer some different models to RMS group and negotiate a helpful arrangement for both

          • Rocking the boat could be a good thing!

          • For instance, decisions about what features should be included in a release vs. postponed till the next – this is the point where Tri Council input could be really helpful.

        • Ensure/build up permanent presence of Council reps on RMS? Or community reps?

          • Define roles and responsibilities for these representatives

          • Use newsletter as one channel of communication for updates from RMS reps → translate for community members, tie to roadmap, etc.

        • Elect a convener of RMS from the community who works in partnership with Release Manager?

  • Timeline & next steps

    • Deadlines in December would be helpful so group efforts don’t drag on too long

    • Meeting frequently early in the process is also helpful

  • Action items

    @Autumn Faulkner will start a draft for charter and share with group
    @Autumn Faulkner will set up a weekly meeting invite
    Share proposed charter and deliverables for PC review in Nov 6, 2025 meeting

    Next time

    • Create the charter and determine scope of the group