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The Java Community Process (JCP) program runs smoothly thanks to the dedication of the
Program Management Office (PMO) staff. These individuals bring not only a wealth of diverse
technical, academic, and personal training and experience to the task of nurturing the community,
but they also share a passionate enthusiasm for Java technology and the community that is evolving
it.
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Friendship brought Liz Kiener to the JCP, and people are what keeps her here. Years ago at Sony,
Liz provided technical support and trade show support, later becoming logistics manager. She also
became friends with "a very good program manager." Liz's friend later joined Sun Microsystems and
met Susan Roach, who was the entire PMO staff at that time. After Susan mentioned her difficulties
in finding a program manager, the friend contacted Liz with the idea of migrating to Sun. Why not?
Liz had hit the ceiling at Sony and was ready for another opportunity. Although the extensive list of
technical abbreviations used within Sun and the JCP program seemed daunting, the hiring manager assured
her, "I can always find somebody who knows UNIX or HTML, but it's very rare to find somebody who is a
good program manager. You either have that ability, or you don't." Liz joined the growing PMO team in 2000.
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| Liz Kiener |
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It's obvious that Liz loves people, and her joie de vivre is apparent when she talks about the work she
does as JSR program manager for the JCP PMO. Wouldn't you know it? She's got a master's degree in Psychology,
although she promises not to analyze anybody. Still, such a credential comes in handy when finessing a group
like the JCP program, with its inevitable political and cultural undercurrents.
In fact, Liz relishes the politics. "I speak the language of diplomacy," she says, meaning more than
her impeccable French. "That's part of my job -- helping people work smoothly together in community to
develop APIs and new technologies in an international, collaborative effort among companies that are
often competitors. This collaboration is very important to the success of the JCP program."
During her tenure with the JCP program, Liz has observed several significant improvements in diplomacy
and efficiency. In the early years, when Sun controlled much more of the process, the community website
did not host any of the stages of Java Specification Requests (JSRs) led by outsiders, that is, non-Sun
participants, but only posted a URL to the spec lead's own website. It won't be a surprise to learn that
this didn't set well with Liz or the rest of the PMO staff. The community established its own jcp.org
presence independent of Sun's webspace. Liz took the effort to integrate the community personally. She says,
"I made it my mission to treat all spec leads in the same manner, no matter where they come from, which company
they work for, or whether they are individuals. Sun spec leads don't get preferential treatment. I became the
program manager who managed every part of the public stages for all outside-led JSRs." Her empathy for those
formerly considered "outsiders" stems in part from her own status as a European raised all over the continent,
now living in the United States.
Liz keeps looking for ways to make her training sessions more efficient and accessible by more of the
community. Because most spec leads and experts were in the U.S., the training sessions first began there,
with one on the Pacific coast and another on the Atlantic. By 2001, the increase in participation by Europeans
warranted a training session on their own turf. Liz is planning the first-ever training session to take place in
Asia this year, and she looks forward to the day when training can take place in Latin America as well. Occasionally
she is invited to an expert group's kickoff meeting, where she gets acquainted and leads a brief training session.
This year, Liz plans to offer customized training in a conference call format for first-time spec leads.
Besides training, Liz has a few other responsibilities these days. As JSR program manager, she posts all the
new JSRs on the website. She also works with the Executive Committee (EC) as an interface between the EC and
spec leads. In that role, she presents new and future JSRs and upcoming ballots, and she encourages spec leads
to attend EC meetings when it would be helpful. For example, when JSR 215 was in progress to revise the Java
Community Process to version 2.6, Liz brought spec leads into the EC expert group meeting to help them understand
the real issues a spec lead faces in terms of transparency and so forth. Besides encouraging new spec leads through
the process by giving them to do lists and pointing out the next steps, Liz also advises them to solicit the EC
directly if they need help getting the initial group of expert together.
Liz loves to cook, travel, and surround herself with art of all kinds. A former ballroom dance instructor,
Liz enjoys watching dance performances and dancing with her family when she visits them in France.
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