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Customer Advisory Board (CAB)

Document Information

Version: 1.0 Last Updated: December 25, 2025 Status: Active Owner: Product Team Milestone: M3.4

Overview

The Fawkes Customer Advisory Board (CAB) is a strategic group of 5-7 key users and stakeholders who provide quarterly input on platform strategy, roadmap priorities, and early feedback on new features. The CAB serves as a direct feedback channel between the Fawkes community and the product team.

Purpose

  • Strategic Input: Guide platform direction and long-term vision
  • Feature Validation: Provide early feedback on proposed features
  • User Advocacy: Represent diverse user needs and use cases
  • Community Connection: Bridge between core team and broader community
  • Success Stories: Share adoption experiences and best practices

Board Composition

Target Size

5-7 members representing diverse:

  • Organization sizes (startup to enterprise)
  • Industries and verticals
  • Platform maturity levels (new adopters to advanced users)
  • Geographic regions
  • Team roles (platform engineers, DevOps leads, engineering managers)

Member Roles

Advisory Board Member

Commitment: 4-6 hours per quarter

Responsibilities:

  • Attend quarterly strategic meetings (2 hours)
  • Provide feedback on roadmap proposals (1-2 hours)
  • Test early access features and provide input (2 hours)
  • Participate in async discussions in dedicated channel
  • Share adoption stories and use cases (optional)

Benefits:

  • Direct influence on platform direction
  • Early access to new features and previews
  • Recognition as Advisory Board member
  • Networking with other platform engineering leaders
  • Priority support and direct access to maintainers
  • Speaking opportunities at Fawkes events

Member Criteria

Required Qualifications:

  • Active Fawkes user for 3+ months
  • Running Fawkes in production or staging environment
  • Platform engineering or DevOps leadership role
  • Strong technical background and strategic thinking
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Available for quarterly time commitment

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Diverse organizational context from existing members
  • Unique use case or industry vertical
  • Active community participant (issues, discussions, PRs)
  • Experience with other Internal Developer Platforms
  • Public speaking or writing experience

Membership Process

Recruitment

Nomination Process

  1. Self-Nomination: Users can nominate themselves via GitHub Discussion
  2. Team Nomination: Fawkes maintainers can nominate active users
  3. Community Nomination: Community members can nominate others

Nomination Template: docs/research/templates/cab-nomination.md

Review and Selection

Process:

  1. Product team reviews nominations monthly
  2. Evaluate against member criteria
  3. Aim for diverse board composition
  4. Reach out to top candidates
  5. Conduct 30-minute intro call
  6. Extend formal invitation

Decision Factors:

  • Alignment with member criteria
  • Portfolio balance (size, industry, geography)
  • Availability and commitment level
  • Value add to existing board

Onboarding

New Member Onboarding Process (Week 1):

  1. Welcome Email: Introduction and expectations
  2. Access Granted:
  3. Mattermost #cab-advisory-board private channel
  4. GitHub Team: @fawkes/advisory-board
  5. Early access repository (if applicable)
  6. Onboarding Call (30 mins):
  7. Meet product team
  8. Review board charter
  9. Answer questions
  10. First Assignment: Review upcoming roadmap document
  11. Public Announcement: Blog post and social media recognition

Onboarding Materials:

  • CAB Welcome Packet: docs/research/data/cab-welcome-packet.md
  • Communication Guidelines
  • NDA (if required for early access features)
  • Conflict of Interest policy

Term and Rotation

Term Length: 12 months (renewable)

Renewal Process:

  • 6 weeks before term end, product team reaches out
  • Member can opt to renew for another year
  • Automatic renewal if member confirms interest
  • No term limits - long-term relationships valued

Off-boarding:

  • Thank you note and recognition
  • Option to transition to Emeritus status
  • Maintain access to general community channels
  • Open invitation to rejoin in the future

Emeritus Status:

  • Former members who completed at least one term
  • Remain in advisory channel (read-only or limited)
  • Can be called upon for specific expertise
  • Listed as "CAB Emeritus" in recognition

Meeting Cadence

Quarterly Strategic Meetings

Frequency: Every 3 months (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4)

Duration: 2 hours

Format: Virtual (video conference)

Typical Agenda:

  1. Welcome and Introductions (10 mins)
  2. Platform Updates (20 mins)
  3. Progress since last meeting
  4. Key metrics and adoption stats
  5. Community highlights
  6. Roadmap Review (40 mins)
  7. Upcoming features and initiatives
  8. Strategic priorities
  9. Trade-off discussions
  10. Member Feedback (30 mins)
  11. Open floor for input
  12. Pain points and requests
  13. Success stories
  14. Deep Dive Topic (15 mins)
  15. Specific feature or decision requiring input
  16. Next Steps and Closing (5 mins)

Meeting Logistics:

  • Scheduled 4-6 weeks in advance
  • Calendar invite with video link
  • Pre-read materials sent 1 week before
  • Meeting notes shared within 48 hours
  • Recording available (with permission)

Ad-Hoc Touchpoints

Feature Feedback Sessions (as needed):

  • Duration: 30-60 minutes
  • Purpose: Early feature review and input
  • Optional attendance
  • Scheduled 2 weeks in advance

Async Discussions (ongoing):

  • Mattermost #cab-advisory-board channel
  • Quick polls and surveys
  • RFC reviews
  • Optional participation

Feedback Process

Input Mechanisms

1. Quarterly Meeting Feedback

  • Structured discussion during meetings
  • Real-time input on roadmap priorities
  • Voting on feature priorities (when needed)

2. Async Channel Feedback

  • Platform: Mattermost #cab-advisory-board (private)
  • Response Time: Team monitors daily, responds within 48 hours
  • Topics: Any platform-related feedback, questions, suggestions
  • Format: Open discussion, threads encouraged

3. Surveys and Polls

  • Frequency: 1-2 per quarter (as needed)
  • Tool: GitHub Discussions polls or Mattermost polls
  • Topics: Feature prioritization, satisfaction ratings, specific decisions
  • Response Time: 1 week for responses

4. Early Access Testing

  • Process:
  • Product team shares early preview (branch, demo environment)
  • Members test in their context (1-2 weeks)
  • Structured feedback form or GitHub Discussion
  • Optional sync discussion
  • Frequency: 2-3 times per year for major features
  • Recognition: Listed as early access tester in release notes

5. RFC Reviews

  • Process: CAB tagged on major RFCs for input
  • Timeline: 1 week for async feedback
  • Topics: Architectural changes, breaking changes, major new features

Feedback Integration

How Input is Used:

  1. Immediate Consideration: All CAB input reviewed by product team
  2. Roadmap Impact: Member feedback directly influences quarterly planning
  3. Transparency: Decisions documented with rationale
  4. Closed Loop: Product team shares how feedback was incorporated
  5. Recognition: Members credited when input shapes decisions

Feedback Tracking:

  • GitHub Issues tagged with cab-feedback label
  • Quarterly summary of CAB input and impact
  • Public transparency (where appropriate)

Communication Channels

Primary Channel: Mattermost

Channel Name: #cab-advisory-board

Access: Private channel for CAB members and product team

Purpose:

  • Async discussions and feedback
  • Announcements and updates
  • Document sharing
  • Scheduling and logistics
  • Community building

Guidelines:

  • Respectful and constructive feedback
  • Confidential for pre-release information
  • Active participation encouraged but not required
  • No urgent support requests (use normal channels)

Channel Setup:

# Channel configuration
Name: cab-advisory-board
Type: Private
Purpose: Customer Advisory Board strategic discussions
Header: "Quarterly Meetings: Q1 (Jan), Q2 (Apr), Q3 (Jul), Q4 (Oct) | Next Meeting: TBD"
Members: @fawkes/advisory-board + product-team

Secondary Channels

GitHub Team

  • Team: @fawkes/advisory-board
  • Purpose: Tag members on relevant issues, discussions, RFCs
  • Access: Can be mentioned by any community member

Email

  • List: cab@fawkes.local (if needed)
  • Purpose: Formal communications, meeting invites
  • Frequency: Quarterly + ad-hoc announcements

Video Calls

  • Platform: Zoom / Google Meet / Microsoft Teams (TBD based on member preference)
  • Purpose: Quarterly meetings and ad-hoc deep dives
  • Recording: With permission, shared with members only

Confidentiality and IP

Non-Disclosure

Pre-Release Information:

  • CAB members may receive early access to unreleased features
  • Expected to keep confidential until public release
  • Simple NDA may be required (lightweight, mutual)

What is Confidential:

  • Unreleased features and roadmap details (before public announcement)
  • Internal metrics not yet published
  • Other member's specific feedback (without permission)

What is NOT Confidential:

  • Released features and public roadmap
  • General feedback and suggestions
  • Public discussions and issues
  • Open source code

Intellectual Property

Member Contributions:

  • Feedback and suggestions: No IP assignment required
  • Code contributions: Follow standard Contributor License Agreement
  • Content (blog posts, talks): Member retains ownership, Fawkes can share/promote

Conflicts of Interest:

  • Members must disclose if employed by competing IDP vendor
  • Members can participate in other communities (encouraged)
  • No requirement for exclusivity

Recognition

Public Recognition

Member Directory: docs/CUSTOMER_ADVISORY_BOARD_MEMBERS.md

  • Name and company (with permission)
  • Role and brief bio
  • LinkedIn / GitHub profile links
  • Photo (optional)

Release Notes: Credit members who provided feature feedback

Blog Posts: Regular "CAB Spotlight" featuring member stories

Speaking Opportunities: Priority for conference talks, webinars, podcasts

Badges and Swag

Digital Badge: "Fawkes CAB Member" for LinkedIn, GitHub profile

Swag Package (optional):

  • Custom t-shirt or hoodie
  • Stickers and laptop stickers
  • Exclusive CAB member item

Success Metrics

Board Effectiveness

Engagement Metrics:

  • Meeting attendance rate (target: >80% per meeting)
  • Async channel participation (target: at least monthly)
  • Survey response rate (target: >70%)
  • Early access testing participation (target: >50% when invited)

Impact Metrics:

  • Roadmap changes influenced by CAB (track quarterly)
  • Features improved based on CAB feedback
  • Issues identified and fixed via CAB input
  • Member retention rate (target: >70% renewal)

Satisfaction Metrics:

  • Member satisfaction survey (quarterly): Target >4/5 avg
  • Net Promoter Score: Likelihood to recommend joining CAB
  • Member testimonials and qualitative feedback

Reporting

Quarterly CAB Summary:

  • Meeting highlights and key discussions
  • Top feedback themes
  • Roadmap impacts from CAB input
  • New member introductions
  • Shared publicly (unless confidential)

Administration

Product Team Responsibilities

CAB Lead (Primary Owner):

  • Schedule and facilitate quarterly meetings
  • Monitor Mattermost channel daily
  • Coordinate early access testing
  • Manage member onboarding/offboarding
  • Track feedback and follow up
  • Produce quarterly CAB summary

Supporting Roles:

  • Engineering Lead: Technical deep dives and demos
  • Community Manager: Recognition and public communication
  • Product Manager: Roadmap reviews and prioritization

Budget and Resources

Estimated Time:

  • CAB Lead: 8-10 hours per quarter
  • Supporting team: 4-6 hours per quarter
  • Per member: 4-6 hours per quarter

Costs (optional):

  • Swag and recognition items: $50-100 per member per year
  • Video conferencing tools: $0 (use existing)
  • Early access infrastructure: Minimal (existing preview environments)

FAQs

For Prospective Members

Q: How much time is required? A: Approximately 4-6 hours per quarter - 2 hours for the meeting, 1-2 hours for async participation, 2 hours for feature testing (optional).

Q: Can I join if I'm not using Fawkes in production yet? A: We prefer production users, but staging/pre-production with serious evaluation is acceptable.

Q: Is there any compensation? A: No monetary compensation. Benefits include strategic influence, early access, recognition, and networking.

Q: What if I can't attend a quarterly meeting? A: That's okay occasionally. We'll share recordings and notes. We hope for >50% meeting attendance over the year.

Q: How do I nominate myself? A: Post in GitHub Discussions using the CAB nomination template or email the product team directly.

For the Team

Q: How do we handle disagreements within CAB? A: Encourage healthy debate. Product team makes final decisions considering all input and explains rationale.

Q: What if a member becomes inactive? A: Reach out to check in. If unresponsive for 2 consecutive quarters, politely off-board and open spot for new member.

Q: Can members join temporarily for a specific topic? A: Yes, we can invite "guest advisors" for specific expertise without full CAB membership.

Appendix

Templates

  • CAB Nomination Template: docs/research/templates/cab-nomination.md
  • Welcome Packet Template: docs/research/data/cab-welcome-packet.md
  • Meeting Agenda Template: docs/research/templates/cab-meeting-agenda.md
  • Feedback Form Template: docs/research/templates/cab-feedback-form.md

Change Log

Version Date Changes Author
1.0 2025-12-25 Initial CAB charter created for M3.4 milestone Copilot

Status: ✅ Board formation in progress Next Steps:

  1. Create supporting templates
  2. Announce CAB formation to community
  3. Open nominations
  4. Recruit initial 5-7 members
  5. Schedule first quarterly meeting

Questions? Contact: product-team@fawkes.local or post in #general on Mattermost