Who can be a Technical Reviewer and what influence can a Technical Reviewer have?
A reviewer is anyone who is willing to commit to study (vs. “read casually”) the Task Force report and write up a coherent review of its strengths and weaknesses (vs. verbal comments and flaming emails). The goal of the technical review is to “fix” any and all technical errors, omissions, and misunderstandings, not just collect a bunch of unsubstantiated opinions. Thus, the influence a Technical Reviewer can have depends entirely on the effort he/she is willing to put into studying what the Task Force has done, and carefully (and in writing, so it can in turn be reviewed by others) articulating a particular technical position. If you feel slighted at not being picked for the Task Force this time around, do an outstanding job as a technical reviewer and you are liable to be “rewarded” by being picked as a member (or even a leader) next time around.
