> former Commodore/Amiga president Petro Tyschtschenko

Amiga president is a given (after Commodore's demise), but was he really ever Commodore president? AFAIK, his highest rank within Commodore was Vice President of Logistics worldwide.

According to our understanding - and Petro's stories - he was the managing director of several European Commodore subsidiaries around the time of the bankruptcy. It is true that his career before that was in Commodore logistics. He was never the president of Commodore International, of course.

> he was the managing director of several European Commodore subsidiaries around
> the time of the bankruptcy.

Yes, "managing director", "general manager" or "CEO" was the official English title of the heads of the national Commodore subsidiaries. I was just puzzled because the text says "president", which AFAIK was never the official title of this position but reserved to the head of Commodore International.

Petro was a Commodore/Amiga president, not the President. To clarify, the text doesn't attempt to list Petro's titles in full, which he held a great number of in various languages at various times in multiple companies - including titles with the word president or titles which translate into president, but also other titles.

The text "former Commodore/Amiga president" is shorthand, written without the capital letter an official title would have had. No specific title we could think of would do Petro full justice. Manager is too small, director misleadingly refers to BoD in some English dialects, leader has the wrong connotations, CEO would be overly specific in that context. We could have called him executive, but it didn't feel like it had the gravitas Petro deserved. He was more than just an executive. Trying to sufficiently express what he was in perhaps a dozen or more different registered Amiga related companies over 19 years in diverse jurisdictions is a tall order indeed.

So, instead of compressing Petro's story into a few written words, it is better to do a 1+ hour video of it instead! :)

> Petro was a Commodore/Amiga president

I still doubt that he was a Commodore president.

> the text doesn't attempt to list Petro's titles in full

Nobody faulted that it wasn't complete, just that not all of the listed ones are factual.

> including titles with the word president or titles which translate into president

Which ones at Commodore were these that he had?

> written without the capital letter an official title would have had.

I don't even know what "a president" of a company is, opposed to the corporate title that is "President".

> No specific title we could think of would do Petro full justice.
> Manager is too small, director misleadingly refers to BoD in some
> English dialects, leader has the wrong connotations, CEO would be
> overly specific in that context. We could have called him executive,
> but it didn't feel like it had the gravitas Petro deserved.

The heads of the national Commodore subsidiaries had the official title of General Manager. Within Commodore International, his highest-ranking title was that of Vice President. There's nothing ambiguous about that.

> Trying to sufficiently express what he was in perhaps a dozen or more
> different registered Amiga related companies

We're talking just about Commodore here.

> over 19 years in diverse jurisdictions

Of course, only the respective highest position should be relevant here.

Andreas_Wolf:

Fair points. To clarify once more, I wouldn't write "Petro, the former Commodore president" either. But "former Commodore/Amiga president Petro", when looked at in totality instead of dissected, sounds okay to me. Not perfect, but useful when also considering the brevity sought. "Executive" was rejected as too generic, general manager as too specific - director (too BoD in some countries), manager (too small), leader (too controversial), other words too casual. That doesn't mean there couldn't be better words still.

The intent of the text jPV quotes - "International guests of honor were former Commodore/Amiga president Petro Tyschtschenko from Germany..." - was to very briefly communicate the role Petro held over a dozen or so companies. "Commodore/Amiga" was also intentionally ambiguous, as Commodore meant several companies, and Amiga too - Amiga Technologies, Amiga International, perhaps Amiga Inc.(s). Michael Battilana is referred to as "Cloanto/Amiga Forever's", not exactly very literal, but just to quickly give an idea who.

The "former Commodore/Amiga president" was not meant to be literal either, nor a list. It was adjective. President as synonymous to a higher-up, boss, big shot, big kahuna, you name it, based on Petro's vice president title (there's the word), later president title(s), and his general manager roles in various Commodore subsidiaries. Looking at the way director, managing director, general manager and president have different meanings in different countries, or no meaning at all, and Petro was very multi-country, this is not clear-cut.

In totality, "former Commodore/Amiga president Petro" felt like a shoe that fits best, not perfect. It wasn't meant to be read as "Petro, the former Commodore president and the former Amiga president". It was meant to be read as "Petro, a former boss in the long line of Commodore and Amiga companies, a top executive, who topped out as President". In the end, it was an editorial decision, not a legal or an engineering exercise. Just like Mike doesn't come from a company called Amiga Forever, it was merely shorthand.

The quality of the editorial can and should, of course, be debated. Alternative suggestions are welcome too! :)

[ Edited by jsiren On 2014/10/28 7:27 ]

> I wouldn't write "Petro, the former Commodore president" either. But
> "former Commodore/Amiga president Petro" [...] sounds okay to me.

I'm sure you understand that this seems somewhat schizophrenic to me :-)

> general manager as too specific

"Amiga president", which was his correct post-Commodore title, wasn't too specific for you obviously.

> It was adjective. [...] It wasn't meant to be read as "Petro, the former Commodore president
> and the former Amiga president". [...] it was merely shorthand.

"Commodore/Amiga president" is shorthand for "Commodore president and Amiga president" according to my understanding of language.

> President [...] based on Petro's vice president title (there's the word)

A vice president is not a president. A company usually has one president at a time, but (if any) several vice presidents directly reporting to the president.

> later president title(s)

Which ones in Commodore?

> Alternative suggestions are welcome too!

I like factual statements more than oversimplifications, so I'd indeed have written "former Commodore vice president and Amiga president" or "former Commodore general manager and Amiga president".