If the transition team declined the entire first panel of candidates
I think we can AGF that they're being careful.
Also, it's wrong to take out current complaints with WMF on
the executive candidates who may want to make positive
change.
Pine
> Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2014 11:31:45 +0000
> From: Andrew Gray <andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk>
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] My choice for ED
> Message-ID:
> <CAE4f==c3qcT78+J8bvNsEU9AFf0M7T3OFTiJL8sEOKf6sVywVg(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> To me, these proposals always sound a bit like:
>
> "We want this person to be resilient and good-humoured. So we're going to
> punch all our possible candidates in the face a few times and see where
> they want to go from there."
>
> I know that's not the intention, but it's certainly the plausible effect...
>
> Andrew.
>
> On Monday, 3 February 2014, Martijn Hoekstra
> <martijnhoekstra(a)gmail.com<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','martijnhoekstra(a)gmail.com');>>
> wrote:
>
> > I understand your reasoning, but we already have an extremely difficult
> > time finding a suitable candidate. While such community vetting would
> > definitely weed out the people we don't want, it will also slim down the
> > pool we do want, which currently sits around a cool 0. I don't think we
> > can afford that either.
> > On Feb 1, 2014 4:47 PM, "Todd Allen" <toddmallen(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I'm sure dismissively calling people's legitimate concerns "playing with
> > > (a) toy" will help greatly in that regard.
> > >
> > > If someone's going to apply for a job where they'll be scrutinized by a
> > > large volunteer community, it is not unreasonable to determine if they
> > can
> > > withstand that type of scrutiny by a real world test, nor to find whether
> > > they'll be responsive and direct to concerns brought up when that
> > happens.
> > > The community has had enough of "diplomatic" null statements with lots of
> > > words, and should be. Someone needs to give an answer, not just blather
> > on
> > > and wind up saying nothing concrete at all.
> > >
> > > It is right for the community to be fed up with that and demand that a
> > > candidate go through that process. Yes, it would be hard. Yes, it would
> > > discourage some applicants. Those are the applicants we want to
> > discourage.
> > > We want someone who fits well with our particular project, and who will
> > be
> > > responsive and direct with our volunteer community. They are the
> > > underpinnings of every project WMF undertakes.
> > >
> > > Todd Allen
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 8:13 AM, Tony Souter <tony1(a)iinet.net.au> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Folks: are we still playing with this toy?
> > > >
> > > > I've sat here and watched this discourse - variously frivolous,
> > slightly
> > > > insulting, and embarrassing - and said nothing in the hope it would
> > just
> > > > fizzle away.
> > > >
> > > > But amazingly, it's still here.
> > > >
> > > > We have to accept that while crowdsourcing is the genius of Wikipedia
> > and
> > > > a few of its sister projects, it's totally inappropriate for choosing
> > the
> > > > executive director of a big, prominent Foundation that lives in a
> > > > competitive, complex, and often negative jungle. There's a bunch of
> > > reasons
> > > > for doing this largely away from the gaze of the rest of the world. Do
> > I
> > > > really need to spell them out?
> > > >
> > > > It would be good to move on to more useful and practical topics.
> > > >
> > > > Tony
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On 02/02/2014, at 1:32 AM, Benjamin Lees <emufarmers(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 3:29 AM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss(a)hotmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Chad, I wonder if Rory has been considered. (:
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > > Given his history of biting newbies, I'm not sure he'd be in a good
> > > > > position to help solve the editor retention problem.
> > > > > _______________________________________________
I'm sure that the WMIL Board put a lot of thought into this decision, but I
think it's a mistake. The Wikimedia movement is by nature global,
cooperative and collective. I don't see how it will benefit either WMIL or
the movement as a whole if Israeli participants withdraw from international
cooperation and activity, even if they are able and willing to redirect the
same energy to local fundraising efforts.
Maybe the FDC did something wrong in that some applicants did not take the
20% increase guardrail seriously. I hope that FDC messaging and
communication can be improved in the future so that recipients of large
grant increases feel grateful instead of insulted, because it is an
obviously poor outcome if an institution receives two hundred thousand
dollars of donor money and is so upset that it announces it is all but
exiting the international community.
2014-02-03 Itzik Edri <itzik(a)infra.co.il>:
> Hello,
>
>
> Wikimedia Israel board sent earlier today a letter to the chapter
> members. For your convince I'm attaching translation to English.
>
>
> ------
>
>
> Dear friends and colleagues,
>
>
> As you know, the FDC has allocated only a partial amount of the budget
> requested by Wikimedia Israel in order to execute its 2014 work plan as
> approved by the board and general assembly. Specifically, an amount of
> 709,000 NIS was approved; this represents 45% of the requested
> budget<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round1/Wikim…
> >of
> 1,553,837 NIS. Just to set the record straight, the approved amount
> suffices only to cover basic operating cost for the chapter, and is
> insufficient for expanding our projects and initiatives (we’ve stated as
> much in our appeal<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…
> >).
> Nevertheless, WMF’s board turned
> down<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…
> >our
> appeal, as well as WMIN’s appeal. It should be noted that the FDC
> process received criticism, and WMDE has begun an open
> discussion<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Comments/Extensive_fe…
> >on
> the process, and you’re more than invited to take part.
>
>
> Needless to say, we were very disappointed from both the original decision
> and the rejection of our appeal, and we see both responses as stemming from
> irrelevant considerations, to “make an example” of WMIL (and WMIN), to
> prohibit other chapters from requesting significant budgets to allow them
> to grow their operation.
>
>
> This left WMIL in a difficult situation. WMIL board members and staff have
> been working tirelessly over the last few weeks to adapt the work plan to
> the reality of the low budget. Direct implications of this reality
> includes: less paid human resources required for supporting our volunteers
> and for becoming more professional at what we do; cuts in bursaries and
> grants to community projects, less involvement in international affairs,
> delaying our academic program and many additional changes.
>
>
> Nevertheless, we’re not giving up. WMIL has always been, and we hope it
> will continue to be, a strong chapter, one which maximizes the use of its
> resources, however limited, to be entrepreneurial and execute many projects
> that serve as examples to the entire Movement. Therefore, in spite of the
> changes in the budget, we are committed to working hard, very hard, to
> realize as much as we can of the original plans, while continuing to build
> our infrastructure and find additional resources that will allow us to
> expand our activities and create more impact by the end of 2014, and get
> fully back on track for 2015.
>
>
> It is important to make clear: our strategic plans do include raising more
> funding and receiving sponsorships to become less dependent on the WMF, but
> we hoped we could do it gradually, in cooperation with the FDC, and not as
> a one-sided decision. Therefore, raising funding will become one of the
> main activities of our staff in 2014, which will be supported by work of
> members of the Board. This is “internal work” that we will have to focus on
> in order to continue the professionalization and infrastructure building of
> WMIL.
>
>
> At this point, we turn to you for help:
>
>
> WMIL volunteers and board members have always been very involved in
> international activities of the Wikimedia Movement: from Wikimania
> committees, international PR, GLAM, WLM, WCA, GAC and even more. This is a
> welcome activity in our view, as sharing experiences with other chapters
> and with the WMF is very important. Nevertheless, the message we got from
> the FDC is loud and clear: the growth of WMIL is not in FDC’s best
> interests, and not in the WMF Board’s best interests, as apparent to us by
> the backing of the FDC decision.
>
>
> In light of these recent developments, we call our volunteers, staff and
> members of the board to minimize their efforts and time allocated for
> international involvement – monthly updates, writing posts in the
> international bog, taking parts in committees and writing voluntary
> reports. This is a resource intensive effort (involving many hours of
> proofing and translation), and we would prefer our community to invest
> these resources in growing WMIL and providing for its future. Following
> this letter, our members of the board will resign from their international
> roles in committees to support WMIL’s internal goals.
>
>
> This is not a protest, and not a demand from our community to follow suit.
> However, we do ask you to realize that WMIL will need every minute of your
> time to extend our work inside Israel. Help Wikimedia Israel to rally,
> strengthen itself and prove other chapters and the Movement that it can
> execute its plans, while building an infrastructure that will allow less
> dependency on wrongful, one-sided decisions.
>
>
> We hope that 2014 will see WMIL doing more, achieving more impact and
> contributing to Israeli society, as it has in recent years, and even more.
>
>
> With best wishes,
>
> Wikimedia Israel Board
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Itzik Edri <itzik(a)infra.co.il>
> Date: 2014-02-03
> Subject: קריאה למתנדבי ויקימדיה ישראל לעשות לביתנו
> To: ויקימדיה ישראל <Wikimedia-il(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>
>
> חברים ושותפים יקרים,
>
> כידוע לכם, ה-FDC אישר לוויקימדיה ישראל רק חלק מהתקציב אותו ביקשנו בכדי לממש
> את תכנית העבודה שהוצגה ואושרה פה אחד בקרב חברי העמותה. למען הדיוק מדובר
> ב-709,000 ש"ח, המהווים רק 45% מהתקציב
> שביקשנו<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round1/Wikim…
> >בסך
> 1,553,837 ש"ח. כדי לסבר את האוזן, מדובר בסכום שמספיק לעלויות התפעול
> הבסיסיות של העמותה וכלל לא לפעילות שוטפת (מי שרוצה לקרוא עוד, יכול
> לקרוא את הערעור
> שהגשנו<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…
> >).
> אך הוועד המנהל דחה<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…
> >את
> הערעור שלנו, כמו גם את של ויקימדיה הודו. יצוין שיש הרבה ביקורת על
> התהליך, והגרמנים החלו להוביל שיח
> פתוח<
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Comments/Extensive_fe…
> >בנושא
> שאתם מוזמנים להשתלב בו.
>
> התאכזבנו מאוד מההחלטה המקורית ומדחיית הערעור, שנבעו בראייתנו לא משיקולים
> ענייניים אלא מהצורך לתת דוגמא, "למען יראו וייראו" צ'פטרים אחרים מהגדלה
> משמעותית של פעילות ותקציב, וערערנו לוועד המנהל של הקרן בניסיון לשנות במקצת
> את ההחלטה.
>
> המצב מבחינת ויקימדיה ישראל אינו פשוט. הוועד המנהל, ביחד עם הצוות המקצועי,
> ניהל בשבועות האחרונים דיונים רבים בניסיון להתאים את תכנית העבודה למציאות
> התקציבית. ההשלכות: שכירת פחות כוח אדם הדרוש להתמקצעות ותמיכה במתנדבים,
> קיצוצים במלגות ובתקצוב מיזמים, הקטנת השתתפות בכינוסים בינלאומיים, דחיית
> המיזם האקדמי ושינויים אחרים.
>
> למרות זאת, אנחנו לא מרימים ידיים. ויקימדיה ישראל הייתה, ואנו מקווים שגם
> תהיה, צ'פטר מוביל - כזה שיודע לנצל ולמקסם את המשאבים המעטים שיש לו כדי
> להרים פרויקטים מדהימים שכל התנועה גאה בהם. לכן, למרות שינוי תכנית העבודה,
> אנו הולכים לעבוד קשה, מאוד קשה, כדי לממש את רוב התכנית - ותוך כדי כך,
> להמשיך לבנות תשתית ולגייס משאבים שיאפשרו לנו להעלות את היקף הפעילות לקראת
> סוף 2014 ולבטח ב-2015, כמתוכנן.
>
> חשוב להבהיר שהתוכנית האסטרטגית שלנו כללה גיוס כספים וחסויות, והגדלת עוגת
> התקציב תוך שאיפה להתבסס על מקורות חיצוניים לקרן, אך היינו מעדיפים שהתהליך
> יקרה בצורה מדורגת, תוך שיתוף פעולה, ולא בהחלטה חד-צדדית. ההקצאה התקציבית
> תחייב מהצוות הרבה יותר עיסוק "כלפי פנים" בגיוס כספים וחסויות והמשך בניית
> התשתית של העמותה, ולכן גם חברי הוועד הולכים להתגייס באופן מלא לתמיכה
> במשימה.
>
> אנחנו צריכים את העזרה שלכם:
>
> מתנדבי ויקימדיה ישראל, ורבים מחברי הוועד היו פעילים מאז ומתמיד בפעילות
> הבינלאומית של התנועה, החל מוויקימניה, תקשורת, גלאם, GAC, WCA, WLM ושאר
> ועדות בינלאומיות. הפעילות הזו מבורכת, והניסיון אותו חולקת ויקימדיה ישראל עם
> התנועה הוא חשוב ביותר. אך המסר שהגיע מה-FDC מאוד ברור, הצמיחה של ויקימדיה
> ישראל אינה עולה בקנה אחד עם השקפת העולם של ה-FDC והוועד המנהל, שגיבה אותה.
>
> לאור זאת ולתקופה הקרובה, המתנדבים, חברי הוועד והצוות המקצועי יצמצמו את
> המשאבים המוקצים לפעילות הבינלאומית - ביניהם עדכונים חודשיים, כתיבת פוסטים
> לבלוג הבינלאומי של הקרן וכתיבת דיווחים שאינם בגדר חובה. מדובר בעבודה רבה,
> הדורשת זמן והשקעה בתרגום לאנגלית, ובסיטואציה של משאבים מוגבלים מאוד - אנו
> בשלב הזה מעוניינים להפנות אותם להשקעה בצ'פטר שלנו, ובעשייה שלנו. חברי הוועד
> המנהל במסגרת זאת מתכוונים גם להשקיע את מירב מאמציהם בתמיכה בתכנית העבודה
> וגיוס המשאבים ולכן יצמצמו למינימום/יפרשו ממחויבויות בינלאומיות שלהם בכדי
> לתמוך במטרה הזו.
>
> זו אינה מחאה, ולא דרישה שלנו מכם חברי העמותה לעשות צעד זה או אחר. אולם, זו
> כן בקשה שלנו מכל המתנדבים הפעילים גם בקבוצות עבודה בינלאומיות - אנחנו
> צריכים כל דקה פנויה שלכם, וצריכים שתשקיעו את מרב המאמצים שלכם בבית - עזרו
> לוויקימדיה ישראל להתאושש, להתחזק ולהוכיח לתנועה שהיא יכולה לממש את רוב
> תכנית העבודה שהכריזה עליה, אך גם לבנות תשתית שתאפשר תלות עתידית נמוכה יותר
> בהחלטות חד צדדיות חריפות שכאלה.
>
> בתקווה שבחודשים הקרובים נתחזק, ונחזור לפעילות מלאה, תורמת ומשפיעה, כפי
> שוויקימדיה ישראל עשתה תמיד.
>
>
> בברכה,
>
> חברי הוועד המנהל
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list
> Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
Hey folks :)
Adam and I will be holding another office hour on February 3rd at 5pm
UTC. See http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Wikidata+office+ho…
for your timezone. We will be meeting in #wikimedia-office on
freenode IRC.
The topics will be:
* short update on the current state of Wikidata
* questions about the development plan for 2014+
(https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Development_plan)
* any other questions/discussion
We will make logs available for those who can't attend.
Hope to see many of you there!
Cheers
Lydia
--
Lydia Pintscher - http://about.me/lydia.pintscher
Product Manager for Wikidata
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24
10963 Berlin
www.wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg
unter der Nummer 23855 Nz. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das
Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.
Hello,
Wikimedia Israel board sent earlier today a letter to the chapter
members. For your convince I'm attaching translation to English.
------
Dear friends and colleagues,
As you know, the FDC has allocated only a partial amount of the budget
requested by Wikimedia Israel in order to execute its 2014 work plan as
approved by the board and general assembly. Specifically, an amount of
709,000 NIS was approved; this represents 45% of the requested
budget<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round1/Wikim…>of
1,553,837 NIS. Just to set the record straight, the approved amount
suffices only to cover basic operating cost for the chapter, and is
insufficient for expanding our projects and initiatives (we’ve stated as
much in our appeal<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…>).
Nevertheless, WMF’s board turned
down<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…>our
appeal, as well as WMIN’s appeal. It should be noted that the FDC
process received criticism, and WMDE has begun an open
discussion<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Comments/Extensive_fe…>on
the process, and you’re more than invited to take part.
Needless to say, we were very disappointed from both the original decision
and the rejection of our appeal, and we see both responses as stemming from
irrelevant considerations, to “make an example” of WMIL (and WMIN), to
prohibit other chapters from requesting significant budgets to allow them
to grow their operation.
This left WMIL in a difficult situation. WMIL board members and staff have
been working tirelessly over the last few weeks to adapt the work plan to
the reality of the low budget. Direct implications of this reality
includes: less paid human resources required for supporting our volunteers
and for becoming more professional at what we do; cuts in bursaries and
grants to community projects, less involvement in international affairs,
delaying our academic program and many additional changes.
Nevertheless, we’re not giving up. WMIL has always been, and we hope it
will continue to be, a strong chapter, one which maximizes the use of its
resources, however limited, to be entrepreneurial and execute many projects
that serve as examples to the entire Movement. Therefore, in spite of the
changes in the budget, we are committed to working hard, very hard, to
realize as much as we can of the original plans, while continuing to build
our infrastructure and find additional resources that will allow us to
expand our activities and create more impact by the end of 2014, and get
fully back on track for 2015.
It is important to make clear: our strategic plans do include raising more
funding and receiving sponsorships to become less dependent on the WMF, but
we hoped we could do it gradually, in cooperation with the FDC, and not as
a one-sided decision. Therefore, raising funding will become one of the
main activities of our staff in 2014, which will be supported by work of
members of the Board. This is “internal work” that we will have to focus on
in order to continue the professionalization and infrastructure building of
WMIL.
At this point, we turn to you for help:
WMIL volunteers and board members have always been very involved in
international activities of the Wikimedia Movement: from Wikimania
committees, international PR, GLAM, WLM, WCA, GAC and even more. This is a
welcome activity in our view, as sharing experiences with other chapters
and with the WMF is very important. Nevertheless, the message we got from
the FDC is loud and clear: the growth of WMIL is not in FDC’s best
interests, and not in the WMF Board’s best interests, as apparent to us by
the backing of the FDC decision.
In light of these recent developments, we call our volunteers, staff and
members of the board to minimize their efforts and time allocated for
international involvement – monthly updates, writing posts in the
international bog, taking parts in committees and writing voluntary
reports. This is a resource intensive effort (involving many hours of
proofing and translation), and we would prefer our community to invest
these resources in growing WMIL and providing for its future. Following
this letter, our members of the board will resign from their international
roles in committees to support WMIL’s internal goals.
This is not a protest, and not a demand from our community to follow suit.
However, we do ask you to realize that WMIL will need every minute of your
time to extend our work inside Israel. Help Wikimedia Israel to rally,
strengthen itself and prove other chapters and the Movement that it can
execute its plans, while building an infrastructure that will allow less
dependency on wrongful, one-sided decisions.
We hope that 2014 will see WMIL doing more, achieving more impact and
contributing to Israeli society, as it has in recent years, and even more.
With best wishes,
Wikimedia Israel Board
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Itzik Edri <itzik(a)infra.co.il>
Date: 2014-02-03
Subject: קריאה למתנדבי ויקימדיה ישראל לעשות לביתנו
To: ויקימדיה ישראל <Wikimedia-il(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
חברים ושותפים יקרים,
כידוע לכם, ה-FDC אישר לוויקימדיה ישראל רק חלק מהתקציב אותו ביקשנו בכדי לממש
את תכנית העבודה שהוצגה ואושרה פה אחד בקרב חברי העמותה. למען הדיוק מדובר
ב-709,000 ש"ח, המהווים רק 45% מהתקציב
שביקשנו<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round1/Wikim…>בסך
1,553,837 ש"ח. כדי לסבר את האוזן, מדובר בסכום שמספיק לעלויות התפעול
הבסיסיות של העמותה וכלל לא לפעילות שוטפת (מי שרוצה לקרוא עוד, יכול
לקרוא את הערעור
שהגשנו<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…>).
אך הוועד המנהל דחה<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_…>את
הערעור שלנו, כמו גם את של ויקימדיה הודו. יצוין שיש הרבה ביקורת על
התהליך, והגרמנים החלו להוביל שיח
פתוח<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Comments/Extensive_fe…>בנושא
שאתם מוזמנים להשתלב בו.
התאכזבנו מאוד מההחלטה המקורית ומדחיית הערעור, שנבעו בראייתנו לא משיקולים
ענייניים אלא מהצורך לתת דוגמא, "למען יראו וייראו" צ'פטרים אחרים מהגדלה
משמעותית של פעילות ותקציב, וערערנו לוועד המנהל של הקרן בניסיון לשנות במקצת
את ההחלטה.
המצב מבחינת ויקימדיה ישראל אינו פשוט. הוועד המנהל, ביחד עם הצוות המקצועי,
ניהל בשבועות האחרונים דיונים רבים בניסיון להתאים את תכנית העבודה למציאות
התקציבית. ההשלכות: שכירת פחות כוח אדם הדרוש להתמקצעות ותמיכה במתנדבים,
קיצוצים במלגות ובתקצוב מיזמים, הקטנת השתתפות בכינוסים בינלאומיים, דחיית
המיזם האקדמי ושינויים אחרים.
למרות זאת, אנחנו לא מרימים ידיים. ויקימדיה ישראל הייתה, ואנו מקווים שגם
תהיה, צ'פטר מוביל - כזה שיודע לנצל ולמקסם את המשאבים המעטים שיש לו כדי
להרים פרויקטים מדהימים שכל התנועה גאה בהם. לכן, למרות שינוי תכנית העבודה,
אנו הולכים לעבוד קשה, מאוד קשה, כדי לממש את רוב התכנית - ותוך כדי כך,
להמשיך לבנות תשתית ולגייס משאבים שיאפשרו לנו להעלות את היקף הפעילות לקראת
סוף 2014 ולבטח ב-2015, כמתוכנן.
חשוב להבהיר שהתוכנית האסטרטגית שלנו כללה גיוס כספים וחסויות, והגדלת עוגת
התקציב תוך שאיפה להתבסס על מקורות חיצוניים לקרן, אך היינו מעדיפים שהתהליך
יקרה בצורה מדורגת, תוך שיתוף פעולה, ולא בהחלטה חד-צדדית. ההקצאה התקציבית
תחייב מהצוות הרבה יותר עיסוק "כלפי פנים" בגיוס כספים וחסויות והמשך בניית
התשתית של העמותה, ולכן גם חברי הוועד הולכים להתגייס באופן מלא לתמיכה במשימה.
אנחנו צריכים את העזרה שלכם:
מתנדבי ויקימדיה ישראל, ורבים מחברי הוועד היו פעילים מאז ומתמיד בפעילות
הבינלאומית של התנועה, החל מוויקימניה, תקשורת, גלאם, GAC, WCA, WLM ושאר
ועדות בינלאומיות. הפעילות הזו מבורכת, והניסיון אותו חולקת ויקימדיה ישראל עם
התנועה הוא חשוב ביותר. אך המסר שהגיע מה-FDC מאוד ברור, הצמיחה של ויקימדיה
ישראל אינה עולה בקנה אחד עם השקפת העולם של ה-FDC והוועד המנהל, שגיבה אותה.
לאור זאת ולתקופה הקרובה, המתנדבים, חברי הוועד והצוות המקצועי יצמצמו את
המשאבים המוקצים לפעילות הבינלאומית - ביניהם עדכונים חודשיים, כתיבת פוסטים
לבלוג הבינלאומי של הקרן וכתיבת דיווחים שאינם בגדר חובה. מדובר בעבודה רבה,
הדורשת זמן והשקעה בתרגום לאנגלית, ובסיטואציה של משאבים מוגבלים מאוד - אנו
בשלב הזה מעוניינים להפנות אותם להשקעה בצ'פטר שלנו, ובעשייה שלנו. חברי הוועד
המנהל במסגרת זאת מתכוונים גם להשקיע את מירב מאמציהם בתמיכה בתכנית העבודה
וגיוס המשאבים ולכן יצמצמו למינימום/יפרשו ממחויבויות בינלאומיות שלהם בכדי
לתמוך במטרה הזו.
זו אינה מחאה, ולא דרישה שלנו מכם חברי העמותה לעשות צעד זה או אחר. אולם, זו
כן בקשה שלנו מכל המתנדבים הפעילים גם בקבוצות עבודה בינלאומיות - אנחנו
צריכים כל דקה פנויה שלכם, וצריכים שתשקיעו את מרב המאמצים שלכם בבית - עזרו
לוויקימדיה ישראל להתאושש, להתחזק ולהוכיח לתנועה שהיא יכולה לממש את רוב
תכנית העבודה שהכריזה עליה, אך גם לבנות תשתית שתאפשר תלות עתידית נמוכה יותר
בהחלטות חד צדדיות חריפות שכאלה.
בתקווה שבחודשים הקרובים נתחזק, ונחזור לפעילות מלאה, תורמת ומשפיעה, כפי
שוויקימדיה ישראל עשתה תמיד.
בברכה,
חברי הוועד המנהל
Hello everyone
I am very happy to announce that we have found a wonderful person to be
our Wikipedian in Community for our Kumusha Takes Wiki project in Ivory
Coast. His name is Cyriac Gbogou.
Born on the 02nd of September 1980 in Kpada (Soubré) village located in
the south west of the country and the capital of Ivorian cocoa, Cyriac
Gbogou runs for years a part of the African continent with his parents
as a student-resident respectively in Senegal, Togo, Mali and
Congo-Brazzaville. He finally returned to Côte d'Ivoire in 2001 and
decided to pursue graduate studies in computer science. He holds an
engineering degree in Computer Science.
He gets married in August 2009. In 2010, he discovers the world of Web
2.0. That same year, Cyriac chooses to not follow his employer IBM which
wanted to relocate its activities in Morocco because of the very
sensitive period in Cote d’Ivoire. Loving risk and adventure, he stays
to serve his country as volunteer in Akendewa (now former Secretary
General). His passion for social networks has grown during the
post-electoral crisis of 2011 working with other actors in the Ivorian
web projects such as Civsocial #, # Wonzomai who have saved lives with
the Internet use [1]. Cyriac is the Chairman of the Association des
Blogueurs de Côte d'Ivoire (A.B.C.I)
Since September 2012, Cyriac Gbogou is an independent consultant, a job
he does with passion, as an advisor, speaker and trainer. He was named
by his peers "Village Chief" of the Ivorian web community.
You can also follow him on his blog where he speaks freely on topics:
www.cyriacgbogou.ci
Whilst Cyriac is not (yet) a wikipedian, he is quite knowledgeable with
open source and related projects : he was involved in OSM Ivory Coast
mapping and coordinating mapping party or was involved in the jerry
project (http://youandjerrycan.org) including in the set up of Afripedia
on a jerry server.
More info about Kumusha here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kumusha_Takes_Wiki/en#News
Cyriac will have about two weeks to gain some familiarity with Wikimedia
projects before heading to Cap Town for a month, to receive some
training and start planning his activity in Ivory Coast.
It would be great if some of you could welcome him on his (still red)
talk page :) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Cyriac_Gbogou
Florence/Anthere
Dear Chapters,
this is a mail focused on chapters within the European Union but of course
support and participation of any chapter is welcome!
== Preamble ==
Some might have heard about the State Parliament Projects done in Germany
and Austria since 2009:
A bunch of Wikipedians and photographers meet politicians in the
parliament, shoot professional photos, discuss their Wikipedia articles
etc. This way hundreds of free licensed, high quality images have been
made, Wikipedia articles have been improved. In the latest project at
Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) we added videos, politicians give a short
introduction about themselves, their position and political focus in German
and in their mother tongue if different from German.
About 20 photographers were able to participate and processes how to work
with the parliament's administration, how to interact with the politicians,
how to efficiently take a lot of photos in a short time and with good
quality have been established.
== Next Level: European Parliament ==
Now we would like to take this to next level: After contacting the European
Parliament I was able to get their approval, the support by the parties and
a date!
Unfortunately the date is already in February, 3rd to 7th, as we have to
use the short time gap between budget deliberations and elections. MEPs
only travel to the EP when deliberations are ongoing but then they are also
busy with meetings, as soon as the election preperation starts there won't
be any time for our project within the next 6 months.
Anyway I am sure we can do that - the elections are also a great
opportunity to raise awareness on our material we have in Wikipedia and on
Commons. It is also an excellent opportunity to bring together volunteers
in doing our core work together, maybe we can transfer the idea of
Parliament Projects to other countries. Volunteers get the opportunity to
learn from each other - the EP is a very challenging project, having more
than 700 MEPs to be handled within a few days. And Wikipedia may improve
its articles, also by bringing together volunteers from different EU
countries. Many MEPs have their articles only in a few of the European
languages, some not even in their native language!
== Your Chapter Involved ==
We are looking forward to get volunteers from as many countries as possible
involved in this project. In order to be handle it we need approx. 35
people to help. Obviously the german and austrian photographers are already
waiting for it, from past projects they already know what will go on. But
there is much more to it: We want your volunteers!
Imagine a project where we could bring together volunteers from all 24
language communities in the EU - that is what we are trying!
Therefore we ask you for a favour:
* please forward this invitation to your local community - you can point
them to our project page on Wikimedia Commons:
**
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wikipedians_in_European_Parliame…
* does your chapter provide travel support for those volunteers in your
country who want to participate? Please do so. Your chapter pays for the
transportation to / from Strasbourg and the accommodation (around 300 EUR
per person for all 6 nights), we take care of the rest (transportation
hotel - EP, catering etc.)
**
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wikipedians_in_European_Parliame…
* does your chapter have photographic equipment we might need? We could use
DSLRs, flash units, background systems, lenses...
**
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wikipedians_in_European_Parliame…
* we would like to supply the volunteers with t-shirts or hoodies with
Wikipedia logo or similar - for a unified appearance and to make them
visible as volunteers and Wikimedians. Is your chapter (or the WMF?)
interested in providing 90 shirts / hoodies? (We planned 2 pc. per person
as they will be worn almost one week.)
**
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wikipedians_in_European_Parliame…
* everyone who likes this project: state your support on the talk page of
our grant request to the WMF which should cover the general costs of the
project. By this grant request we make sure that each chapter only has to
handle local support and can stay within it's budgeted limits and area of
operation.
**
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG/Olaf_Kosinsky/Wikipedians_in_Eur…
Thanks for your attention and your support! We are confident that even with
the short time given we will be able to run an awesome project which will
have an impact in so many areas - Wikipedia, Commons, our volunteers,
chapter collaboration, outreach, reader experience...
Regards,
Olaf Kosinsky
>... we should consider it a strength in an individual to
> refuse to consider applying for a position where every aspect
> of their career and personal life would be microscopically
> examined by thousands of people....
What if the tiny fraction of people who were open to examination of
their merits were more aligned with the positions of the peer reviewed
literature reviews? That seems very likely.
