Hi Garfield, many thanks for your answer!
On Apr 9, 2015 5:35 PM, "Garfield Byrd" <gbyrd(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hi Pine,
I have answered your questions in your email.
Regards,
Garfield
On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 12:38 AM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Garfield,
>
> Ok, follow up questions:
>
> * Does WMF have a plan to keep the Foundation and its essential
functions
> operational if, say, the San Francisco main
building all SF staff are
> completely offline and unreachable by phone for a week after an
earthquake?
Yes, we
have a plan in place in case the building in San Francisco is
unavailable. All San Francisco staff will not be offline for a week after
an earthquake. Not all staff live in San Francisco, and Loma Prieta
showed
that even a major earthquake does not take the entire
San Francisco Bay
Area offline. So essential functions will continue even after an
earthquake.
In addition, even though many of our staff are in San Francisco, we do
have
staff in many other states and 18 countries.
* Would there be worthwhile advantages to establishing a second main
office
in someplace like the US east coast or Europe?
We have tried to setup a center of activity in other states and it did not
prove to be worthwhile, as staff preferred to work from home or other
locations. So it was an an additional cost with any additional benefit.
It
is my understanding that having an office outside the
United States
creates
complications for Wikipedia and the other Wiki
projects in the area of
content protection.
To create less headaches about this would it not be better to split up wmf
in two, one doing the software at any convenient location, while the other
one would own the domains, hosting and money?
> Thanks, and please reply when it's convenient
for you.
>
> I'll follow up offline with HR about talent pool questions.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pine
> On Apr 8, 2015 5:16 PM, "Garfield Byrd" <gbyrd(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
>
>> Hi Pine,
>>
>> If the Foundation decides to move, the cost of making the space usable
>> for our staff is not a recoverable cost from the building owner.
>>
>> At this point, WMF is not planning on moving out of the San Francisco
>> market area. We will be doing our best to manage cost when we renew
our
>> lease or move. The advantages of having good
access to talented people
and
>> organizations WMF interacts with far outweigh
any advantages to moving
to a
>> lower cost location outside of the San
Francisco market area.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Garfield
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 9:58 PM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Garfield,
>>>
>>> I'm asking this on Wikimedia-l because a number of Wikimedians have
>>> noted the expensiveness of the San Francisco area including its high
cost
>>> of living for staff, employer competition
for engineering talent, and
>>> associated high salaries for WMF employees.
>>>
>>> I see on
>>>
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/8/8a/RFP_for_Real_Estate_S…
>>> that WMF is considering relocating its
offices when its current main
office
>>> lease expires.
>>>
>>> Questions:
>>>
>>> What happens to the remodel expenses that WMF is paying for at its
>>> current location? If WMF vacates the premesis, will it be compensated
for
>>> the remodel by the building owner?
>>>
>>> I hope that WMF is contemplating fully exiting the San Francisco
market
>>> area in order to economize, get better
value for our donors' funds,
have
>>> less competition for talent, and lower
costs of living for staff. Is
this
being
considered?
Thanks very much,
Pine
--
Garfield Byrd
Chief of Finance and Administration
Wikimedia Foundation
415.839.6885 ext 6787
415.882.0495 (fax)
www.wikimediafoundation.org
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
*https://donate.wikimedia.org <https://donate.wikimedia.org/>*
--
Garfield Byrd
Chief of Finance and Administration
Wikimedia Foundation
415.839.6885 ext 6787
415.882.0495 (fax)
www.wikimediafoundation.org
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
*https://donate.wikimedia.org <https://donate.wikimedia.org/>*
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