[Foundation-l] Volunteer Council - A shot for a resolution

[Florence Devouard]

Birgitte SB wrote:
> --- Florence Devouard <Anthere9 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
>> I also think that many of us would prefer to vote
>> for someone who has a 
>> view beyond his native community, who has already
>> made the effort to get 
>> involved at the meta level.
>>
>> I am fully sensitive to discrimination issues. But I
>> do not think that 
>> the solution to discrimination is to reserve places
>> to the discriminated 
>> ones (or perceived as such). The solution is to make
>> sure so-called 
>> discriminated are given the opportunity to join the
>> meta level, and to 
>> communicate with other linguistic communities, and
>> to promote themselves 
>> through the type of activities they are involved in
>> (perhaps helping to 
>> handle the press, perhaps helping in organizing
>> Wikimania, perhaps 
>> helping with translations, perhaps helping to
>> provide leaflets) etc...
>>
>>
>> ant
> 
> I disagree with you here.
> 
> I don't see this Council being about meta level
> initiatives so much as forging a stronger connection
> between to the wikis and meta organizations.  The
> council is not about promoting Wikimedia or Wikimania
> it is about helping wiki communities by giving them a
> better information/communication.  It is about helping
> the board by offering feedback from wikis that is not
> self-selective. 

I do not think we disagree here. By meta level, I mostly meant, "beyond 
the wikis". Not necessarily "organizing Wikimania".

In any cases, the problem is that right now, there is no agreement about 
what this wikicouncil would be about. There is no agreement about which 
authority the wikicouncil would have.

Some of the discussions currently at the board level implies 
"separating" the board in two bodies, with the board keeping mostly 
professionals, whilst the council would host the community members (who 
may be professional, but not the *right* professionals).

If this is the directly we take, the role of the wikicouncil will not be 
to "promote wikimania", it will be to make sure that the staff of WMF is 
dealing with what is appropriate given our mission, and make sure the 
staff of WMF is respecting/promoting the values which are important to 
us. It will not be an operational role, but more a gatekeeper role.

But again, given that there is no agreement what the wikicouncil should 
be...

> Let me be frank.  If the board wants the
> advice/feedback of people involved at the meta level;
> they have it already.  Forming these people into  a
> Council would be just needless bureaucracy.  Bringing 
> in new people however who have do not post to this
> list nor are involved on the meta level would actually
> be worthwhile.  

Nod.
In *my* opinion, it should not be just "advice/feedback".

> BTW Where should we be sending nominations to the
> board?

Uh ? You mean you want to candidate and wonder where to ?
Ah, the committee organizing the elections is under approval by the 
board. Actually, it has been approved, but I want to give a couple more 
days to the two members who did not vote yet, to comment or vote.

Ant


> Birgitte SB
> 
> 
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