[Foundation-l] Wikimedia "Storyteller" job opening

[Jason donovan]

On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 6:23 AM, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:

> Stories are absolutely essential to any non-profit's ability to
> persuade new people to support or join its cause. Sometimes we tell
> our stories well, sometimes we tell them poorly. Telling a story well
> is a very specific skillset that few people possess. Even for those
> who are good writers (and of course there are many in Wikimedia), it
> takes a lot of conscious effort to construct a narrative in a way
> that's accessible and appealing to someone who's not already on the
> inside.
>
> We've talked about this issue at length in the past. Back in October
> 2007, I tried to call attention to the significance of storytelling
> specifically in fundraising:
>
>
> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/thread.html#33431
>
> In that fundraiser, we made some first humble efforts at storytelling,
> and we've more systematically collected and compiled stories since
> then. But just putting stories on a page, like this one:
>
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Stories2/en
>
> Is not going to persuade anyone to support us. As Zack said, in the
> context of fundraising, it's all about distilling essential points
> effectively. In the context of other movement work, such as public
> outreach, it's about connecting with our target audience by choosing
> meaningful examples that resonate (how do you talk to educators, to
> scientists, to students).  People have made attempts at telling
> success stories of public outreach here, for example:
>
> http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Success_stories
>
> But all these stories would benefit from a more skillful approach to
> telling them. The structure of a story is one of the most fundamental
> ways in which human beings understand the world, and we all have a
> regrettable tendency to underestimate that significance. As I have in
> the past, I'd really encourage you to watch Andy Goodman's talk in
> full:
>
> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-289257716014946841
>
> He gives plenty of examples of non-profits that are terrible at
> telling their own story, which can have disastrous consequences.
> There's absolutely nothing morally questionable about telling a story
> effectively -- if anything it's morally pernicious to tell an
> important story poorly. To have a staff position dedicated to this is
> a wonderful thing, and if we find someone really good for this job,
> the benefits will become obvious really, really quickly.
>
> --
> Erik Möller
> Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
>
> Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
>
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That seems rather funny coming from an organization which is having an
internal identity crisis. When an organization seems inept at communicating
with its own stakeholders, the priority is instead shifting towards
developing the outside narrative. This brings me back to quote what Mark
Ridell said above, "do you, and the rest of the Foundation staff, have any
idea how detached - yes, estranged - you are becoming from the
Community....."

I would suggest as a business analyst addressing the gaping holes in the
organization before hiring a "storyteller" to paint over the rough parts and
provide a depiction of what is "...beautiful about a movement of
Wikimedians..." some of those are probably reading this, start by listening
to them.

Jason