All right.
I got an answer
The banners set up on Dec 1 have been reduced to "minimum visibility" on 1 dec 2016 14:00, after 13 hours and 18 minutes of entering into the contest.
This has been done by WMF staff member Seddon, with no information to us at all. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Seddon_(WMF)
This is not the first time this happens. A similar situation occurred with other contests I hear and I can also add that Seddon obviously purposely prevented the set up of the site notice requested and approved during the destubathon.
This is plain _*sabotage*_. A complete loss of energy and time for volunteers working on WLA contest. And a loss of money for Wikimedia Foundation funding the contest. And a loss of money for donators as well.
The thing I do not know is whether Seddon is doing that at the personal level for reasons I can not identify, or whether this is the result of an explicit request from his managers. So I will not blame Seddon by default, as he may just be doing what his boss is telling him to do.
The only way of knowing is in raising the issue with the HR departement, which is what I am going to do RIGHT NOW.
I will wait their answer before raising the case officially on wikimedia mailing list but I consider this a completely unacceptable situation. It goes without saying that our willingness to try to reach the metrics of success described in the grant agreement is void.
Also, please help me track the log of banner visibility changes on meta : https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CentralNoticeLogs&o...
If you see anyone changing the WLA banners set up back to minimum visibility, please send me a note. I will track once a day myself to limit risks of further sabotage.
Florence
PS: Africa.. think of all the work we do... us... members on this list... our dedication... to try to bridge the gap and get more africans and Africa content on this encyclopedia. Think... of who is deliberately sabotaging our efforts. For what ? For which reasons ? There are no other banners currently running above African countries. We are not preventing WMF to raise more money. We are not damaging anyone else communication. We are not bothering anyone. Just trying desperately to get more african participants on this encylopedia. So why ? Why ? Why ?
Le 15/12/2016 à 10:14, Felix Nartey a écrit :
Hi Florence,
I recall seeing it for about a week but now its no more.
Cheers,
On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 9:00 AM, Florence Devouard <anthere@anthere.org mailto:anthere@anthere.org> wrote:
Hello everyone Wiki Loves Africa results are quite bad at the moment. Not to say awful. So I started looking at what is going on. And I just asked Isla if she was seeing the sitenotice at the top of Wikipedia. And she said she saw it "from Thursday 1st to end of Friday 8th" And that's it. Well, we are SUPPOSED to have a site notice. But I can not see that myself. I have no means to know whether there is a site notice or not at all. So I need your help to know what you guys see. Can you relay that info ? Thanks Florence
Hi Florence,
I strongly disagree with the idea that it might be "sabotage" as a) I have seen it almost every time I (or have seen others) go onto Wikipedia in South Africa and b) it "Impression Limiting" so as to prevent banner fatigue. The banner fatigue issue is important as the more times someone sees a Wikipedia banner the more invisible all banners on Wikipedia become after a point.
I would like to also encourage people to "assume good faith" here as well. I can't see how talking about "sabotage" without any real evidence is in any way "assuming good faith."
Regards,
Douglas.
On 15 December 2016 at 11:44, Florence Devouard anthere@anthere.org wrote:
All right.
I got an answer
The banners set up on Dec 1 have been reduced to "minimum visibility" on 1 dec 2016 14:00, after 13 hours and 18 minutes of entering into the contest.
This has been done by WMF staff member Seddon, with no information to us at all. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Seddon_(WMF)
This is not the first time this happens. A similar situation occurred with other contests I hear and I can also add that Seddon obviously purposely prevented the set up of the site notice requested and approved during the destubathon.
This is plain *sabotage*. A complete loss of energy and time for volunteers working on WLA contest. And a loss of money for Wikimedia Foundation funding the contest. And a loss of money for donators as well.
The thing I do not know is whether Seddon is doing that at the personal level for reasons I can not identify, or whether this is the result of an explicit request from his managers. So I will not blame Seddon by default, as he may just be doing what his boss is telling him to do.
The only way of knowing is in raising the issue with the HR departement, which is what I am going to do RIGHT NOW.
I will wait their answer before raising the case officially on wikimedia mailing list but I consider this a completely unacceptable situation. It goes without saying that our willingness to try to reach the metrics of success described in the grant agreement is void.
Also, please help me track the log of banner visibility changes on meta : https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special: CentralNoticeLogs&offset=20161201155410&limit=20
If you see anyone changing the WLA banners set up back to minimum visibility, please send me a note. I will track once a day myself to limit risks of further sabotage.
Florence
PS: Africa.. think of all the work we do... us... members on this list... our dedication... to try to bridge the gap and get more africans and Africa content on this encyclopedia. Think... of who is deliberately sabotaging our efforts. For what ? For which reasons ? There are no other banners currently running above African countries. We are not preventing WMF to raise more money. We are not damaging anyone else communication. We are not bothering anyone. Just trying desperately to get more african participants on this encylopedia. So why ? Why ? Why ?
Le 15/12/2016 à 10:14, Felix Nartey a écrit :
Hi Florence,
I recall seeing it for about a week but now its no more.
Cheers,
On Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 9:00 AM, Florence Devouard anthere@anthere.org wrote:
Hello everyone
Wiki Loves Africa results are quite bad at the moment. Not to say awful.
So I started looking at what is going on.
And I just asked Isla if she was seeing the sitenotice at the top of Wikipedia. And she said she saw it "from Thursday 1st to end of Friday 8th"
And that's it.
Well, we are SUPPOSED to have a site notice. But I can not see that myself. I have no means to know whether there is a site notice or not at all. So I need your help to know what you guys see.
Can you relay that info ? Thanks
Florence
--
African-Wikimedians mailing list African-Wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/african-wikimedians
I won't consider this as "sabotage" either without a clear evidence. I think a more friendly word should have been used, IMO.
Nevertheless, it seems the underlying issues have been resolved.
Best,
Isaac.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
-----Original Message----- From: Douglas Scott douglas.i.scott@gmail.com Sender: "African-Wikimedians" african-wikimedians-bounces@lists.wikimedia.orgDate: Thu, 15 Dec 2016 14:40:31 To: Mailing list for African Wikimediansafrican-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Reply-To: Mailing list for African Wikimedians african-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Cc: James Andersondiegoanderhijo@gmail.com Subject: Re: [African Wikimedians] Fwd: Re: WLA : I need your help
_______________________________________________ African-Wikimedians mailing list African-Wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/african-wikimedians
Le 15/12/2016 à 13:46, Olatunde Isaac a écrit :
I won't consider this as "sabotage" either without a clear evidence.
---> https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CentralNoticeLogs&o...
I think a more friendly word should have been used, IMO.
I guess you have little idea how much time we spend organizing this contest to say that.
I guess it does not matter to you that the ratio Dollars Spent / Pictures Collected skyrocket.
I better use "a less friendly word" but convey my deep unhappiness.
If the whole new policy is that site notice may hardly be used at all for community actions, fine. But it needs to be said _upfront_. And when we set up Wiki Loves Africa budget, we will probably reserve money to pay stipends for journalists to show up at press conferences organized locally or money to pay advertisements in local newspapers. Because that's the whole point... if no one knows about the contest, then there should be no contest. We are not numerous enough to get people involved just by word of mouth. And the User Groups are not big/strong enough to assume the whole communication around it on top of the training and photo hunting.
Florence
Nevertheless, it seems the underlying issues have been resolved.
Best,
Isaac.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
-----Original Message----- From: Douglas Scott douglas.i.scott@gmail.com Sender: "African-Wikimedians" african-wikimedians-bounces@lists.wikimedia.orgDate: Thu, 15 Dec 2016 14:40:31 To: Mailing list for African Wikimediansafrican-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Reply-To: Mailing list for African Wikimedians african-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Cc: James Andersondiegoanderhijo@gmail.com Subject: Re: [African Wikimedians] Fwd: Re: WLA : I need your help
African-Wikimedians mailing list African-Wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/african-wikimedians _______________________________________________ African-Wikimedians mailing list African-Wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/african-wikimedians
Le 15/12/2016 à 13:46, Olatunde Isaac a écrit :
I won't consider this as "sabotage" either without a clear evidence.
---> https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CentralNoticeLogs&o...
I think a more friendly word should have been used, IMO.
I guess you have little idea how much time we spend organizing this contest to say that.
I guess it may not matter to you so much that the ratio Dollars Spent / Pictures Collected skyrocket.
I better use "a less friendly word" but convey my deep unhappiness.
If the whole new policy is that site notice may hardly be used at all for community actions, fine. But it needs to be said _upfront_. And when we set up Wiki Loves Africa budget, we will probably reserve money to pay stipends for journalists to show up at press conferences organized locally or money to pay advertisements in local newspapers. Because that's the whole point... if no one knows about the contest, then there should be no contest. We are not numerous enough to get people involved just by word of mouth. And the User Groups are not big/strong enough to assume the whole communication around it on top of the training and photo hunting.
Florence
Nevertheless, it seems the underlying issues have been resolved.
Best,
Isaac.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
-----Original Message----- From: Douglas Scottdouglas.i.scott@gmail.com Sender: "African-Wikimedians"african-wikimedians-bounces@lists.wikimedia.orgDate: Thu, 15 Dec 2016 14:40:31 To: Mailing list for African Wikimediansafrican-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Reply-To: Mailing list for African Wikimedians african-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Cc: James Andersondiegoanderhijo@gmail.com Subject: Re: [African Wikimedians] Fwd: Re: WLA : I need your help
African-Wikimedians mailing list African-Wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/african-wikimedians _______________________________________________ African-Wikimedians mailing list African-Wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/african-wikimedians
Hi Flo,
"I guess you have little idea how much time we spend organizing this contest to say that."
"I guess it may not matter to you so much that the ratio Dollars Spent / Pictures Collected skyrocket."
I understand how you felt about the situation and I do sincerely share your feelings but directing the above comment to me is ad hominem.
I hold you in high esteem and you know I am disappointed that you have needlessly decided to make a personal remark about me.
Best,
Isaac
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
-----Original Message----- From: Florence Devouard anthere@anthere.org Sender: "African-Wikimedians" african-wikimedians-bounces@lists.wikimedia.orgDate: Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:55:28 To: Mailing list for African Wikimediansafrican-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Reply-To: Mailing list for African Wikimedians african-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [African Wikimedians] Fwd: Re: Fwd: Re: WLA : I need your help
_______________________________________________ African-Wikimedians mailing list African-Wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/african-wikimedians
african-wikimedians@lists.wikimedia.org