Hi all
We are very proud of the
fruitful discussions that are held on this Public Policy
list. Surely most of you will agree that we regularly see
very productive conversations and great contributions,
including from outside the Wikimedia movement. We are very
happy about the level and substance of conversation on
this email list, which many consider one of the best
within Wikimedia and maybe even beyond.
However, Listservs are a complicated
thing. We are all humans (right? :) and so we wanted to send out this
gentle reminder to please keep the conversation
friendly, productive, and focused on the goals that we
share. In order to continue the valuable discussions and
make them open for everyone who wants to contribute,
including participants from other organizations, we
would like to encourage everybody on this list to apply
a couple of principles that we recently developed during
a discussion at Wikimania:
- Give constructive criticism. Offer options.
- Treat people as you would like to be treated. No
personal attacks. Be empathetic.
- Re-read your contributions. Be patient. Think: this is
how xyz makes me feel.
- See something, say something.
- Rewind. Connect on human level. Apologize. Get
off-list for a second.
- And finally: let others speak. Don't send too many
messages. Give recipients room to breathe.
Even though we use email and not letters as a medium of
conversation here, please also try to stick to basic
formalities and acts of courtesy when addressing the group
or individuals.
We are not trying to over-regulate this listserv. But we
feel this is a good time to talk about this in order to make
sure we can continue to successfully work together towards
free knowledge. If you have comments or questions, feel free
to send them directly to me.
Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!