I am writing this here because I don't know where else to write it -- perhaps [[Wikipedia talk:Mediation Committee]] would be preferable, but judging from the situation I am about to describe, the page doesn't seem to be particularly closely watched at present.
The MC is currently in an apparent standstill: there are several requests for mediation that have evidently gone without response from a mediator for weeks, half the committee has left for the AC, and the committee's chair (Bcorr, a fine contributor and mediator) is seemingly on indefinite leave (certainly he's been away from mediation for a number of weeks, and I haven't seen an anticipated return date). To remedy this situation, which was obviously critical as long as a month ago, several users (myself included) presented ourselves as candidates in mid- to late December. Several of us have, as yet, received nothing but support votes from the MC and outside voters. No action, however, has been taken to promote us....I suspect it is because there is no Chair active to declare decisions final.
I am, of course, very hesitant to say anything about this for fear of sounding as though I am grasping for a role on the MC -- I don't want anyone to have the impression I'm desperate for power (frankly, the break following the AC elections has been wonderful). But mediation needs to be fixed and soon, especially because AC cases have been refused for not following dispute resolution steps -- not having an active MC makes dispute resolution extremely difficult.
I am hoping this note sparks someone's attention to get the ball rolling. Obviously, as a candidate, I can't really "be bold" and promote a bunch of us, and if mediation is alive and well (presumably on a page other than Wikipedia:Requests for mediation), I hope someone will tell me. But something needs to be done before we have too many users (who are apparently open to mediation) who get entrenched in opposition to each other because a window of opportunity is lost. Sorry to be alarmist. Best wishes to all,
James R. en:User:Jwrosenzweig
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I've been concerned about this myself, and I'd have gone ahead and added most of the new applicants to the list (as I suggested we do about a month ago), but as I'm no longer a mediator, I can't. We *really* need to get these applicants in, and appoint a new chair (considering that sannse was effectively filling in in Bcorr's absence, and sannse has now left for the AC). This has been made all the more urgent since the departure of Ed Poor, who, to my knowledge, had been handling a significant percentage of incoming mediation cases. I know I mentioned something along these lines when he applied for the committee, but once someone gets around to clearing up these requests, I think Jwrozenzweig would be an ideal chair.
-- ambi
On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 14:31:42 -0800 (PST), James Rosenzweig jwrosenzweig@yahoo.com wrote:
I am writing this here because I don't know where else to write it -- perhaps [[Wikipedia talk:Mediation Committee]] would be preferable, but judging from the situation I am about to describe, the page doesn't seem to be particularly closely watched at present.
The MC is currently in an apparent standstill: there are several requests for mediation that have evidently gone without response from a mediator for weeks, half the committee has left for the AC, and the committee's chair (Bcorr, a fine contributor and mediator) is seemingly on indefinite leave (certainly he's been away from mediation for a number of weeks, and I haven't seen an anticipated return date). To remedy this situation, which was obviously critical as long as a month ago, several users (myself included) presented ourselves as candidates in mid- to late December. Several of us have, as yet, received nothing but support votes from the MC and outside voters. No action, however, has been taken to promote us....I suspect it is because there is no Chair active to declare decisions final.
I am, of course, very hesitant to say anything about this for fear of sounding as though I am grasping for a role on the MC -- I don't want anyone to have the impression I'm desperate for power (frankly, the break following the AC elections has been wonderful). But mediation needs to be fixed and soon, especially because AC cases have been refused for not following dispute resolution steps -- not having an active MC makes dispute resolution extremely difficult.
I am hoping this note sparks someone's attention to get the ball rolling. Obviously, as a candidate, I can't really "be bold" and promote a bunch of us, and if mediation is alive and well (presumably on a page other than Wikipedia:Requests for mediation), I hope someone will tell me. But something needs to be done before we have too many users (who are apparently open to mediation) who get entrenched in opposition to each other because a window of opportunity is lost. Sorry to be alarmist. Best wishes to all,
James R. en:User:Jwrosenzweig
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On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 14:46:47 +1100, Rebecca misfitgirl@gmail.com wrote:
I've been concerned about this myself, and I'd have gone ahead and added most of the new applicants to the list (as I suggested we do about a month ago), but as I'm no longer a mediator, I can't. We *really* need to get these applicants in, and appoint a new chair (considering that sannse was effectively filling in in Bcorr's absence, and sannse has now left for the AC). This has been made all the more urgent since the departure of Ed Poor, who, to my knowledge, had been handling a significant percentage of incoming mediation cases. I know I mentioned something along these lines when he applied for the committee, but once someone gets around to clearing up these requests, I think Jwrozenzweig would be an ideal chair.
-- ambi
I agree. Jwrosenzweig is the best possible person I can think of for the job, whether it's as a new permanent chair or an interim one.
~blankfaze
Jwrosenzweig is the best possible person I can think of for the job, whether it's as a new permanent chair or an interim one.
~blankfaze
Strong support from me too. In this situation there is likely to be little opposition to promoting the currently well-supported candidates. We should do that this weekend, and deal with any issues that arise afterwards (if any).
Pete
I like this boldness :-)
Anyway, I started a small paragraph. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia%3AMediation_Committee#Candidate_for_b... We currently have one candidate and three supports, no opposition.
Give it a few days and just let Jwrosenzweig be the chair if there is no opposition.
Anthere
Pete/Pcb21 a écrit:
Jwrosenzweig is the best possible person I can think of for
the job, whether it's as a new permanent chair or an interim one.
~blankfaze
Strong support from me too. In this situation there is likely to be little opposition to promoting the currently well-supported candidates. We should do that this weekend, and deal with any issues that arise afterwards (if any).
Pete
Jwrosenzweig is the best possible person I can think of for the job, whether it's as a new permanent chair or an interim one.
~blankfaze
Strong support from me too. In this situation there is likely to be little opposition to promoting the currently well-supported candidates. We should do that this weekend, and deal with any issues that arise afterwards (if any).
Pete
For what it's worth, I support this as well.
Jay.
I boldly added two of the most supported ones. It is not so obvious to me whether the other candidates should be added or not added.
Quizz : who are the two last approved mediators ?
:-)
Anthere
Rebecca a écrit:
I've been concerned about this myself, and I'd have gone ahead and added most of the new applicants to the list (as I suggested we do about a month ago), but as I'm no longer a mediator, I can't. We *really* need to get these applicants in, and appoint a new chair (considering that sannse was effectively filling in in Bcorr's absence, and sannse has now left for the AC). This has been made all the more urgent since the departure of Ed Poor, who, to my knowledge, had been handling a significant percentage of incoming mediation cases. I know I mentioned something along these lines when he applied for the committee, but once someone gets around to clearing up these requests, I think Jwrozenzweig would be an ideal chair.
-- ambi
I am glad there is a candidate to follow-up.
Since there was no opposition to you as a candidate, I added you to the mediator list.
I opened a paragraph for the chair election and listed you as a candidate.
I advertised this on the pump, and you advertised yourself here, so I guess it is enough.
If there is no serious opposition or serious other candidates, just consider yourself the chair of the MC and let's move ahead :-)
-------
As for your question : is there another place to discuss all this ? The answer is no.
After the creation of the MC last year, most of the discussion was done by email between members. A lot was said, but since it was private, there is no way for you to find it back. Well, as far as I remember, I wrote a lot on the topic during two months, and in front of the lack of responses from about half of the members, I just basically gave up.
Later, a board website was set. I copied there a lot of the discussions we hold privately or I tried to summarize. It took me a lot of time as well to do this. Later the board was closed and all discussions were thus lost.
If you ask me my opinion on this, several months later, I still have not digested this at all. I think the mediation committee was about half of my daily activity on Wikipedia for about a full trimester. Most was private since mediation is a private activity. The part public has been deleted. The results of mediation done through the mediation committee were frankly limited. (however, this does not diminish the satisfaction of solving daily crisis when made aware of). All this is still a bit in my throat and my activity as a part of the mediation committee is the role which left me sour taste in my mouth for several other reasons that the ones mentionned above as well.
Why do I say this ?
Well, just for you to be aware that mediator is a tough activity. Essentially unrecognised one. Lonely. If there is any sign to support what I say, it is enough to see the level of implication of each mediator, as well as resignations, and very likely the number of mediators who left for the AC.
I do not say it is hopeless, far from it, because I *highly believe* in mediation, much more than strict arbitration, and I really hope you help it. I only wish that as a chair, you also help building up a team.
Note that my own experience is not a criticism of previous chairs, as I was mostly active before we had any chair at all.
------
Note that private mails are still sent now and then. And the big mess is that we have to put people names in the cc, and likely forget names or add names that should not be there. I *highly* suggest you create a mediation-l@wikimedia.org (or similar) either public list, or just a list of members (redirect to their address), so that one writes to the right people. If you do so, just tell the developer you ask the mail address that it is okay with me to create such a thing :-) (in case they ask)
You have my full support in any cases
Anthere
-------
James Rosenzweig a écrit:
I am writing this here because I don't know where else to write it -- perhaps [[Wikipedia talk:Mediation Committee]] would be preferable, but judging from the situation I am about to describe, the page doesn't seem to be particularly closely watched at present.
The MC is currently in an apparent standstill: there are several requests for mediation that have evidently gone without response from a mediator for weeks, half the committee has left for the AC, and the committee's chair (Bcorr, a fine contributor and mediator) is seemingly on indefinite leave (certainly he's been away from mediation for a number of weeks, and I haven't seen an anticipated return date). To remedy this situation, which was obviously critical as long as a month ago, several users (myself included) presented ourselves as candidates in mid- to late December. Several of us have, as yet, received nothing but support votes from the MC and outside voters. No action, however, has been taken to promote us....I suspect it is because there is no Chair active to declare decisions final.
I am, of course, very hesitant to say anything about this for fear of sounding as though I am grasping for a role on the MC -- I don't want anyone to have the impression I'm desperate for power (frankly, the break following the AC elections has been wonderful). But mediation needs to be fixed and soon, especially because AC cases have been refused for not following dispute resolution steps -- not having an active MC makes dispute resolution extremely difficult.
I am hoping this note sparks someone's attention to get the ball rolling. Obviously, as a candidate, I can't really "be bold" and promote a bunch of us, and if mediation is alive and well (presumably on a page other than Wikipedia:Requests for mediation), I hope someone will tell me. But something needs to be done before we have too many users (who are apparently open to mediation) who get entrenched in opposition to each other because a window of opportunity is lost. Sorry to be alarmist. Best wishes to all,
James R. en:User:Jwrosenzweig
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