The important thing to remember is that WMNE has
decided not to have any
sort of formal incorporation for the medium term; as I understand it, the
purpose of a committee is largely to give AffCom a defined contact group of
self-organized volunteers to talk to (for a humble "usergroup", rather than
for a chapter), and I don't think something like a bylaws is even being
contemplated.
This informal stage is just one step, and of course if there was anything
like a push to chapterdom, more bylaws specifics, etc, would be needed.
Although Kevin should definitely have done more advance publicity on this,
this is certainly a symptom of inexperience rather than ill intent, and
hopefully through this process we'll also recruit more experienced planners
for future events.
Thanks,
Richard
On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 7:23 PM, Sven Manguard <svenmanguard(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:
I know that, as I am no longer in Boston, my
opinion probably carries a
little less weight than it did when I was still in the area, however as
someone that still cares deeply about Wikimedia New England, I feel that I
have to respond to this.
There is not a single thing in the email Kevin sent that I don't strongly
object to.
First of all, at the annual meetup we were given a promise that before we
voted on *anything* someone would write up and email the list an
explanation of the various incorporation options, and how officers would
work, and give people time to digest this and suggest changes. Now I'm
pretty sure that I haven't missed any emails, and I know I'm still on the
mailing list, but I haven't gotten that explanation. So even if I were in
Boston to vote in person, what is being asked for is for people to go to
meeting without knowing a) who the candidates are in advance, and b) any
real details about the organization that these people would be elected to.
Second of all, even if we were to have been given this information, and
had an opportunity to discuss this and propose changes ahead of time, five
people is in now way an appropriate size for the minimum number of people
voting on these positions. Even ten people is too low. The recent annual
meeting brought in two dozen people. A few years ago the annual meeting
brought in even more people. Five or ten people isn't enough to decide on
leadership positions.
Third of all, I find the line "it would be great not to have to appoint
these positions" to be appalling. That implies that if there aren't enough
people at the meeting, the possibility exists that leadership
roles appointed. No. If there are not enough people at the meeting, that
means that you can't have a vote. It doesn't mean appointments. This is a
community organization; leadership must be determined by the community.
That means a vote, and a vote of as large a segment of the community as is
possible to get.
Fourth of all, I find Kevin's apparent role as kingmaker, talking to
people about leadership roles in private, to be unsettling. I respect
Kevin's desire to jolt WMNE into action and finally get it to incorporated
status, but at every step of the way he has cut corners in order to move it
forward, and we're now well past the point where corners can be cut.
I strongly suggest that at the upcoming meeting, rather than force a vote
before everyone is ready (i.e. has a full understanding of what is being
voted on, who is running, and what the organization is going to look like),
you instead use the time to clearly define who is running for what
position, what the roles and responsibilities of each position are, what
kind of organization WMNE is aming for, and what the bylaws of the
organization are - including the election bylaws. Then, one that's all
decided, you put all of it into an email and send it to the Boston list and
the Connecticut list, and you open it all up for discussion, which should
happen on the Boston list, where everyone can see it. Voting itself should
also be done online, so that everyone that is interested can participate,
including people that can't make meetings or don't go to meetings but are
still interested.
I personally have no interest in a leadership position in WMNE, as I'm no
longer in New England and it would make no sense to lead from afar, so
please don't take this as political maneuvering. However as things stand I
would not consider a leadership body elected on Saturday to be at all
legitimate, owing the the failures outlined above. I've been waiting for
two years for WMNE to become a registered non-profit with formal leadership
and possibly a budget, but this isn't the way to do it. You can't elect a
leadership body without bylaws that state what elected officials do and
what rules they must follow, and you can't vote on either a leadership body
or the bylaws that govern them if you're not given advance notice of what
you're voting for.
I hope that you, the community, will take these thoughts into
consideration.
Yours in absence,
Sven Manguard
On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 4:13 PM, Kevin Rutherford <Ktr101(a)hotmail.com>wrote;wrote:
Hey all,
First of all, sorry for the delay in this e-mail, as real life has been
getting in the way, so I am now able to send out the e-mail officially
announcing the meeting on Saturday from 2-4 in room 214 of the Boston
University College of Arts and Sciences building.
I have already spoken to some of you about running in the election that
will be held on Saturday, assuming that we have at least 5-10 persons
present, but if you are interested in running for President, Vice
President, Treasurer, Secretary, or Community Liaison, let me know, because
it would be great not to have to appoint these positions. Additionally, we
will be discussion the Ada Lovelace Day Edit-a-thon and Wikipedia Loves
Libraries, both of which are going on this month. Additionally, Open Access
Week is occurring the week of October 20th, so that can also be something
that is discussed, as there are at least two colleges that I know of that
are planning something, so it might be good to coordinate any help that
could be done between the other institutions.
Finally, if you are planning on going, please respond on the Meetup page
for now, as I am going to get the Wiki page up and running shortly. If too
few people are planning on going, I will cancel l the meeting, and
reschedule voting to occur within the next week or so, online.
Useful links:
Agenda:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_New_England/5_October_2013
Link to Meetup page:
http://www.meetup.com/wikipedia-5/events/143013002/
Sincerely,
Kevin Rutherford
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