Hi all,
The election cycle for Wikimedia Foundation board seats is open this year
for affiliates: that is, user groups & chapters. The Wikimedia Foundation
is the non-profit organization that hosts Wikipedia & her sister projects,
& they have a board of trustees that is partially composed of people from
the Wikimedia community. This election is part of the process for choosing
those people.
Wikimedia New England is eligible to vote in this election. The basic
process is:
* candidates were nominated / could self-nominate: (today is the last day!)
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2019/Nominat…
* there are open questions/answers from each candidate that will be posted
here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2019/Questio…
* voting will happen in late May. I volunteered to be the main point of
contact for Wikimedia New England this year, which means I will be voting
on behalf of the group. The total list of groups voting is here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2019/Eligibl…
We don't have a process in our user-group for internal voting on
candidates, as some user groups do, and I realize not everyone getting this
message realizes that they might be considered part of a user group! (we
also don't have formal membership, but if you are doing Wikipedia work in
the New England area you can be part of the group if you want!). However,
despite not really having a process, I don't want to vote on our behalf
without talking to the other members of the group. What I propose is this:
* take a look at the candidates (above) and email me (phoebe.ayers(a)gmail.com)
if you have a preference for or against any of the candidates. Two of the
candidates are currently on the board and are running for re-election.
* if you don't have a preference, but want to be involved/learn more about
the election, let me know that. Let me know by the end of next week please.
If there's interest in this process, I'll make some sort of local poll &
convene a usergroup meeting in May. If there's no replies, I will consult
with other active members of the group one on one and then vote on our
behalf.
Sound OK? Let me know if you have any questions. Also, I was once a WMF
board member appointed through this process, so if you have any questions
about the board in general let me know.
cheers,
Phoebe