Hi.
I've started collecting notes about a possible Wikimedia or Wikimedia
Foundation endowment here: <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Endowment>.
Any additional relevant links to past discussions or thoughts about this
idea are welcome on that page, its talk page, or this mailing list.
MZMcBride
Platonides wrote:
>On 19/03/13 00:54, Sumana Harihareswara wrote:
>> Oh, and I noticed that you have some OTRS expertise -- could you maybe
>> check out https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22622 and let
>> us know if you have some free time to volunteer your help? :-)
>
>Is it really something where volunteers can help? I thought it wasn't
>possible (private mail concerns blocking volunteer action).
>
>BTW, why is WMF looking for a WordPress Developer? I think that if we
>outgrew the current blog, the way to go would be to mediawikize it, not
>to make something new still based in WP.
Owwww. It kind of stings to read
<http://hire.jobvite.com/Jobvite/Job.aspx?j=ou3gXfwu>, apparently a
position listing from the Legal and Community Advocacy team, looking for a
WordPress contractor to do a face-lift for the Wikimedia blog, when OTRS
is struggling to stay functional. I don't do much OTRS-related work, but
I find it easy to imagine some OTRS volunteers reading this and wondering
what's going on.
MZMcBride
I'm curious, what is the nature of WMF's relationship with JP Morgan Chase? Given the stories that I'm reading in the news such as this one, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/jpmorgan-executives-face-withering-q…, I'm uncomfortable with the idea that WMF has a business relationship with JP Morgan.
Pine
couple years ago somebody did stay for a couple years ;) (altho that was
the chapters conference and there was a vulcano involved)
henna
On Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 7:19 PM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> I have one question :) why the registration form is asking me which
> year and month I will depart? Are you afraid some attendees are
> planning to stay for several years? :D
>
> On Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 6:54 PM, Maarten Dammers <maarten(a)mdammers.nl>
> wrote:
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > Wikimedia Nederland invites all developers to the Wikimedia Hackathon.
> The
> > Wikimedia Hackathon will be in 2013 from 24-26 May. The registration is
> now
> > open and also includes the possibility to apply for a travel,
> accommodation
> > or full scholarship. You can find the form at
> >
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFg2SmRRbkpxNmxCcFNFdl…
> >
> > The hackathon is an opportunity for all Wikimedia community developers
> and
> > sysadmins to come together, squash bugs and write great new features &
> > tools. Unlike the previous years (2012, 2011, etc.) this Hackathon won't
> be
> > in Berlin, but in Amsterdam.
> >
> > The event is open to a wide range of developers. We welcome both seasoned
> > and new developers as well as people working on MediaWiki, tools,
> > pywikipedia, Wikidata, gadgets, extensions, templates … . Please suggest
> and
> > discus topics at
> > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Hackathon_2013/Topics .
> >
> > You can indicate that you're coming at
> > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Hackathon_2013/Attendees and/or
> > https://www.facebook.com/events/167285526755104/ . This doesn't replace
> > registration, it's just to let others know what you're up to.
> >
> > Keep an eye on https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Hackathon_2013for
> > updates!
> >
> > Maarten
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Labs-l mailing list
> > Labs-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/labs-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikitech-l mailing list
> Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
--
"Maybe you knew early on that your track went from point A to B, but unlike
you I wasn't given a map at birth!" Alyssa, "Chasing Amy"
Hi Pine!
*We overtly recruit outside of SF. I think our latest hire was from Texas!
Last year 23% were remote employees, and that percentage has increased to
31% this year. Of that 31%, 17% live abroad. **As of February 2013, 27% of
staff is female, 28% minority, 34% are foreign nationals, and 69% have
lived or worked abroad. ** We'd like more. :) If anyone knows interested
candidates, current jobs can be found at jobs.wikimedia.org.*
*
*
*Warmest regards, Gayle*
*
*
----------
From: *ENWP Pine* <deyntestiss(a)hotmail.com>
Date: 11 March 2013 13:06
To: "gbyrd(a)wikimedia.org" <gbyrd(a)wikimedia.org>, "
wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org" <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Garfield,
Thanks for the report.
Congrats again to the fundraising team for what they accomplished this for
this round of fundraising.
The Q&A for the mid-year report talks about a hiring pace that is slower
than planned, and says "We attribute this to the fact that the market for
engineers is extremely competitive in San Francisco right now." I'd like to
ask you or Gayle about how aggressive WMF is about recruiting outside of
SF. I think there are probably engineers at large tech companies outside of
SF who would enjoy a change of culture from their current employers to WMF
if they're willing to take a pay cut. I think that they would be good
candidates for the recruiting team, so I'd strongly encourage aggressive
recruiting outside of San Francisco.
Thanks,
Pine
--
Gayle Karen K. Young
Chief Talent and Culture Officer
Wikimedia Foundation
415.310.8416
www.wikimediafoundation.org
The Wikimedia Foundation is partnering with the Noun Project[1] to do a public service "Iconathon." The goal of this event is to generate 30-40 icons for the public domain, with the intent of primarily using them on Wikimedia Foundation projects. The event is open to the public in an effort to bring talented designers and civic-minded individuals into the process. The event will be held on April 6, 2013 at the Wikimedia Foundation headquarters in San Francisco.
All icons will be released under a public domain license.
We want your help and input!
For more information, including a list of the icons we're working on, please visit one of three places:
* http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Iconathon_2013
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Iconathon_2013
* http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Events/The_Noun_Project_Iconathon
Please stop by one of these pages and share your thoughts and ideas.
[1] http://www.thenounproject.com
---
Brandon Harris, Senior Designer, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
Students for Free Culture will be having its annual conference at New York
Law School<https://www.google.com/maps?q=new+york+law+school&hl=en&sll=40.6%2097488,-7…>on
April 20-21st!
The Students for Free Culture Conference is an annual gathering of student
and non-student activists, thinkers, and innovators who are dedicated to
advancing discussions on technology, law, and public policy. Through panels
and keynote speakers, FCX 2013 will focus on current issues in intellectual
property law, open access to educational resources, maker culture, and
technology policy. Through workshops, the conference will revisit the core
pillars of the free culture movement, examine the success stories from our
movement, and identify new ways in which Students for Free Culture can
advocate for a more free, open, and participatory digital environment.
For more information about the conference, visit the conference
website<http://fcx2013.org/fcxabout.html>
.
Registration is open <http://fcx2013.eventbrite.com>!
Through the generosity of our sponsors, Students for Free
Culture<http://freeculture.org/>is once again able to offset student
travel costs for this year’s
conference in NYC. Our first priority is to provide funding to at least one
student from every active chapter in the organization – but funding is
available to _all_ student activists and leaders who would like to attend
FCX2013.
If you can’t afford the cost of traveling to NYC next month, please do not
hesitate to fill out this form to request travel
funding<http://bit.ly/fcx2013_travelfunding>.
We have some money and we want to give it to you.
If you have friends at schools that do not currently have an active SFC
chapter but you think they should be at the conference, please pass along this
link <http://bit.ly/fcx2013_travelfunding> to them, too. Sometimes
attending the conference is just the spark that someone needs to get out
there and start a new chapter on their campus!
P.S. This is a great group of activists very closely aligned with the wiki
ethos, and I have been proud to work with them directly on many Wikimedia
NYC projects. There are also planning a Wiki-Workshop on better use of
Wikipedia at universities for one of the days, so please look forward to
that! (I very much regret I won't be able to join due to the overlapping
International Wikimedia/Chapters Conference also that weekend.)
Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)
Wikimedia NYC
Hi all,
I would like to suggest a meetup soon in Milan for those interested in
the Education Program following the workshop that is going to happen
there. There will be a workshop already most of the day, then we could
have a meetup later in the night with Wikimedians from all over the
world e, naturalmente, i nostri amici italiani! :) I have made a
proposta on the talk page of the Education Workshop
http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikipedia_Education_Program/Educati…
Please, if you have suggestions of places to go (pizza?! :D) to gather
lots of Wikimedians interested in education or know people who might
be interested, comment above and share this link.
Arrivederci!
Tom
--
Everton Zanella Alvarenga (also Tom)
"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more
useful than a life spent doing nothing."
Wikimedia Foundation General Counsel Geoff Brigham has written a new
blog post on the Wikimedia Blog that examines several points from the
recent Wikimedia UK governance review, which he argues are useful for
all Wikimedia movement groups and individuals.
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/03/19/movement-governance-recommendations/
The recent UK report and movement governance
Posted by Geoff Brigham on March 19th, 2013
As part of the Wikimedia movement, there are entities such as
chapters, the Wikimedia Foundation, thematic organizations, and user
groups, established to support our shared global mission of freely
sharing educational content. With the growth of these organizations
comes a need for “good governance” — a recognition that movement
entities are stewards for our contributors, donors and developers, who
generously donate their time, expertise and money to promote the
Wikimedia movement. Our organizations are called upon to use resources
efficiently and carry out official positions for the benefit of the
community. When they do not, they hurt the trust of the movement.
Last month, the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK announced the
release of the final report and recommendations regarding the
governance of Wikimedia UK. The review was conducted by Compass
Partnership, a noted management consultant company with particular
expertise in evaluating nonprofit organizations. Although the report
includes highly specific recommendations to be implemented by
Wikimedia UK, as a whole, it suggests several foundational themes that
may be broadly applicable to all movement organizations. Each of us
(including myself) who holds positions entrusted by our community may
benefit from the learnings of the report. The following ones are worth
consideration by all of us in Wikimedia organizations.
▪ Maintain Respect and Professionalism. According to the UK report,
strong and effective relationships are an essential ingredient of any
movement involving multiple organizations in dispersed territories and
cultures. To foster effective relations among Wikimedia groups, the
report recommends that communications within the movement be
respectful and professional. It also suggests that this tone should be
set and modeled by those in entrusted positions in the movement – such
as trustees, executives and employees. We need not avoid controversy
and disagreement, but respectful and professional behavior benefits
the community as a whole. It ensures we are talking about and solving
issues that benefit the community in a constructive, objective and
productive way.[1]
▪ Keep Roles Within the Movement Separate from Your Personal
Interests. The report suggests that, to best serve the movement,
community members should keep their Wikimedia organizational roles
separate from their own personal interests. For example, a trustee
should never use that position within the movement to advance their
own financial interest. Similarly, when individuals within the
movement are acting in their personal capacity, for their own benefit,
they should not rely on their Wikimedia title or office in any way,
and they should be clear about it.[2]
▪ Be Transparent With Regard to Conflicts of Interest and Cooperate in
Resolving Them. As many of you may know, the WMF Board is currently
considering the proposed “Guidelines on the Disclosure of Potential
and Actual Conflicts of Interest in Requesting Movement Resources,”
which were developed through a six-week consultation period with the
community. The guidelines encourage community members to disclose
actively their potential conflicts of interest when requesting
Wikimedia resources, and also provide guidance regarding (1) what
circumstances may constitute a conflict of interest, and (2) when to
disclose such circumstances to the appropriate decision-maker within
the movement. The community’s efforts to improve the handling of
conflicts of interest are recognized in the UK report. The report
specifically discusses these guidelines and highlights their value in
providing a framework for the disclosure of potential conflicts of
interest so that they may be fully evaluated and managed.
The UK report explains that, in a charitable organization, the highest
standards should be followed in managing conflicts. If an employee,
officer or trustee of a movement entity believes there is any
possibility that they present a potential or actual conflict of
interest, this should be raised immediately with the appropriate
decision-maker. Furthermore, the employee, officer, or trustee should
be forthcoming and transparent with regard to all relevant facts, so
the appropriate decision-maker may fully assess the potential
conflict.[3]
▪ Go Beyond the Minimum Requirements of Law. Finally, the report
recognizes that the demands and values of the worldwide Wikimedia
movement call for us all to hold ourselves to the highest standard,
going beyond the basic legal requirements.The WMF Board encouraged as
much in its Resolution on Organizational Best Practices, suggesting
that “every organization in our movement must go beyond local
regulatory requirements and adopt our movement’s unique principles and
best practices around governance, transparency, and accountability.”
In the words of the Board, movement resources should be used “to
achieve the highest possible impact in the pursuit of our vision.”[4]
By considering these principles as they may apply to us individually,
or the particular Wikimedia entities that we serve, we all have the
opportunity to embrace our values while supporting a Wikimedia
movement that mandates the highest of standards. As I believe we all
agree, our community deserves nothing less.
Geoff Brigham, General Counsel, Wikimedia Foundation
Notes:
1. For Compass Partnership’s specific recommendations on respectful
and professional communication, see Recommendation 4.4, paragraph 43;
Recommendation 4.5, introductory paragraph; and Recommendation 4.5,
paragraph 46 of the final report.
2. For Compass Partnership’s specific recommendations on separating
one’s Wikimedia position from one’s personal interests, see
Recommendation 4.4, paragraphs 27, 30, and 41 of the final report.
3. For Compass Partnership’s specific recommendations on transparency
and the management of conflicts of interest, see Recommendation 4.4,,
paragraphs 26, 27, and 29; and Recommendation 4.5, paragraph 48 of the
final report.
4. For Compass Partnership’s specific recommendations on going beyond
the minimum requirements of law, see the Introduction of the final
report.
_______________________________________________
Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
_______________________________________________
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WikimediaAnnounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l
Hi community,
I would like to bring to your attention a matter that's currently
being discussed on Meta, one that has not yet gained too much interest
(though it was discussed during IRC office hours, and was mentioned on
one mailing list, as far as I see).
It seems that the Wikimedia Foundation registered a community logo
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Community_Logo.svg> as
a trademark in the United States, with the international application
still pending.
The logo was originally created in 2006 by User:WarX (Artur
Fijałkowski) , and was adopted as the logo of Meta-Wiki in 2008 — and
as far as I can recall, the very point of it being created was to (1)
have a community logo released into the public domain and (2) to have
a community logo which was /not a trademark/.
I am especially worried about the WMF not informing the community
about their trademark registration — we have only found out about it
via an edit on Commons
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?diff=84864201&oldid=49625546>,
and then after asking about it during IRC office hours at the end of
January.
As far as I understand, the WMF has not discussed trademark
registration with the author of the logo
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?diff=92395329&oldid=92392542>
— though obviously, since Artur-WarX released it into the public
domain, it would've only be good manners, and not a legal requirement.
The discussion is taking place on Meta at
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Logo>, and all
comments are welcome.
--
Tomasz W. Kozłowski
a.k.a. [[user:odder]]
