Hi all-
As you may have seen today, we announcing the Wikimedia Endowment as a part
of WIkipedia’s 15th birthday.
I want to thank everyone who engaged on meta
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Endowment_Essay> to help us think
through the initial decisions regarding the endowment. Here is a summary
of the steps we have taken so far:
1.
We are announcing the endowment today! For more information, please
read the announcement
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikipedia_celebrates_15…>
.
2.
The purpose of this endowment is to act as a permanent safekeeping fund
to generate income to ensure a base level of support for the Wikimedia
projects in perpetuity. It will not fully fund WMF’s work, so it is not a
replacement for annual fundraising, but it will supplement it in the
future. We are setting the initial goal at $100 million over 10 years.
There is a strategic distinction between the endowment and the annual
fundraising effort. The endowment will help ensure that Wikipedia lives
forever; It will enable us to fulfill the part of our mission
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mission_statement> that says we
will provide support to the projects in perpetuity. Our annual fundraising
campaigns aim to fund the work we are doing in the coming year and sustain
the operating reserve.
3.
The Wikimedia Endowment has been established as a Collective Action Fund
at Tides Foundation <https://www.tides.org/> as a permanent,
income-generating fund to support the Wikimedia projects. Tides has over 40
years of experience administering funds for nonprofits and helping to
launch such efforts. They often serve as fiscal sponsors for organizations
when they are first starting out and will be providing administrative
support to the Wikimedia Endowment. The endowment will be independent from
WMF but an Advisory Board, nominated by the WMF and appointed by Tides,
will make recommendations to Tides related to the endowment. We have the
option in the future to transfer the endowment out of Tides to the WMF or
to a new charitable entity. The endowment will continue to be a permanent,
income-generating fund to support the Wikimedia projects under any entity.
For now, we feel Tides is a great, cost effective place to start and we
will look at other options when the endowment reaches critical mass.
4.
We have hired an Endowment Director, Marc Brent. Marc is an experienced
fundraiser, having worked at Harvard University and Code for America. Marc
is excited to lead this effort and we are thrilled that he has joined us!
5.
We are using the gift from Jim Pacha
<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/12/the-story-of-jim-pacha/> to start
the endowment. This was Jim’s request. He asked us that if we ever
started an endowment to please move his gift from the reserve to the
endowment. We are happy to be able to honor his wishes and to start the
endowment with Jim’s generous and inspirational gift.
There is still a lot to figure out about the endowment over the next few
months. Marc or I will be posting some more questions on the discussion
page on meta to get your thoughts on this next set of decisions. (I just
added a new question related to governance
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Endowment_Essay>.)
Thank you to everyone who helped inform our thinking. We have lots of work
ahead of us to make this successful and I hope you continue to help us
going forward.
Best regards,
Lisa Gruwell
REMINDER: This meeting starts in 30 minutes.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Praveena Maharaj <pmaharaj(a)wikimedia.org>
Date: Tue, Dec 29, 2015 at 11:00 AM
Subject: ** DATE CHANGE ** Invitation to WMF December 2015 Metrics &
Activities Meeting: Thursday, January 14, 19:00 UTC
To: wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Dear all,
The next WMF metrics and activities meeting will take place on
Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 7:00 PM UTC (11 AM PST). Please note, on
this occasion, we are holding this meeting on the second Thursday in
January. We will resume holding the meetings on the first Thursday of
each month beginning in February 2016.
The IRC channel is #wikimedia-office on irc.freenode.net, and the
meeting will be broadcast as a live YouTube stream.
Meeting agenda:
* Welcomes
* Community update
* WMF top-level metrics
* Research showcase
* Feature presentation
* Product demo
* Questions/discussions
Please review https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Metrics_and_activities_meetings
for further information about the meeting and how to participate.
We’ll post the video recording publicly after the meeting.
Thank you,
Praveena
--
Praveena Maharaj
Executive Assistant to the VP of Product
Wikimedia Foundation \\ www.wikimediafoundation.org
Dear Colleagues,
I’m writing to seek your feedback on the consultation to improve Wikimania,
open until 18 January 2016. If you have already contributed, we are most
grateful.
The goals are to (1) build a shared understanding of the value of Wikimania
to help guide conference planning and evaluation, and (2) gather broad
community input on what new form(s) Wikimania could take (starting in
2018).
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Towards_a_New_Wikimania
Feedback on both of these goals is welcome on a survey provided on the
project page, and can also be given on the project discussion page. In
addition, I also invite you to share any personal experiences you have had
at at a Wikimedia movement conference, including Wikimania. We plan to
compile and share back outcomes from this consultation in February.
I look forward to working with you to develop a Wikimania that better
serves the needs of your communities.
With thanks,
Ellie Young
WMF Events Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
Hello, everyone.
It occurs to me this might be a good time to recycle this piece of advice I
have had some past occasions to offer some newcomers to the movement:
*So you've made a mistake and it's public...*
Step 0:
Understand that there is no point in pretending you have not made a mistake.
Step 1:
*Think* about the mistake you have made. What led you to make it? Were
you acting on bad information? Without sufficient information? On
intuition? Were you pressed by a deadline or by a strong opinion from
someone else? Were you following a broken process? Did you act on the
basis of circumstances you wish were the case rather than the circumstances
that are in fact the case?
(if it helps, consider writing down your answers to these questions,
privately.)
Then, think about what can be redressed/undone/reverted about your mistake.
Step 2:
*Think* about the prospects of making this mistake, or a mistake of its
kind, again. How likely is it? Based on learning from this mistake, what
steps are you able to take to mitigate or reduce the odds of its
recurrence? Of those steps, which are you *willing* to take? Of those,
which can you take right now, before responding in public? Which are you
ready to commit to, longer term?
Step 3:
Armed with your best thinking from Steps 1 and 2, write a concise(!) public
e-mail acknowledging (as clearly and crisply as possible) --
a. that you have made a mistake
b. what the mistake was, as precisely as possible (e.g. not "I used bad
judgment" but "I neglected to look at relevant data before deciding to fund
Wikimedia Antarctica")
c. what you have learned from making this mistake.
d. what steps you have already taken to redress the damage or undo the
results of your mistake.
e. what steps you are going to take to mitigate or reduce the odds of a
mistake of this sort recurring. (Include timelines for specific actions,
if possible/applicable.)
f. invite comments on your understanding as reflected in this e-mail.
Explicitly encourage people to tell you if they think you've missed the
point or if one of your intended actions is inadvisable, insufficient, or
can otherwise be improved.
Step 4:
Actually follow-through on the redressing/undoing actions and on the steps
you've committed to taking. Take steps to ensure follow-up on steps that
cannot be taken at once (e.g. if one of your corrective steps is to ensure
X gets discussed in your next Annual General Meeting, set appropriate
reminders to make sure that you actually discuss that by the time that AGM
happens.)
Important notes:
1. Do not hesitate to ask for help at any step of this process. Either
reach out to people whose judgment (and discreetness, if necessary) you
trust, or publicly acknowledge you're having trouble with something (e.g.
"Hi, folks. I'm thinking about this mistake, and I have a hard time
figuring out how to balance the need for fresh data with the amount of time
it takes to generate and review that data. Does anyone have some thoughts
on how to best do that?")
2. In the public note, and throughout the process, be sure to *talk like a
human being*. Avoid jargon; avoid sounding like your note has been
prepared by a Damage Control Specialist. Just tell it like it is. People
know the difference.
That's it. It's not as hard as it sounds.
*Q&A: *(this part isn't recycled)
Q: Should I really go through this whole thing every time I make a mistake?
A: Ideally, yes. And it doesn't have to take very long, if you are in the
habit of being honest in your own mind. However, as with everything, apply
your good judgment, and use whatever abbreviated version of this you deem
appropriate.
Q: Wouldn't following this result in drama and upset the community?
A: No. On the contrary. Our community understands humans are fallible,
and responds *very well* to (what it perceives as) honest admissions of
error, commitments to improve, and (most of all) demonstrated learning.
Q: Still, there would be some drama, no?
A: Yes, there may be some drama, in the short term. Have we mentioned
humans are fallible?
Q: So, wouldn't it be better to silently learn the lessons and move on?
A: No. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, as Judge Brandeis observed.
Proper handling of mistakes is a sterling quality in anyone, and
particularly important in a leader or public servant of any kind. It pays
long-term dividends.
Q: What should I do when I see someone else is making a mistake?
A: When you see others making mistakes, help them *see* them (first of all)
and deal with them (e.g. by recycling this text, or by independently
offering your analysis and answers to Steps 1 and 2 above).
Remember you make mistakes too, and be tolerant of the time it may take
people to accept that they have made a mistake. (But you don't need to
allow them to insist they have not made a mistake.)
Q: But isn't it true that organization/individual X made a mistake and
didn't follow this process at all?
A: Yes, it's true. And how did that work out?
Q: So are you saying you always adhere to this yourself?
A: I try to, but I don't claim I always managed it.
Q: Are you suggesting this applies to current goings-on?
A: I suggest it applies to every situation involving humans.
Cheers,
A.
--
Asaf Bartov
Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org
All:
With the expiration of the 2011-2015 Strategic Plan, many of us are
interested in future strategic planning efforts. With that in mind (and as
part of a series of interviews I'm doing to celebrate Wikipedia Day), I
interviewed Eugene Eric Kim, who designed the community engagement process
for that plan. I think the organization and the community has, probably for
a variety of reasons, lost track of much of what was learned during that
process, so I think a recap will be valuable. It's a 25 minute video -- and
if I may be so bold, I think it's well worth the time investment for
anybody interested in this stuff.
Wikipedia 15 for 15: Eugene Eric Kim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Eq4l4KmBc&index=3&list=PLnDuxSh4Rp5gsvae2…
And beyond this video -- what do those who participated in the last round
(or those who have observed it) think the important lessons are? How should
we be moving foward?
-Pete
[[User:Peteforsyth]]
p.s. Yes, this is licensed CC BY, and I will be uploading the whole series
to Commons when I get a moment!
Hi Wikimedians!
The Wikipedia Library is really excited about the #1lib1ref campaign taking
off -- we seem to have found a concept that will excite the global
libraries community to talk more with us, about our common mission: helping
the world get access to reliable knowledge.
Please explore the hashtag on Twitter and other social media: we have
several dozen websites, library organizations, and individuals blog and
reflect on their experience. For example:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%231Lib1Ref . I have included a preview of
some of our tracking below for a sense of our scale.
Please use the campaign to promote the exciting GLAM, research, and
Wikimedia community projects you think librarians would be interested in.
We still need your help:
-
Keep sharing and emphasizing the hashtag #1lib1ref. Try to pair your
posts with #Wikipedia15 when you can.
-
Help translate the main page of the campaign into more languages:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library/1Lib1Ref
-
Note: We use some of the headers and sentences in this page, to
generate multilingual social media posts.
-
The campaign technically starts on Friday, but we need to continuously
remind the global libraries community that they a) can start adding
references now, and b) should continue adding references all next week. Oh,
and its not just librarians who are adding references for the campaign --
that's just our target audience :)
-
Publish blogposts talking about Wikmedia’s opportunities with libraries.
Here are a small sample blog posts that might help inspire your work:
-
From our Italian Colleagues :
http://librarianscape.com/2016/01/09/wikipedia-un-posto-per-bibliotecari/
-
From DLF: https://www.diglib.org/archives/11060/
-
From our Catalan colleagues:
http://blogcrai.ub.edu/2016/01/13/el-crai-de-la-universitat-de-barcelona-sa…
-
Reach out to the librarians using the hashtag: some of them are even
hosting lunch gatherings, or small editing events that engage library
staffs. These librarians are potential leaders for local events and
GLAM-Wiki activities.
If successful, we hope to run a similar campaign next year, with more
direction and leadership from a volunteer committee (this year we decided
to move quick, and test the concept alongside #Wikipedia15 ). If you are
interested in helping organize, let us know at
wikipedialibrary(a)wikimedia.org .
Give feedback on the campaign and resources that would be helpful for next
years campaign on the talk page on meta :
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library/1Lib1Ref
Thank you so much for those who have already stepped up to lead on social
media and translating the meta page!
Alex Stinson
Project Manager
The Wikipedia Library
What impact are we seeing?
We are tracking several different elements of this campaign:
-
Usage of the hashtag in social media -- over 600 tweets have used the
hashtag since January 4. We are also tracking the hashtag on facebook and
linkedin -- both of which are major networks for librarians.
-
Our facebook event is beginning to spread -
https://www.facebook.com/events/975178119187954/ -- please invite more
people from your library networks
-
Page views - we are seeing between 400-600 pageviews, with nearly 7000
views in the last month on the English Version of the campaign page, and
Italian, French and Spanish are seeing 40-60 views a day. Moreover,
Catalans page, which is on ca.wikipedia, has seen over 2000 visits in the
last month:
http://stats.grok.se/ca/latest/Viquiprojecte:Bibliowikis/1Lib1Ref
-
We are beginning to see hashtag used on English Wikipedia’s edit
summaries http://tools.wmflabs.org/hashtags/search/1lib1ref . Based on
other social media discussions, we think this represents <60% of the
activity so far.
-
We are working with Stephen LaPorte to help the tool support top 20
language Wikipedias, and Wikipedias like Romanian where we know community
members are sharing the campaign. Let us know if you don’t think your
language will be in that group.
-
A new phabricator item has been -- it would be incredibly useful for
other kinds of campaigns: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T123529 .
Please leave feedback and use cases.
Dear Wikimedians,
The deadline to register for the Wikimedia Conference 2016 closes in two days!
For getting into the mood and to enhance the anticipation for the
conference, please review the current list of participants [1].
Today we have 44 affiliations whose representatives have registered
for the conference.
Registration from the following affiliations are still missing:
=Chapters=
- Wikimedia Argentina
- Wikimedia Canada
- Wikimedia Chile
- Wikimedia Eesti
- Wikimedia Israel
- Wikimedia India
- Wikimedia Italia
- Wikimedia México
- Wikimedia Portugal
- Wikimedia Sverige
- Wikimedia Taiwan
- Wikimedia Ukraine
- Wikimedia District of Columbia
- Wikimedia New York City
- Wikimedia Uruguay
=User Groups=
- Azerbaijani Wikimedians User Group
- Cascadia Wikimedians User Group
- Egypt Wikimedians User Group
- MediaWiki Farmers User Group
- New England Wikimedians
- North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians
- PhilWiki Community
- Wiki Project Med
- Wikimedia Community Brazilian Group of Education and Research
- Wikimedia Community Ireland User Group
- Wikimedia Community User Group Belarus
- Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia
- Wikimedia Digitization User Group
- Wikimedia LGBT
- Wikimedia User Group China
- Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- Wikimedians of Bashkortostan User Group
- Wikimedians of Bulgaria User Group
- Wikimedians of Iceland User Group
- Wikimujeres
=Movement Partners=
- Wiki Education Foundation
- Centre for Internet & Society - Access to Knowledge Program
For further information, please visit meta [2].
You can reach out to us any time via wmcon(a)wikimedia.de should you
have any questions or comments.
Best regards,
Wenke and Daniela
Wikimedia Deutschland
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2016/Participants%27_L…
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2016
+1 to the idea of developing a movement strategic plan, we can than judge
how well different movement partners including the WMF are aligned with
movements goals
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
Hello, all. :)
As I know many of you are aware, the strategic planning consultation pages
went up on Meta yesterday at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Strategy/Community_consultation. The
actual consultation should launch on January 18th. Right now, we are
seeking translations.
I've requested help from the translator community but just wanted to
request it here as well. We've put together a list of pages that need
translation in the consultation at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Strategy/Translations
I appreciate any help that you can offer and look forward to hearing your
thoughts about strategy starting on January 18.
Best,
Maggie
--
Maggie Dennis
Director, Community Advocacy
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.