I fully subscribe to that notion. The board has to be equipped with
members, who are primarily selected for their adherence with the core
values of the Wikiverse, the five pillars[1]. The WMF is not, and should
never be, anything like a corporation, it's an educational charitable
non-profit NGO.
"Member of the board" is not just a job but but a trusted position based
primarily on virtue, credibility and values.
Outside advise should be fetched either ad hoc or with some kind of
standard procedure from experts, like an advisory board.
Sänger
[1]https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Values
> Andreas Kolbe schrieb:
> I've never understood why corporate appointees like Guy Kawasaki or the
> just-departed Arnnon Geshuri are voting board members, instead of being on
> the Advisory Board.
>
> The board structure needs to be revised, and brought in line with basic
> democratic principles.
>
> Andreas
Hi all,
We’re proposing to change the schedule of the Foundation’s monthly public
Metrics meeting. We plan to move the meeting to the final Thursday of each
month, in order to better align these important presentations with the
Foundation’s regular data production cycles. This will result in a three
week delay for February’s meeting as we move to a new cycle.
As many know, the Foundation’s monthly Metrics meeting is an open,
hour-long series of presentations on key data related to the projects,
highlights of Foundation and community projects and achievements, research
and product demos, and other updates on Foundation operations. The meeting
is livestreamed and recorded, and open to public participation on IRC.
Currently, the Foundation’s Metrics meeting is held the first Thursday of
each month. However, most of our data for the preceding month isn’t
actually available until mid-month. For example, it may take until
mid-January to process data from December, and at that point, the January
Metrics meeting has already taken place. As a result, we end up presenting
December data in February, with up to six weeks delay.
By moving the Metrics meeting to the last Thursday of the month, Foundation
departments will be able to prepare their presentations using the most
recent data available, and align on a more consistent cycle.
The Foundation is planning to implement this change for February. The first
meeting to be affected will be the planned February 4th meeting, which will
be moved to February 25th. Our next step is to update this schedule in
public venues. The Foundation will continue to send a monthly invitation
and reminder, and post the full Metrics presentation and video, aligned
with the new cycle.
Many thanks to the Analytics and Finance teams for raising this issue and
proposing the change.
Lila
Hello all,
It's now two weeks since Wikipedia Day, marking a global celebration of the
birth of the Wikimedia movement fifteen years ago. Almost 150 events,
parties and gatherings were listed on the Wikipedia 15 page on Meta
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_15> to take place over the
weekend. How did they go?
We'd love to see your photos and outcomes from your events. For this, I've
created a page on Meta: Wikipedia 15/Scrapbook
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_15/Scrapbook>. Feel free to add
pictures, edit-a-thon outputs, and so on.
We're excited to see what you've all been up to!
best,
Joe
--
*Joe Sutherland*
Communications Intern [remote]
joesutherland.rocks | @jrbsu <http://twitter.com/jrbsu> | +44 (0) 7722 916
433
Congratulations for the Italian community!
Sent from my Samsung device
-------- Original message --------
From: Laurentius <laurentius.wiki(a)gmail.com>
Date: 29/01/2016 05:36 (GMT+07:00)
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Italia recognized as OpenStreetMap chapter
Dear all,
after a long process, today Wikimedia Italia has been officially
recognized as the Italian OpenStreetMap chapter!
OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project that shares the same value as
the Wikimedia movement. It's not based on a wiki software and it's not
in the Wikimedia family, but from many points of views, it's the project
that is more similar to the Wikimedia ones; indeed, many wikipedians are
mappers also, and viceversa.
Similarly to Wikimedia, there is an OpenStreetMap Foundation (based in
the UK) and there are national OpenStreetMap chapters. In Italy, the
OpenStreetMap community has been talking for years about the creation of
a chapter. Most people felt that it was important, but also that
founding yet another association was pointless. Associations are not
built only on projects, but also, and mainly, on common values and on a
common vision: Wikimedia and OpenStreetMap share both, and it's just
natural to work together.
Wikimedia Italy officially started the process of becoming an
OpenStreetMap chapter in 2013 [1]. The association has supported
OpenStreetMap even before that (e.g., supporting the Italian
OpenStreetMap conference), and in the last two years, thanks also to the
work of many OpenStreetMap users that became members (and among them,
Simone Cortesi, OpenStreetMap volunteer since the beginning and WMI's
vicepresident), we have increased our efforts (as described also in
WMI's annual plan [2]). The recognition process has been quite long, but
today we've signed the chapters agreement, and now Italy is the second
country (after Iceland) to have an official OpenStreetMap chapter! (but
there are actually other unofficial chapters besides these two)
Lorenzo
[1]https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2013-July/127304.html
[2]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2014-2015_round2/Wik…
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Dear all,
the Board has read your messages and is discussing the concerns you have
raised about Arnnon Geshuri’s appointment. We need to consider all
information and we have conversations among ourselves. Arnnon and the board
are listening to your worries and talking with community members,
considering people's opinions and his own next steps.
In the recent round of appointments, the Board identified that we needed
support and expertise in two areas: financial oversight and planning, and
human resources. Kelly and Arnnon were identified through the process,
reviewed alongside other nominees, and selected as finalists based on their
expertise and backgrounds. We all agreed they were excellent candidates and
people, and supported their progress as finalists.
We understand this conversation will continue, and we will continue to
monitor it. However, we want to be clear that the Board approved Arnnon
unanimously and still believes he is a valuable member of the team.
Please see this as a brief update. We owe you a more detailed response, and
we plan to come back to you with more information soon.
Alice.
--
Alice Wiegand
Board of Trustees
Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
It has been almost three weeks since my appointment to the Wikimedia
Foundation Board and I have read the feedback and comments from
representative members of the community. My first reaction was how amazing
the community is in its vibrant culture – there is direct and honest
dialog, celebration of diverse ideas, debate and counterpoints, and an
overall genuine passion to ensure that the WMF sustains itself for another
fifteen years and beyond. Witnessing firsthand the commitment and energy
of the community is truly inspirational. Although I would have preferred
the tone surrounding my appointment to be more positive and supportive, I
deeply understand and respect the criticality of free expression, rallying
around convictions, and open disagreement.
Regarding the concerns that have been raised, I have listened closely.
That said, in my opinion, there are some misconceptions and there are
mitigating considerations. As a general matter, I will say that,
throughout my career, I have been charged with enforcing company policies
as part of my role as a people manager. I have tried to do so thoughtfully
and consistently. I have done so realizing company policies and practices
evolve over time as circumstances change.
As part of the current narrative, members of the community generated a
running theme within the online conversations related to trust. Comments
were expressed questioning their trust in the Wikimedia Foundation Board
and asking if the community could accept me as a new Board Member. Wanting
to understand the challenges ahead, I have spent the last few weeks
speaking with current and former Board members and reaching out to folks in
the community. I have more conversations in the coming days and appreciate
those who have been generous with their time. Given the story line that
has been shaped over the last couple weeks and based on the feedback from
my conversations, I know I have a longer journey than most new Board
members to prove to the community and WMF alumni that they can put their
trust in me. I joined to make a positive difference and be a part of the
important effort to grow the WMF for the next generation of editors,
contributors, and users.
As the community gets to know me, folks will see the way I work is with
thoughtfulness, transparency, diversity, and a focus on doing what is
right. I have key experiences in both my professional and non-profit
careers which lend a distinctive perspective to the honorable work of a
Trustee – especially the learnings gained over the last decade. I
passionately believe in the core values of the WMF and trust that the
community and even the most energetic community members come from a place
of good intent. And as we all become closer and transition to debating the
issues and not the people, the community will see I consistently speak from
the heart, I am passionately committed to the movement with the best
intent, and I am working hard to earn your trust.
Regards,
Arnnon