>.... we could start with a smaller step: get the agenda
> published within 5 days after any meeting....
"I would support as best practice the public posting of agendas for
routine board meetings. I would support that minutes be posted
promptly - but before the next meetings agenda is finalized is not
really practical because we normally vote to approve the previous
meetings minutes at the next meeting - every board I have been on does
this. I would not support that unagendized items be deferred until the
next meeting - we are working board and we have long board meetings
and such a delay would not be helpful in any way."
-- Jimbo Wales (talk) 08:53, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
Hi all,
The draft Wikimedia Foundation strategy is now posted on Meta
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Strategy/Draft_WMF_Strategy> for your
feedback and comments[1]. This stage of feedback will be open between now
and March 18, 2016. Please note that WMF Staff will not be able to start
responding to comments until Monday (March 7th) so know that the lack of
comments over the weekend is not a sign that you're being ignored :). We
welcome and appreciate any translations you are able to give for the draft
as well so that it can be read and understood by as many people as possible.
*Next steps*:
- During March, the Wikimedia Foundation will use this proposed strategy
to finalize its draft 2016-2017 Annual Plan.
- Between March 18th and April 1st we will review and integrate your
feedback from the draft strategy into the draft Annual Plan as appropriate.
- On April 1st, The Wikimedia Foundation’s draft annual plan will then
be submitted for comment.
1, https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Strategy/Draft_WMF_Strategy
Thank you again for your feedback earlier that led to this draft and for
your comments in this stage,
James Alexander
Manager
Trust & Safety
Wikimedia Foundation
Hi everyone,
I’m writing to let you know that our VP of Human Resources, Boryana Dineva,
has decided to move on.
Boryana joined the Wikimedia Foundation last fall and quickly began working
with the HR team to build a recruiting team, hire a learning and
development lead, support the creation of a comprehensive wellness plan for
the upcoming year, and focus HR efforts on engaging with the findings of
the engagement survey.
Boryana connected on a personal level with many of you. She wanted me to
pass along her strong support for the future of the Foundation and our
mission. We thank her for her contributions and wish her well in her future
endeavors.
Starting today Joady Lohr will lead the Team Practices and Talent and
Culture department as interim director, joining the c-team. Joady has been
with the Foundation for 4 years now, and is known and trusted by many
across the organization. We’re looking forward to supporting her and the
rest of the team on ongoing projects during this interim period.
The executive team plans to open up a search for a new executive head of HR
to lead the Talent, Culture, and Team Practices teams right away.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to
Joady.
Kind regards,
Geoff
>... board meetings are confidential so board members under duress can
> always claim they tried to do whatever they were told to but got voted
down?
Board votes are published.
Dear fellow Wikimedians,
I have been closely following the developments of the previous weeks. A lot
of things have been said, concerns and frustration have been raised, hope
has been voiced, and many many questions have been brought up. It’s hard to
keep up with all the voices on all the different digital channels these
days, and hard to find solutions and agreement in an unfacilitated stream.
The first chance for many of us to personally meet, vent, and look ahead
will be the the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin. Wikimedia Deutschland is
hosting the event, and welcoming movement affiliates, committees and board
and staff of the Wikimedia Foundation from April 20-24.
The movement is standing at a crossroad, but I am confident we can find the
best path if we work together. Wikimedia Deutschland has gone through
turbulent times in the past as well, and we would like to offer our
experience and full support as host and facilitator of an essential part of
this process. With your participation and contribution, Wikimedia
Conference can be a platform for exchange and progress.
Let us use this opportunity to jointly figure out how we want to move
forward as a network of partners. The conference is the ideal platform to
discuss and define next steps to find answers to questions like: How do we
imagine a movement striving for free knowledge and what structure and
framework best serve these needs? How do the WMF and affiliates define
their role and responsibilities on a global and local level? How shall an
revamped search process for a new executive leadership of the WMF look
like, and what are the main qualifications new candidates should bring? How
will the strategy process for the WMF evolve and how can affiliates
contribute? How do we involve our stakeholders from within and outside of
the movement in this process? How do we manage to look ahead rather than
repeating the old narratives? How do we create consensus on all these
questions?
In light of the current situation, we would like to dedicate a whole
conference track to these issues. Of course, the initial conference topics
of impact and capacity building are still important and will be covered as
well.
We have set up a page on meta and encourage you to share your questions,
ideas, and concerns[1]. We intend to work closely with WMF and affiliate
representatives in the coming eight weeks and create the program along
their input.
Looking forward to seeing you in Berlin in April,
Tim Moritz Hector
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2016/Program_Design_Pr…:
How to move forward
--
Tim Moritz Hector
Chair of the Board
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V.
Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | D-10963 Berlin
http://www.wikimedia.de
A number of nominations have now come in for the affiliate-selected board
seats.[1]
One of the people who have put their names forward to date is Susanna
Mkrtchyan of Wikimedia Armenia. In her nomination statement[2] Susanna
refers to the 2014 "One Armenian, one Article" Wikipedia campaign.
The BBC reported[3] at the time that the campaign was government-supported.
The related YouTube video (in Armenian with English subtitles)[9] features
appeals for people to edit Wikipedia from (in order of appearance):
1. The Armenian Defense Minister, who says he's joining the "One Armenian,
one Article" marathon by editing an article about the Armenian army
2. The Armenian Education and Science Minister, who says creating Wikipedia
content in Armenian is part of Armenians' "duty toward our nation and
country" and indicates he will personally participate too
3. The Head of Armenian Public Radio
4. An Armenian TV announcer
5. The Head of Matenadaran Archive
Now, according to Freedom House,[4] all is not well in Armenia. Corruption
is widespread in government and law enforcement. The press is not free.[5]
Journalists have to "contend with violence and harassment", although
"Independent outlets continued to take advantage of the country’s
relatively open online space."
Clearly, the Internet presently provides a platform for opposition voices
that have trouble making themselves heard in conventional media, a fact
that the government cannot be terribly pleased about.
Returning to Susanna's nomination statement, she says that Wikimedia
Armenia has signed a contract with the "Armenian Encyclopedia Authorities"
to re-use their content.
Western countries don't really have a tradition of state-published
encyclopedias, but the Soviet Union had the Great Soviet Encyclopedia for
about sixty-five years. It was an instrument of state propaganda. Trying to
shoehorn national encyclopedias modelled on the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
into Wikipedia is a thought that seems to occur quite naturally to
politicians in ex-Soviet states, many of whom started their political
careers and held office in the days of the Soviet Union. It is a good way
of exercising control over the Internet, just like the Great Soviet
Encyclopedia was designed to shape intellectual life in the USSR.
According to her LinkedIn profile[7], in her professional life Susanna is a
Sector Manager at the State Committee of Science, which is part of the
Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia.[8]
Susanna further notes that she received an honourable mention from Jimmy
Wales at Wikimania 2015's Wikipedian of the Year award, a fact duly noted
at [[Wikipedia:Wikipedian of the Year]].[6]
Now, why are we bestowing Wikipedian of the Year honours on government
employees of repressive regimes? If we had the US Secretary of Defense
writing Wikipedia articles about the US Army, or had employees of the
German government running Wikimedia Deutschland, I'm sure there'd be an
outcry, even though those are countries with quite favourable records on
human rights, press freedom and so on. The idea of an award would not even
arise.
What is different about ex-Soviet countries that makes this a good thing to
do?
Andreas
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2016/Nominat…
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2016/Nominat…
[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-28588188
[4] https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2015/armenia
[5] https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/armenia
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedian_of_the_year
[7] http://archive.is/kmcEs
[8] http://www.scs.am/en/home
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zazVM3ldIuw
With respect to paid promotional editing, I have done a bit work trying to
address it. For example I reached out to Upworks the company behind Elance
and Fiverr and they are interested in working together on this. Have been a
little distracted and not sure if there is sufficient community or
foundation support to move forwards.
With respect to using AI to detect paid editing, I spoke with Aaron
Halfaker about the possibility in Nov 2015. What he needed was datasets of
confirmed paid promotional editors. I have sent him some details. If others
have details that would likely be useful. Things are in the very very early
stages from what I understand.
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
Wikimedia Australia has recorded their Board meetings, e.g. at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYnlRWxFpX0
If accurate minutes are too hard, this solution seems a lot easier.
There's a quote popularly attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt:
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds
discuss people."[0]
Now, I'm not calling any particular people small minded, nor am I
suggesting we stop talking about issues. What I am suggesting is that we
talk about issues, and not people. The axe grinding and personal
denigrations are being pushed further and further to the limits during this
turmoil, and I humbly ask that it stop, and that moderation is used if
needed to do so. I'll have no sympathy for those who wish to continue to go
after fellow human beings for political gain.
0. http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/11/18/great-minds/
--
~Keegan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keegan
This is my personal email address. Everything sent from this email address
is in a personal capacity.