Erik - thank you for your years of service to the movement!
I agree with much of what others have said - you will be missed - but
hopefully not actually gone from the movement. :)
-greg
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 9:31 PM, Robert Rohde <rarohde(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Erik, thank you for everything you have contributed to
Wikimedia over the
years. It has made an immeasurable impact, and whatever future projects
you turn to will be lucky to have you.
I have often thought that Erik held a somewhat special place in the WMF as
the highest ranking staff member who began their career as a major editor
on the projects themselves. Hence, I have tended to imagine that he would
be there to provide the outside hires with valuable insights into the
functioning and feelings of the editor community. Not a flawless process
for sure, but still an important one.
Out of curiosity, with Erik's departure, who will be the highest ranking
staff member(s) with extensive editing experience (say >5000 edits, or
something like that)? I skimmed the WMF bios, and I don't think there is
anyone left in a VP or C-level position that grew out of the community. It
is the nature of the beast that many of the best talents will come to
Wikimedia from outside of the community, and consequently they will have to
learn what the community is all about. However, I am a little surprised
that there aren't more identifiable community members among the top level
staff. I would think that having that background and experience would be
valuable for some of the roles.
With Erik's departure it feels like we've passed some sort of milestone in
the evolution of Wikimedia. We've moved toward a more professional staff,
but also a staff that is more distant from the roots of Wikimedia.
Anyway, best wishes Erik. Your contributions and eloquence will be missed.
(Though I won't be shy in reminding you that you can still participate in
the WMF projects as a volunteer, should you get that itch. ;-) )
-Robert Rohde
P.S. Some of the senior staff bios could really use some cleanup and
expansion (e.g. Lisa Seitz-Gruwell).
On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 4:41 PM, Johan Jönsson <brevlistor(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Thank you, Erik, for the time and effort
you've spent on the Wikimedia
projects (and will continue spending, I hope, in some capacity).
Best of luck in your future endeavours.
//Johan Jönsson
--
2015-04-13 20:12 GMT+02:00 Erik Moeller <erik(a)wikimedia.org>rg>:
Hi all --
As Lila noted, since January 2008 I've worn many hats at the Wikimedia
Foundation, and in the six years before that I was a Wikipedian,
MediaWiki developer, and member of the WMF board of trustees. I became
involved in Wikipedia when I was 22 years old. :) The Wikimedia
movement has accomplished amazing things, but I believe it's time now
for me to do something different and new.
It's been a long and incredible journey, and one I am privileged to
have helped to shape. When I joined the Foundation in December 2007 we
were a staff of a dozen people, with barely enough funds to keep the
lights on. Since then, we've tackled challenges of a complexity and
scale faced by few other organisations. In doing so, we’ve been
generously supported by people all over the world who are grateful for
the gift of free knowledge.
I’m proud of and happy with what we've achieved. Reaching people on
mobile. Pioneering new approaches working with universities.
Painstakingly building a visual editing experience on top of wikitext.
:) I’m glad we’ve taken a stand when it matters (SOPA blackout, NSA
lawsuit) and that we don’t shy away from complex issues such as
community health and diversity.
I’m excited that Wikidata is growing in leaps and bounds with the help
of Wikimedia Germany, and that more and more powerful tools and
services are being built on the basis of Wikimedia APIs and data. I’ve
always believed that Wikimedia chapter and affiliate organizations are
key to the success of the movement, and I hope they are going to truly
thrive in years to come.
But it's time. As the leadership team begins to coalesce under Lila, I
want to open up space for the organization to learn and explore anew
-- and I’d like to rediscover for myself what it means to tackle
challenges outside of my areas of comfort and familiarity.
I’m very interested in the technical challenges of federated
collaboration, and am looking forward to getting my hands dirty in
that domain. I also want to explore how to make patterns of ethics,
policy, and self-governance more accessible and re-usable for
communities. In short, I’m itching to immerse myself in new problem
spaces and new ideas.
Lila, Damon, Terry, myself and others in the org have been discussing
how to organize product going forward to set the org up for success in
the years to come, and we’ll have an update on that very soon. This is
a very natural point for me to pursue something new.
What Wikimedia does in the world is wonderful & important. I’m sure I
will continue to cross paths with many of you in future as I continue
to move in free culture circles, and I very much look forward to it.
I’ll continue to be @ WMF full-time through April, and will make
myself available as necessary afterwards, for when the org needs human
institutional memory that surpasses digital archives. I wish you all
success and joy :-)
Love,
Erik
--
Erik Möller
VP of Product & Strategy, Wikimedia Foundation
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