A couple of clarifications:
On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 10:41 AM, Béria Lima <berialima(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm not Indian, and I don't know
much about the Indian
operations, but I needed to answer about something I do know.
*Anirudh said: WMIN and WIPT will theoretically compete for funding within
India,
much of which will be allocated to WIPT, given that it is
professionalized (and because we never had a chance) and in WMF's good
graces.*
*And Bishakha answered: As I understand it, WMIN has received a grant
from WMF, so I can't understand how it "never had a chance".** *
Ok talking about grants: WMIN has so far 2 grants: a Bootstrap
Grant<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_IN/Bootstrap_Grant>and
a grant for WCI
2011 <
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_IN/WikiConference_India_2011
(since
this
grant<
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_IN/Wiki_Community_development_in_I…
state
in the begin that is not a chapter
grant, despite the fact that has
the WMIN in the title). One is for a ver specif thing - a conference - who
is being leading by 2 "fellows" of WMF.
So there are some technical issues that we were dealing with regarding the
funding of the conference that did not enable it to be a grant. Also, I
think it is a mistake to say that the conference is the product of a WMF
initiative or is being controlled by WMF. The conference was and is a
community initiative with lots of participation. We provided a small
stipend to help once it was clear that the logistical activities required
full time resources. WMF or the trust as not run the conference...we have
provided funds to enable it.
The second one has nothing to do
with professionalization.
The grant does actually help to put some building blocks in place such as
supporting accounting and legal needs. Also, nothing stopping the chapter
from building further in the future...since the grant process remains open
as do communication lines with WMF and the community.
So when comes to funding, if they decide to
collect funds locally, would be incredible difficult to "fight against" the
WIPT who is full of employees[1] who are used to work with that for years.
That was - I believe - Anirudh's point.
As I said, there is no reason to "fight against" anyone. For example,
Hisham, Gautam and others all worked to find sponsorships for the
Wikiconference India. It was a collaborative effort, not a competition.
Funding should and will flow to program work in various places. In some
cases, donors may be more comfortable giving to one org or another...so it
may actually be an asset to have more than one alternative.
[1] I'm in WMIN ML and I see a hiring once per month, sometimes more.
There have been three consultant hires in India to date - Hisham, Nitika
and Shiju. As mentioned in the past, the team is expected to be 5 people.
_____
*Béria Lima*
<http://wikimedia.pt/>(351) 925 171 484
*Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter
livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. Ajude-nos a
construir esse sonho. <http://wikimedia.pt/Donativos>*
Best,
Barry
On 11 November 2011 17:34, Bishakha Datta <bishakhadatta(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Anirudh Bhati
<anirudhsbh(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> The initial idea, if I understood it correctly, was to establish
another
non-profit body within India, for a period of three to five years to
execute specific (and large-scale) programmes. As of now, the WIPT
(Wikimedia India Program Office) can pretty much do anything it wants
with
the Wikimedia brand - partner with institutions,
raise money locally,
have
paid employees and bypass community.
From what I have seen, the program office does not behave like a law unto
itself, as implied above.
This is what I foresee happening:
WMIN will be involved in community-building and small-scale projects
which
support volunteers and the WIPT will partner with
large institutions in
India (who are understandably looking to club with international
organizations), get a lot of media coverage and acquire the big grants
(since WMIN is not a professional body).
WMIN has already had interest from and meetings with other donors,
including pretty big ones in India (I was there at one such in 2010), so
why this feeling that WMIN can't acquire the big grants?
WMIN and WIPT will theoretically
compete for funding within India, much of which will be allocated to
WIPT,
> given that it is professionalized (and because we never had a chance)
and
in
WMF's good graces.
As I understand it, WMIN has received a grant from WMF, so I can't
understand how it "never had a chance".
This is how WMIN has been made redundant
(something
that I have been saying for a long, long time).
I really don't get this. Given that India is a huge country - with more
than 1
billion people - and zillions of opportunities to grow editing
communities in different languages, how can WMIN become or be made
redundant? Also, given that the chapter is less than a year old, and has
some new office-bearers, and has announced new plans for moving forward,
how is it redundant?
My personal view is that there is enough work ahead for not just one, or
two, but numerous entities, formal and informal, to enter the fray and
actualize this potential. Already, there are many more requests for
collaboration within India than either WMIN or WIPT or both put together
can handle.
Given this huge potential, I don't see why this discussion has to be
framed
through the lens of competition or
territoriality.
Cheers
Bishakha
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