Hi Anna,
> * How much is this timeline extension
projected to cost, and from what
> source are the funds being drawn? (Note that this doesn't assume that
the
decision
was a bad one, but I very much want to know the source of the
funds and how much is likely to be drawn from it.)
We've got this covered, Pine. We are fiscally managing this process and
all
of our contracts well. Thank you for your concern.
Please answer my question: how much is this timeline extension projected to
cost,
and from what source are the funds being drawn?
> * Could you elaborate on the benefits of this
timetable change for
people
> who are not involved with affiliates?
We've seen some responses from
> Strainu and Yaroslov (thank you both!) and I would like to hear WMF's
> perspective.
>
The benefits of the change in the timetable are
that 4/4 stakeholder
groups
told us that this was a meaningful exercise, that
they are earnestly
engaged in thinking about the future, and that they need more time for
translation and conversation on this important subject. 3/4 tracks are
non
affiliates (on-wiki, new voices, experts).
We agreed with them. These are meaningful
conversations. We are learning
a
lot and we need to hear what people have to say
and they need more time
to
say it.
OK, that makes sense.
* Could you also discuss what measures are being taken to control costs
in
the strategy process?
We have plenty of measures in place to monitor
costs (e.g., we don't need
to control them because they are not out of control, we are within our
budget). Also, describing financial metrics at any lower level of detail
would be a waste of the strategy budget since we are within it.
I disagree with that assessment. Simply because expenses are within
budget don't mean that all expenses which were charged to the budget
are reasonable and accurate, and I am disappointed to hear that WMF's
standards for its finances are so lax.
WMF's standards are not lax. Far from it.
This convinces me all the more
that my original request is important for WMF to answer: please discuss
what measures are being taken to control costs in the strategy process.
The level of detail that I now think WMF should provide is much higher
than the level of detail with which I previously would have been satisfied.
My level of concern here is high enough that I am asking the WMF
Audit Committee chair, Kelly, to comment on this situation. Something
seems very wrong here, and I am concerned about WMF's financial integrity.
Pine
On Mon, Jun 26, 2017 at 8:33 PM, Anna Stillwell <astillwell(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
Hello Pine,
Good evening. In line.
On Mon, Jun 26, 2017 at 7:40 PM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
This thread is going in many directions, and
I'm enjoying reading the
conversation.
If I may go back to some questions that I asked in my earlier post, I
would
like to hear from Katherine (or someone else at
WMF, perhaps Anna):
First, some context... a good deal of this has been iterative by design.
We
had an overarching idea of where we were headed
(e.g. a shared direction
first, roles and responsibilities second), but then we knew we would
learn
to refine or course correct based on what we
hear.
We've been hearing to extend the timeline on all fronts--organized groups
and affiliates (e.g., time for conversation), on wiki (e.g., time for
translation and conversation) and new voices and experts (e.g., "we've
seen
all of the data but our communities have yet to
see and reflect upon
it")... so that is the background reasoning.
> * How much is this timeline extension projected to cost, and from what
> source are the funds being drawn? (Note that this doesn't assume that
the
decision
was a bad one, but I very much want to know the source of the
funds and how much is likely to be drawn from it.)
We've got this covered, Pine. We are fiscally managing this process and
all
of our contracts well. Thank you for your
concern.
> * Could you elaborate on the benefits of this timetable change for
people
who are
not involved with affiliates? We've seen some responses from
Strainu and Yaroslov (thank you both!) and I would like to hear WMF's
perspective.
The benefits of the change in the timetable are that 4/4 stakeholder
groups
told us that this was a meaningful exercise, that
they are earnestly
engaged in thinking about the future, and that they need more time for
translation and conversation on this important subject. 3/4 tracks are
non
affiliates (on-wiki, new voices, experts).
We agreed with them. These are meaningful conversations. We are learning
a
lot and we need to hear what people have to say
and they need more time
to
say it.
* Could you also discuss what measures are being taken to control costs
in
the strategy process?
We have plenty of measures in place to monitor costs (e.g., we don't need
to control them because they are not out of control, we are within our
budget). Also, describing financial metrics at any lower level of detail
would be a waste of the strategy budget since we are within it.
Always good to hear from you,
/a
Thanks,
Pine
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