(Sorry, the layout of my last mail was horrible, so here it is again, hopefully better to read:)
2015-10-04 17:42 GMT+02:00 Florence Devouard anthere9@yahoo.com:
Le 04/10/15 16:15, Theo10011 a écrit :
Now, beside head rolling... (uh, ouch :)) what do you suggest to fix that ?
I don't see that anything needs fixing here.
So, what happened? The Wikimania committee came to the conclusion that the current process to select the next Wikimania host is broken (and I think the committee was right about that). So something needed to happen - and the committee did something that we see not often enough in Wikimedia-land: they made a decision. A decision they were tasked to take: Think and decide on the next Wikimania host, and on the process to find one. Nobody ever said that their job was only to execute a set of old guidlines and processes (which, I guess, were never "community approved" but rather were around just for a long, long time).
So, they abandoned the process, came up with a new one, and decided who would host Wikimania in 2017 (Montreal seems a great choice, btw - I mean, a bilingual city has some great opportunities for us, right?).
Whats wrong with that? Nothing!
Let's face some truths here:
1. Wikimania has become well too big to be run by volunteers. EVERY Wikimania since Danzig (at least) happened only because the WMF jumped in at one point of time to rescue the whole event. That is not to say that volunteers did not do a great job for Wikimania - but the job proved to be too big for volunteers, for at least five times in a row. So it was right to abandon the current process and replace it with something new. 2. The new process has a lot of problems build in - I think, for example, that the decision to exclude major parts of the world from Wikimanias (except for every third year, when regions are "up to grabs), is wrong. BUT: We now have at least 18 MONTHS to fix this (and possible other problems) - thanks to the bold decision of the Wikimania committee. 3. "There are two things in the world you never want to let people see how you make 'em: laws and sausages" (Leo McGarry, The West Wing, "Five Votes Down"). And there is one thing Wikimedians in this world could not care less about: How the next host for Wikimania is found. Let's applaud the great people of the Wikimania Committee that they took on that task, came up with a great decision for 2017 AND implemented a new (even so not perfect) process while they were at it. 4. I think with a lot of things in Wikimedia-land, we need MORE bold decisions (by whomever), and LESS "community consultation" that only leads to some old-timers in en.WP and de.WP voice their anger and concerns, but rarely solves the problem that needs solving. 5. Dear Wikimania Committee: Your communication of this whole thing sucked, big time. Consider yourself scolded. Move on.
Cheers,
Pavel
[1]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Committee#Purpose_and_process
On Sun, Oct 4, 2015 at 12:55 PM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Yes and no. Considering that I've been waiting for months for answers to
questions about the WMF Annual Plan, I would say that there is much room for improvement in communications.
On the other hand, the WMF Comms department itself seems to more or less ok, and I personally think we'll of WMF's chief communications officer.
So, some good points, and some room to improve. I agree that the status quo has been this way for awhile and it would be good to see across-the-board communications SLAs.
Pine On Oct 4, 2015 12:18 AM, "Mathias Damour" mathias.damour@laposte.net wrote:
Le 04/10/2015 05:36, Craig Franklin a écrit :
I take your point Pine, but "improving communication with the community"
seems to have been a WMF priority for as long as I can remember, yet
there
doesn't seem to have been any consistent improvement, as we can see
here.
A new approach and direction to how matters like this are communicated
is
clearly needed, because the current one doesn't seem to be working at
all.
I wouldn't say that the WMF communication is simply bad, it is pretty professional.
It may rather be that an open communication and keeping control on the greater part of the decisions (or even conducting the users of the
projets
themself, as an average internet company does), are "two tendancies that are not fully compatible" (to borrow Florence's words).
-- Mathias Damour [[User:Astirmays]]
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