I meant more exactly, a staff member whose role is not just to watch over and be aware, but in fact to actively liaise with community members, respond on lists or wikis, etc.
Rob did a bit of that as have others, Jimbo still answers posts on his talk pages, but someone whose role is to liaise and discuss, who can be relied on as their job to pass things on and ensure they don't lapse or get forgotten, and to get answers when a routine ordinary question comes up, might be no bad thing.
FT2
On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 5:23 PM, Fred Bauder fredbaud@fairpoint.net wrote:
One suggestion I made was that, since communication between office and community is so critical, it might be worth the foundation employing one person at the office purely for community/office liaison (via this list, on Meta, etc). In other words their role is to be at the office and responsive to the community on lists and wikis, ensure community questions and concerns are addressed or not lost, where other staff may not be able to do so as fully as some would wish. It'd cost, but it may well be worth it. Worthwhile? Or wasteful?
FT2
Yes, worthwhile, although this list would be only a minor part of such monitoring. An experienced Wikipedian needs to monitor the mailing lists, Village Pump, requests for arbitration, and the administrative noticeboards regularly and prepare a brief summary for staff daily. Emphasis would be on issues which have potential to or already affect public relations or Foundation resources.
Fred
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