Jay Walsh wrote:
Passing along for your information. This release is posted on the WMF wiki at https://www.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Permalink/95859
An accompanying Q&A can also be found here: https://www.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Permalink/95860
For wikimedia-l in particular, it probably would have been better to include the FAQ rather than the press release. The FAQ has far more relevant info for this list. :-) Ah well.
Federico Leva (Nemo) wrote:
WEF is a spin-off from WMF, with direct management continuity. Good or not, it's standard for spin-offs to have a special treat from their parent organisation. A number of things can be said and done about this of course but it's hardly surprising.
A $147,000 grant and the full support and cooperation of the Wikimedia Foundation. A platinum parachute, perhaps. At least there's a good bit of transparency here, which I (app)laud.
(I was going to add "a member of the Wikimedia Foundation staff" to the list as well, but it turns out Jami Mathewson was a consultant and hasn't been listed on the staff and contractors page since December 2013.)
In any case, not a bad way to go out. And a mutually agreeable separation is always preferable to the alternative.
There seems to be an undercurrent on the list (a rumbling below the surface) about the Wikimedia Foundation's role in supporting GLAMs and other educational institutions that I'd like to directly address. I think it makes sense to once again look at this document from October 2012 in which Sue lays out that the Wikimedia Foundation's core priorities should be grant-making and engineering: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sue_Gardner/Narrowing_focus.
I see a dismantling of the Programs group (cf. https://www.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Permalink/95865) as a means of continuing this narrowing of focus. The Board and current head of the Wikimedia Foundation seem to agree that doing cultural outreach, at an institutional level (i.e., Wikimedia Foundation <--> GLAMs and other educational institutions), is not currently a top priority.
If anyone believes that this is wrong path to be taking, you'll need to convince or replace Board members, particularly in conjunction with the upcoming strategic planning process which will cover 2016 and beyond. While 2016 seems somewhat distant, at nearly 200 staff members, the Wikimedia Foundation has become a big machine that can't move as swiftly any longer (and that's partially a good thing). It takes time and patience to add or remove large, high-level focuses (and Board members).
In this particular case, Frank gets a good bye and the people in his department get relocated, with grant-making (a core priority) taking in some staff and engineering (a core priority) taking in some staff. I can somewhat understand others being disappointed or disagreeing with these changes, but they're hardly surprising and I, personally, think that the Wikimedia Foundation is largely headed in the right direction. I think it can still be leaner and more focused, but, again, time and patience. :-)
MZMcBride
P.S. I'm still recovering from whiplash as I initially thought this press release was announcing a new Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director. "Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new WEF" is quite close!