2009/8/26 Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org:
2009/8/25 Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com:
How can you have a Q&A on a topic like this that doesn't even address the matter than you have sold a seat on the board? Has the WMF completely lost touch with the community? It should be obvious that this is going to be a highly controversial decision and yet you can't even get the basic announcement right and don't even try and answer the obvious question the community is going to ask.
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Why did the Wikimedia Foundation invite Matt Halprin to join its Board?
Matt's background and skills are a great fit for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, which has had two "expertise" (non-community) seats vacant since last April. Matt is a Board member of several other non-profit organizations, which means he will bring general non-profit governance and oversight experience to Wikimedia. His background at eBay gives him a good understanding of issues related to online community, trust, reputation, privacy and content quality: all key issues for the Wikimedia Foundation. Matt also has a background in strategy development, which will be useful for the Wikimedia Foundation as it embarks on its collaborative strategy development project. The Wikimedia Foundation believes Matt will be a terrific addition to Wikimedia's Board of Trustees.
Is Matt Halprin's Board seat an individual seat, or an Omidyar Network seat?
Like all Wikimedia Board members, Matt will be a member as an individual, not as a representative of any particular organization or constituency. All Wikimedia Foundation Board members have an obligation to put the best interests of the Wikimedia Foundation first, and to do their best to support and guide the organization, to help it achieve its mission and goals. The Wikimedia Foundation looks forward to Matt's participation on the Board.
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Those answers don't address the fact that you've just given a seat on the board to someone that has just given you a big pile of cash. I am open to being convinced that this is a good thing, but you haven't even tried to convince me. I am not arguing that Matt isn't a good choice for the board, I am arguing that the circumstances of his appointment are inappropriate. Had you discussed the general principle of selling board seats with the community you might have got a positive response, but you didn't ask.