Robert Scott Horning (robert_horning(a)netzero.net)
[050117 22:56]:
I've also been involved in other
volunteer organizations (political, social, and youth groups) and the
need to keep the volunteers happy should never be underestimated. The
fickle thing about volunteers is that if they don't like what is going
on, they will leave quietly... often without the leaders or those "at
the top" even being able to percieve that there is a problem. If you
hire somebody in any role (developer, PR work, accounting, etc.), you
have to make sure that individual is committed to the goals of the
organization, and if possible would be a volunteer if they would not get
paid for their work. This is true for Wikipedia as it is for the Red Cross.
I have considerable experience in managing volunteers (both as a volunteer
and being paid to manage them). One question I'd like a better answer to is
how to keep volunteers from each others' throats better ... en: is large
enough to be qualitatively different from any other wiki, anywhere, ever.
:-D Let's face it, we're in uncharted territory. The number of
volunteers is huge, and each one has considerably more power than a
volunteer in most much smaller organizations. Many have strongly
opposing (usually sincere) views of what is right, and are totally
convinced that any other position is idiotic. Even our management
philosophies are radically different, running the entire range from
laissez-faire permissiveness to literal totalitarian strictness.
With apologies for this note of pessimism -- Good luck!
Ec