On 9/2/11 10:02 PM, Michael Snow wrote:
On 9/2/2011 12:11 PM, Florence Devouard wrote:
On 9/1/11 5:37 PM, Jimmy Wales wrote:
On 8/28/11 1:00 AM, Ray Saintonge wrote:
I think that developing such a legal entity should be a high priority for Brazilian Wikipedians to ensure that Wiki activities in Brazil are controlled by Brazilians. At the same time I don't think there is any value to having a WMF appointee on your board; such a person would find it difficult to function under circumstances of perpetual conflict of interest. No other chapter has such a clause.
I had never thought of this before, but now that it has been mentioned, I just wanted to disagree, quite respectfully because Ray is awesome of course, and say that I think it is a very interesting idea to have a WMF appointee on the boards of chapters.
There should be very few cases where there is a "conflict of interest" since chapters and the Foundation are deeply tied together always (and that's a good thing). I think having a Foundation representative on the board of chapters does present some possibly insurmountable logistical issues (who will they be?) but I actually think such an arrangement might be incredibly valuable for improving communication and *decreasing* perceived conflicts of interest.
--Jimbo
I can not help commenting a bit more on the matter of "conflict of interest". I think I can probably say more on the matter than most people here.
First because I pushed a LOT for the adoption of a COI policy on the board of WMF. And this generated lot's of painful discussions between you, Michael and I. In particular with regards to your involvement with Wikia.
For those reading whose memories may not be quite long enough - I assume Florence is referring to Michael Davis here, not to me. The conflict of interest policy was adopted in 2006, before I was on the board. I just thought it would help to make the distinction explicit, as it wouldn't be the first time somebody has gotten us confused.
Indeed. I was talking of Michael Davis, the treasurer of the board at that time.
Sorry for the confusion Michael.
Florence