On Sun, Feb 28, 2016 at 10:18 AM, Yaroslav M. Blanter <putevod(a)mccme.ru>
wrote:
Actually, in the facebook discussion which was earlier
referenced on this
list someone noticed (unfortunately, without much impact) that WMF is not a
business company and not a high-tech company, but more like a culture/
educational institution.
As stated on a number of occasions, I whole-heartedly agree with this
approach. It is also logical from strategic management point of view: our
core competitive advantage is the ability to engage with the knowledge
communities around ideas (we are the best in the world at that), and not
developing tech (we're good, but we're no match for Google, 3M, or Facebook
here). We should realize that as the vision of the WMF as predominantly a
high-tech organization is really dangerous.
We COULD outsource most of our tech (I'm not supporting this, I'm just
giving perspective). We COULD NOT outsource the community support.
A direct consequence would be that one should think
again whether San
Francisco is the best location for the WMF office, rather than a place
better known for culture and education and less for proximity to Silicon
Valley. Boston was named in the same discussion.
If we were choosing a location from the scratch - definitely. As it is now,
I think that relocating would involve really huge intangible costs for our
staff, and our staff is our unique asset. I would be cautious to rush any
changes in this respect.
dj