Robert Scott Horning wrote:
As for having members of the board being outsiders, I think that should not happen at all or under exceptional circumstances.
It's nice to hear that side for a change. I was beginning to form the impression elected members were neither necessary nor wanted.
On 1/30/06, Tim Starling t.starling@physics.unimelb.edu.au wrote:
Some committees might benefit from the guidance of qualified outsiders, but the committees should still be dominated by volunteers, either selected by a transparent and fair process with Board oversight or, as Erik suggests, with open membership.
I don't think there's any suggestion the committees (as opposed to the Board) should be dominated by anything other than community members at this stage. The processes of selecting those members are still under discussion, and something the people organizing the committees the Board approved the creation of (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolutions have been asked to report on by February 11.
On 1/30/06, daniwo59@aol.com daniwo59@aol.com wrote:
At our size, however, we are faced with enormous responsibilities. ... This is something that requires professional legal and financial knowhow.
Luckily we have an awful lot of legal and financial know-how within the community. More than we could ever afford to pay for, and, more importantly, coming from people who not only have that knowledge, but have an understanding of what Wikimedia is and a belief in its principles.
On 1/30/06, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
In some cases liability insurance can be purchased, but that too can be expensive.
The Foundation does intend to purchase insurance. Work has already gone into completing applications for Board and Officers Liability insurance and also for the more expensive Cyber Insurance. It was partly the need to list the "Officers" on the application that raised the question Anthere mentioned in this thread of who is an "Officer", and whether the people Jimmy gave various titles to last year fell under that definition.
Angela.