Hi Everyone,

Thank you for publishing the minutes Stephen. I wanted to add a short note on the two days the board spent prior to the board meeting. We had a retreat (our first with the new Executive Director) in which we focused on the changing nature of the internet, our environment, our users and the way in which knowledge is documented and disseminated. We then looked at what the impact of these changes should be on the Foundation as a whole, and our Board in particular. Some of the proposals were very practical and could be implemented quite quickly. A good example of this was the need for faster decision making. As a result we now have monthly online board meetings which are 60-90 minutes long (so more minutes will follow quickly)

Other ideas need to be worked out in more detail, and we have formed a small working group that is currently working on some of these ideas to present back to the board. A good example of this is the reduction of the number of two day physical meetings… is that feasible and will it allow us to attract a different potential group of board members that simply cannot commit the time for 12-16 days of board meetings including travel).

The ever changing composition of the board gives an extra value to a two day retreat which allows every one to work together in a structured way. All in all the retreat was very productive and has already improved some aspects of our decision making and working together.

As usual I refer you to: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard if you wish to ask questions to the board, or have a comment. I cannot promise that we can answer all questions but this is a good place to keep track of them all.

Regards

Jan-Bart de Vreede Chair Board of Trustees Wikimedia Foundation

On 16 Jan 2015, at 16:55, Stephen LaPorte slaporte@wikimedia.org wrote:

Hi all,

At the request of the Board of Trustees, I have posted the minutes of the November 21, 2014 meeting in San Francisco, which you can find here: *https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Minutes/2014-11-21 https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Minutes/2014-11-21*

Thank you,

Stephen LaPorte Legal Counsel Wikimedia Foundation _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe