Jessie,

obrigado pela informação. Essa postura demonstração uma disposição à transparência por parte da Fundação Wikimedia. Parabéns.

Abraços,

Tom

P. S. Como falo pentelhar em inglês? More Portuguese classes to Jessie. Soon she will be convinced to really learn it: P

Em 10 de novembro de 2011 20:11, Béria Lima berialima@gmail.com escreveu:

Olá a todos!

Espero que este e-mail vos encontre a todos bem! Só queria dar uma rápida atualização sobre os funcionários (da WMF) relacionaods com o Brasil. Como temos falado, WMF está a trabalhar com a firma de contratação Michael Page empresa para contratar um Diretor do Programa Nacional (National Program Director) para o Brasil. A posição não foi publicado ainda, mas será em breve. Vou mandar outra atualização, assim que isto acontecer "oficialmente", só vos queria deixar a todos informados.

Obrigada! Jessie

Em 10 de novembro de 2011 23:24, Jessie Wild jwild@wikimedia.org escreveu:

eu sou um alumno muito lento .... :)

É também uma aluna humilde. ; )

Ni!

2011/11/19 Jessie Wild jwild@wikimedia.org:

Position has been posted: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Brazil_National_Program_Director

Is MichaelPage working pro-bono for the foundation?

Hugs,

ale .:.

On 21-11-2011 01:14, Everton Zanella Alvarenga wrote:

I was wondering how could we make a process of hiring a person more collaborative.

+1

Em 21 de novembro de 2011 03:09, Jessie Wild jwild@wikimedia.org escreveu:

This is an interesting idea; we should explore further. As part of the final rounds for candidates, we will have them do some sort of a project, and I love the idea of having this be more open to leverage ideas and thoughts. Maybe a set up like the way the board of directors application process works for Wikimedia (except, I should note, in the end without the direct voting, as there will have to be the executive decision by Sue / Barry).

Thoughts?

That would be GREAT! I will think better and propose something!

At first, I think each candidate could submit their plans to do this job, aware that this would be made public. Then we could organized these ideas in a wiki page and try to find patterns and similar ideas. One important thing is how to identify the best ideas. Maybe something like the ideas incubator of OKFn

http://ideas.okfn.org/

but this can be too complex to a short term process.

Maybe the wiki page is enough - the director will have, in my opinion, to deal well with a wiki platform - and we can also analise how candidates deal with discussions when faced to different ideas and counterarguments.

Just brainstorming. : )

Tom

Em 22 de novembro de 2011 14:15, Alexandre Hannud Abdo abdo@member.fsf.org escreveu:

Why weren't we consulted about this?

I don't intend to answer in name of WMF, but Jessie has sent an email on 10th of November. Then we had 9 days to discuss it.

Besides that, I was also wondering why this job position if we have this other

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Global_Education_Program_Consultant

My question is how both job positions fit with each other? There seems to be a connection, but it isn't clear to me and think important to Wikimedia community (beyond Brazil) understand it.

1. Michael Page does not understand the job and does not have the

competence to recognize the right people, not even for a raw selection.

I don't know anything about Michael Page to say about their competence, but I have to say I am also a bit skeptical about it and I hope I am wrong. This is a reason I proposed a more open selection process and I hope it's possible to Michael Page do so.

2. I am not the only one here who could have arranged a pro-bono

headhunter at least  as good with one or two phone calls.

You don't know our country (at all, don't fool yourselves) and you don't know the resources our community has at its disposal. If we do not cooperate, you will be wasting money, resources and opportunities all the time.

Abdo, I believe they have used Carol's recommendations:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global/Brazil/BCP_Recommendations#Establish_a...

So I believe the discussion on this was open. Maybe a notice about Carol's report was sent to the mailing list, I cannot remember, and we haven't seen it because of the sea of arguments ad hominem and some useless messages sometimes we have here.

Finally, on a funny detail, I don't think this person should have "director" in his title. It gives the wrong impression towards others and the community itself, and we Brazilians are very easily impressed.

Maybe you are right and another name for this person who will coordinate a national program would be better. But I believe this is a detail which can be solved easily.

Actually, my personal opinion is that this whole Brazilian office affair is a huge mistake, but that was not even put on the table for us to discuss.

I am not sure about this being a mistake. My feeling is that it's good idea to have someone to coordinate a project such as Wikipedia Ambassadors. Besides incredible people working here as volunteers and doing a great job to start a legal entity, *maybe* the group is no mature enough (or don't have volunteers enough) to lead an important project such this one. As I am saying for years, using the knowledge *locked* inside Brazilian universities (mainly when paid by public money) is very strategical and will help to improve the commons of free knowledge.

But as I said during the last Wikimania discussion, things should be more open and transparent. Besides I tend to think a good idea to have this "director" (or whatever name it will be), it's strange that firstly we were going to have an office, then we would not have anymore, and, finally, we are going to have. There are discussions in between that the Brazilian community is not part of it and maybe this is an atitude from WMF bothering you. (My feeling is that this can indicate WMF perception about our community - or not community ; )

Hugs,

Tom

And if a wiser man haven't said, for sure he should have done so: for your comrades perfectly do understand what you are meaning is mandatory employing their native language. ;o)

Ale, I know your message targets WMF people, but the brasilians are very important in this case. Please do translate.

Hugs, Nevio

Enviado do meu iPad

No dia 23/11/2011, às 00:19, Alexandre Hannud Abdo abdo@member.fsf.org escreveu:

Ni!

A wise man once said... whenever you start a message with "don't get me wrong" you raise your chances of being misinterpreted to 100% =D

I should have listened. : )P

But, back to matters, there were two things in my message.

A) One assessment, which I still hold on to, that we are being fed consummated facts when we could be assisting in the strategic choices of the foundation's actions a lot more. This would actually be better phrased as 'whereas the foundation should be seeking our assistance a lot more'.

B) One rant, in fact one last and isolated phrase in my e-mail, where I voice an indiscriminate and wrongfully exaggerated concern over the unstated fact, that we're moving towards a chapter plus office situation, which I don't currently understand.

Your comments, Tom, though intermingled with A and B, only address B, making it clear it is "indiscriminate and wrongfully exaggerated". Well, my bad, but that's what rants are for ; )

However, back to A, while I do agree that we have had a lot of opening during Carol's work to discuss and provide input, the fact remains that, after she left and decisions started being announced, we had no traceable influence nor the opportunity to understand, let alone have a referendum, on why some paths were chosen over others and some actions are being given priority.

We had, instead, a back-and-forth of positions regarding the office and finally a sudden announcement that in a few days a job position would be announced and sought through a specific channel with set criteria and a given scope of work.

That, in this particular case, we could so obviously be doing things better together, only calls attention to a wider pattern I feel.

So that's what still bothers me.

Welly well droogs, I hope to have made my previous statement more understandable in face of Tom's thoughtful observations.

Hugs,

ale

2011/11/22 Everton Zanella Alvarenga everton137@gmail.com:

...

Em 22 de novembro de 2011 14:15, Alexandre Hannud Abdo abdo@member.fsf.org escreveu:

...

Why weren't we consulted about this?

I don't intend to answer in name of WMF, but Jessie has sent an email on 10th of November. Then we had 9 days to discuss it.

Besides that, I was also wondering why this job position if we have this other

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Global_Education_Program_Consultant

My question is how both job positions fit with each other? There seems to be a connection, but it isn't clear to me and think important to Wikimedia community (beyond Brazil) understand it.

...

1. Michael Page does not understand the job and does not have the

competence to recognize the right people, not even for a raw selection.

I don't know anything about Michael Page to say about their competence, but I have to say I am also a bit skeptical about it and I hope I am wrong. This is a reason I proposed a more open selection process and I hope it's possible to Michael Page do so.

...

2. I am not the only one here who could have arranged a pro-bono

headhunter at least as good with one or two phone calls.

You don't know our country (at all, don't fool yourselves) and you don't know the resources our community has at its disposal. If we do not cooperate, you will be wasting money, resources and opportunities all the time.

Abdo, I believe they have used Carol's recommendations:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global/Brazil/BCP_Recommendations#Establish_a...

So I believe the discussion on this was open. Maybe a notice about Carol's report was sent to the mailing list, I cannot remember, and we haven't seen it because of the sea of arguments ad hominem and some useless messages sometimes we have here.

...

Finally, on a funny detail, I don't think this person should have "director" in his title. It gives the wrong impression towards others and the community itself, and we Brazilians are very easily impressed.

Maybe you are right and another name for this person who will coordinate a national program would be better. But I believe this is a detail which can be solved easily.

...

Actually, my personal opinion is that this whole Brazilian office affair is a huge mistake, but that was not even put on the table for us to discuss.

I am not sure about this being a mistake. My feeling is that it's good idea to have someone to coordinate a project such as Wikipedia Ambassadors. Besides incredible people working here as volunteers and doing a great job to start a legal entity, *maybe* the group is no mature enough (or don't have volunteers enough) to lead an important project such this one. As I am saying for years, using the knowledge *locked* inside Brazilian universities (mainly when paid by public money) is very strategical and will help to improve the commons of free knowledge.

But as I said during the last Wikimania discussion, things should be more open and transparent. Besides I tend to think a good idea to have this "director" (or whatever name it will be), it's strange that firstly we were going to have an office, then we would not have anymore, and, finally, we are going to have. There are discussions in between that the Brazilian community is not part of it and maybe this is an atitude from WMF bothering you. (My feeling is that this can indicate WMF perception about our community - or not community ; )

Hugs,

Tom

---

WikimediaBR-l mailing list WikimediaBR-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediabr-l

---

WikimediaBR-l mailing list WikimediaBR-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediabr-l

Hi, Jessie et al,

thanks for your email. I'd like to go further analysing everything, but I don't have time now. So I will go to two points that aren't clear to me and maybe go to Abdo's concern and mine as well while we had our discussion in Haifa, resulting in the letter of agreement you pointed out. [1]

While I saw this open discussion when Carol was working to WMF, as I said before, and one of her *proposals* was this office with a national director, my feeling if that when we talked about this in Haifa it was an *announcement* of a decision base upon Carol's analysis - maybe my impression is wrong, others involved, please, tell me if you agree.

The main points on this of the agreement letter [1] says

* Brazil is a strategic priority for Wikimedia Foundation.

* Wikimedia Foundation will set up an office in Brazil in order to stimulate the development of projects to increase the penetration of Wikipedia in Brazil. This process was already launched with the search for locations, hiring lawyers and the search for a professional to manage it.

* Wikimedia Foundation understands that the Brazilian community and, thus, the chapter under formation still doesn't have the capacity to be completely self-managed.

* Wikimedia Foundation aims to develop the existing programs in Brazil, like "Campus Ambassadors", though it still doesn't have a specific development program for Brazil.

The reason for the office, point 2, then, if because of point 3. This announcement was the main reason I said during this discussion some decision should be more open and transparent. I repeated this to Barry after the lunch, because I haven't felt comfortable with that. A reason I can be missing something is that I was not in Brazil during the meeting of June with Jessie and Barry and I completely forgot to ask this in Haifa. (Did I miss something?)

When you both came to Brazil last time (I arrived later on the first day meeting, tell me if I lost something, please), I was informed there was not going to have an office anymore. This was the reason for I have insisted again on the point about transparency and open discussion just before you and Barry take the taxi to the airport after your presention at University of São Paulo (do you remember Abdo was saying to me stop annoying you both? Hahaha!).

And if we go to Barry's note[2], he says

"We will move immediately to hire a qualitative researcher to conduct analysis of PT:WP. We will also hire a Fellow to start working with the PT community by October. Our Global Education team is looking for a consultant to help start preliminary planning for the program in Brazil with a goal of starting some pilot activities in universities in the first quarter of 2012."

Then, for me, this other new job position of a national director now appeared as a surprise. Now we will have a qualitative researcher, a global consultant and a national director. And the decision of having again an office (I thought you gave up the idea because of the progress made by the volunteers to create a legal entity) sound to me as there were discussions in between we, the Brazilian community, were left aside.

These are my concerns and points that aren't clear to me. Being specific, maybe it can be useful to the general Abdo's concern, which I think important and this open discussion here is important to clarify all that.

Hugs,

Tom

[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_letter_of_agreement_between_Wikimedi...

[2] http://br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nota_do_Barry

Em 23 de novembro de 2011 11:12, Jessie Wild jwild@wikimedia.org escreveu:

Hi Ale and all -

Thanks for vocalizing your concerns. I'm glad they finally came out here in the open because I must admit they take me very much by surprise; I didn't realize these were all stirring under the surface – which indicates to me we all need a better method of transparency! So let's get started figuring that out...

I want to start by apologizing profusely if anything has come across as being secretive or planned in isolation. That is most certainly NOT the intent of WMF – there is no desire to try to sneak something in around the local Brazilian community; we obviously want the same things: a prosperous Portuguese Wikipedia and growth in the Brazilian community. This can only be done in conjunction with you all, so there is no intentional effort to eliminate you from the process.

It seems, though, unintentionally we have done so, so let's try to fix that. I will say like any organization, things happen about which not everyone can be aware – I'm sure you've all experienced this in your work environments before; I certainly have experienced this in WMF, Wikimedia, as well as other jobs and organizations I have been heavily involved with: sometimes thoughts/ideas/notifications go out that slip through the cracks, sometimes the act of sending out a notification slips through the cracks! I agree we should try to minimize both.

In terms of communication that has gone out: the work with Michael Page was NOT suppose to be done in secret, which is why we talked about it multiple times over the past months! It was on a wiki in June[0] and October[1] and we also brought up this meeting verbally at all our meet-ups over the past months, where we also talked about it openly during Wikimania, WikiSampa8 and 10[2]. Same with the office, which I thought we were agreed upon based on the letter from the community back in August[3].

So, I guess that brings me to a point of confusion. What should we do to be more transparent? I guess things are getting missed through all these discussions and emails, and I'm not sure what else to do besides this? Suggestions would be welcome. I know language barrier is an issue for some, so as Nevio recommended: one step is making sure things are translated (thanks to Rodrigo, Beria, Tom, Castelo, Daniela, Mateus and others for doing this thus far!).

There are other topics that are not addressed in this email, and I fear they are too much for one email: (1) the hiring process via Michael Page and (2) the opening of an office in general. I will expand on those things below (“Appendix”) and do want the discussion to move forward on those, but first can we tackle how to maintain transparency and strategically deciding things together, as you suggest?

Thanks; and FYI – Barry is on vacation this week, and we have holidays (Thanksgiving in the US) the next few days, so we may not be as responsive as normal.

Jessie

PS sorry if this doesn't make much sense; I'm in an airport waiting for my last flight after 30hrs of traveling...6 more to go :)

[0] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brazil_Catalyst_Project/Agenda_June_2011 I'll admit, now looking at this, it appears a bit hidden (listed as “Office planning” and you have to scroll down to see, but we got no questions on this).

[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brazil_Catalyst_Project/Agenda_October_2011

[2] See agenda: ttp://br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Encontros/2011/8_e_9_de_outubro

[3] see appendix for more details on this office discussion! http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_letter_of_agreement_between_Wikimedi...

*** APPENDIX TOPICS :) ***

Re: Hiring with Michael Page

We have found good success with working with professional search firms both for our positions in the US as well as abroad (India), so we engage with them – as do MANY other nonprofit firms – as a way of expanding our networks into broader areas. The executive search firm in this Brazilian case as always does NOT have final say.

That is very important.

What we are agreed upon with MP is that they will present a “short-list” of candidates for us, and we will take-over from there. MP does not control who is selected, and we are certainly allowed to go back to MP and say “these people are all wrong!” or the like. It is a good concern, though, about whether or not they will be able to find people that match our mission. After our first meeting with them, Barry and I were a little skeptical of this too. But after a second meeting with them they brought on a new guy (Marcelo) to head up the search, who was a lot more connected in are realms of social work, and we were a lot more confident and excited about working with them. Obviously, though, we are wanting to cast our net as wide as possible, though, and want all of your help in advertising the position and identifying excellent candidates. Most successful placements in most organizations are made by internal recommendation![1]

Ok so as for the step two of the hiring: “we take over from here.” this part is much more tbd, and I am glad we are discussing it now. I love the recommendation on having a wiki where applicants put up their ideas publicly. Also, we are obviously going to have a couple rounds of interviews with panels from the WMF side of things, and WMF wanted to have some Brazilian representatives involved with that process as well. None of this is finalized yet; let's discuss and come to agreement on the best way.

Opening of the office

Ok, I am struggling to know where to begin with this, it is so complex. This obviously isn't a new idea, it was identified in the strategic plan in 2010[2]. It was talked about openly during all Carolina's work as Tom mentioned. It was talked about it in January, June, and October when WMF came to meet-ups in Brazil. We even held a special time to talk about it in Wikimania 2011, where WMF actually decided to put the idea of starting an “office” on hold, based on that feedback at Wikimania.[3]

In terms of the structure: the two positions posted (Global Ed Person and National “Director”[4]) would work completely together. If you read the job description for the “Director,” you'll see it involves a lot of other things besides just Education. It would incorporate a lot of the partnership type building that Kul and I take on at the moment, for example. So, it would for now be a two man-team. Again, these things were outlined by Carol in the plan and in the note by Barry and in all our verbal conversations.

Most importantly, though, was the letter issued by the Brazilians – which stated:[5]

“Participant members of the Brazilian community decided to: Support the creation of Wikimedia Foundation office in Brazil which, as explained at the meeting, will have the goal of fostering the realization of partnerships and events with the community and the external audiences, provisionally and until the local chapter and even the local chapter have enough structure to develop such activities directly”

I think that is where I get confused, as I thought we were in agreement. So is the better process to set up a “voting” page? (note: I'm not sure that's the best (or even a good) idea, but I am suggesting for lack of a better one at the moment!)

[1] citation needed :) but that seems the case in my experiences!

[2] http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Movement_Strategic_Plan_Summary...

[3] http://br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nota_do_Barry

[4] yes: we can reconsider the title. Please offer suggestions!

[5]http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_letter_of_agreement_between_Wikimedi...

that brings me to a point of confusion. What should we do to be more transparent? I guess things are getting missed through all these discussions and emails, and I'm not sure what else to do besides this? Suggestions would be welcome.

Conforme http://tradukka.com : "isso me traz a um ponto de confusão. O que

devemos fazer para ser mais transparente? Eu acho que as coisas estão ficando perdidas através de todas essas discussões e e-mails, e eu não tenho certeza o que mais fazer além disso? Sugestões serão bem-vindos".

Olá a todos

A minha sugestão é interromper esse processo de escolha de um diretor nacional de programas e amadurecer com a comunidade o formato mais adequado de funcionamento de um escritório da WMF no Brasil.

Penso que deve ser um Centro de apoio aos voluntários, coordenado por alguém da WMBr.

Por favor, opinem.

Abs, Névio

Em 24 de novembro de 2011 05:49, Everton Zanella Alvarenga < everton137@gmail.com> escreveu:

Hi, Jessie et al,

thanks for your email. I'd like to go further analysing everything, but I don't have time now. So I will go to two points that aren't clear to me and maybe go to Abdo's concern and mine as well while we Progra had our discussion in Haifa, resulting in the letter of agreement you pointed out. [1]

While I saw this open discussion when Carol was working to WMF, as I said before, and one of her *proposals* was this office with a national director, my feeling if that when we talked about this in Haifa it was an *announcement* of a decision base upon Carol's analysis - maybe my impression is wrong, others involved, please, tell me if you agree.

The main points on this of the agreement letter [1] says

• Brazil is a strategic priority for Wikimedia Foundation.

• Wikimedia Foundation will set up an office in Brazil in order to

stimulate the development of projects to increase the penetration of Wikipedia in Brazil. This process was already launched with the search for locations, hiring lawyers and the search for a professional to manage it.

• Wikimedia Foundation understands that the Brazilian community and,

thus, the chapter under formation still doesn't have the capacity to be completely self-managed.

• Wikimedia Foundation aims to develop the existing programs in

Brazil, like "Campus Ambassadors", though it still doesn't have a specific development program for Brazil.

The reason for the office, point 2, then, if because of point 3. This announcement was the main reason I said during this discussion some decision should be more open and transparent. I repeated this to Barry after the lunch, because I haven't felt comfortable with that. A reason I can be missing something is that I was not in Brazil during the meeting of June with Jessie and Barry and I completely forgot to ask this in Haifa. (Did I miss something?)

When you both came to Brazil last time (I arrived later on the first day meeting, tell me if I lost something, please), I was informed there was not going to have an office anymore. This was the reason for I have insisted again on the point about transparency and open discussion just before you and Barry take the taxi to the airport after your presention at University of São Paulo (do you remember Abdo was saying to me stop annoying you both? Hahaha!).

And if we go to Barry's note[2], he says

"We will move immediately to hire a qualitative researcher to conduct analysis of PT:WP. We will also hire a Fellow to start working with the PT community by October. Our Global Education team is looking for a consultant to help start preliminary planning for the program in Brazil with a goal of starting some pilot activities in universities in the first quarter of 2012."

Then, for me, this other new job position of a national director now appeared as a surprise. Now we will have a qualitative researcher, a global consultant and a national director. And the decision of having again an office (I thought you gave up the idea because of the progress made by the volunteers to create a legal entity) sound to me as there were discussions in between we, the Brazilian community, were left aside.

These are my concerns and points that aren't clear to me. Being specific, maybe it can be useful to the general Abdo's concern, which I think important and this open discussion here is important to clarify all that.

Hugs,

Tom

[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_letter_of_agreement_between_Wikimedi...

[2] http://br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nota_do_Barry

Em 23 de novembro de 2011 11:12, Jessie Wild jwild@wikimedia.org escreveu:

...

Hi Ale and all -

Thanks for vocalizing your concerns. I'm glad they finally came out here

in

...

the open because I must admit they take me very much by surprise; I

didn't

...

realize these were all stirring under the surface – which indicates to

me we

...

all need a better method of transparency! So let's get started figuring

that

...

out...

I want to start by apologizing profusely if anything has come across as being secretive or planned in isolation. That is most certainly NOT the intent of WMF – there is no desire to try to sneak something in around

the

...

local Brazilian community; we obviously want the same things: a

prosperous

...

Portuguese Wikipedia and growth in the Brazilian community. This can

only be

...

done in conjunction with you all, so there is no intentional effort to eliminate you from the process.

It seems, though, unintentionally we have done so, so let's try to fix

that.

...

I will say like any organization, things happen about which not everyone

can

...

be aware – I'm sure you've all experienced this in your work environments before; I certainly have experienced this in WMF, Wikimedia, as well as other jobs and organizations I have been heavily involved with: sometimes thoughts/ideas/notifications go out that slip through the cracks,

sometimes

...

the act of sending out a notification slips through the cracks! I agree

we

...

should try to minimize both.

In terms of communication that has gone out: the work with Michael Page

was

...

NOT suppose to be done in secret, which is why we talked about it

multiple

...

times over the past months! It was on a wiki in June[0] and October[1]

and

...

we also brought up this meeting verbally at all our meet-ups over the

past

...

months, where we also talked about it openly during Wikimania, WikiSampa8 and 10[2]. Same with the office, which I thought we were agreed upon

based

...

on the letter from the community back in August[3].

So, I guess that brings me to a point of confusion. What should we do to

be

...

more transparent? I guess things are getting missed through all these discussions and emails, and I'm not sure what else to do besides this? Suggestions would be welcome. I know language barrier is an issue for

some,

...

so as Nevio recommended: one step is making sure things are translated (thanks to Rodrigo, Beria, Tom, Castelo, Daniela, Mateus and others for doing this thus far!).

There are other topics that are not addressed in this email, and I fear

they

...

are too much for one email: (1) the hiring process via Michael Page and

(2)

...

the opening of an office in general. I will expand on those things below (“Appendix”) and do want the discussion to move forward on those, but

first

...

can we tackle how to maintain transparency and strategically deciding

things

...

together, as you suggest?

Thanks; and FYI – Barry is on vacation this week, and we have holidays (Thanksgiving in the US) the next few days, so we may not be as

responsive

...

as normal.

Jessie

PS sorry if this doesn't make much sense; I'm in an airport waiting for

my

...

last flight after 30hrs of traveling...6 more to go :)

[0]

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brazil_Catalyst_Project/Agenda_June_2011

...

I'll admit, now looking at this, it appears a bit hidden (listed as

“Office

...

planning” and you have to scroll down to see, but we got no questions on this).

[1]

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brazil_Catalyst_Project/Agenda_October_2011

...

[2] See agenda: ttp://

br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Encontros/2011/8_e_9_de_outubro

...

[3] see appendix for more details on this office discussion!

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_letter_of_agreement_between_Wikimedi...

...

*** APPENDIX TOPICS :) ***

Re: Hiring with Michael Page

We have found good success with working with professional search firms

both

...

for our positions in the US as well as abroad (India), so we engage with them – as do MANY other nonprofit firms – as a way of expanding our

networks

...

into broader areas. The executive search firm in this Brazilian case as always does NOT have final say.

That is very important.

What we are agreed upon with MP is that they will present a “short-list”

of

...

candidates for us, and we will take-over from there. MP does not control

who

...

is selected, and we are certainly allowed to go back to MP and say “these people are all wrong!” or the like. It is a good concern, though, about whether or not they will be able to find people that match our mission. After our first meeting with them, Barry and I were a little skeptical of this too. But after a second meeting with them they brought on a new guy (Marcelo) to head up the search, who was a lot more connected in are

realms

...

of social work, and we were a lot more confident and excited about

working

...

with them. Obviously, though, we are wanting to cast our net as wide as possible, though, and want all of your help in advertising the position

and

...

identifying excellent candidates. Most successful placements in most organizations are made by internal recommendation![1]

Ok so as for the step two of the hiring: “we take over from here.” this

part

...

is much more tbd, and I am glad we are discussing it now. I love the recommendation on having a wiki where applicants put up their ideas publicly. Also, we are obviously going to have a couple rounds of

interviews

...

with panels from the WMF side of things, and WMF wanted to have some Brazilian representatives involved with that process as well. None of

this

...

is finalized yet; let's discuss and come to agreement on the best way.

Opening of the office

Ok, I am struggling to know where to begin with this, it is so complex.

This

...

obviously isn't a new idea, it was identified in the strategic plan in 2010[2]. It was talked about openly during all Carolina's work as Tom mentioned. It was talked about it in January, June, and October when WMF came to meet-ups in Brazil. We even held a special time to talk about it

in

...

Wikimania 2011, where WMF actually decided to put the idea of starting an “office” on hold, based on that feedback at Wikimania.[3]

In terms of the structure: the two positions posted (Global Ed Person and National “Director”[4]) would work completely together. If you read the

job

...

description for the “Director,” you'll see it involves a lot of other

things

...

besides just Education. It would incorporate a lot of the partnership

type

...

building that Kul and I take on at the moment, for example. So, it would

for

...

now be a two man-team. Again, these things were outlined by Carol in the plan and in the note by Barry and in all our verbal conversations.

Most importantly, though, was the letter issued by the Brazilians – which stated:[5]

“Participant members of the Brazilian community decided to: Support the creation of Wikimedia Foundation office in Brazil which, as explained at

the

...

meeting, will have the goal of fostering the realization of partnerships

and

...

events with the community and the external audiences, provisionally and until the local chapter and even the local chapter have enough structure

to

...

develop such activities directly”

I think that is where I get confused, as I thought we were in agreement.

So

...

is the better process to set up a “voting” page? (note: I'm not sure

that's

...

the best (or even a good) idea, but I am suggesting for lack of a better

one

...

at the moment!)

[1] citation needed :) but that seems the case in my experiences!

[2]

http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Movement_Strategic_Plan_Summary...

...

[3] http://br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nota_do_Barry

[4] yes: we can reconsider the title. Please offer suggestions!

[5]

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_letter_of_agreement_between_Wikimedi...

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I wasn't clear (Não fui claro).

Em 24 de novembro de 2011 12:20, Everton Zanella Alvarenga everton137@gmail.com escreveu:

Em 24 de novembro de 2011 11:48, nevio carlos de alarcão nevinhoalarcao@gmail.com escreveu:

...

A minha sugestão é interromper esse processo de escolha de um diretor nacional de programas e amadurecer com a comunidade o formato mais adequado de funcionamento de um escritório da WMF no Brasil. Penso que deve ser um Centro de apoio aos voluntários, coordenado por alguém da WMBr.

(Translation)

Névio said: "My suggestion is stop this selection process of a national director and mature with the community the most appropriate format of an office in Brazil.

I think that must be a support center for volunteers, coordinated by someone from Wikimedia Brasil"

This is Névio suggestion (Esta é a sugestão do Névio). The following is my comments (O restante são meus comentários).

Não concordo com parar o processo. Faz falta um ponto de referência aqui no Brasil. Eles precisam nos explicar, não pedir nossa autorização. Escolher o diretor para o Brasil é prerrogativa da WMF, aprovado pelo board da fundação,acho que a Jessie até explicou demais. Fizeram duas reuniões conosco explicando isso. Mandaram um monte de emails. Eu não vou deixar de colaborar com a WMF por que o cara já não foi escolhido probono ou por que não debateu comigo antes.

Ainda não perceberam que o bonde já passou? * http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:Jo_Lorib

Jo Lorib* pt.wikipédia.org http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:Jo_Lorib

Em 24 de novembro de 2011 12:46, Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton < rodrigo.argenton@gmail.com> escreveu:

Sugestão, mesmo a Wiki não sendo um lugar bom para fórum, é melhor que aqui. dica

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Concordo, imagina passar o dia de ações de graça com um bando de brasileiros chatos lhe pentelhando. Quem quiser abre na Wiki e discute lá. Fica mais organizado, e todas as vezes que fazemos isso as coisas dão certo, quem quiser, go ahead, deixe a Jessie se entupir de frangão \o/

Obs: Discordo de tudo que o João falou.

Faz falta um ponto de referência aqui no Brasil. Eles precisam nos explicar, não pedir nossa autorização. Escolher o diretor para o Brasil é prerrogativa da WMF, aprovado pelo board da fundação,acho que a Jessie até explicou demais. Fizeram duas reuniões conosco explicando isso.

Concordo plenamente com o Jo. Apenas sugeri interromper a escolha de um diretor de programas, porque penso que precisamos de um escritório para apoiar nossas ações off line visando incrementar a participação online. E só sugeri porque a moça falou que estava perdida. Abs, Névio

Em 24 de novembro de 2011 13:32, João jolorib@gmail.com escreveu:

Não posso abrir a wiki onde estou, lamento mas não os acompanho

• http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:Jo_Lorib

Jo Lorib* pt.wikipédia.org http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:Jo_Lorib

Em 24 de novembro de 2011 13:29, Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton < rodrigo.argenton@gmail.com> escreveu:

Concordo, imagina passar o dia de ações de graça com um bando de

...

brasileiros chatos lhe pentelhando. Quem quiser abre na Wiki e discute lá. Fica mais organizado, e todas as vezes que fazemos isso as coisas dão certo, quem quiser, go ahead, deixe a Jessie se entupir de frangão \o/

Obs: Discordo de tudo que o João falou.

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Hi Everyone!

Thanks so much for your understanding and consideration regarding the holidays - it was very helpful of you to progress the conversation further (in Portuguese) and answer collectively some questions while we were away; thank you so much.

I just caught up on all the emails using some Google Translate (and I caught Tom on Skype and asked a few clarifying questions, for those things I was not quite so sure about it:)) - I know my understanding of the discussion isn't perfect, so please keep the questions coming and please continue to help answer each other's questions wherever possible!

Thanks so much to Pietro's definitions of the different roles of the volunteers, chapters, and WMF ( http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediabr-l/2011-November/008921.html). I think this is very helpful. One more definition I wanted to clarify: "OFFICE". When we say "office," we basically just mean a "legal entity" - not necessarily a physical location. We mean that there will be persons employed by WMF working directly in and from Brazil itself. The purpose, as noted, of having these employees in Brazil is to progress programatic work within Brazil at a faster and more in depth rate than a solely volunteer process might be at this point. This structure is not intended to be permanent: it is very possible that within a few years, there is not need for the "office" in Brazil, and the chapters/volunteers/whatever would be sufficient!

To reiterate the reasons for having a presence in Brazil, the strategic planning process identified a few areas of the world which were in turning point for tremendous growth: which the Wikimedia Movement would be at a huge loss if it were not able to involve them. The idea is that as a Movement, it is in all our best interest to channel funds and attention to these specific areas for a few years to really encourage participation in our projects - whether raising awareness for readership or soliciting participation.

I will pause here - are there questions on this? Should we move them to the br.wiki so they are recorded more publicly?

Moving forward, can we also start on the wiki the place for discussing some next steps with the entity? Some things that would be good to strategize together on:

- Steps to hiring the program director: let's gather our ideas on how the final stages of this project should look. (I love the idea of having all the "projects" done by the finalists be on the wiki - we can start with this idea perhaps and work out the details?) - Details on Physical office - there are no concrete plans on what this should look like yet, so let's decide together! - Next steps for the Brazil education program (pilot to start in March 2012?)

Where is the best place to house these conversations?

Thanks again for everyone's participation and interest. Though is it true what Rodrigo says about me using "palpiteiro" (my portuguese teacher taught me the phrase at the very beginning of class! he said it was important to understand about brazil:), I do appreciate the general openness and desire to make change and collaborate from you all. This is a much better situation to be in than one of complete disinterest and apathy. But of course we should all continue to remember what Tom reiterated - respect is very important on this list! If we want to truly be in a position to grow the WMBR community, it is critical we maintain supportive and open doors. I am not scared away (thanks for your concerns though!), but others very well might be...there have been very few voices heard even in this heated discussion: only 7 or 8 voices out of the thousands of editors within Brazil! It is an interesting point of reflection: why is this the case?

Hugs! :) Jessie

2011/11/26 Everton Zanella Alvarenga everton137@gmail.com

Hi, Jessie, Barry and all,

I've started a topic about this job position and this office in Portuguese [1] to do not disturb you all while in vacation, as suggested by Pietro. A lot of misunderstanding was solved and I recommend Ale Abdo to read it. We do not want you all to stop the process. We are all working together with the same goals and, as we all agreed during all meeting, we want collaborate for the benefit of everybody.

In my opinion, Névio has given an interesting suggestion to have this officen as a center of volunteers support, so maybe we could discuss that or other ideas. Since I've arrived late on the first day of the last meeting in São Paulo (sorry, mea culpa!) and I couldn't participate of the Sunday meeting, I've lost a lot of information about the office, which was cleared on [1]. But I believe it is still a good thing to discuss with the Brazilian community to make things as better as it can be - like to have a strategical place in the city, how it will be the space and so on.

Hugs,

Tom

Translation to Portuguese // Traduação para o português

Olá, Jessie, Barry e todos,

comecei um tópico sobre essa posição de emprego e este escritório em português [1] para não incomodá-los enquanto de férias, como sugerido pelo Pietro. Vários mal-entendidos foram resolvidos e eu recomendo o Ale Abdo lê-lo. Não não queremos parar todos processo. Nos estamos trabalhando juntos e temos os mesmos objetivos e, como todos concordamos durantes todo estes encontros passados, queremos colaborar para o benefício de todos.

Na minha opinião, o Névio deu uma sugestão interessante de ter esse escritório como um centro de suporte a voluntários, então talvez nós poderíamos discutir isso ou outras idéias. Como cheguei tarde no primeiro dia do último encontro em São Paulo (desculpe, mea culpa!) e não pude participar do encontro de domingo, perdi muita informação sobre o escritório, que foi clarificado para mim em [1]. Mas acredito que ainda é algo bom discutir com a comunidade brasileira para fazer as coisas tão bem quanto podem ser - como ter um local estratégico na cidade, como será o espaço e assim por diante.

Abraços,

Tom

[1] Escritório da WMF e vaga de "diretor nacional" no Brasil

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/wikimediabr-l/xWLqWMyPAtA

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