Before i start, I am not a Wikipedia editor. Just someone who knows several
of them.
None of you seem to be thinking, or else no thinker is replying.
Hisham is not some war hero that you have to praise him like this.
If there is anything he has done, it is not praiseworthy.
yes, we weill miss him. a lot. who else do we blame for failurs and all the
nonsense in the community?
Hisham has done nothing for the community that stands out. all that he has
done is what volunters do.
if any volunteer asked for help and he responded, that voulneter would do
exzctly what hisham tells him to.
if he doesnt, hisham cribs that they don't let him do his work.
if he does, he claims credt for that volunteers success and puts the blame
on the volunteer if it fails.
he runined th english wikipedia with his IEP crap.
the community is still trying to recover.
on top of that he called up several voluntrs over the phone for iep this yr
and justified his actions.
congrats hisham, you've done a lot in one and a hafl years. a lot of damage.
Wer'e not happy that you are leaving, but sad, because we won't have anyone
to blame.
Have a good time.
On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 9:02 AM, Bishakha Datta <bishakhadatta(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Dear Hisham,
I’m thinking back on your time here and want to thank you for so much that
you’ve done and built in these one and a half years. For setting up things
from scratch when there was neither a team nor an office and you were on
your own. For building and motivating a small team to venture into unknown
terrain (and for even daring to step into this terrain) without any
surefire guarantee of success. For tirelessly and successfully supporting
many Indic language wikipedias and the first-ever community-led
WikiConference India. For keeping up team morale in the difficult days
following the India Education program. For reaching out to hundreds of
people in India through any means necessary to create new editors. And,
yes, for being bold.
One of the things that makes this kind of work difficult is not just its
newness or its experimental unsure nature, but also its publicness.
Brickbats pour in much faster than bouquets in public fora, creating a
narrative of their own that is hard to buck. I want to thank you for being
able to smell the roses, for having a tough enough hide to survive the
brickbats while continuing to steer India programs and motivating your team
to do its best. I also want to urge the Wikimedia India community to be
constructive and rigorous in holding India programs accountable in its next
avatar - without being destructive or personal.
You’ve laid a very solid foundation for India programs that I expect the
team will continue to build on. I hope you enjoy your remaining time here
and leave with many more good memories than bad.
Will miss you, my friend!
Bishakha
On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 4:11 PM, Hisham <hisham(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Dear India Community
I'm writing to inform you that I plan to leave my current role supporting
Wikimedia in India. I am going to be exploring opportunities and
evaluating options that are closer to my career aspirations and my personal
circumstances. I will be working through to ensure that there is a smooth
transition - and this is likely to take 2-3 months. I am writing now
because I felt it appropriate and opportune to inform you as early as
possible.
I want to start off by thanking the Wikimedia community and movement for
giving me this extraordinary opportunity. Working on something like India
Program has been something that has been professionally enriching and
personally fulfilling. Over the past 1 1/2 years, I have been supported by
so many of you - and I want to thank you for everything you have done! The
passion and intellectual firepower of our community has been my constant
source of drive and guidance. There are so many examples of powerful
stories from all over the country: the incredible efforts put in by the IEP
Campus Ambassadors in Pune; the army of volunteers that drove the outreach
push across the country in the first few months of this year; the beautiful
stories of fantastic community initiatives from far and wide across the
country and sub-continent, and indeed the world; the remarkable stories
from so many communities - large, small and tiny ones!
I want to thank the team that I have had the pleasure and privilege of
working with - Nitika, Noopur, Shiju & Subha. You guys have been
wonderful. The work that we are doing is experimental and we have been
innovating every day, and I know the circumstances have not always been
easy. Take strength and inspiration from the large number of community
members who have been touched by you and appreciate your efforts and value
your work.
I will send an actual "over and out" message later. In the meantime, I
will continue to work on everything that needs working on.
Happy Editing!
Warmest Regards,
hisham
--Sent from my LG Optimus.