Hello everyone,

In roughly three weeks time (22-24 April) the Wikimedia Chapter's Conference will kick off in Berlin. Wikimedia chapters from all over the world will be meeting to discuss important issues related to the status of the Wikimedia Movement.

This year will be a particularly important meeting due to political changes within the management structures of the Wikimedia Foundation which will lead to conversations about the future direction of the Movement.

I am not going to go into any details but should you wish to know more Molly White (User:GorillaWarfare) has written a through account and time line of events that you can read here: http://mollywhite.net/wikimedia-timeline/

One of the concerns has been a feeling that the Foundation has been spending too much money on large technology projects (such as the Knowledge Engine) at the expense of other more needed projects such as upgrading the Wikipedia User Experience, the Visual Editor, or the media player. Another often voiced concern has been a feeling that the Foundation leadership has not been as transparent as it could or should be. Again I am not going to go into much more detail here but you can read William Beutler's summary and proposals for change here: http://thewikipedian.net/2016/03/11/modest-proposal-wikimedia-future/

If you find any other accounts or articles about the proposed direction of the movement then please let me know.

I have been selected to attend the chapters conference on Wikimedia ZA's behalf and I would like to get your feedback on how you feel we should approach discussions regarding the future direction of the Wikimedia Movement.

We had a board meeting a few days ago where I got feedback about the board's position (you can see the minutes of that meeting here http://wikimedia.org.za/wiki/Board_Meeting_27_March_2016) but I want to get feedback from other non-board members as well.

Best regards,

Douglas.