On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 8:45 PM, Rob Lanphier <robla(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
It's hard for me to read this as anything but
"WMF Product selects the
topics, and then 'listens' for objections on wikitech-l".
Since this is not even remotely what I am trying to say, let me try again,
while I keep iterating on the proposal:
The organizers of the Summit propose to have a few main topics defined
beforehand, so we can invite the people beyond the usual Summit
participants that should be involved in these discussions.
We don't have any opinion about which topics should be selected. However,
we believe that it is important to choose complex topics with a high user
impact (direct or indirect) and ramifications in multiple technical areas.
The Summit with its +200 participants provides a great framework to push
these topics.
We don't have any opinion about who decides these topics and how. However,
we need good enough answers and fast, so we can start organizing the
participation and the program. There will be time to fine tune things as we
go, and there will be enough space for all the topics not selected
beforehand, in the unconference part of the Summit.
We believe that by having the right people focusing on a few main topics
before and during the Summit, the outcome of the event will have a clearer
impact in the strategy and goals that ultimately drive where we put a lot
of our attention and resources.
Is your sense that the
correct direction for us is for someone to provide
more top-down
direction instead of wikitech-l conversation?
My sense is that we need to open registration, call for participation, and
call for travel sponsorship requests as soon as possible. This list, the
Architecture committee, the WMF Technology management team, and the WMF
Product management team are aware of this situation and our request to
define main topics. I will be checking with all these sources with the goal
of having a good enough answer that allows us to move forward with the
Summit organization.
--
Quim Gil
Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil