Hi,

[cc:ing wikimedia-l because this message is also for Wikimedia users.]

I've been asked to weigh in on this topic, because this is going to be an area of focus for me over the coming year. I've been tasked with improving the 2-way communication between users & developers, possibly using the wikitech-ambassadors list as a medium.

A few people have already explained the scope of the different lists, but here's my understanding:

* wikitech-l: A high-traffic, unapologetically technical, discussion list for developers talking to developers * wikitech-announce: A low-traffic, plain English, announce-only list for developers talking to Wikimedia users * wikitech-ambassadors: A (currently) low-traffic, mostly-announce list for developers talking to Wikimedia users * mediawiki-announce: A low-traffic, announce-only list for developers talking to (mostly 3rd-party) MediaWiki users * wikimediaannounce: A low-traffic, plain English, announce-only list for general Wikimedia usues.

And the possible change would be for wikitech-ambassadors to become a medium-to-high-traffic, plain English, list for discussion between developers and Wikimedia users, to report issues, share ideas and provide feedback in unapologetically layman terms. The "Ambassadors" part also means that users who are on that list will have a role in disseminating information to their local communities, and reporting back issues possibly raised on local wikis.

FYI, if you're at Wikimania this week, this 2-way communication channel between developers and users will be a main focus of the "Transparency" discussion with Sumana, Rob and myself on Saturday 14 at 10:30 in Room 310: https://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Transparency_and_collab...

I've also just noticed that there are two other talks related to this topic:

* Oliver's "Engaging the Community: What We've Tried and Where We're Going" (Thursday July 12, 11:40, Room 310) https://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Engaging_the_Community:...

* Tilman and Max's "Movement Broadcasting - 'Stop Spamming' vs. 'Nobody Told Me" (Thursday, July 12, 14:00, Room 302) https://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Movement_Broadcasting_-...

If you can't attend any of those sessions, but you want to discuss / rant / share ideas about (mis)communication between MediaWiki developers and Wikimedia users, please come to me at any time during the hackathon or the conference (If we don't already know each other, my photo is on https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Staff_and_contractors )

And if you're not at Wikimania, feel free to drop me an e-mail with your thoughts on the subject.