[Foundation-l] Re: A question to all board candidates...

[Michael Snow]

Anthere wrote:

>I propose a real-life case to all Foundation Board
>candidates. I expect that all candidates are on this
>mailing list naturally.
>
>--------
>
>Say, you are on the board of Wikimedia Foundation.
>
>A user from a rather minor wikipedia contact the
>foundation mailing list, to ask for help on setting a
>local association. This user is currently working on
>the status of the future association with her peers,
>and naturally should set status that are in coherence
>with the Foundation principles themselves.
>
>Now, it so happens that when you were a candidate a
>while ago, and while candidating, you indicated as
>PART of your platform, that indeed helping smaller
>wikipedias were an issue to you, and that you would
>HELP set local chapters.
>
>Indeed, the user of the minor wikipedia is VERY
>encouraged by the fact you put local chapter
>considerations in your plateform, so that she knows it
>is IMPORTANT to you, so of course, she is confident
>you will answer and bring help.
>
>So, here she is, bringing the issue on the mailing
>list, and asking help...
>
>------
>
>Question : what do you do ?
>
I apologize for not responding more quickly, and for resurrecting the 
topic so late, but since Anthere addressed the question to me among 
others, I feel I should respond. I have family visiting this weekend, so 
I haven't been able to devote much time to the discussion here. The 
penalty I pay is that everyone has said much of what I would say already.

First of all, having some information on Meta is definitely needed, and 
I'm glad to see that Yann started a stub at the page Angela suggested.

Also, I would ask this person some additional questions, to determine 
what kind of help they need. For instance, right now I don't necessarily 
know what kind of association this person has in mind. Are they looking 
to do some fundraising at a local level, and do they need non-profit and 
tax-exempt status for this? Are they trying to create an organization 
that will be able to interact with other institutions, such as media 
organizations? Are they trying to form a body to have some sort of 
governing role in this "minor" Wikipedia? Or are they thinking of an 
association primarily in terms of a group that meets together on a 
social basis? Also, do they know of anyone else that is interested and 
wants to participate in the proposed association? Would the association 
be related to a location (e.g., a Moscow chapter for the Russian 
Wikipedia), or would it be universal for that particular Wikipedia?

Part of the purpose of these questions is to evaluate whether this needs 
to be an official chapter of the Foundation, or whether they could do 
just as well as an unofficial body. A social networking group probably 
doesn't need official status (which is not to say that I wouldn't be 
willing to assist them in getting started). But if the association wants 
to raise funds for a particular project, or represent the Foundation in 
an official capacity, it should have a more direct connection. We can 
have different models for official chapters, depending on which of these 
functions are needed. Naturally, the guidelines for creating official 
chapters should allow the community on that Wikipedia to make as many 
organizational decisions as possible, as long as basic principles and 
the relationship to the Foundation are clearly established.

It may not be quite fair to answer a question with a bunch more 
questions, but I don't have a glib answer to give this hypothetical 
person. I would rather find out more about the situation, so that I know 
what guidance the person needs, and how I can best help out.

--Michael Snow