[Foundation-l] Erik's New Job

[Nathan Awrich]

Out of curiosity, how does Erik serving on other non-profit boards,
even of related organizations (assuming they are unpaid positions), an
issue that is included in transparency regarding WMF? It would seem to
be a personal choice that doesn't affect his performance as a WMF
employee.

On Dec 19, 2007 12:02 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> > - Why wasn't the position advertised?
> >
> > It's completely normal, in some circumstances, to not advertise. In this
> > instance, the job requirements were pretty specific: I was looking for a
> > longtime community member, ideally with a good understanding of the
> > organization's history and how it works today, and with good
> > relationships in the free culture movement.  Someone who is solid
> > technically. Who is willing and able to relocate to San Francisco.
> > Ideally with experience living or working outside North America, and
> > with languages other than English.
> >
> > There is not a long list of people who fit those requirements, and my
> > feeling was that I likely wouldn't surface any through advertising: if
> > they existed, I almost certainly already knew about them.
>
> That pretty much resolves my concerns, thank you.
>
> > - Why wasn't this whole process more public/inclusive?
> >
> > I respect the position of the community members who want transparency
> > and openness. But transparency is always tough when it comes to
> > individual staffing issues.  In this instance, I planned to hire a
> > deputy only_if_ I could find someone who fit the requirements I named
> > above. Since I was clearly not going to publicly evaluate individual
> > candidates, I don't think a public process would've been all that useful.
>
> That's a tricky one. It would have been good to discuss with the
> community what the requirements and role should be, and whether we
> need such a person at all. The final decision would be yours, but some
> consultation would be nice. However, if you did this it would have
> been taken as advertising a job and various people would put their
> names forward, some of them publicly, and you risked having to
> publicly state that they were all unsuitable for the job, which is
> rather an awkward position to be in. I imagine you could have done it
> tactfully if you'd wanted to, though.
>
> > - Has Erik resigned from his other commitments?
> >
> > Yes, Erik has resigned from the board and from his role as CTO of Open
> > Progress.
>
> If memory serves, Erik has also held a board position on another open
> content related project (I can't remember which) - am I remembering
> correctly, and if so, does he still hold it? (I see no particular
> reason for him not to, as long as it's on his own time, but in the
> interests of transparency, I'd like to know.)
>
>
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