[Foundation-l] Rethinking brands

[Florence Devouard]

Robert Horning wrote:
> Florence Devouard wrote:
>> The way I read it (forgive me if I am wrong), your email seems to be 
>> implying that this is a suggestion from WMF. It is not so. It has not 
>> been discussed on the board, and even less agreed upon. Take it for what 
>> it is, a simple suggestion by one person, not a wmf suggestion.
>>
>>
>> Note that there is chance other suggestions are made by board members 
>> during elections time. Please take these suggestions as platform 
>> discussion, not as wmf position.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Ant
>>
>>   
> 
> Permit me if I may, there have been many "suggestions" that have been 
> made on this list recently with the seeming official stamp of approval 
> (some with notes of discussion of the WMF board, others not so much), 
> and this is the thinking of at least one member of that board.  Quite 
> often discussions like this quickly turn into actual policy and have 
> impact directly on individual projects, and this is a radical policy 
> change.

Fair enough :-)

And this proposal/suggestion was not made in the context of any
> upcoming elections or any campaign platform.

I read you (and Erik), but allow me to have a different opinion :-)

> In this case, some substantial opposition to this proposal has been 
> voiced, and there is some concern that this may have even more 
> widespread support among board members than just this one individual.

I have NO idea of what the other board members think on this point.

> Since most of us aren't privy to most board discussions, it can be 
> difficult to tell if this is something that has been discussed at length 
> previously or simply a random thought.

Hmmm. I do not think anything in Erik is ever random :-)

No, re-branding has not been discussed at length and there is no ongoing 
planned proposition. However, brands have been discussed, and as Danny 
put it some time ago, a company dealing with brands met at last board 
meeting. Brands are also clearly part of our strategy to collect funds.

We made it amongst top brands in 2006 (see 
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-01-26-brand-survey_x.htm), it 
would be unreasonable not to discuss brands.
> 
> I do appreciate that you have voiced at least a neutral attitude toward 
> this idea as perhaps a future direction for Wikimedia projects.

I am not supportive of the idea. However, I am supportive of the 
discussion. Some issues have been discussed ad nauseam on this list. 
Brand have rarely been the topic of dicussion, so I appreciate the 
freshness ;-) Mostly, even though the conclusion of the proposition 
might be "not a good idea", I believe the discussion is important to 
hold, and might spark other thoughts that will be precious.

Ant