[Foundation-l] Provisional Volunteer Council - proposal sent to the Board

Tue Apr 1 01:33:08 UTC 2008

She's also been doing some excellent, drama-free work on Wikibooks. I
wouldn't judge a Wikimedian's worth by the way the Wikipedia community
feels towards them, since I've always found Wikipedia to be a little
bit dramatic and irrational. Of course as an outsider, I'm sure I only
ever hear the bad news.

--Andrew Whitworth

On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 9:25 PM, Geoffrey Plourde <geo.plrd at yahoo.com> wrote:
> look at her work on commons. It seems fairly exemplary.
>
>
>
>
>
>  ----- Original Message ----
>  From: Dan Rosenthal <swatjester at gmail.com>
>  To: effeietsanders at gmail.com; Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
>  Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 6:17:43 PM
>  Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Provisional Volunteer Council - proposal sent to the Board
>
>  I have serious concerns with Durova being considered as a
>  representative of the en.wikipedia community. Perhaps you missed the
>  massive drama over the past months that resulted in her losing her
>  administrator status. I do not feel that anyone who has so recently
>  felt one of the most significant backlashes the community has ever
>  given as a unified body, should be selected to speak for that
>  community. That's not just a slap in the face; it's a kick in the
>  balls at the same time.
>
>  -Dan
>  On Mar 31, 2008, at 7:46 PM, effe iets anders wrote:
>
>  > Dear all,
>  >
>  > I am very glad that the proposal for establishing a provisional
>  > volunteer council received such a lot support both on this list as in
>  > private conversations.
>  >
>  > Since the request for candidates for the Provisional Volunteer
>  > Council, I received quite some nominations. However, unfortunately I
>  > have to admit that there were no (willing) candidates from some
>  > important regions amongst these. As I have to work with the candidates
>  > that were nominated, I was therefore unable to candidate someone from
>  > these regions.
>  >
>  > I did try however, to get at least a few projects represented, and
>  > also a more technical person (from the developers side of the
>  > volunteer spectrum). Please find my final suggestion list below in the
>  > proposal (attached again for reference - only one minor spelling and
>  > layout changes).
>  >
>  > Please note that this is a *proposed* resolution, and not yet
>  > accepted.
>  >
>  > I know this list is not very long. And some area's are still missing
>  > in representation. However, I trust this group wholehearely, and
>  > suppose that they will make sure as a first thing to get at least one
>  > or more projects better represented (such as Wikinews or Wikiversity
>  > which have a very different character).
>  >
>  > If you have major concerns with respect to this list of candidates,
>  > please send them to this list or communicate them to the Board (I am
>  > not sure which route is the best for that though). I will make no
>  > changes any more myself, but the Board is of course able to determine
>  > the list as it likes.
>  >
>  >
>  > With kind regards,
>  >
>  > Lodewijk Gelauff
>  >
>  >
>  > --------------------------------------------------------------
>  >
>  > Whereas the Board,
>  >
>  > * recognizes the value of volunteers in Wikimedia projects and that
>  > their work is the very reason of their success,
>  > * values the volunteers' opinions and takes them into serious
>  > consideration when discussing issues involving the volunteers,
>  > * is of the opinion that these volunteers should have a strong say in
>  > changes in the articles of incorporation and the bylaws of the
>  > Wikimedia Foundation,
>  > * considers a Volunteer Council a valuable intermediary between
>  > volunteers and the Foundation, and as a good instrument to hear the
>  > voice of the volunteers:
>  >
>  > it is hereby resolved that:
>  >
>  > 1. The Board of Trustees hereby creates a Volunteer Council, to serve
>  > as a valuable complement to the Staff, Advisory Board and Board of
>  > Trustees.
>  > 2. Without restricting the generality of this provision the purposes
>  > of the Volunteer Council shall include:
>  >
>  >  1) Offering advice and support on issues relevant to the Wikimedia
>  > Volunteers,
>  >  2) Recommanding the opening or closure of Wikimedia projects,
>  >  3) Approving changes to the articles of incorporation or bylaws of
>  > the Wikimedia Foundation and
>  >  4) Assist in establishing a clear separation between the legal
>  > responsibilities of the Wikimedia Foundation as an Internet Service
>  > Provider and the community decisions for the Wikimedia Projects.
>  >
>  > 3. The members from the Volunteer Council must be volunteers within
>  > Wikimedia.
>  > 4. The Provisional Volunteer Council shall report to the Board no
>  > later than September 1, 2008, which report shall include
>  > recommendations regarding the number and composition of the Volunteer
>  > Council, and how the members of the Council shall be chosen. Said
>  > report shall also include recommendations regarding the distribution
>  > of rights and responsibilities between the Board and Council, and any
>  > changes in the by-laws that may be necessary to implement this.
>  > 5. Except where it pertains to its own procedures, no decision of the
>  > Provisional Volunteer Council shall bind any person.
>  > 6. On receipt of the said report the Board shall take such steps as it
>  > deems necessary to confirm and empower the Volunteer Council, and
>  > provide for a transition of operations from the Provisional Volunteer
>  > Council.
>  > 7. Members of the Volunteer Council will not be financially
>  > compensated for their activity. On approval by the Board of Trustees
>  > expenses of the Provisional Volunteer Council and Volunteer Council in
>  > the fulfillment of their duties may be reimbursed.
>  > 8. The following people are hereby appointed as member of the
>  > Provisional Volunteer Council:
>  >
>  > Michael Bimmler, Mbimmler (Main project: de.wikipedia)
>  > Yaroslav Blanter, Yaroslav Blanter (Main project: ru.wikipedia)
>  > Lise Broer, Durova (Main projects: en.wikipedia and
>  > commons.wikimedia )
>  > Jesse Plamondon-Willard, Pathoschild (Main projects: en.wikisource
>  > and meta.wikimedia )
>  > Sydney Poore, FloNight (Main project: en.wikipedia)
>  > Milos Rancic, Millosh (Main project: sr.wikipedia)
>  > Ray Saintonge, Eclecticology (Main project: en.wikisource,
>  > en.wikipedia)
>  > Andrew Whitworth, Whiteknight (Main project: en.wikibooks)
>  > Michal Zlatkovsky, Timichal (Main project: cs.wikipedia)
>  >
>  > 9. The members of the Provisional Volunteer Council may on a 2/3 vote
>  > of all its members add such additional members as they may deem
>  > necessary and useful to their deliberations.
>  >
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