[Foundation-l] "Expertise" board seats: the NomCom invites your feedback

[Florence Devouard]

Dan Rosenthal wrote:
> Really? Cause I didn't get that message at all. What I got out of it  
> was, "The board intends to consolidate the power of the existing big  
> name chapters, and make some gesture of including them on the board,  
> but we're actually not addressing substantively the issue of making it  
> easy for them to actually form and be approve."

Big names ?
What do you mean ?
What came out of the chapter meeting in May is that there should be no 
such thing such as inequality between chapters. Since then, a few people 
have objected this, but generally, there was a perception that the 
representatives would not be there to "consolidate" the power of big 
chapters, but rather to be people chosen by chapters to propose another 
approach that other board members would not bring.

The resolution leading to the addition of these two members was 
absolutely not meant to solve any issue regarding the way chapters are 
approved or not. That's a completely different matter.

> There's no excuse for blaming the chapters or the people in them when  
> the system for developing and approving them is fundamentally flawed.

I can not speak for the "approving" part (eg, recognising as Wikimedia 
chapter). But ultimately, the business of wikimedians choosing to group 
and form a local organization is nowhere the business of the Foundation.

Ant

> -Dan
> On Nov 2, 2008, at 11:55 AM, Florence Devouard wrote:
> 
>> In my view, when the board of WMF decided to let chapters select two
>> representatives, it was also a heavy message to the chapters: collect
>> your wits and be grown ups. I am not quite sure how chapters can  
>> select
>> board members when they are not even able to self organize to get a
>> common mailing list for an election. That's not necessarily out of bad
>> will, but mostly poor infrastructure and lack of cooperation.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>