[Foundation-l] New Business Partnership with Orange

[Robert Rohde]

Does the Board get involved in deciding whether to pursue new business
oppurtunities like this, or is that something that is solely handled
by the Foundation Staff?

This question isn't intended as a criticism in any way, I'm just
curious what the relationship is like surrounding big new projects
like this.

-Robert Rohde


On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 4:32 PM, Kul Takanao Wadhwa
<kwadhwa at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I am spreading the news around (I just posted to the internal list)
> about a new announcement going out in a couple hours. For the past few
> months I have been working on a deal with Orange (France Telecom) on a
> new kind of multi-platform (web, mobile, IPTV) partnership for the
> Wikimedia Foundation.  This partnership will extend co-branding
> opportunities and have Wikipedia's knowledge brought to some new
> audiences. It will also allow for us to experiment with new technologies
> to improve the functionality and delivery of our content. Furthermore,
> this is an additional revenue stream to build on our most important
> revenue stream - our successful fundraising campaigns.
>
> This partnership will start in four European territories: France, UK,
> Poland and Spain. I already notified the chapter reps in Poland, UK, and
> France (3 of the 4 territories where we have chapters).  They've had a
> couple days to process the info and prepare for any media questions they
> may come their way.
>
> Here is the announcement that will go out soon:
>
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Orange_and_Wikimedia_announce_partnership_April_2009
>
> Also, here is the Q&A that should address some of the basic questions
> about this partnership.
>
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Orange_and_Wikimedia_announce_partnership_April_2009Q
>
> Feel free to contact me or the list if you have any questions.
>
>
> --Kul
>
> Head of Business Development
>
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