[Foundation-l] Wikia leasing office space to WMF

[Michael Snow]

Delirium wrote:
> Most people, however, neither know the board nor have any particularly 
> great knowledge of Wikimedia's internals. Were it any other 
> organization, as in my Sierra Club example, I wouldn't believe the 
> explanation, so I wouldn't blame non-Wikimedians who read about this in 
> the newspaper if they were a bit skeptical. That seems like it'll 
> inevitably be damaging from a PR and fundraising perspective. I believe 
> Erik's explanation of the space's benefits, I just think the Board is 
> underestimating the negative effects to the Foundation's reputation.
>   
Anyone familiar enough with the background to understand why the lease 
might be an issue has probably formed their opinion about the potential 
for conflicts already. So I don't believe it will have a negative impact 
outside of people who have already made up their minds and won't 
reconsider. This discussion itself is evidence of that, as it seems the 
only person who thinks the lease is actually bad, as opposed to possibly 
looking bad, has a long history of finding fault with us no matter what. 
With regard to any impact on public relations or fundraising generally - 
if there are donors or media professionals who don't believe Erik's 
explanation (even without any evidence to the contrary), I'll be happy 
to discuss it with them.

--Michael Snow