[Foundation-l] Fwd: WMF Job Posting - Research Analyst

[phoebe ayers]

Right. Milos' point is a good one, and should be written up carefully
in all of the job descriptions for this particular project -- and
probably all of the job descriptions in general for the Foundation.
"Must be willing" doesn't seem quite strong enough for making the
point that this position has to work with the community - not just for
getting information, but because there's a pool of people with
experience in this kind of research and willingness to help.

And *particularly* for this project -- whoever is hired, whether they
are from the community or not, cannot possibly have a sense of all the
information needed for strategic planning, or the best place to get
it, without help! We have spent years and years in the research
community struggling with the best way to measure Wikim/pedia, and
it's not an easy problem; none of the surveys that have been done or
attempted so far have been particularly adequate. But there's a lot of
active work being done right now in this area, and people who are
familiar with it (active researchers, wiki conference volunteers,
long-time community statisticians) can surely help.

In general: Every paid position should have the expectation that they
will coordinate with a group of active volunteers, imho, both because
this will exponentially magnify the amount that gets done and because
it helps preserve and enhance the absolutely crucial sense of
ownership that community members have in the project. I think it's
actually harmful to the foundation and to the community to not build
in this specific outreach component for any job, let alone positions
that are working on "strategic vision!"

phoebe

p.s. unless I missed it, I think this is the first time I've seen
anything about an "external strategy consulting firm." What's this?


On Sat, May 2, 2009 at 5:46 AM, Milos Rancic <millosh at gmail.com> wrote:
> Finally :) I think that this position is more than necessary and that
> it should be a permanent one.
>
> BTW, I think that it would be good to include in job descriptions a
> need for creation and active managing of a (relevant) volunteer group.
> Such work is (explicitly or implicitly) a part of some positions
> (Cary's explicitly, Brion's at least implicitly), but Wikimedian
> community has much more profiles than "community member" and "geek"
> types.
>
> For example, out of the process of strategic plan creation, I am
> willing to be introduced in the work of the person on this position,
> so I may help in some occasions.
>
> On Sat, May 2, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Sue Gardner <sgardner at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>> FYI -- please feel free to share this posting widely. It went up
>> yesterday on the Wikimedia Foundation website.
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Daniel Phelps <dphelps at wikimedia.org>
>> Date: 2009/5/1
>> Subject: WMF Job Posting - Research Analyst
>> To: Sue Gardner <sgardner at wikimedia.org>
>>
>>
>> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/Research_Analyst_(Strategic_Plan)
>>
>> Job Title
>>
>> Research Analyst
>>
>> Employment Duration
>>
>> July 2009 to July 2010.
>>

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