[Foundation-l] Questions about new Fellow

[Nathan]

On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 1:26 AM, Achal Prabhala <aprabhala at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Friday 21 January 2011 07:26 AM, MZMcBride wrote:
>> Achal Prabhala wrote:
>>> Greetings,
>>>
>>> I'm happy to tell you a little more about myself and the scope of this
>>> short-term research project I'm undertaking, and I'm as happy to assume
>>> that you fully intended for your messages to come across as decorous and
>>> rational.
>> Hi. I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my post. However, you seem
>> to have only replied, not responded.
>>
>>> I am, however, involved on a daily basis with all kinds of work that is
>>> related to the movement, and I'm delighted to be of use to you.
>> What kind of daily involvement? Is this work in your capacity as a
>> volunteer, as a member of the Advisory Board, or as a Wikimedia Fellow?
>>
> In all these capacities and more.
>>> Now to the project. I see that neither of you gentlemen has any thoughts
>>> on it, and I welcome your engagement.
>> I'll admit that I don't particularly care what you're working on. That's
>> approximately my attitude toward what the other Wikimedia Fellows are
>> working on as well.
> That's the spirit. And I've always felt that a waste is a terrible thing
> to mind.
>> I do care if you received the Fellowship for different
>> reasons than the other Fellows, though. I do care if there's the appearance
>> of impropriety or a conflict of interest (or worse, actual impropriety or
>> conflicts of interest).
>>
>> I'll repeat the questions I feel you haven't answered. You're obviously free
>> to not answer them ever, but I do want to make sure that your reply to the
>> opening thread isn't viewed as a response to most of the questions asked
>> about/to you.
>>
>> MZMcBride wrote:
>>> More importantly, is there a concern about an Advisory Board member being
>>> chosen as a Wikimedia Fellow? Is there a conflict of interest there? Is
>>> there a concern about the appearance of impropriety?
>>>
>>> Achal has a growing influence on Wikimedia, particularly its new operations
>>> in India. This has included being part of the hiring decisions, etc. This is
>>> more of a consultant role, making his selection as a Wikimedia Fellow even
>>> stranger. And his growing influence and power in such a big part of
>>> Wikimedia's five-year strategy is making people wary.
>> If you could answer some of these questions, particularly about what your
>> specific role has been in hiring in India, I'd really appreciate it (as
>> would many members of this list, I imagine). In your reply, you say that
>> you're involved "on a daily basis with all kinds of work that is related to
>> the movement," but also "that reports of my influence are greatly
>> exaggerated" [in the context of the strategy report]. These statements don't
>> seem to reconcile with me currently. And I never meant to suggest that you
>> were deeply involved with the strategy _report_, but with the strategy
>> _implementation_. There's a world of difference.
>>
>> If you've been involved with the hiring process in India, you should say so
>> outright as someone who's committed to openness and transparency.
> You're right. I should. But somehow, I assumed it was perfectly clear -
> not to mention open and transparent - after this report
> (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Report,_November_2010#India_planning)
> and this one
> (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Report,_December_2010#India_planning),
> as well as countless other conversations that were had on the subject.
>>   If you've
>> been involved with site selection in India or whatever else, you should say
>> so. These are the things I'm hearing, but I've no idea what level of truth
>> there is to them. That's why I started this thread and that's why I'm glad
>> you've replied (though I'd be more glad if you responded). As E. Forrester
>> noted, there is a wariness among some Wikimedia participants that an inner
>> circle exists, but I think you might be able dispel some of this notion with
>> more candid responses.
> Settle down, my friend...going around in circles will make us all dizzy.
> Personally, I recommend half an hour of Pranayama
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranayama) every morning: it makes one
> feel calm and loving.
>> MZMcBride
>>
>>

Oh, I like it. Glad to see you're one of us, Achal ;-)