[Foundation-l] Fwd: Wikimedia Brasil + WMF

[Florence Devouard]

On 9/2/11 10:02 PM, Michael Snow wrote:
> On 9/2/2011 12:11 PM, Florence Devouard wrote:
>> On 9/1/11 5:37 PM, Jimmy Wales wrote:
>>> On 8/28/11 1:00 AM, Ray Saintonge wrote:
>>>> I think that developing such a legal entity should be a high priority
>>>> for Brazilian Wikipedians to ensure that Wiki activities in Brazil are
>>>> controlled by Brazilians. At the same time I don't think there is any
>>>> value to having a WMF appointee on your board; such a person would find
>>>> it difficult to function under circumstances of perpetual conflict of
>>>> interest.  No other chapter has such a clause.
>>> I had never thought of this before, but now that it has been mentioned,
>>> I just wanted to disagree, quite respectfully because Ray is awesome of
>>> course, and say that I think it is a very interesting idea to have a WMF
>>> appointee on the boards of chapters.
>>>
>>> There should be very few cases where there is a "conflict of interest"
>>> since chapters and the Foundation are deeply tied together always (and
>>> that's a good thing).  I think having a Foundation representative on the
>>> board of chapters does present some possibly insurmountable logistical
>>> issues (who will they be?) but I actually think such an arrangement
>>> might be incredibly valuable for improving communication and
>>> *decreasing* perceived conflicts of interest.
>>>
>>> --Jimbo
>> I can not help commenting a bit more on the matter of "conflict of
>> interest". I think I can probably say more on the matter than most
>> people here.
>>
>> First because I pushed a LOT for the adoption of a COI policy on the
>> board of WMF. And this generated lot's of painful discussions between
>> you, Michael and I. In particular with regards to your involvement with
>> Wikia.
> For those reading whose memories may not be quite long enough - I assume
> Florence is referring to Michael Davis here, not to me. The conflict of
> interest policy was adopted in 2006, before I was on the board. I just
> thought it would help to make the distinction explicit, as it wouldn't
> be the first time somebody has gotten us confused.

Indeed. I was talking of Michael Davis, the treasurer of the board at 
that time.

Sorry for the confusion Michael.

Florence