[Wikimania-l] [Foundation-l] Floating a notion: permanent Wikimania committee?

Fri Jun 18 11:55:23 UTC 2010

And talking about devil in the details..
I added *some* details, last night to the checklist set up by Pheobe

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania/checklist

And this is less than 50% of what you need to *know* before you start. *
Acting* is yet another story.

M

On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 11:47 AM, Moushira Elamrawy <moushirah at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi Harel,
>
>
> Again, I'm not sure that the formality of a committee is a necessity, if
>> that committee doesn't have a very clear role and is not put to optimal use.
>>
>>
>
> Exactly. Organizing Wikimania needs action. Will the committee act? ...
>
>>
>> Currently, and please everyone correct me if I'm wrong, there's not even a
>> single person on the WMF staff that can be considered such a point of
>> contact. Names that come to mind include Cary, James Owen and Samuel Klein,
>> but this is not the job definition of any of them.
>>
> If one or two people who have the proper background and the willingness to
>> do it can somehow be assigned (by the board? by Sue?) to act as formal point
>> of contact for the local teams, that IMHO is more effective than a big
>> committee.
>>
>>  That's what I meant when I brought up the name of Délphine and her role.
> An experienced and executive person is required.  I am not sure if you
> personally know her. I was among the team of Wikimania2008, and definitly
> someone of that role was required. Enthusiasm and some knowledge are
> wonderful, but they don't get things done. The amount of details related to
> organizing such a conference need experience and knowledge.
>
> Devil is in the details, so it takes another devil to watch out for them.
>
> I am unfortunately not going to make it to Poland in 2010, but I would be
> more than happy to contribute in discussion/meetings from distant.
>
> Good luck in 2011 Harel
> M
>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 12:10 PM, Moushira Elamrawy <moushirah at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Yes, but just on a second though: The committee is a good idea as it will
>>> advise, and discuss, but how is this committee *actin*g? Otherwise you
>>> need a committee to oversee the committee.
>>> You need someone who knows what to do when. Acting. That needs one or two
>>> people, not necessarily a committee. I am not sure if the committee will get
>>> things done, which is what is required.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> M
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 7:54 AM, Jeromy-Yu Chan (Jerry~Yuyu) <
>>> jerry.tschan.yu at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I do think it is a good idea
>>>>
>>>> as each Wikimania we have cope with things in similar situation
>>>> though committee is not necessary
>>>> but we should have better knowledge management and transfer mechanism
>>>>
>>>> anyway if really such committee will start
>>>> I would like to be part of it
>>>>
>>>> Jerry~雨雨
>>>> Jeromy-Yu Maximilian Chan, ARAD
>>>> User:Yuyu | zh.wikipedia | Wikimedia HK
>>>> ChapCom, WMF | ComCom, WMF
>>>> Blogger | http://jeromyu.wordpress.com
>>>> MSN: jeromyuchan at msn.com
>>>> also Jeromyu on twitter, plurk and most of places
>>>>
>>>> Tel (Mobile): +852 9279 1601
>>>> Laudamus quae laudentur
>>>> Qui mollis et dissolutus est in opere suo frater est sua opera
>>>> dissipantis
>>>> Non clamatis hostilia, numquam esse vos accusatoribus
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 15:28, James Forrester <james at jdforrester.org>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 18 June 2010 08:00, phoebe ayers <phoebe.wiki at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> > On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 10:58 PM, Michael Snow <
>>>>> wikipedia at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>>> >> On 6/17/2010 5:35 PM, phoebe ayers wrote:
>>>>> >>> OK, so I guess my question is (and we talked about this on IRC too)
>>>>> --
>>>>> >>> who has the power or the ability -- or who *should*, in a perfect
>>>>> >>> world -- create such a committee? We don't have much precedent for
>>>>> >>> this. There were concerns over who or what body can create
>>>>> >>> governance/oversight structures, particularly if this isn't really
>>>>> >>> just a Foundation issue.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >> I suppose the board could create the committee, if it's not clear
>>>>> who
>>>>> >> else might have the authority. Or perhaps better, the board could
>>>>> >> authorize its creation. I think the board is a bit reluctant to jump
>>>>> in,
>>>>> >> partly for the reason Sue mentioned that overseeing Wikimania is not
>>>>> >> really a board-level issue (it's primarily operational rather than
>>>>> >> strategic), but also because the board is not well placed to fill
>>>>> and
>>>>> >> maintain committees like this. When it becomes a situation of
>>>>> appointing
>>>>> >> people none of us really knows, or feeling that there are probably
>>>>> >> people we're not aware who ought to be recruited to a committee like
>>>>> >> this, it's pretty uncomfortable to have that responsibility. But if
>>>>> we
>>>>> >> authorized the committee and then let the staff and experienced
>>>>> >> Wikimania volunteers review applications or expressions of interest
>>>>> to
>>>>> >> join the committee, that might work out. That's kind of the
>>>>> direction
>>>>> >> things have moved in any case. Some of the early committees that
>>>>> still
>>>>> >> function have evolved to a place outside the board's immediate
>>>>> activity,
>>>>> >> and the current work of the governance committee is focused more on
>>>>> >> structures needed to organize the board's own functions.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> --Michael Snow
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Yes, authorization seems right. I wouldn't really expect that the
>>>>> > Board actually fill such a committee or even necessarily ask for
>>>>> > direct reports. The question that came up in IRC though was where
>>>>> > would such a committee derive its authority from (assuming it had any
>>>>> > particular authority). Perhaps the answer for this is "it doesn't"
>>>>> and
>>>>> > simply fills a communication and reporting role that is currently
>>>>> > lacking. Or perhaps (my ideal scenario) we come up with a way where
>>>>> > the interested community grants it authority by building the
>>>>> > structure, filling the seats, etc., and that is generally recognized.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > I'm interested in this case specifically of course, but I also am
>>>>> > wondering more generally what the current state of affairs is for
>>>>> > forming any sort of operational, community-driven committee. Of
>>>>> course
>>>>> > we're good at forming wikiprojects to do things that need doing, but
>>>>> > for areas that also require overlap with things that the office works
>>>>> > on, it seems tricky.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Re: scheduling a time at wikimania for discussing this potential
>>>>> > glorious wikimania committee: yes, let's. I wanted to have a reprise
>>>>> > of the Future of Wikimania discussion from last year, anyway. How
>>>>> > about Sunday? I'll volunteer to check with the 2011 team and other
>>>>> > interested parties and schedule a time. This overlaps with Manuel's
>>>>> > panel, too, but I think we need a dedicated time maybe. Stay tuned!
>>>>> >
>>>>> > -- phoebe
>>>>> >
>>>>> > p.s. if we get both James Owen AND James Forrester involved it will
>>>>> be
>>>>> > unstoppable. Powered by James^2.
>>>>>
>>>>> Pah. To disambiguate between the two of us, I will allow people to
>>>>> refer to me as "God-Prince James", per Jimmy. ;-)
>>>>>
>>>>> James. No, the other one.
>>>>> --
>>>>> James D. Forrester
>>>>> jdforrester at wikimedia.org | jdforrester at gmail.com
>>>>> [[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]]
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Wikimania-l mailing list
>>>>> Wikimania-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
>>
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>
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