[Foundation-l] Re : on (re)organizing wikimedia

[Robert Scott Horning]

Birgitte SB wrote:

>
>I certainly don't want to see an advisory group of 50%
>en.WP editors!  However such token represntation as
>proposed in the Wikicouncil plan would be of little
>practical benifit.  
>
The one practical value of "Wikicouncil" that I see beyond simply 
choosing board members or charter changes (presumably a useful funciton 
for such a body) would also be as a source to draw upon for the various 
committees that have been established for the WMF.  I have been a very 
vocal critic over how the membership of these committees have been 
established, mainly because they are insular in their constitution and I 
believe they will have a strong anti-Wikimedia user bias, with strong 
hints of eliteism.  If instead you say that you must be an elected 
member of the Wikicouncil, that gives a non-discriminatory approach to 
joining up, and permits newer (read smaller) projects from also 
participating as well.

This isn't to say that the wikicouncil proposal doesn't have problems, 
but I think the basic idea does have some merit.  It also gives a way to 
"grow" board members, so that you can find people with both the 
leadership skills and the knowledge of Wikimedia projects that would be 
developed rather than making the leap to board member all at once.  This 
would be assuming that you could follow the path of 
admin/bureaucrat/steward/community representative/board member of 
increasing responsibilities if you wanted to become involved.  The other 
approach is to be a famous celebrity or have significant outside 
accomplishments (like being a former U.S. President, as an example) 
before you are appointed to the WMF board.  I don't like this type of 
token board members, even though it is commonly done on other non-profit 
organizations.  A third approach is to be a successful and well-liked 
professional staff member of the WMF.   I think that some board 
positions should be reserved for this sort of person, if only to balance 
the board in its attitudes.

-- 
Robert Scott Horning