[Foundation-l] Notice of the results of the WMF Board ofTrustees election

[Brianna Laugher]

On 14/07/07, Florence Devouard <Anthere9 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Brianna Laugher wrote:
> > On 13/07/07, Florence Devouard <Anthere9 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Maybe an election is an appropriate time to request/hire outside help.
> > It was done for the vote counting, why not the election organising?
> >
> > The election and has come and gone, and on the whole IMO it was
> > handled well. I don't mean to attack the committee or the Board about
> > it.
> >
> >> That the board pays translators ?
> > [...]
> >> I also think that if the board makes the decision to hire translators,
> >> there will be a HUGE uproar of complaints, because we indeed have the
> >> resources internally.
> >
> > As Sue Reed said, If we do, then where were they? If no one
> > volunteers, IMO it would be appropriate to pay translators for events
> > such as this.
>
> Hello
>
> As far as I know, nobody was paid to count the votes...

But still an outside organisation was contacted. It wasn't a
self-selecting volunteer group.
Maybe if the WMF put out a request for translators at key times, it
would find some  work offered for free -- or maybe it would actually
push our own communities into being organised enough to do it
ourselves.

> Most international organizations define a list of languages, in which
> they make sure every information is translated. If we go tomorrow in the
> concept of "paying translators to make sure this language is covered",
> we need to list THE languages chosen. We may be able to garantee
> translations in 15 languages, but certainly not in 250. There should be
> a list. If then, who decides which languages are mandatory ?

Say the languages of the top 20 projects listed by # of users. Or the
language of any project that has over 50,000 registered users (pick
other figures if you like).  Translation into Spanish is more
important than translation into Catalan NOT because Spanish is more
important than Catalan, but simply because Wikimedia has more users
who understand Spanish than Catalan.

Anthere also asked me to have ideas to help instead of just
complaints. I thought of it a bit more and found an idea: I think it
would be useful if during the election, the appointed members of the
Board (or just one of them) made a kind of 'personal plea' to eligible
voters to become informed about the process and make an informed vote.
I am thinking of Jimbo's statement during the second-last fundraiser.
Jimbo still seems to have the best 'currency' among the Board members
for being able to influence people by merely invoking their name. ;) I
think a personal statement could help motivate people to vote, and
it's a different angle compared to the necessarily dry official
material.

regards
Brianna