[Foundation-l] Relocation announcement

[Aphaia]

Hi,

First of all, even selfish, I welcome this move: it means I should no
more overnight only for talking WMF staff in their office hour: now,
it is for me 23 - 7 in my local time. Moving in SF makes it 20 - 4.
For me as individual, and I assume for most of Australian / Chinese
editors who are somehow involved into the foundation issue, I think it
will make their coordination with WMF office much easier.  I think
even only this year (so 9 months) the 3 o'clock in the morning for me
was suggested "good hour for everyone/involved parties to have a
meeting"    three times: I hope decreasing the geographic distance
between the office and Pacific-rim volunteers strengthens mutual
relationship between those, which seems to have been established well
between the Atlantic communities.

So, having experienced a sentiment of nonrecognition zed and distance,
I think I easily imagine people in the US East Coast and in Europe
feel sort of losses even to some extent.  But I think the 7/8 hour
differences which I experienced in collaboration with European editors
are not so much painful for many people and the benefits which will
bring from this move may compensate the community at large such
feeling of loss.

  9/22/07, geni <geniice at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 22/09/2007, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote

> > > You want to go near the major media groups?
> >
> > Why not? You can work with your competition to mutual benefit, you know.
>
> Not legally. Fortunately most media groups are not really competition
> (Getty and Corbis perhaps but I doubt they view us as a significant
> problem yet incidentally both of those are based in Seattle,
> Washington). No most media groups are at most looking at wikipedia for
> the source of a story. I'm not sure that is a reason to be near them.

I think Wikipedia has been an interest of press people, so having them
in a near distance may improve the relation between those people. Also
if I recall correctly, the Foundation only held its press conference
in the occasions of Wikimania. If the office is located in a major
city which some of global press people reside, is it more realistic
for the office to have a press conference for things we would like to
promote aggressively? So I think being in a reasonable distance from
media people, it may not available in a city mainly considered "health
resort" (at least En-Ja dictionaries I have say so about St. Pete, FL,
so I assume it is a worldwide recognition)

Cheers,

-- 
KIZU Naoko
  Wikiquote: http://wikiquote.org
  * habent enim emolumentum in labore suo *