[Foundation-l] Criticism of employees (was VPAT)

[Jon Davis]

On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 21:00, MZMcBride <z at mzmcbride.com> wrote:

>
> Most Wikimedia employees don't post or subscribe to this list already,
>
>
You might be surprised at the number that do subscribe.  Not that I've got
an official count  (since people use their personal accounts, such as
myself), but a majority of the staff _are_ subscribed to foundation-l.  In
fact, during tech "orientation" (A process I'm still working on), I
recommend to everyone that they sign up for Foundation-l.


> Wikimedia employees are required to be subscribed to staff-l, but they're
> not required
> to be subscribed to this list (or any other Wikimedia mailing lists, in
> general). Mailing lists are a goofy and foreign concept to most people,


I do subscribe every staff member to our staff-l mailing list.  This is for
everyones benefit, it's how the staff communicates vital (and sometimes fun)
information to everyone else.  Additionally, for those who never previously
have used mailing lists, it gets them familiar with the concept.  I can't
think of one current staff who has _never_ posted to the list at least once.


>  Personally, I think it's rather strange that
> people working for an organization don't pay more attention to this list
> and
> the Wikimedia Foundation wiki, but that's their choice to make.
>
>
I've been a community member a lot longer than I've been staff, even still,
I only skim foundation-l about half the time. In my thinking, to really get
properly involved with a thread (rather than throwing out random comments
which might only be tangentially related) it can take a lot reading,
investigating and writing. My salary comes from donations, and I don't want
to spend that paid time on something that isn't necessarily my job (When
Google Apps came up, I responded), some could see that as wasteful.   Now if
the entire community feels that every staff member should read and respond
to foundation-l, well then that would be a different story all together.

I'm not trying to say anyone is right or wrong, or suggest what we do...
just a few bits from someone who's spent time on both sides of the fence.

-Jon

PS.  I'm writing this on my own time.

-- 
Jon
[[User:ShakataGaNai]] / KJ6FNQ
http://snowulf.com/
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