[Wikimedia-l] Strange, surprising, bold and unnecessary - reply to the WMF board statement

Tue Feb 5 21:22:07 UTC 2013

I can write a long mail to response the board statement, but past shown me
– it will be waste of time. Mean less time for my work, my chapter, and my
personal life.  Cause when the WMF and the Board deciding on something,
this is last and final decision. They discussion is just for the record. So
what It worth? But I can't avoid shares my disappointment from the board
(sadly again) and ours elected community and chapters trustee…

Yes, we are not perfect. Along all the process I was personally
disappointment from the him and have a lot of criticism about ours works.
But from that to the last board statement – there is (very) long way.

Saying that, I know this is not easy to build something, when you work with
so many people  that all of them volunteers, only small part of them coming
from chapters with staff support (and this staff is also very limit), when
all of them have work place, chapters and board work, and now also
associations to take care. I was the one who push to hire consultation
company (like the foundation did many times with huge amount of money
invest on that) to lead the process. My proposal was reject, and the
council decided to save the money and lead it by them. Harder and slower
process, but cheaper. So it seem like the WCA is not running to spend
money.

Along the way, the WCA was a magic word. Sue even uses it to explain why
the WMF is narrowing focus, giving others role to support the chapters. We
need to remember that we saw increase of chapters and zero formal support
from the WMF or the movement to handle them. Small chapters who don't even
know with who to speak when they need something, who their point of contact
in this "huge" organization called the WMF.

It seem like the foundation (and the board of course) moving very fast to
professionalism, and the chapters are also looking to track it (and I hope
I'm not a naive that the foundation support it) but they can't keep pace
with the foundation. Thing that affect the chapters.

Let's face it - how much support to really establish the WCA the foundation
gave until now?

Even the statement came from nowhere. Without asking the WCA to response,
or to ask the chair or the council to give some brief to the board before
or during the meeting, or to collect response from us, before reaching to
such kind of statement. I even understood that some board member planned to
participate in the WCA meeting that been planned to be hold on the 17th in
London, why? For what?

What disappointment is the lack of constructive response. How the board
think he could help and change? How he may ask the foundation the chapters
to try find a way to change (and change is indeed need). Or if they going
to lead a process to find other solution to support the chapters (as they
say themselves is needed, according to approving Sue narrow focus
recommendations). Real leadership is to help, not just to reject.

Itzik

Wikimedia Israel

On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 6:18 PM, Ziko van Dijk <vandijk at wmnederland.nl>wrote:

> Hello Kate,
>
> Originally I wrote an inline comment about nearly every phrase of this
> WMF board statement concerning the WCA. But then, the statement was
> published before I could send the comment to you. Here a summary of my
> original text as reply.
>
> In general, the WMF board statement raises more questions than it
> answers; it is uncomprehensible to me why such a bold and judgemental
> statement was found necessary, at this moment, and for what reason.
>
> During the entire year 2012, we heard from the WMF (board and staff)
> many positive signals about the establishment of a Wikimedia Chapters
> Association. So I find it very strange to read that in the 'early
> stages' the WMF board was optimistic but now suddenly fails to
> 'envision' a positive development.
>
> When I asked WMF vice director Erik Moeller on March 12th, 2012 about
> the name "Wikimedia Chapters Association", he was perfectly okay with
> it. He even copied for me this sentence from a chapters agreement:
> "The Chapter is obliged to utilize the Wikimedia logo and name in all
> their related activities and is hereby authorized to do so by the
> Foundation."
>
> All in a sudden, in late December 2012, a message from the WMF Legal
> Counsel Geoff Brigham admonished that the WCA has to follow the usual
> steps for recognition as a Wikimedia affiliate. - How came that during
> roughly nine months the WMF did not think about this? We were given
> the impression that this was rather a formality.
>
> WCA Council Members did have many, many conversations with the WMF
> (board and staff), and chapter people. How can anyone say that there
> has not been enough 'consulting'?
>
> Concerning movement resources - the WCA hasn't spend much money so
> far, and intends just to have one employee in the nearby future.
> Considering that the WMF has more than 140 employees, the WMF board
> statement's remark about movement resources for the WCA looks very
> disproportional. Our plan, encouraged by the FDC, that in future the
> WCA would request WMF grants or FDC funds, and at that point the WCA
> request would have been considered the same way as any other request.
>
> It is true that the developments in the WCA are some months slower
> than everybody expected in July 2012 in Washington. But in comparison
> to the early years of the WMF itself, or of many chapters, or of many
> other organizations, the developments are not particularly slow. Just
> recently we sent out the Secretary General job offer (which can not
> have been a surprise to the WMF) and have the final discussions about
> the incorporation.
>
> Please keep in mind that democratic processes take longer than
> deliberating within a small group. It was the will of more than 20
> chapters representing several thousand Wikimedians to establish a
> Wikimedia Chapters Association, which of course still exists, even if
> the WMF withdraws the name "Wikimedia". Especially in the recent
> development, with a number of new movement entities, this is a
> strange, surprising and more than premature decision.
>
> It would be in the interest of the whole movement to come to a
> trustful and cooperative relationship between the WMF and the
> chapters. The last months we have seen so many positive signals, such
> as the FDC Round 1. The WMF board statement concerning the WCA
> insinuates that it has to protect the movement and the trademarks from
> harm but leaves it unclear exactly how and why the WCA is harmful. Why
> this attitude of distrust regarding the WCA and the chapters, with no
> clear justification?
>
> I, personally, have so often defended the WMF, I have assumed good
> faith where many others were suspicious. The WMF board statement makes
> now undue assumptions about an organization that is not even one year
> old. After such a statement, I honestly ask myself what should be my
> assumptions about the WMF board and its true intentions.
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> Ziko van Dijk
>
> Deputy Chairman of the WCA Council
> Wikipedia editor since 2003
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Vereniging Wikimedia Nederland
> dr. Ziko van Dijk, voorzitter
> http://wmnederland.nl/
>
> Wikimedia Nederland
> Postbus 167
> 3500 AD Utrecht
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>
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