[Wikimedia-l] Looking back at the London Conference

Tue Feb 19 22:13:27 UTC 2013

Hello,
Just to keep in mind: it has been no secret, from the beginning, that the
WCA planned to hire somebody. The WMF board is supported by employees too,
and I guess that the WMF has a number of regulations. Enough room for views
to evolve.
But it sounds good to focus on getting things started instead of focusing
on process, structure etc. - I will remember that when the WMF asks again
report after report from the chapters' volunteers...
Ziko

2013/2/19 Jan-Bart de Vreede <jdevreede at wikimedia.org>:
> Hey
>
> So just to add my perspective on the mail below (as one of the two board
members that were present).
>
> As mentioned before the board has several big issues with the WCA where
it was going (as outlined on the meta discussion page and our statement:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Chapters_Association#WMF_Board_letter_regarding_the_Chapters_Association
)
>
> We felt that our statement was needed at the time, and some good debate
has taken place. If we were inconsistent in our behaviour (in the eyes of
Ziko) this was simply because things increasingly seemed to be going the
wrong way and views evolve over time.
>
> The discussion we had was a very useful one, and you can read a pretty
accurate transcript at: http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/WCA/ (and I see that
minutes are being worked on as I type this, so a formal report is likely to
be announced here soon I guess)
>
> The main focus that I tried to bring across is that the people working on
the Chapter Association stop focusing on process, structure, incorporation,
hiring and strategy but rather focus on getting things started and trying
to develop things that work and can grow. Rather than focus on membership
and voting, focus on getting an exchange of knowledge, experience and
skills between all the chapters (members or not).
>
> And though it might not come across right now without seeing the results,
 I feel that the weekend was very useful. There was a lot of energy in the
room and a willingness to re-assess where the CA is, and where it needs to
go (thank you for that everyone, and thank you to Fae for helping create
this open environment). Public discussion on meta, along with open exchange
and notes are a good start, and I am sure that a lot of things will be
happening the next months. Hopefully this will grow into the potential that
chapter cooperation has always had.
>
> Jan-Bart de Vreede
> Wikimedia Board of Trustees
>
>
> On Feb 19, 2013, at 5:10 PM, Ziko van Dijk <vandijk at wmnederland.nl> wrote:
>
>> Dear Council Members and everyone interested in the WCA,
>>
>> On 16/17th February 2013 a number of Council Members visited the
>> London Conference I had proposed in mid January to talk about the way
>> of the WCA and to prepare the Wikimedia Conference in Milan. We are
>> happy that the London Conference did happen, and, in spite of the
>> debatable WMF board statement of 5th February, that two WMF board
>> members still agreed to join us.
>>
>> Because in 2012/2013 the signals from the WMF were not very consistent
>> I tried to receive more clarity about the relationship between
>> Foundation and Association. This was only partially successful, but I
>> understand that the two present WMF board members were as open as it
>> was possible within the constraints of the WMF board unity. We very
>> much appreciated the commitment of Alice and Jan-Bart and were happy
>> not to hear certain allegations from the board statement again.
>>
>> The London Conference discussed many WCA subjects collected during the
>> last months. One of them was communication, and I am content that I
>> could convince the participants of a major change. For someone who is
>> interested in the WCA it has been very difficult to follow the
>> proceedings, plans and results. When e.g. a Council Member wanted to
>> talk to others or discuss something, he or she used one of the several
>> mailing lists the movement has, or Meta Wiki, or private email
>> addresses. I believe that this has been a fundamental problem with the
>> regard to the perception of the WCA, and that the participation even
>> from Council Members suffered also because of this kind of
>> communication.
>>
>> After the election of a new Chair, the Chair of the WCA Council will
>> issue a Bulletin, a kind of short report, with a summary of what
>> happened recently and what are the plans for the near future. This
>> will be put on Meta Wiki, and, naturally, discussions will centre
>> around those Bulletins. For those who are interested it will be much
>> easier to follow and to participate. If someone wants to support the
>> WCA via translations, he or she can translate those Bulletins instead
>> of a lot of messages.
>>
>> There will be a special list 'WCA-announcements". If you want to be
>> informed about Bulletins and discussions, join the list and you will
>> get links to Meta Wiki. It's a one-way-list, because the discussions
>> are supposed to be on Meta Wiki. This is a WCA service for Council
>> Members and non Council Members alike. In this way, nobody is obliged
>> to be on a heavy traffic list such as Wikimedia-l.
>>
>> When we talked about the future and a possible new election of the
>> Chair I also asked about my position. If for any reason someone
>> believed that there should be a new election of the Deputy Chair, I
>> wanted to hear. The participants said that that is no issue and that
>> it is good to have continuity. The role of the Deputy Chair is to be
>> there for the case that at some moment there is no Chair, and then the
>> Deputy has to arrange the election.
>>
>> The WCA continues to exist and will make some rearrangements - it's
>> exiting to follow the evolution.
>>
>> Kind regards
>> Ziko van Dijk
>>
>> --
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>> 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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--

-----------------------------------------------------------
Vereniging Wikimedia Nederland
dr. Ziko van Dijk, voorzitter
http://wmnederland.nl/

Wikimedia Nederland
Postbus 167
3500 AD Utrecht
-----------------------------------------------------------