[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia (Foundation) endowment

[Fae]

On 18 March 2013 12:14, Dariusz Jemielniak <darekj at alk.edu.pl> wrote:
...
> As long as it is not really a strategy creation exercise, but rather an
> imagination stimulation and concept brainstorming, I think it is a great
> idea. But we should not mistake trying to look way too far beyond what we
> can see as great vision. It is guesswork.

I'm happy to continue calling this part of strategy creation, while
you call it speculation or guesswork.

However I believe it is perfectly clear that if the movement has no
100 year plan, even in concept, and cannot set some top level goals to
show our commitment to a century long view, then a public call to
create a billion dollar endowment will quickly be shot down as banking
money for the sake of job security.

An easy-peasy goal is to ensure all project knowledge content is
actively archived in a way that the commitment to preservation is
meaningfully demonstrated. Pointing to a reasonably future-proofed but
cost effective 100-year (multi-location) archive is one obvious way of
explaining what an endowment is for.

PS I have heard the archive question answered recently by a
representative of the WMF on a radio interview as "Oh, it's all over
the internet, if we disappear it could always be re-created" (or words
to that effect) - I thought this a particularly naff answer for an
organization with many millions in the bank to spend on operational
risks.

Thanks,
Fae
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