[Wikimedia-l] AffComs $40,000 Hong Kong junket

[Deryck Chan]

In such resolutions, one always budget for the maximum plausible cost and
then underspend. It is rather unhelpful to look at the budgeted amount and
shout at it as if it's the actual amount spent.

PS. Jealous? Run for the forthcoming elections. Winners of those elections
also get to travel to Hong Kong for Wikimania 2013, expenses paid for by
WMF. I look forward to seeing you in Hong Kong :)

On 13 May 2013 20:30, Russavia <russavia.wikipedia at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> It recently came to my attention by way of this blog by Odder
> (http://twkozlowski.net/how-40k-dollars-turned-to-petty-cash/) that
> the AffCom approved a $40,000 budget to send 9 of their members to HKG
> in August (the 10th member lives in HKG). The issue was raised at
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Affiliations_Committee#.2440.2C000_Hong_Kong_junket.3F
> (I see the words "transparent" being used there a lot).
>
> The budget request resolution was then published a
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Budget_request_for_2013_annual_meeting_%E2%80%93_April_2013
> - discussion has carried on at
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Budget_request_for_2013_annual_meeting_%E2%80%93_April_2013
>
> What we are seeing is that there is a lot evasive answers, with
> questions not really being answered. After asking about accommodation,
> it's been advised that AffCom is basically budgeting approximately
> US$12,600 towards accommodation (based upon NINE single rooms for 7
> nights at a cost of $200 per night). This, I feel, is an outrageous
> amount of money to be spending. There is no reason that twin rooms can
> not be used (i.e. 2 per room); or less "luxurious" accommodation can
> be booked.
>
> I understand that the guys on AffCom might feel like they are being
> singled out here, but given that they are members of the community,
> first and foremost, they should be open to such criticism on their
> spending. It's unfortunate that none of the 9 feel it necessary to
> comment there, given all the talk of transparency.
>
> Perhaps some gentle nudges from others in the community (especially
> those involved with Chapter wikipolitics) could get this particular
> committee to understand that although WMF is flush with cash, this is
> simply not on. I'll leave other issues which have been raised to
> others. Odder's latest blog at
> http://twkozlowski.net/saving-by-spending-according-to-affcom/ might
> be of interest.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Russavia
>
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