On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 2:29 PM, Brion Vibber <bvibber(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
I believe a high-tech organization should invest in smart people creating
unique technology. But I also think it should invest in people, period.
Staff and volunteers must be cultivated and supported -- that's how loyalty
and passion are developed, and I believe they pay dividends in productivity
and recruitment.
Brian, I'd be interested to hear how volunteers could be cultivated and
supported. We felt under attack by the Foundation until Lila arrived, and I
think a lot of editors are grateful to her for having improved that
relationship. But not feeling attacked isn't the same as feeling supported.
The Foundation often boasts that it only has around 200 employees, but the
truth is that it has an enormous unpaid workforce. Most of us don't go to
meet-ups, so we don't even see travel expenses. We're grateful if we can
get a free JSTOR subscription.
Sue Gardner once declared that the Foundation would never pay for content,
which was a blow to those of us who produce it. Unpaid workers with
technical skills might one day be paid, but if your skills are editorial,
forget it. That very much supports the idea that the Foundation is a tech
organization and not an educational one.
So – how does a tech organization nurture and support its unpaid workforce
of mostly writers and researchers?
Sarah