I postponed responding to this thread partly because I was busy and partly
because I was mentally bracing myself for a rough ride.
I thank Risker, Nathan, Philippe, SJ, and James for their calm comments
here. I wish that I had been calmer myself.
I have not discussed this thread with Fae off list, and I'm not sure how
much (if any) credit I should get for improving WMF's governance, but I
hope that I have been a net positive influence.
Seddon, I would like to ask two questions and make one request. Unlike with
some other inquiries which are directed at WMF as an institution, and to
which I think WMF should feel an obligation to respond, for these inquires
I will fully accept if you choose not to reply. I make these inquiries more
to you personally than to you in your official job. The reason that I make
these inquiries is that I have the impression that you are frustrated, and
that frustration comes across to me as being fairly broad. My questions are
1. what gives you reasons for hope in the Wikiverse, and 2. why do you
choose to be in the Wikiverse? Perhaps, if you choose, you could respond to
these questions in a new thread or on your Meta talk page, because the
questions are tangential to the original subject of this thread.
Additionally, I request that you meet with me on Google Hangouts. I am one
of the more frequent contributors to this list, and I think that I should
take my own medicine by being willing to hear candid feedback if you have
any for me. I would be appreciative if you would contact me off list so
that we can schedule a time to meet. I am often willing to give feedback to
WMF whether positive or negative, but it is not my intention to make WMF as
an organization or you personally feel that WMF/you are in a no win
situation, and I worry that I might have done that. I think that a meeting
could be good for both of us. Again, I will accept if you choose not to
reply.
Regarding the topic of WMF's responsiveness, while I am wary of the WMF in
general and I am persistently frustrated with some elements of the
organization, I am also grateful to WMF for being willing to discuss
challenging questions during the strategy process, and for continuing to
accept participation from those of us who are sometimes highly independent
citizens of the Wikiverse. Also, I am grateful for staff who are
self-motivated to respond to complaints and difficult situations. I
apologize for my previous comments in this thread being more negative than
they should have been. I have my own faults too, and sometimes I need to be
reminded of my limitations and shortcomings so that I can try to mitigate
them and try to improve.
Pine
(
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )