Hello folks, This morning (PST) the Foundation sent out the following news about the appointment of Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, to the Wikimedia Advisory Board. Craig is incredibly excited to be working with the Foundation and volunteers. He's also blogging about this: http://www.cnewmark.com/2009/11/wikipedia-is-a-big-deal-so-if-i-can-help-a-little.html
And yesterday newsweek.com ran a great post by Craig about Wikipedia as an indispensable aspect of life today: http://2010.newsweek.com/top-10/unknown-in-1999-indispensable-now/wikipedia.html Thanks, jay -- Jay Walsh Head of Communications WikimediaFoundation.org blog.wikimedia.org +1 (415) 839 6885 x 609, @jansonw > > Wikimedia Foundation Appoints Craig Newmark to its Advisory Board > > SAN FRANCISCO November 13, 2009 -- The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit > organization behind Wikipedia, today announced the appointment of Craig > Newmark to the Foundation's Advisory Board. Newmark is the founder of > craigslist.org, a site where users connect to find and exchange goods and > services, including housing and jobs. He currently works as a customer > service representative for the site. Over the past 30 years, Newmark has > worked in the technology industry with companies such as IBM, GM, Charles > Schwab & Co, and Bank of America. > > “Craig’s experience as an innovator and evangelist, coupled with his > knowledge of online communities and cultures of trust, will make him an > invaluable adviser to the organization,” said Michael Snow, chair of the > Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. “His deep understanding of customer > service and his dedication to fostering an enormous and engaged community of > users will be a tremendous asset as we strive to be responsive to our readers > and volunteers.” > > The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the volunteer-written encyclopedia > with a staff of just over 30 people, created its Advisory Board in January > 2007 as a mechanism for input from leaders and thinkers in fields such as > education, technology, and free culture. Advisory Board members convene with > Wikimedia's leadership once a year at the annual Wikimania conference, and > also support the organization in their specific areas of expertise. > > "We’ve known Craig as a longtime friend and supporter of our projects and > we’re deeply grateful for that,” said Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia. > “Craigslist is a like-minded organization with values similar to ours and > we’re excited to incorporate his energy and understanding of online > communities into our work.” > > “Wikipedia is the first draft of history, and is becoming a preeminent tool > for grassroots democracy. It's a great example of people working together, > professionals and citizens, for the common good,” said Newmark. “The > Wikimedia Foundation strives to ensure Wikipedia has high-quality content, > but it does share the accuracy and reliability issues common to all media. In > my day job, I've learned a little about that, and about general customer > service. I figure one of the best things I can do with my life would be to > help apply the few things I've learned for the greater good via Wikipedia. > I’m excited to dive in." > > The Wikimedia Foundation is in the midst of the sixth annual annual > fundraising campaign, aiming to bring in over $7.5 million in community > contributions to finance operations for the upcoming year. For more > information, > visithttp://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_launches_2009_annual_giving_campaign > > The current Advisory Board membership includes: > > • Angela Beesley Starling (Chair, Wikimedia Advisory Board; co-founder, > Wikia) > • Ward Cunningham (Developer of the first wiki) > • Melissa Hagemann (Open access and open education advocate, Open > Society Institute/Soros foundations) > • Mitch Kapor (Founder/Co-founder Lotus Development, EFF, Mozilla > Foundation) > • Neeru Khosla (Co-founder, CK-12) > • Teemu Leinonen (Professor, Media Lab, Aalto University) > • Rebecca MacKinnon (Journalist; founder, Global Voices Online) > • Wayne Mackintosh (Education specialist, Commonwealth of Learning) > • Benjamin Mako Hill (Author, free software advocate) > • Roger McNamee (Venture capital, musician) > • Trevor Neilson (Partner, Global Philanthropy Group) > • Craig Newmark (Founder, Craigslist.org) > • Florence Nibart-Devouard (Former Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of > Trustees; Consultant in Collaborative Media) > • Achal Prabhala (Researcher and writer) > • Clay Shirky (Associate Teacher, Interactive Telecommunications > Program, NYU) > • Ethan Zuckerman (Research Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet and > Society at Harvard Law School) > > ### > > About the Wikimedia Foundation > http://wikimediafoundation.org > http://blog.wikimedia.org > The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization which operates > Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix, > Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation receive > more than 300 million unique visitors per month, making them the 5th most > popular web property world-wide (June, 2009). Available in more than 265 > languages, Wikipedia contains more than 12 million articles contributed by a > global volunteer community of more than 100,000 people. Based in San > Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) > charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants. > > > Press inquiries > > Jay Walsh > WikimediaFoundation.org > blog.wikimedia.org > +1 (415) 839 6885 x 609 > [email protected] _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
