Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: A new structure for WMF Community Engagement
It is indeed sad news that we wake up to this morning, reading that Anasuya will be leaving us! I wish you the best, and a speedy and full recovery. I think I still owe you a beer from London :-) On the other hand, it is very interesting and positive to read that three excellent WMF-ers are changing roles, and will be able to continue to fight the good fight even more successfully. Luis, Siko and Asaf, congratulations - I respect you and your work greatly and look forward to seeing what you build! I see the WMF's staff and contractors page has already been updated to reflect the new changes, which is very nice - it's helpful to be able to see the new structure that was explained visually. http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Staff_and_contractors -Liam wittylama.com Peace, love metadata ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: A new structure for WMF Community Engagement
Dear Anasuya, there's a lot I've learnt from you and your departure leaves me half way, with a a burning appetite for more. You've been a pillar of the grant making process, and of WMF. Please, do get better soon, and back on your dancing legs! dj pundit On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 11:20 PM, Anasuya Sengupta asengu...@wikimedia.org wrote: Dear friends and colleagues, fellow adventurers on the Wikimedia journey - Goodbyes are overrated.[1] But since I’m sure this will be au revoir, I’ll continue: I am leaving the Foundation as head of the Grantmaking department, at the end of March. This was not an easy decision to make; this is not an easy email to write. As some of you know, I have been battling health issues over the past few months. I’ve learnt sharp and intimate truths about myself as I’ve worked to get better, and what I’ve kept coming back to is the compassionate but fierce feminist slogan around self-care and sustainability: ‘what’s the point of the revolution if we can’t dance?’[2] To reassure you all, I will be well,[3] but I need a little time and space to focus on getting my dancing legs strong again. That said, I am pleased that we have a really solid plan in place as I leave. As Lila’s email announced, Luis Villa (our current Deputy General Counsel) will be taking over the team effective immediately, and leading the organisation further in our support of Wikimedia communities worldwide. Luis brings with him a range of skills and qualities that I know will stand him, the team, and the movement in wonderful stead through it all. As a friend and colleague, I am so delighted to be supporting Luis through the next few weeks of transition. I joined the Foundation in July 2012 to oversee and implement the FDC process. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of creating and leading a department of more than twenty remarkable and passionate people who care about our mission, our communities, and the resources needed to match the two. We went from Asaf managing a small grants portfolio on his own, ably supported on occasion by Winifred, to a fully fledged grantmaking department with a spectrum of monetary and non-monetary resources. We have been able to offer these in different ways to different parts of our movement: to individual volunteers with great ideas in need of project management, to small groups experimenting with new initiatives, and to established organisations who form critical content and policy partnerships in their local contexts. We built an infrastructure for understanding our collective impact. We learned together about what our different communities are doing globally, about the successes and challenges we have, and above all: about how we can, together, create a more powerful set of outcomes for free knowledge. In doing so, I’ve had the joy of discovery,[4] of learning from and with some of the most dedicated volunteers in the world, who believe that knowledge matters. Most importantly, that it’s not only free knowledge _for_ all that we seek, but even more critically, that we believe in knowledge _from_ and _with_ all. And I’ve discovered that the nerdy, geeky, obsessed-with-data part of me found a home in this extraordinary universe, where everybody’s “unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds” can find expression.[5] I look forward to the day when my worlds find more space on Wikipedia, when 80% of the globe is represented by far more than 20% of the edits, when much more than 15% of our contributors can self-identify as women. Till then, I’ll keep fighting notability one article at a time...[6] So thank you for sharing your worlds with me, and no thanks for turning me into an obsessive Wikimedian. :-) As I have learnt with you, I know I have done so with trust, and as I have challenged you, I hope I have done so with respect. I look forward to continuing our friendships and obsessions on a wiki near you. With appreciation and gratitude, Anasuya p.s. You can find me in the future at my enWP user page (User:Anasuyas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Anasuyas) or (dare I say it) on Facebook. Longer diatribes on liff, the universe and everything can be sent to anasuyaATsanmathi.org [1] Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Chapter 8) [2] Urgent Action Fund, a funder of women’s human rights defenders, has this book on sustainability: http://urgentactionfund.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/06/WTPR-Final-Book.pdf [3] And look forward to dancing together on the beaches of a future Wikimania… [4] Sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelievable, sometimes somewhat insane; but yes mostly, generous beyond belief, and always, joyous. :-) [5] More Neil Gaiman, from The Sandman: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sandman#A_Game_of_You [6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Key_theme_-_Global_South,_WMF_Metrics_Meeting_February_2015.pdfpage=20 Ask Florence (User:Anthere) for
Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: A new structure for WMF Community Engagement
I hate au revoirs. I feel like you've been around for a decade. Perhaps it's because you've bring to us a decade worth of insights, advices, experiences, etc. I do hope we have turned you into a hardcore Wikimedian and that you won't resist the appeal to stay among us. Thank you for everything you did :) Congrats to Luis, Siko and Asaf on the new roles. I knew Luis wasn't a true lawyer, and now we have proof of that! All the best, -- Christophe On 20 February 2015 at 09:52, Dariusz Jemielniak dar...@alk.edu.pl wrote: Dear Anasuya, there's a lot I've learnt from you and your departure leaves me half way, with a a burning appetite for more. You've been a pillar of the grant making process, and of WMF. Please, do get better soon, and back on your dancing legs! dj pundit On Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 11:20 PM, Anasuya Sengupta asengu...@wikimedia.org wrote: Dear friends and colleagues, fellow adventurers on the Wikimedia journey - Goodbyes are overrated.[1] But since I’m sure this will be au revoir, I’ll continue: I am leaving the Foundation as head of the Grantmaking department, at the end of March. This was not an easy decision to make; this is not an easy email to write. As some of you know, I have been battling health issues over the past few months. I’ve learnt sharp and intimate truths about myself as I’ve worked to get better, and what I’ve kept coming back to is the compassionate but fierce feminist slogan around self-care and sustainability: ‘what’s the point of the revolution if we can’t dance?’[2] To reassure you all, I will be well,[3] but I need a little time and space to focus on getting my dancing legs strong again. That said, I am pleased that we have a really solid plan in place as I leave. As Lila’s email announced, Luis Villa (our current Deputy General Counsel) will be taking over the team effective immediately, and leading the organisation further in our support of Wikimedia communities worldwide. Luis brings with him a range of skills and qualities that I know will stand him, the team, and the movement in wonderful stead through it all. As a friend and colleague, I am so delighted to be supporting Luis through the next few weeks of transition. I joined the Foundation in July 2012 to oversee and implement the FDC process. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of creating and leading a department of more than twenty remarkable and passionate people who care about our mission, our communities, and the resources needed to match the two. We went from Asaf managing a small grants portfolio on his own, ably supported on occasion by Winifred, to a fully fledged grantmaking department with a spectrum of monetary and non-monetary resources. We have been able to offer these in different ways to different parts of our movement: to individual volunteers with great ideas in need of project management, to small groups experimenting with new initiatives, and to established organisations who form critical content and policy partnerships in their local contexts. We built an infrastructure for understanding our collective impact. We learned together about what our different communities are doing globally, about the successes and challenges we have, and above all: about how we can, together, create a more powerful set of outcomes for free knowledge. In doing so, I’ve had the joy of discovery,[4] of learning from and with some of the most dedicated volunteers in the world, who believe that knowledge matters. Most importantly, that it’s not only free knowledge _for_ all that we seek, but even more critically, that we believe in knowledge _from_ and _with_ all. And I’ve discovered that the nerdy, geeky, obsessed-with-data part of me found a home in this extraordinary universe, where everybody’s “unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds” can find expression.[5] I look forward to the day when my worlds find more space on Wikipedia, when 80% of the globe is represented by far more than 20% of the edits, when much more than 15% of our contributors can self-identify as women. Till then, I’ll keep fighting notability one article at a time...[6] So thank you for sharing your worlds with me, and no thanks for turning me into an obsessive Wikimedian. :-) As I have learnt with you, I know I have done so with trust, and as I have challenged you, I hope I have done so with respect. I look forward to continuing our friendships and obsessions on a wiki near you. With appreciation and gratitude, Anasuya p.s. You can find me in the future at my enWP user page (User:Anasuyas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Anasuyas) or (dare I say it) on Facebook. Longer diatribes on liff, the universe and everything can be sent to anasuyaATsanmathi.org [1] Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Chapter 8) [2] Urgent Action Fund, a funder of women’s human
Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: A new structure for WMF Community Engagement
Dear Anasuya, Like you and many others I hope that this is an Au-Revoir, but nevertheless its a good idea to take a moment even when parting with the expectation of meeting again in the near future. Thank you for all that you have done for the Foundation, especially in building up our grant making ability in the past years. One of the reasons why the FDC is getting better all the time is you and your ability to listen to all the different stakeholders and come up with suggestions to improve/simplify the process. Having worked with you in the first FDC rounds and follow up conversations in the board have been great and as you can see from this thread, you will be sorely missed. I hope that your health issues will be behind you soon and that you will be able to dance with/around us soon :) Best Wishes Jan-Bart de Vreede On 19 Feb 2015, at 23:20, Anasuya Sengupta asengu...@wikimedia.org wrote: Dear friends and colleagues, fellow adventurers on the Wikimedia journey - Goodbyes are overrated.[1] But since I’m sure this will be au revoir, I’ll continue: I am leaving the Foundation as head of the Grantmaking department, at the end of March. This was not an easy decision to make; this is not an easy email to write. As some of you know, I have been battling health issues over the past few months. I’ve learnt sharp and intimate truths about myself as I’ve worked to get better, and what I’ve kept coming back to is the compassionate but fierce feminist slogan around self-care and sustainability: ‘what’s the point of the revolution if we can’t dance?’[2] To reassure you all, I will be well,[3] but I need a little time and space to focus on getting my dancing legs strong again. That said, I am pleased that we have a really solid plan in place as I leave. As Lila’s email announced, Luis Villa (our current Deputy General Counsel) will be taking over the team effective immediately, and leading the organisation further in our support of Wikimedia communities worldwide. Luis brings with him a range of skills and qualities that I know will stand him, the team, and the movement in wonderful stead through it all. As a friend and colleague, I am so delighted to be supporting Luis through the next few weeks of transition. I joined the Foundation in July 2012 to oversee and implement the FDC process. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of creating and leading a department of more than twenty remarkable and passionate people who care about our mission, our communities, and the resources needed to match the two. We went from Asaf managing a small grants portfolio on his own, ably supported on occasion by Winifred, to a fully fledged grantmaking department with a spectrum of monetary and non-monetary resources. We have been able to offer these in different ways to different parts of our movement: to individual volunteers with great ideas in need of project management, to small groups experimenting with new initiatives, and to established organisations who form critical content and policy partnerships in their local contexts. We built an infrastructure for understanding our collective impact. We learned together about what our different communities are doing globally, about the successes and challenges we have, and above all: about how we can, together, create a more powerful set of outcomes for free knowledge. In doing so, I’ve had the joy of discovery,[4] of learning from and with some of the most dedicated volunteers in the world, who believe that knowledge matters. Most importantly, that it’s not only free knowledge _for_ all that we seek, but even more critically, that we believe in knowledge _from_ and _with_ all. And I’ve discovered that the nerdy, geeky, obsessed-with-data part of me found a home in this extraordinary universe, where everybody’s “unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds” can find expression.[5] I look forward to the day when my worlds find more space on Wikipedia, when 80% of the globe is represented by far more than 20% of the edits, when much more than 15% of our contributors can self-identify as women. Till then, I’ll keep fighting notability one article at a time...[6] So thank you for sharing your worlds with me, and no thanks for turning me into an obsessive Wikimedian. :-) As I have learnt with you, I know I have done so with trust, and as I have challenged you, I hope I have done so with respect. I look forward to continuing our friendships and obsessions on a wiki near you. With appreciation and gratitude, Anasuya p.s. You can find me in the future at my enWP user page (User:Anasuyas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Anasuyas) or (dare I say it) on Facebook. Longer diatribes on liff, the universe and everything can be sent to anasuyaATsanmathi.org [1] Neil Gaiman, American Gods (Chapter 8) [2] Urgent Action Fund, a funder of women’s human rights defenders, has this book on
Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: A new structure for WMF Community Engagement
Thank you very much for sharing this, Lila. A special thank you to Anasuya for all of her work in the grantmaking area. She has been a driving force, and her contributions will be missed. Congratulations to Luis, Siko and Asaf in their new roles. I will look forward to working with all of them in their new capacities. Out of curiosity, and bearing in mind that the WMF has put itself forward as having its major focuses on techology and grantmaking, is there a reason that the person leading the third-largest group of staff, in one of these priority areas, is a Senior Director when smaller departments have Chiefs and the other focus departments have VPs?The organizational chart is getting a bit tricky to follow. :-) Risker/Anne On 19 February 2015 at 17:15, Lila Tretikov l...@wikimedia.org wrote: Dear Wikimedians, Among the WMF’s top priorities for 2015 is strengthening our engagement with Wikimedia editors and volunteers. Today we are taking the first step by bringing together the people who know our communities best and asking them to break barriers and improve engagement. Everyone at the WMF who carries responsibilities directly related to the communities will join a new Community Engagement department. I have asked Luis Villa to lead the Community Engagement organization as the Senior Director of Community Engagement, reporting to me. Promoting from within the WMF for this critical role will allow us to leverage the knowledge and experience with our communities and reinforce the strengths of our people. Luis’s experience with communities is lengthy and deep. He has been involved in open communities since the late 1990s, from communities as small as the Lego Mindstorms hackers to those as large as Mozilla. He worked in open communities as a lawyer, a programmer, a bugmaster, an engineering lead, a community leader, and a board member. Luis has performed exceptionally within the Foundation and supported some of our most fruitful community engagements. The Grantmaking, LE, Education, Community Advocacy and Community Liaisons teams will join the new Community Engagement department [2] under his leadership. Unfortunately, Anasuya Sengupta -- our beloved leader of grantmaking -- will be leaving us due to personal health concerns at the end of March. We will invite you soon to celebrate her time with us, her work at the WMF and the deep insight she brought to the Foundation. We are saddened to see her go. The team she has nurtured will provide an important foundation for our upcoming work. Siko Bouterse will move up to lead the day-to-day work of the Grantmaking team as Director of Community Resources, supervising all department Grant programs and the Global South strategy. Siko has been instrumental in innovating programs at the WMF, including initiatives like the Teahouse[1] and the IdeaLab[2] combining vision with strong support for volunteer community, tough decision making, and great project management skills. These changes are an opportunity to improve the coordination of our work supporting the communities. To accelerate this, I have asked Luis to lead an internal “tiger” team to better understand the needs, concerns and priorities of our volunteers, and to develop recommendations for future programs. This work will be shared with all of you as it becomes available. Please join me in congratulating Luis and Siko and in supporting our teams. The Wikimedia communities are what makes the projects strong, unique, and irreplaceable. This is the next step forward in our support to them, and in service of our mission. Lila [1] As Director of Community Resources, Siko will oversee the IdeaLab, Annual Plan Grants, Project and Event Grants, and Travel and Participation Support. Her team will include Katy Love, Winifred Olliff, Alex Wang, Janice Tud, Jonathan Morgan, and Asaf Bartov. Asaf will also take on a new title as Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities. [2] Rachel DiCerbo, Philippe Beaudette, Siko, and Anasuya’s other direct reports, and their respective teams (CL, CA, and Grantmaking/GLEE) will report to Luis. The Engineering Community team will be part of the tiger team but will continue to report to Engineering. [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Teahouse [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab ___ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l ___ WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Conference - Come to Berlin in May 2015!
I would like to re-emphasize that there are *new criteria* for participating in the annual Wikimedia Conference in Berlin. You can read all about them here[1]. The current eligibility status of different movement organizations (chapters, the thematic organization, and user groups) is tracked here[2]. If your group is not yet eligible and you don't take *very quick steps *to address the gap, your group will not be invited to the conference this year. If you have questions about this, please reach out to me. A. [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Who_should_register%3F [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Overview_Eligibility_Statuses On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 6:33 AM, Nicole Ebber nicole.eb...@wikimedia.de wrote: tl;dr: Wikimedia Conference 2015 in Berlin https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015 Date: May 14-17, 2015 Registration: Will open soon Dear Wikimedia friends, Thanks to the generous support of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Deutschland will be hosting the Wikimedia Conference from May 14-17, 2015 [1]. It is my pleasure to invite Wikimedia Affiliates to join us in Berlin and I am delighted that the Funds Dissemination Committee and the Affiliations Committee will also hold their meetings as part of this conference. This will give us all the opportunity to discuss ideas, exchange experience, build capacities, and shape the future of our movement together. I am extending this invitation also to the board and staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, and I hope that they again choose to join us for a couple of productive days. == Themes and program == The program team [2] has already kicked-off its planning process and is now structuring the conference tracks: Capacity building, sharing and collaboration, fundraising and finance, movement strategy. Team members come from several entities and countries in the movement, including the Wikimedia Foundation, and generously volunteered to manage this process together. They will present the major goals and schedule for the conference within the coming weeks. == Participation and registration == Registration will open in the coming days. The eligibility criteria for participating in the Wikimedia Conference 2015 have been aligned to the Affiliates’ Agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation. Please note that the criteria have changed compared to last year’s. Further information on the eligibility criteria and registration will be published on Meta [3]. Affiliates are asked to send delegates that are well-informed in goings-on at the affiliate, able to confidently answer questions about it and share experience from their group. They should also be empowered to commit their group to involvement in proposed projects or initiatives. == Logistics == Our event team will shortly open the registration and send out further information on logistical matters such as travel and accommodation booking. Daniela Gentner will be the main contact for all questions regarding the logistics, you can reach out to her via wm...@wikimedia.de. On behalf of the Wikimedia Deutschland board, I am looking forward to welcoming you in Berlin in May. Best regards, Nicole Ebber [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015 [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Programme_team [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Who_should_register%3F -- Nicole Ebber Referentin Internationale Beziehungen Advisor International Relations Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin Tel. (030) 219 158 26-0 | http://wikimedia.de Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch an der Menge allen Wissens frei teilhaben kann. Helfen Sie uns dabei! Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985. ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Asaf Bartov Wikimedia Foundation http://www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! https://donate.wikimedia.org ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] The Signpost -- Volume 11, Issue 7 -- 18 February 2015
Editorial: Recent retirements typify problem of admin attrition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18/Editorial In the media: Students' use and perception of Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18/In_the_media Special report: Revision scoring as a service http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18/Special_report Traffic report: February is for lovers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18/Traffic_report Gallery: Darwin Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18/Gallery Featured content: A load of bull-sized breakfast behind the restaurant, Koi feeding, a moray eel, Spaghetti Nebula and other fishy, fishy fish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18/Featured_content Arbitration report: We've built the nuclear reactor; now what colour should we paint the bikeshed? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18/Arbitration_report Single page view http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Signpost/Single/2015-02-18 PDF version http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-02-18 https://www.facebook.com/wikisignpost / https://twitter.com/wikisignpost -- Wikipedia Signpost Staff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost ___ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l ___ WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Conference - Come to Berlin in May 2015!
On Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 7:16 AM, Gerard Meijssen gerard.meijs...@gmail.com wrote: Hoi, I had a read and I would like to know how much time and effort is involved in the reporting requirement. That absolutely depends on the type of entity and complexity of finances, and on how neat its ongoing record-keeping is. For a small user group with a few projects a year, no staff, and adequate record-keeping (e.g. on a simple spreadsheet) in real time, a financial report can take as little as 20 minutes. For larger more complex entities, a financial report might take hours or even more than a day. The activity report, likewise, can be a single half-page for a small group that has had 2-3 types of well-understood activities, or it can be a 20page report with details, descriptions, graphs, models etc. Again, the more real-time tracking you've made (perhaps in the context of a project grant, or just your monthly or quarterly reports), the easier the annual reports are. Remember that the public annual activity report is an _already existing_ contractual obligation with all movement orgs. I.e. this moment in time is not the first time groups are asked to do this; it is merely the first time there might be real-world implications to remaining out of this basic level of compliance for a long time. I honestly believe that the point of reporting can be many things. There has to be a balance though between what you ask for and what it costs to produce this information. Agreed. Has this question ever been addressed. Yes. We have revised our report forms several times, always to make them clearer, crisper, and easier to just fill out, and we are letting the smaller/lighter end of the scale be exceedingly flexible (e.g. there is no set format or form for user groups' activity report. It literally can be a half page listing a couple of meetups and an editathon). Also with penalties riding on the reporting, what is the benefit of this and what is the cost of people not attending because of this insistence on compliance or else ? As you say just above, the benefits (the point) of reporting can be many things. To us, beyond some basic level of due-diligence on our part in terms of being reasonably assured funds were spent as intended, the main benefits of reports are opportunities for learning and sharing what is learned across relevant practitioners in the rest of the movement. Toward that end, too, we have _replaced_ some reporting requirements with the option(!) to compose a learning pattern based on your experience, rather than submit a full report. Since we consider this activity and basic compliance bar to be quite, quite low, it is our position that any group that cannot meet it and has no exceptional mitigating circumstances, is probably a group on which movement resources would be better spent in mentorship and local support, than in internatonal travel for a working meeting with active, practicing groups. It is implicit in the fact we let groups return to compliance before determining final eligibility to attend the conference that we think many of the groups that were non-compliance when we first published this table only need a little encouragement to get their act together and improve their governance enough to meet the criteria. We do intend to work with those groups that won't achieve compliance in time to see how we (or other movement resources) can help them get back on their feet. A. ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: A new structure for WMF Community Engagement
Dear Anasuya, Loved working together - it was a real pleasure. Apart from everything you did to drive grantmaking, a big thumbs up to you for dreaming up and organizing the community consultation in India last October. Hope you're back on your feet soon! Bishakha On Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 8:23 PM, Risker risker...@gmail.com wrote: Thank you very much for sharing this, Lila. A special thank you to Anasuya for all of her work in the grantmaking area. She has been a driving force, and her contributions will be missed. Congratulations to Luis, Siko and Asaf in their new roles. I will look forward to working with all of them in their new capacities. Out of curiosity, and bearing in mind that the WMF has put itself forward as having its major focuses on techology and grantmaking, is there a reason that the person leading the third-largest group of staff, in one of these priority areas, is a Senior Director when smaller departments have Chiefs and the other focus departments have VPs?The organizational chart is getting a bit tricky to follow. :-) Risker/Anne On 19 February 2015 at 17:15, Lila Tretikov l...@wikimedia.org wrote: Dear Wikimedians, Among the WMF’s top priorities for 2015 is strengthening our engagement with Wikimedia editors and volunteers. Today we are taking the first step by bringing together the people who know our communities best and asking them to break barriers and improve engagement. Everyone at the WMF who carries responsibilities directly related to the communities will join a new Community Engagement department. I have asked Luis Villa to lead the Community Engagement organization as the Senior Director of Community Engagement, reporting to me. Promoting from within the WMF for this critical role will allow us to leverage the knowledge and experience with our communities and reinforce the strengths of our people. Luis’s experience with communities is lengthy and deep. He has been involved in open communities since the late 1990s, from communities as small as the Lego Mindstorms hackers to those as large as Mozilla. He worked in open communities as a lawyer, a programmer, a bugmaster, an engineering lead, a community leader, and a board member. Luis has performed exceptionally within the Foundation and supported some of our most fruitful community engagements. The Grantmaking, LE, Education, Community Advocacy and Community Liaisons teams will join the new Community Engagement department [2] under his leadership. Unfortunately, Anasuya Sengupta -- our beloved leader of grantmaking -- will be leaving us due to personal health concerns at the end of March. We will invite you soon to celebrate her time with us, her work at the WMF and the deep insight she brought to the Foundation. We are saddened to see her go. The team she has nurtured will provide an important foundation for our upcoming work. Siko Bouterse will move up to lead the day-to-day work of the Grantmaking team as Director of Community Resources, supervising all department Grant programs and the Global South strategy. Siko has been instrumental in innovating programs at the WMF, including initiatives like the Teahouse[1] and the IdeaLab[2] combining vision with strong support for volunteer community, tough decision making, and great project management skills. These changes are an opportunity to improve the coordination of our work supporting the communities. To accelerate this, I have asked Luis to lead an internal “tiger” team to better understand the needs, concerns and priorities of our volunteers, and to develop recommendations for future programs. This work will be shared with all of you as it becomes available. Please join me in congratulating Luis and Siko and in supporting our teams. The Wikimedia communities are what makes the projects strong, unique, and irreplaceable. This is the next step forward in our support to them, and in service of our mission. Lila [1] As Director of Community Resources, Siko will oversee the IdeaLab, Annual Plan Grants, Project and Event Grants, and Travel and Participation Support. Her team will include Katy Love, Winifred Olliff, Alex Wang, Janice Tud, Jonathan Morgan, and Asaf Bartov. Asaf will also take on a new title as Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities. [2] Rachel DiCerbo, Philippe Beaudette, Siko, and Anasuya’s other direct reports, and their respective teams (CL, CA, and Grantmaking/GLEE) will report to Luis. The Engineering Community team will be part of the tiger team but will continue to report to Engineering. [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Teahouse [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab ___ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Conference - Come to Berlin in May 2015!
Hoi, I had a read and I would like to know how much time and effort is involved in the reporting requirement. I honestly believe that the point of reporting can be many things. There has to be a balance though between what you ask for and what it costs to produce this information. Has this question ever been addressed. Also with penalties riding on the reporting, what is the benefit of this and what is the cost of people not attending because of this insistence on compliance or else ? Thanks, GerardM On 20 February 2015 at 16:02, Asaf Bartov abar...@wikimedia.org wrote: I would like to re-emphasize that there are *new criteria* for participating in the annual Wikimedia Conference in Berlin. You can read all about them here[1]. The current eligibility status of different movement organizations (chapters, the thematic organization, and user groups) is tracked here[2]. If your group is not yet eligible and you don't take *very quick steps *to address the gap, your group will not be invited to the conference this year. If you have questions about this, please reach out to me. A. [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Who_should_register%3F [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Overview_Eligibility_Statuses On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 6:33 AM, Nicole Ebber nicole.eb...@wikimedia.de wrote: tl;dr: Wikimedia Conference 2015 in Berlin https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015 Date: May 14-17, 2015 Registration: Will open soon Dear Wikimedia friends, Thanks to the generous support of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Deutschland will be hosting the Wikimedia Conference from May 14-17, 2015 [1]. It is my pleasure to invite Wikimedia Affiliates to join us in Berlin and I am delighted that the Funds Dissemination Committee and the Affiliations Committee will also hold their meetings as part of this conference. This will give us all the opportunity to discuss ideas, exchange experience, build capacities, and shape the future of our movement together. I am extending this invitation also to the board and staff of the Wikimedia Foundation, and I hope that they again choose to join us for a couple of productive days. == Themes and program == The program team [2] has already kicked-off its planning process and is now structuring the conference tracks: Capacity building, sharing and collaboration, fundraising and finance, movement strategy. Team members come from several entities and countries in the movement, including the Wikimedia Foundation, and generously volunteered to manage this process together. They will present the major goals and schedule for the conference within the coming weeks. == Participation and registration == Registration will open in the coming days. The eligibility criteria for participating in the Wikimedia Conference 2015 have been aligned to the Affiliates’ Agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation. Please note that the criteria have changed compared to last year’s. Further information on the eligibility criteria and registration will be published on Meta [3]. Affiliates are asked to send delegates that are well-informed in goings-on at the affiliate, able to confidently answer questions about it and share experience from their group. They should also be empowered to commit their group to involvement in proposed projects or initiatives. == Logistics == Our event team will shortly open the registration and send out further information on logistical matters such as travel and accommodation booking. Daniela Gentner will be the main contact for all questions regarding the logistics, you can reach out to her via wm...@wikimedia.de. On behalf of the Wikimedia Deutschland board, I am looking forward to welcoming you in Berlin in May. Best regards, Nicole Ebber [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015 [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Programme_team [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015/Who_should_register%3F -- Nicole Ebber Referentin Internationale Beziehungen Advisor International Relations Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin Tel. (030) 219 158 26-0 | http://wikimedia.de Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch an der Menge allen Wissens frei teilhaben kann. Helfen Sie uns dabei! Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985. ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
