Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Board Recruitment Kick-Off: Changes to the Timeline

[Bishakha Datta]

On Sat, Mar 18, 2017 at 1:06 PM, Christophe Henner 
wrote:
>
>
> 2. Time comitment. So on that, we are actively working on trying to reduce
> the mandatory time board members have to allocate to WMF. Goal is between
> this year and next year to lower it down to what we benchmarked as average
> (and I can't find the number again, I'll dig into that). That work started
> after a discussion with Guy on the fact that the time comitment was so high
> we migh scare away high profiles. So working to get mandatory board time
> down.
> But there's also "non-mandatory" time comitment. I can only speak for me,
> but right now, it takes me from 2h in the day up to 6h, almost everyday. I
> try to have Sundays when I don't work (either for my job or wikimedia). In
> that I do include reading (scanning for some mailing lists) emails.
>
> Right now, I think that the most complicated thing to handle is travel
> times as you need to take almost a week off every time we travel abroad.
> But until we invent teleportation (that would be super cool), I can't see a
> way to change that.
>
> This resonated so strongly I had to write in. I think you've nailed it -
it's not about money. It's about time.

And not just the mandatory time commitment, but also the non-mandatory time
commitment...the expectations we have of ourselves, the extra time we put
in not because it's compulsory - this isn't a job after all (although it
feels like a part-time one). But because it's hard to be an effective board
member without putting in that extra effort.

Much as I loved it, I often felt I was drowning when I was a board member.
I often found it really hard to flip my mind space and my mental energies
between my paid day job and my wikimedia commitments - and sometimes had to
put my day job on the backburner. Or family, friends, life, the universe
and everything. None of which is tenable beyond a point.

The other issue is the travel. Now that I'm an FDC member, I can see how
two in-person meetings a year versus four makes a huge difference. [And as
a related aside, the time commitment as an FDC member is way way more
manageable - and takes place in two big chunks, not as an everyday thing.]

It would be great if you'll could rethink the time and travel expected of
board members, so that the whole thing is less of a super-human endeavour.
:)

Good luck!
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Making Wikipedia even better

[Bishakha Datta]

Congratulations on this bold move. Deeply interested since we work with
many women with disabilities who are bloggers (day job).

Will send you links off-list.

Good luck!
Bishakha

On 2 Aug 2017 13:53, "Mardetanha"  wrote:

> we (Iranian wikimedian User Group) soon are going to start program with
> well-known Center for the Disabled Persons to help them learn and edit
> Wikipedia, Despite disability most of these people are astonishingly smart.
> They want to effective in society. So we are going to use Wikipedia to help
> them achieve that, soon we will start this initiative city by city and
> hopefully by end of 2018 we will cover all major provinces and cities of
> Iran. hopefully we can turn this to a global initiative.
>
> Share your thoughts and experiences with us.
>
>
> Mardetanha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of Raju Narisetti to Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees

[Bishakha Datta]

Excellent news!
Bishakha

On 17 Oct 2017 00:11, "Anna Stillwell"  wrote:

> Welcome, Raju.
> /a
>
> On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 11:19 AM, Christophe Henner  >
> wrote:
>
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > Over the past year, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees has been
> > reviewing and evolving our appointment and onboarding process for new
> Board
> > members. While that has resulted in some lingering vacancies, we knew it
> > was important to update these processes to help maintain a cordial and
> > productive Board.
> >
> > The updated appointment process provides the entire board with more
> > detailed (albeit private) information about each candidate’s background,
> > public profile, past professional and volunteer work, and ability to
> > contribute to the Board. The updated onboarding process is meant to help
> > Board members learn about the processes and expectations of our Board
> more
> > quickly to help reduce productivity lost to transitions. Special thanks
> to
> > everyone serving on the Board Governance Committee and Nataliia for the
> > work they have put into these improvements!
> >
> > I am also incredibly excited to share that these efforts have helped us
> > identify and appoint an amazing addition to the Wikimedia Foundation
> Board
> > of Trustees! At our October meeting, the Board appointed and welcomed
> Raju
> > Narisetti to fill one of the vacant expert seats.
> >
> > Raju is a veteran media executive and journalist and brings a wealth of
> > communications experience to the board. He is also a veteran of nonprofit
> > governance and currently serves on the board for the International Center
> > for Journalists and Institute for International Education. I am confident
> > he will be a very valuable addition to the board and thrilled that he has
> > agreed to join us!
> >
> > We will continue to make improvements to our governance processes, for
> > example with the learnings from the on-going governance review, and apply
> > what we have learned to future appointments and filling our remaining
> > vacancy. Thank you for everyone’s patience as we took a pause and worked
> on
> > recruiting the best possible candidates, rather than simply rushing to
> fill
> > the seats.
> >
> > In the meantime, below (and on the Wikimedia Blog) you will find the
> > official announcement about Raju Narisetti and please join me in warmly
> > welcoming him to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees and to the
> > Wikimedia movement!
> >
> > Christophe
> > Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
> >
> > Raju Narisetti joins Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
> >
> > Media veteran brings nearly three decades of global strategic experience
> in
> > digital media and audience development to the Wikimedia Foundation Board
> >
> >
> > Image:
> > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raju_Narisetti_-_
> > International_Journalism_Festival_2015.JPG
> >
> > San Francisco, CA, October 16, 2017 — The Wikimedia Foundation today
> > announced the appointment of Raju Narisetti, a veteran media executive
> and
> > journalist, to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.
> >
> > Raju brings more than 29 years of media experience across three
> continents.
> > He is currently CEO of Univision Communications Inc’s Gizmodo Media
> Group,
> > the publisher of websites including Gizmodo, Jezebel, Lifehacker and The
> > Root.
> >
> > “Raju has dedicated his life’s work to information as a public service.
> His
> > commitment to editorial integrity, independence, and inclusion is deeply
> > aligned with Wikimedia values. His passion and expertise in digital
> > strategy and international growth will be invaluable to our movement’s
> > future as we advance our global free knowledge mission,” said Wikimedia
> > Foundation Executive Director, Katherine Maher.
> >
> > Prior to joining the Gizmodo Media Group, Raju served as Senior Vice
> > President, Strategy, at News Corp, one of the largest media companies in
> > the world and the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and The Times of
> > London. In that role, Raju was responsible for identifying new digital
> > growth opportunities globally for News Corp.
> >
> >
> > “There has never been more urgency in Wikipedia's 16-year history than
> now,
> > for upholding the values of free exchange of information and knowledge,”
> > said Raju. “Despite mounting challenges around the world, rapid
> innovation
> > is creating tremendous opportunities for the Wikimedia Foundation. I have
> > much to learn, but am also looking forward to lending my nearly three
> > decades of global media experiences to the movement, to help engage more
> > digital and mobile audiences, particularly diverse young people, and
> > harness their energy to benefit from—and support—the vital values that
> > underpin all Wikimedia initiatives.”
> >
> > Before joining News Corp, Raju spent nearly 25 years as a journalist and
> > editor. He started at The Economic Times in India before moving to The
>

[Wikimedia-l] FDC Recommendations, Round 1 2017-18

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear Wikimedians,

The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) meets twice a year to make
recommendations about how to effectively allocate movement funds to achieve
the Wikimedia movement's mission, vision, and strategy.  This is now the
11th round of allocations made by the FDC, and we met in person from
November 17-20, 2017 in Madrid to deliberate on 9 proposals submitted this
round. Wikimedia Deutschland's annual plan will be reviewed separately.


We would like to thank all of the participating organizations for the hard
work they put into this round’s proposals.

Our recommendations for Round 1 2017-2018 on the annual plan grants to the
Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees have now been posted on Meta.[1] The
Board will review our deliberations and make a decision by December 31,
2017.

We received grant requests for approximately USD 2,766,000 this round.
Before we met, committee members reviewed all of the proposals and
documents submitted.  We were assisted in this review with input from the
FDC staff assessments which included analysis on impact, finances, and
programs, as well as community comments on the proposals.

As you may know, there is a formal process to submit complaints or appeals
about these recommendations. Here are the steps for both:

Any organization that would like to submit an appeal on the FDC’s
recommendation should submit it to the Board representatives to the FDC by
23:59 UTC on 8 December 2017 in accord with the appeal process outlined in
the FDC Framework [2]. A formal appeal to challenge the FDC’s
recommendation should be in the form of a 500-or-fewer word summary
directed to the two non-voting WMF Board representatives to the FDC,
Nataliia Tymkiv and Dariusz Jemielniak. The appeal should be submitted
on-wiki, and must be submitted by the Board Chair of a funding-seeking
applicant. The Wikimedia Foundation Board will publish its decision on this
and all recommendations by December 31, 2017.

Anyone can file a complaint about the FDC process [3] with the Ombudsperson
at any time. The complaint should be submitted on wiki, as well. The
Ombudsperson will publicly document the complaint, and investigate as
needed.

On behalf of the FDC,

Bishakha Datta
FDC Chair


[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_recommendations/2017-2018_Round_1


[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_the_Creation_and_Initial_Operation_of_the_FDC


[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Complaints_about_the_FDC_process
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[Wikimedia-l] Community review on FDC-Annual Plan Grant Proposals - round 2 2017-2018

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear Wikimedia friends,


Five Wikimedia affiliates have posted their annual proposal to be reviewed
by the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC). The Annual Plan Grants process
is based on a thorough review by our committee but also by you, our
colleagues and friends in the communities. The proposals consist of annual
plans and budgets, with a detail of what programs and activities those
organizations are planning for the year to come. We welcome your comments
on those plans to help us review all aspects of the proposals.

The community review is a month long process, in which we need as many
people as possible giving their feedback on the proposals, asking questions
or clarifications and analyzing the initiatives that our movement
affiliates have developed for the twelve months ahead.

At the end of May, the FDC will meet to make recommendations to the
Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees on how to allocate movement funds
to these affiliates in order to achieve the most impact. Your input and
participation will be valuable as we make these recommendations.

You can find the proposals linked from the Community review portal here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2017-2018_round_2

The organizations whose proposals, plans and budgets are available for your
review include:
The Centre for Internet and Society, Wikimedia Armenia, Wikimedia Norge,
Wikimedia France and Wikimedia Indonesia

You can leave your feedback on the proposal discussion page.

More information about past APG rounds, recommendations, reports from
organizations can be found on the proposal page:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals


*More about community review*:
The APG proposal submission date is followed by a month-long open comment
period, when anyone is invited to provide input on and ask questions about
a specific proposal on its discussion page.

Applicants are also expected to respond to input and questions during this
period, although they are not able to change the proposal form itself after
the submission date.

The FDC will review the discussion pages during deliberations as one of
many inputs to the decision-making process. While anyone may comment on
proposals after the open comment period closes, the FDC may not be able to
take comments made after this period into consideration when reaching its
decisions.

*How to review*:
Please visit the community review page to view the proposals being
considered and follow the instructions. While the proposals are only
available in English, your comments can be in any language.

*Why your feedback matters*:
We hope this open comment period will add to an in-depth and robust review
of each proposal, and help keep our grantmaking transparent and
collaborative. The FDC highly values feedback and insights from the
Wikimedia community in making its funding recommendations.

Thank you for the time you’ll take to review these proposals,

Best,
Bishakha Datta
Chair, Funds Dissemination Committee
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[Wikimedia-l] FDC recommendations: Round 2, 2017-18

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear Wikimedians,

The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) meets twice a year to make
recommendations about how to effectively allocate movement funds to achieve
the Wikimedia movement's mission, vision, and strategy.  This is now the
12th round of allocations made by the FDC, and we met in person from June
1-3, 2018 in Lisbon to deliberate on 5 proposals submitted in this round.


We would like to thank all of the participating organizations for the hard
work they put into this round’s proposals.

Our recommendations for Round 2 2017-2018 on the annual plan grants to the
Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees have now been posted on Meta.[1] The
Board will review our deliberations and make a decision by June 30, 2018.

We received grant requests for approximately USD 1,289,978 this round.
Before we met, committee members reviewed all of the proposals and
documents submitted.  We were assisted in this review with input from the
FDC staff assessments which included analysis on impact, finances, and
programs, as well as community comments on the proposals.

There is a formal process to submit complaints or appeals about these
recommendations. Appeals may be filed with the Wikimedia Foundation Board
before 8 June 2018. Anyone can file a complaint about the FDC process [2]
with the Ombudsperson at any time. The complaint should be submitted on
wiki. The Ombudsperson will publicly document the complaint, and
investigate as needed.

The Wikimedia Foundation Board will publish its decision on this and all
recommendations by June 30, 2018.


On behalf of the FDC,


Bishakha Datta
FDC Chair


[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_recommendations/2017-2018_Round_2

[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Complaints_about_the_FDC_process
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] FDC Recommendations for 2015-2016 Round 2

[Bishakha Datta]

As one of the former board liaisons to the FDC, this is one of the threads
I regularly follow on wikimedia-l.

Am so happy to see the FDC going from strength to strength. It remains a
radical exercise in volunteer-led funding allocation, a model that is
unusual to begin with, and that I've rarely seen operate with such rigour.

Come to think of it, I can't think of any other volunteer-led funding
models. Are there others?

Congratulations to all of you who make it happen,
Bishakha

On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 5:31 PM, Anders Wennersten  wrote:

> For the ones who do not read the complete text, i see the key sentences to
> be (for WMF and the Board)
>
> *WMF to view its actions as leveraging a /network effect/ utilising the
> resources of the global movement.
>
> *For an international organization [Board&WMF], there is an apparent
> overall lack of global diversity
>
> I do hope that these key needs will be reflected not only in operative
> actions but also in the recruitment of a new ED.
>
> A resource centre in SF*combined* with the people, local organisations and
> learnings from all over our movement will be a formula for success that
> will enable us to reach our vision
>
>
> Anders
>
>
>
>
>
> Den 2016-05-15 kl. 21:55, skrev Anders Wennersten:
>
>> Thanks, for once, again a very thorough work done by FDC.
>>
>> I find it very encouraging to see that this committee is able to continue
>> with its good quality in its assessments and also to see it growing as a
>> role model in integrity and also truly representing the community in values
>> and experience gained from activities from our affiliates/chapters.
>>
>> I do hope that you, both as a role model and in your hand fast
>> recommendations, can help both the Board and WMF to also evolve into role
>> models and fully taking in the learning from all parts of the movement. And
>> that you will continue guide and follow up on the work in the chapters
>> having employees.
>>
>> Anders
>>
>> Now having read through all text twice, and enjoyed it a lot
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Den 2016-05-15 kl. 19:29, skrev matanya moses:
>>
>>> Hello Wikimedians,
>>>
>>> Twice a year, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) meets to help make
>>> decisions about how to effectively allocate movement funds to achieve the
>>> Wikimedia movement's mission, vision, and strategy. For this round, we met
>>> in person from May 13-15 to deliberate on five plans and proposals, which
>>> were submitted by Wikimedia Armenia, Wikimedia Norge, Wikimedia France, the
>>> Centre for Internet and Society, as well as the draft annual plan of the
>>> Wikimedia Foundation. We would like to thank all the organizations this
>>> round for submitting these proposals.
>>>
>>> We have posted our Round 2 2015-2016 recommendations on the annual plan
>>> grants to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. [1] The Board will
>>> review our deliberations and make a decision by July 1, 2016.
>>>
>>> This round, we received grant requests of roughly $1.25 million USD, and
>>> we have recommended roughly $1.14 million in annual plan grants (though
>>> grants are made in local currency). Before we met in May, we reviewed all
>>> of the proposals and additional documents submitted. We were assisted in
>>> this review with some input from the FDC staff assessments and analysis on
>>> impact, finances, and programs, as well as community comments on the
>>> proposals.
>>>
>>> There is a formal process to submit complaints or appeals about these
>>> recommendations. Here are the steps for both:
>>>
>>> Any organization that would like to submit an appeal on the FDC’s Round
>>> 2 recommendation should submit it to the Board representatives to the FDC
>>> by 23:59 UTC on 8 June 2016 in accordance with the appeal process outlined
>>> in the FDC Framework. A formal appeal to challenge the FDC’s recommendation
>>> should be in the form of a 500-or-fewer word summary directed to the two
>>> non-voting WMF Board representative to the FDC, Dariusz Jemielniak. The
>>> appeal should be submitted on-wiki, [4] and must be submitted by the Board
>>> Chair of a funding-seeking applicant. The Board will publish its decision
>>> on this and all recommendations by 1 July 2016.
>>>
>>> Complaints to the ombudsperson about the FDC process can be filed by
>>> anyone with the Ombudsperson and can be made any time. The complaint should
>>> be submitted on wiki, as well. The ombudsperson will publicly document the
>>> complaint, and investigate as needed.
>>>
>>> On a side note, all FDC members are flying back to their home countries,
>>> so we might be able to respond only in a day or two,
>>>
>>> On behalf of the FDC,
>>>
>>> Matanya [1]
>>>
>>>
>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_recommendations/2015-2016_round_2
>>>
>>>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] "Wikipedia Is Emerging as Trusted Internet Source for Information on Ebola"

[Bishakha Datta]

The same article was just forwarded to me by a US-based academic who's been
very sceptical of Wikipedia. Felt a tinge of pride.

Sent her back the Open Medicine peer-reviewed Wikipedia article on dengue
fever, posted to this list earlier.

Congratulations,
Bishakha

On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 12:50 PM, Keegan Peterzell 
wrote:

> On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 2:07 AM, svetlana 
> wrote:
>
> > MZMcBride wrote:
> > > http://nyti.ms/1rHy4fK
> > >
> > > Wikipedia Is Emerging as Trusted Internet Source for Information on
> Ebola
> > > Noam Cohen
> > > October 26, 2014
> > > The New York Times
> > >
> > > Neat! (And a bit terrifying.)
> > >
> > > MZMcBride
> >
> > Should be fun to remember -- in addition to the poorly honored WP:NOTNEWS
> > -- other language sisters, and do some proper statistics, as EN.WP ≠
> WP...
>
>
> ​I get your point, Svetlana, but WP:NOTNEWS is honored in the article:
>
> "
> Others wonder why it includes so little discussion about the current
> outbreak. It is covered in a separate article.
> ​"
>
> The Times piece highlights the article about the disease itself.
>
> As for ​
> EN.WP ≠ WP
> ​, the article is aimed at English-language audience, so it's natural that
> it's just "Wikipedia." I rarely see a press headline that denotes the
> language edition of Wikipedia if the article deals with the Wikipedia in
> the language of the piece.
>
> All-in-all, good work by [English Wikipedia] Wikiproject Medicine as usual
> :)​
> --
> ~Keegan
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keegan
>
> This is my personal email address. Everything sent from this email address
> is in a personal capacity.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement: A new structure for WMF Community Engagement

[Bishakha Datta]

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  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  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, L&E, 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
> >
> > ___

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcement: WMF to file suit against the NSA

[Bishakha Datta]

On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 6:40 AM, Samuel Klein  wrote:

>
> Let's hope so.  A key point is that the extraordinary overreach of this
> surveillance affects everyone.


I am absolutely delighted that the Wikimedia Foundation has taken this
courageous step - precisely because surveillance affects us all, and more
specifically Wikipedia users. For me, the value lies in taking the step:
regardless of whether we win or lose. I have no doubt it will be a tough
battle and that the legal team has taken this into calculation.

Congratulations, Michelle and Geoff and may the force be with you!
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcement: WMF to file suit against the NSA

[Bishakha Datta]

On Sat, Mar 14, 2015 at 12:34 AM, Pine W  wrote:

> I'm generally supportive of this legal action, but I am troubled by this
> statement:
>
> "I trust our legal team to make decisions about what legal actions to
> participate in."
>
> ...WMF needs an activist board. All of the guidance that
> I read about boards in general says that good boards do due diligance, and
> I would encourage the WMF board to be proactive and ask tough questions.
> This can be done while maintaining a positive and respectful atmosphere.
>
> Dear Pine,

As a recently-retired board member, I want to briefly chime in here.
Apologies for dragging this thread off-course from the announcement.

There seems to be an assumption that board members don't ask good questions
unless they are 'activists' - that is simply not true of any board I'm on,
and most certainly not of the WMF board. To combine this with James' email
replying to yours, 'providing oversight', 'strategic direction' and 'doing
due diligence' often means asking the right questions, including 'tough'
questions - at board meetings or via email, but not publicly.

Over the last five years, we've seen greater and greater clarity in
separating board and staff roles at the WMF - that's a good thing that most
organizations need to do as they mature, and helps both the board and the
staff do what they should be doing, instead of getting their roles mixed
up.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] What's cool?

[Bishakha Datta]

That we had the highest-ever votes in a Wikimedia Foundation board election
- and participation from many more wikis.

Cheers
Bishakha
On 5 Jun 2015 13:01, "Gerard Meijssen"  wrote:

> Hoi,
> Jura1 created a list using the latest software by Magnus of people who died
> in Brazil this year. Magnus added functionality to the template so that it
> is really easy to add images that are missing. This list makes use of
> Wikidata and it gets updated by a bot. It may live on any Wikipedia.
> Thanks,
>  GerardM
>
> https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User:Jura1/Recent_deaths_in_Brazil
>
> On 5 June 2015 at 07:55, Amir E. Aharoni 
> wrote:
>
> > I am AWFULLY biased about this, but I'll be shameless anyway; please slap
> > me if I overstep the self-promotion.
> >
> > I did a Wikipedia editing workshop in the University of South Africa in
> > Pretoria yesterday. As far as I know, it was the first one ever that
> > focused on using the recently enabled ContentTranslation beta feature. It
> > was six hours long and had nine participants, only two of whom had any
> > editing experience. It produced *fourteen* complete articles in Zulu,
> > Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Afrikaans and French. Except the latter two, the
> > Wikipedias in these languages are barely active.
> >
> > I conducted dozens of editing workshops, and this one was, by far, the
> most
> > productive ever by the amount of content created, considering the time
> and
> > the participants' experience. Time will tell how well can it be
> replicated
> > and improved upon and how many participants will stick, but I'm
> optimistic.
> >
> > I'll write a more detailed post later today.
> > בתאריך 5 ביוני 2015 00:41,‏ "phoebe ayers"  כתב:
> >
> > > I need a break from thinking about things going wrong. And so per
> Milos'
> > > observation that discussion here is falling off, I thought I'd start an
> > > open discussion thread about things going right.
> > >
> > > What's a cool thing you just discovered or are involved in that is
> > > happening in the Wikimedia world?
> > >
> > > My contribution: the SF Wikimedia list just had an announcement about
> an
> > > edit-a-thon (organized by Jake Orlowitz at the wmf office) that is
> > > happening during the American Libraries Conference, which is in SF this
> > > year. 30,000 librarians attend ALA! I'm super pleased we are
> infiltrating
> > > library conferences :)
> > >
> > > What's happening over in your part of the project?
> > >
> > > Phoebe
> > > ___
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> > > 
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> > 
> >
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[Wikimedia-l] The costs of freeing up knowledge

[Bishakha Datta]

An amazing story on the costs of freeing up knowledge in some contexts:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/innovators/2014/04/140421-haidara-timbuktu-manuscripts-mali-library-conservation/?utm_source=NatGeocom&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=inside_20140514&utm_campaign=Content

There is a wikipedia page on this [1], but the behind-the-scenes story is
incredible, so sharing widely.

Best
Bishakha

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamma_Haidara_Commemorative_Library
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Edit #1 and Challenge #1

[Bishakha Datta]

Love it.

Look forward to reading the paragraphs (without identifying info) when the
experiment is completed, or at some suitable point in the process. :)

Best
Bishakha


On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 7:22 PM, Leigh Thelmadatter 
wrote:

> Ok! I have a training session with Tec de Monterrey students doing
> community service on Sat. This will be part of their introduction!
>
> > Date: Thu, 29 May 2014 01:24:33 -0700
> > From: l...@wikimedia.org
> > To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Edit #1 and Challenge #1
> >
> > I wanted to share my first editing experience and ask for your help. Here
> > it is:
> >
> > Today I have made the first edit on English Wikipedia. As I said in my
> > first meeting -- I believe in traveling the path of our editors, so I can
> > better understand them and so taht we can make their experience more
> > natural.
> >
> > I have edited in private wikis before and I have edited the talk pages. I
> > used the Visual Editor, even though I am well-versed in the syntax. I had
> > the advantage of a very very experienced user by my side and it went
> pretty
> > smooth -- so this report is not entirely fair. Even though, I did stumble
> > in a few places, however, and this is a learning experience for me and
> for
> > our team.
> >
> > Overall I wish I had this on video. It is a bit like an experience of a
> kid
> > making their first goal. Exhilarating.
> >
> > So now I have a challenge back to you:
> >
> >
> >- Please pick a friend who has never edited before.
> >- Ask them to make an edit. Any edit in any language.
> >- Please have them write one paragraph about their experience.
> >- Have them send it to lila at wikimedia with the subject: #1
> >
> >
> > Thank you!!!
> > Lila
> > ___
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[Wikimedia-l] Free online course on open knowledge

[Bishakha Datta]

I signed up out of interest, so sharing. It's free and begins 3 Sept.

http://online.stanford.edu/course/openknowledge-changing-global-course-learning?utm_source=email%20broadcast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=may%20mailer%202014

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Thank you Sue Gardner

[Bishakha Datta]

Just adding my personal thanks, Sue.

You've taken the Foundation from infancy to maturity - one of the hardest
spins in the life cycle of an organization and one of the most enduring
legacies any leader can leave behind. You've literally laid the foundation
for the Foundation. :)

It's been an extraordinary pleasure working with you and I hope (and
expect) that you will continue to go from strength to strength.

Raising my glass to you,
Bishakha






On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 12:56 AM, Jan-Bart de Vreede  wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> As Lila officially takes over from Sue as the Executive Director of the
> Wikimedia Foundation after this weekend  it really is a moment to not only
> wish Lila a lot of succes in the coming years, but also to give a
> tremendous thanks to Sue for her work in the past years. Of course I did so
> last year in March when she announced her departure but it bears repeating
> that Sue took us from a small organisation in St. Petersburg Florida, which
> was struggling to create impact, to a mature and stable organisation which
> makes a huge difference. Building up a professional staff who are dedicated
> to our mission, incredible fundraising growth and working through complex
> situations to create concepts such as the FDC stand out amongst many other
> achievements.
>
> It was Sue herself who indicated that it was time to find a new Executive
> Director, someone who was more suitable for our focus on Engineering and
> Grantmaking. As I mentioned more than a year ago, its hard to imagine the
> Wikimedia Foundation without Sue at the helm. However, due in large part to
> her efforts we have managed to find a new Executive Director who gives me
> confidence in the future of the Foundation. I am happy that we managed to
> find the “unicorn” that we were looking for, but that didn’t happen by
> accident. Most of you know that we concluded the first round of our search
> in early december with candidates that we did not feel were ideal for the
> job. We decided to change our tactics and this involved both Erik and Sue
> spending a lot of their (spare) time with potential candidates and making
> sure that we were getting the right candidates. As a result our second
> round had a great set of candidates, which ultimately led to the selection
> of Lila. On the transition team Sue has been very crucial in holding up a
> mirror and reminding us what we were looking for.
>
> After a well deserved vacation Sue will be available as a Special Advisor
> to both the Lila and the Board of Trustees and we are grateful to her for
> making herself available to do this. However, what intrigues me more is
> what she will end up doing in the coming years. I am hoping it is in the
> space of Open Content or the Open Internet, as she will undoubtedly have a
> tremendous impact in there, and we need her! I am also happy to inform you
> that Sue will attend a part of Wikimania where she will for once not have
> an packed schedule, so feel free to take the opportunity to thank her in
> person if you are so inclined :)
>
> On behalf of the entire Board and all the staff of the Wikimedia
> Foundation: thank you so much all that you have given the Foundation, and
> especially your efforts in the past year to ensure that there was both
> stability within our organisation and a great succesor.
>
> Jan-Bart de Vreede
> Chair
> Wikimedia Board of Trustees
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Bangladesh has completed its local registration in Bangladesh

[Bishakha Datta]

Wow, two years from start to finish!

Congratulations from across the border,
Bishakha
On Jun 10, 2014 11:31 PM, "Patricio Lorente" 
wrote:

> Congratulations, Tonmoy!
>
> 2014-06-10 14:46 GMT-03:00 Asaf Bartov :
> > Fantastic news!  I know how frustrating it has been for all of you.
> >
> > Looking forward to continued collaboration!
> >
> > A.
> > On Jun 10, 2014 10:42 AM, "Rodrigo Padula" 
> wrote:
> >
> >> Great news!!
> >>
> >> Congratulations to all members of the Wikimedia Bangladesh!
> >>
> >> Rodrigo Padula
> >>
> >>
> >> 2014-06-10 14:28 GMT-03:00 Tonmoy Khan :
> >>
> >> > Dear All,
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > It gives me great pleasure to announce that Wikimedia Bangladesh
> (WMBD)
> >> has
> >> > successfully completed its local registration in Bangladesh. Our
> >> > application for registration was approved by the Registrar of Joint
> Stock
> >> > Companies & Firms - Bangladesh on 9th June, 2014 and I have collected
> the
> >> > certificate of registration today (10th June, 2014).
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Wikimedia Bangladesh has been registered under the Societies
> Registration
> >> > Act of Bangladesh & our official name is Wikimedia Bangladesh
> Foundation.
> >> >
> >> > The registration process was a very long and demanding one, but our
> >> > perseverance and determination finally prevailed. It has become very
> >> > difficult to get registration of a society/foundation in Bangladesh as
> >> the
> >> > incumbents have to have security clearance from the National Security
> >> > Intelligence (NSI) of Bangladesh, which is very difficult to get if
> not
> >> > impossible. In the course of dealing with the registration process of
> >> WMBD,
> >> > I learned that less than 5 applications for registration as societies
> get
> >> > approved out of every 100. We submitted our application in May 2012
> and
> >> it
> >> > took us a little over two years to get the security clearance from
> NSI &
> >> > complete all the bureaucratic process!
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > It gives us a great sense of achievement that we could uphold the
> >> Wikimedia
> >> > movement volunteerism spirit with passion, integrity and
> professionalism
> >> > despite being a small volunteer community. The pending registration
> issue
> >> > could not hold us from doing outreach activities locally & taking in
> the
> >> > greater Wikimedia Movement. We organized some excellent programs,
> >> workshops
> >> > & meet-ups with our limited resources during this time period. This
> >> effort
> >> > successfully brought in good number of new contributors to Bengali
> >> > Wikipedia & increased the article count. Volunteers from
> WMBD/Bangladesh
> >> > are also actively participating in the international Wikimedia
> movement
> >> by
> >> > taking part in discussions, conferences & as committee members in
> >> different
> >> > Wikimedia committees.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > We, as a chapter, want to make small but steady steps towards
> sustainable
> >> > progress in fostering the Wikimedia movement in Bangladesh so that we
> can
> >> > make the sum of all human knowledge accessible to the people of this
> >> > region.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Cheers
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Ali Haidar Khan (tOnmOy)
> >> > Treasurer
> >> > Wikimedia Bangladesh
> >> >
> >> > "ভাবুনতো এমন এক পৃথিবীর কথা, যেখানে প্রতিটি মানুষ সমস্ত জ্ঞান বাধাহীন
> >> ভাবে
> >> > আদান প্রদান করতে পারবে। এটাই আমাদের অঙ্গীকার।"
> >> > ___
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>
>
> --
> Patricio Lorente
> Blog: http://www.patriciolorente.com.ar
> Identi.ca // Twitter: @patriciolorente
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] "Statement on Wikipedia from participating communications firms"

[Bishakha Datta]

On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 12:05 AM, William Beutler 
wrote:

> Hi, everybody. Longtime lurker, first time writing to the list—the first in
> a few years at least.
>
> You may have seen some news coverage today about an initiative from a group
> of public relations, marketing, and communications agencies offering a
> statement, posted as a user essay on Wikipedia, stating in a public way
> their intention to follow Wikipedia's rules—especially regarding WP:COI—to
> educate themselves more about Wikipedia, and educate their colleagues and
> clients in turn.
>
>
Thank you for posting this. It was a pleasant surprise and seems like a
sound and constructive approach to this issue.

Best
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] FDC nominations - shortlist announced

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

Many thanks to all those who nominated themselves for the four vacancies on
the FDC; we have an excellent slate of candidates.

The shortlist of candidates has been posted on meta:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Nominations#Update_from_the_Board_and_shortlist_of_candidates

In the coming week, the Board of Trustees will select four members to the
FDC from the interviewed shortlist. We will announce these appointments by
close of day UTC 11 July 2014.

Best
Bishakha and Patricio
Board liaisons, FDC
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decision on FDC member appointments

[Bishakha Datta]

Many thanks to the outgoing members and a big welcome to the incoming ones.

Just posted on the factors we considered in making the appointment
decisions:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Nominations#Factors_considered_in_Board_decision_on_FDC_member_appointments

Please pitch questions there.

Best
Bishakha


On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 9:25 PM, Anasuya Sengupta 
wrote:

> Adding my voice of appreciation to the outgoing members - Anders, Arjuna,
> Mike and Yuri - for the extraordinary commitment and energy it took to get
> this inaugural FDC off the ground, and functioning as well as it has been.
> The Advisory Group's unanimous endorsement of the FDC is no little measure
> due to the work all of you contributed. Thank you so much for everything
> you put into it; I hope you gained immeasurably from the experience too
> (beyond the jet lag and the complaints!). :-)
>
> Thank you too, to Bishakha and Patricio and the rest of the Board for the
> selection of the new appointees (and welcome, Anne, Dumisane, Matanya and
> Osmar!). The movement was lucky to have such a strong pool of candidates
> interested in the positions (and I hope this will continue to be true), but
> it must have made the decision difficult indeed.
>
> Looking forward to working with all the new appointees, and continuing to
> work with Anders, Arjuna, Mike and Yuri in other ways.
>
> Warmly,
> Anasuya
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 6:01 AM, Arjuna Rao Chavala 
> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Jul 12, 2014 at 1:37 AM, Patricio Lorente <
> > patricio.lore...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Dear friends:
> > >
> > > We are pleased to inform you that the WMF Board of Trustees has come
> to a
> > > decision about which four candidates to appoint to the FDC. It wasn't
> > easy;
> > > as is evident from the nominations, the caliber of the candidates was
> > very
> > > high. The resolution is now published in
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Funds_Dissemination_Committee_Membership_2014
> > >
> > > We have selected four appointees as follows:
> > >
> > > 1)Anne Clin (Risker)
> > >
> > > 2)Matanya Moses (matanya)
> > >
> > > 3)Dumisani Ndubane (Thuvack)
> > >
> > > 4)Osmar Valdebenito (B1mbo)
> > >
> > >
> > Thanks Paticio and Bishakha for  handling  the tough job of selecting the
> > candidates for FDC well.
> >
> > Congratulations and best wishes to all the new appointees,  I am sure
> that
> > FDC  will exceed its past performance in the years to come.
> >
> > Sincerely
> >
> > Arjuna
> > ___
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> >
>
>
>
> --
>
>
> *Anasuya SenguptaSenior Director of GrantmakingWikimedia Foundation*
>
> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
> the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!
> Support Wikimedia 
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[Wikimedia-l] Ask The Board: Questions for today's session at Wikimania

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

Following up on Jan-Bart's earlier email about this, our Board Q&A will
take place at 3 pm today at Wikimania.

Please do post your questions online at:
https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Questions_for_the_Q%26A_with_Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees


We will also take questions from the audience, so if you are at Wikimania,
do bring your questions to the session.

Since there are usually more questions than time to answer them, we commit
to answering all questions that can't be included in the live session
online.

Cheers
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board Meeting Update

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

Since many have asked why I'm stepping off the board when my term ends Dec
2014: there's no dramatic reason - it's the compulsions of time. Being on
the WMF board is immensely satisfying but also a big time commitment that I
find increasingly hard to sustain.

I intend to be around in the movement, doing other things.

Best
Bishakha


On Sat, Aug 9, 2014 at 3:25 PM, Anders Wennersten 
wrote:

> Many wise decisions as I see it. It is important with continuity and hands
> on experience from the movement and our projects in the Board.
>
> But the identified missing competence in the Board of management
> experience is still not resolved..(something for December appointment?)
>
> And  congratulations to Patricio, nice to see his good insights and
> competence being even more used in the Board
>
> Anders
>
>
>
> Jan-Bart de Vreede skrev 2014-08-08 15:24:
>
>  Hello Everyone
>>
>> While the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting will arrive in due
>> time I wanted to update you on some internal matters at this point because
>> there have been some changes in the board composition.
>>
>> Ana Toni joined our board last year but unfortunately the time demands
>> placed upon a Wikimedia Board member were not compatible with her other
>> commitments. This has given the board something to think about. We aim to
>> be a board that is able to incorporate outside expertise to increase our
>> effectiveness and possible candidates are often not able to commit the time
>> which we currently require.. In the coming period we want to have a look at
>> the time which is demanded of a board member (especially our in person
>> meetings which require a lot of travel) and look at which activities we
>> need to perform as a board. We want to thank Ana for her contributions. The
>> insights gained from her position as Chair of Greenpeace International were
>> especially useful to us as a board. We are sad to see her go, but we hope
>> to keep her in “our space”.
>>
>> Bishakha Datta joined our board in March 2010 and has indicated to us
>> that she is not available for re-appointment after her term runs out in
>> December of this year. We will take the time to properly thank her for her
>> great contributions when her term formally ends in December.
>>
>> While these things are part of of the normal turnover of the composition
>> of the board (and are also an opportunity to attract new fields of
>> expertise as needed) there is a matter of board stability during the first
>> year of the tenure of our new Executive Director. In response to Lila's
>> request for stability the board has decided the following:
>>
>> 1) Alice Wiegand was appointed to finish out Ana's term ending December
>> 2014.  We also appointed Alice to carry out the subsequent term ending
>> December 2016.
>>
>> 2) Last year at Wikimania I was appointed to the board for a two year
>> period, but I tendered my resignation effective the end of this year.  At
>> the Board's request I reconsidered that resignation, and will serve out the
>> rest of my original two year term ending December 2015.
>>
>> This does mean we will start the search process for a new board member
>> for the appointed seat that Bishakha will vacate at the end of this year.
>> And hopefully we will be able to also identify potential candidates to fill
>> the seats of both Stuart West and me, which will become vacant at the end
>> of 2015.
>>
>> Secondly we have appointed the two officer positions as follows for the
>> coming fiscal year
>>
>> Chair - Jan-Bart de Vreede
>> Vice-Chair - Patricio Lorente
>>
>> The foundation has a great opportunity to grow under the guidance of our
>> new Executive Director and realize our ambitions. The board is looking
>> forward to a year of supporting Lila and providing direction for our
>> strategic goals.
>>
>> Jan-Bart de Vreede
>> Chair
>> Board of Trustees
>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>
>> PS: All the relevant resolutions will be published on meta in the coming
>> days
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] movement partners

[Bishakha Datta]

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 1:33 AM, phoebe ayers  wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Here is a question that came up during today's US GLAM consortium meeting:
> what's the current status of the 'movement partners' affiliation?
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_affiliation_models/Movement_Partners
>
> Is recognition of movement partners something that AffComm will be taking
> on in future, or will it rest with WMF/Chapters for now? Not sure what the
> latest discussions have been.
>
>
This is still under discussion between AffCom and WMF, Phoebe. The current
discussion is focused on sharpening the definition, translating the concept
into a clear easy-to-follow affiliation pipeline or pathway, and on the
division of roles between AffCom and WMF.

We're hopeful that this will move to the next stage shortly.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Fundraising 2013] Wikimedia France stepping back from payment processing

[Bishakha Datta]

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 3:30 PM, Fae  wrote:

> I'm hoping that the WMF can set a lead by publishing a calculation of
> admin ratio for themselves. ;-)
>
> PS staff salaries are not all automatically 'admin', I hope we can
> agree that some
> program activities are entirely justifiably supported by paid staff
> and contractors.
>
> This is tangential to the main thread, but relevant to this point. Fully
agree that all staff salaries are not automatically 'admin'. Some
institutional donors outside the wikiverse are now asking for
activity-based budgets instead of traditional line item budgets to separate
salaries into 'admin' and 'programmatic'. So in this kind of budget, a
programmatic salary is budgeted under that programmatic activity along with
other program components as programmatic input (and often called a 'program
resource', rather than a salary, which is somewhat vague.)

But just wanted to make the point that donors are recognizing this issue
overall, specially since some program activities are labour or
human-intensive.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Thanks for all the fish!

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear Milos,

No! But understand. Also now understand why you withdrew your Board
candidacy.

Thank you for writing so honestly. It touched a chord in me (having gone
through similar cycles in other worlds).

One of my earliest memories of the wikimedia movement is having a smoky
chat with you in wikimania Gdansk about everything from the politics of
language to the films of Emir Kusturica. You made me feel at home. :)

I hope our paths will continue to cross.

Best
Bishakha



On Sat, Jun 8, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Erik Moeller  wrote:

> Thanks for everything, Milos. It's been a pleasure and I won't be at
> all surprised to run into you again, if not in Wikimedia then in other
> free culture circles. There are lots of unfinished projects indeed --
> for me, seeing the movement tackle increasingly hard and complex
> challenges successfully has been hugely motivating. I hope that if no
> sooner, in a few years you'll check in on where things are and find
> things so transformatively different to be re-energized to participate
> again. :)
>
> Erik
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia in jail!

[Bishakha Datta]

Fantastic - and fascinating.

Would love to see a blog post by someone from the chapter or by one of
them.

Bravo for reaching out to forgotten people.

Bishakha


On Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 11:05 PM, Samuel Klein  wrote:

> Charles - How beautiful.   Thank you for doing and sharing this.
> In what way was the partnership unexpected?  Did the Bellevue prison
> approach Wikipedians?
>
> Here is the announcement page w/PDF from the WM-CH site:
> https://www.wikimedia.ch/%5Bi18n-termpath-raw%5D/wikipedia-jail
>
> SJ
>
> SJ
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 17, 2013 at 10:29 AM, Liam Wyatt  wrote:
> > Now THIS is seriously clever!
> > Well done WMCH - that is a truly innovative way to provide access to
> > knowledge to a community who is often forgotten.
> > Can you link to the press release here, please?
> >
> > -Liam / Wittylama
> >
> > wittylama.com
> > Peace, love & metadata
> >
> >
> > On 17 June 2013 14:15, Charles Andrès 
> wrote:
> >
> >> Wikipedia for prisoners – an unexpected partnership between a swiss
> prison
> >> and Wikimedia CH
> >>
> >> Following an initiative from Emmanuel Engelhart, with the support of
> >> Wikimedia CH CAO, Chantal Ebongué, since March 2013, prisoners who
> request
> >> can have an access to Wikipedia offline (Kiwix project). The idea is to
> >> stimulate or to support the interest for education of prisoners who
> were,
> >> for a large majority, condemned to long-time sentences.
> >>
> >> After three months of pilot phasis, the project is successful : Among
> the
> >> 36 prisoners of the Bellevue’s prison in Gorgier, 18 possess or rent a
> >> computer. All of them requested the upload of Wikipedia offline on their
> >> PC. For security reasons, swiss prisoners have a very restricted access
> to
> >> internet.
> >>
> >> More informations in the press releases (ENG, DE, FR, IT) that was sent
> >> today to the swiss media
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> Charles
> >>
> >>
> >> ___
> >> Charles ANDRES, Chairman
> >> "Wikimedia CH" – Association for the advancement of free knowledge –
> >> www.wikimedia.ch
> >> Office +41 (0)21 340 66 20
> >> Skype: charles.andres.wmch
> >> IRC://irc.freenode.net/wikimedia-ch
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ___
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> >>
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>
>
> --
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>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] On now: European Dialog on Internet Governance

[Bishakha Datta]

Here's a call from ISOC for applying for funding to attend the Internet
Governance Forum to be held 22-25 October in Bali:
http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/education-and-leadership-programmes/next-generation-leaders/igf-ambassadors-programme

Deadline: 24 June.

2013 calendar of the Internet Governance Forum at:
http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/content/article/121-preparatory-process/1278-2013-calendar
Includes the European Dialog on Internet Governance that is on now.

Best
Bishakha


On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 3:01 PM, Manuel Schneider <
manuel.schnei...@wikimedia.ch> wrote:

> Those oft you interested in Internet governance can follow the EuroDIG
> conference in Lisbon right now via webcast:
>
> http://www.eurodig.org/important/webcast-remote-participation
>
> and / or follow the hastag #EuroDIG in Twitter.
>
> Yesterday we had the General Assembly oft EURALO, the regional at-large
> organisation where I represent Wikimedia CH and Wikimedia Österreich AS
> members of ICANN At-Large. I will serve another term von the EURALO board.
> We had a very interesting visit from ICANN's new president and CEO Fahdi
> Chehade. With its multi-stakeholder approach and also developed and grown
> based in external needs and in ever-changing environment it faces similar
> challenges like the Wikimedia movement. This was a surprising understanding
> for me, having experienced ICANN as a big, bureaucratic organisation. I am
> aiming toward an exchange, being aware that is still hard to be heard
> within ICANN but without our critical and demanding voices we give away our
> ability to influence policy making on the Internet.
>
> /Manue
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Congratulations

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

As board liaison to the Election Committee, I would like to take this
opportunity to heartily congratulate the successful candidates for the
Board of Trustees, the Funds Dissemination Committee, and for the FDC
Ombudsperson elections. I would also like to thank all those who
participated in these three elections, as well as those who voted in them.

The Election Committee made all this happen - many thanks to all committee
members for working since March to manage and bring these elections to a
successful conclusion (and for announcing the results well before the
deadline of June 28).

And a very special thanks to Risker, for her tireless and determined work
on this committee, for consistently stepping up to the plate and for
ensuring that things moved forward at each and every stage.

The committee was supported in this year's election by Philippe, Sam and
James from the Wikimedia Foundation - thanks for all your support.

I look forward to your thoughts on this year's elections and your
suggestions for future improvements. Please leave comments, suggestions and
feedback at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2013/Post_mortem

Best
Bishakha





On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 5:12 PM, Marc A. Pelletier  wrote:

> On 06/24/2013 06:03 PM, Ziko van Dijk wrote:
> > My warm congratulations to the people chosen to the WMF board, and to the
> > FDC positions, and also my thankfulness to those who were candidates.
>
> My congratulations to them, and also my thanks to Kat for her long years
> of dedicated service to the board!
>
> -- Marc
>
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

[Bishakha Datta]

On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 8:20 PM, Lodewijk wrote:

> Hi Phoebe,
>
> thanks for pointing to this!
>
> I see that this year we only have one hour of board Q&A. I have always seen
> a lot of value in these board discussions, especially when it can come to
> actually that: discussions. As there are several discussion sessions
> scheduled, without a specific topic, would you and perhaps a few other
> board members be willing to commit to use some of these sessions to dig a
> bit deeper into a few specific topics? For example, would there be three
> board members willing to have a round table discussion about transparency
> and openness at a board level?
>

I'd be interested in participating in this one - but cannot take the lead
on making it happen.

Do let us know if this does get fixed during wikimania. Cannot make it 9
Aug 2-4 when there's another meeting, but open to other times.

Best
Bishakha


> 2013/7/29 phoebe ayers 
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Every year at Wikimania the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees hosts
> a
> > panel where they take questions from the audience on the work of the WMF
> > and the Board.
> >
> > In past years the board has also taken questions via IRC. This year we'd
> > also like to provide the opportunity to leave questions on a wiki page
> > ahead of time:
> > http://wikimania2013.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Board_Q%26A
> >
> > While there is only time to answer a few questions during the session
> > itself, hopefully this will be a good way of getting questions from
> > attendees as well as from those who can't make it. The board will also
> take
> > questions from the audience at Wikimania, as time permits.
> >
> > Remember the Board doesn't deal directly with work on or problems on the
> > projects, and does not have a direct hand in how the WMF operates
> > day-to-day. Rather, the board thinks about the big picture, and gives
> > direction on strategy for the WMF. You can find out more about what the
> > board does (and does not do) here:
> > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees and
> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_handbook
> >
> > best,
> > phoebe
> >
> > --
> > * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers
> 
> > gmail.com *
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[Wikimedia-l] WMF 2013 elections post-mortem

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

Risker has prepared a detailed report of the 2013 elections outlining
several of the challenges that the Elections Committee faced this year.

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2013/Post_mortem/Report_from_Risker#Discussion_6

My report as board liaison is on the talk page at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2013/Post_mortem/Report_from_Risker

Both these need serious movement-wide discussion.

Please add your thoughts and comments so that we may consider various
possibilities and act to strengthen the election process before it recedes
from our consciousness.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the Board post-Wikimania

[Bishakha Datta]

On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 2:22 AM, Steven Walling wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> During Wikimania's Q&A panel, the Board lamented that, as always, they did
> not have enough time to answer all the questions from the audience and
> posted beforehand on-wiki. They did say they were accessible to follow up
> with on unanswered questions though, so I am taking this opportunity to
> start an open thread.
>
> The question I am personally interested in, I posted on the Wikimania wiki
> page,[1] and it's...
>
> "The 2013-14 Annual Plan allocates 40% of the Wikimedia Foundation budget
> and 59% of the staffing to engineering and product development. However, it
> seems that few of Board members have professional expertise in theses areas
> (compared to previous years and in general). Does the Board feel it has the
> necessary expertise to lead the Foundation in this area? Would the Board
> consider recruiting expert seats with more experience in engineering and
> product development?"
>

Dear Steven,

This is a good question and I largely agree with Phoebe. In June 2012, the
then board did an exercise where we tried to identify missing board skills.

As part of the Board Governance Committee's aim of increasing board
transparency while retaining the privacy that we need to carry out our work
effectively, this has now been posted at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_skills_matrix_2012

Keep in mind that this is a year old. Even so, hope it provides some
overall context and a few indirect glimmers into answering the question
that you posed.

Needless to say, a similar matrix done now may yield somewhat different
results.

Best
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] Standing Election Committee proposal

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

In the post-mortem of the 2013 community elections to the Board of
Trustees, the Funds Dissemination Committee, and the FDC Ombudsperson,
there was some discussion about the need for a Standing Election Committee
to organize and manage these elections in future. [1]

Building on this, a proposal for a Standing Election Committee has been
developed and may be viewed at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Standing_Election_Committee

Please help us refine this proposal by sharing your thoughts, feedback and
raising questions that we may not have considered. The Board of Trustees of
the Wikimedia Foundation is concurrently reviewing this proposal.

I would particularly like to call on past and present members of the
Election Committee, board liaisons to the committee, and WMF staff members
who have supported this committee to share their thoughts on this proposal.

Many thanks to Risker, for her contributions to this.

Cheers
Bishakha

[1]
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2013/Post_mortem/Report_from_Risker
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[Wikimedia-l] Board approval of FDC's 2013-14 Round 1 recommendations

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear members of the Wikimedia community,

As you know, on 24 November, 2013, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
made its Round 1 funding recommendations to the WMF Board of Trustees. [1]

Eleven proposals were submitted in this round, with requests for funds
totaling US$5.9 million. Out of its 2013-2014 annual budget of US$6
million, the FDC recommended allocations totaling US$4,432,000 to these
eleven movement entities, leaving US$1,568,000 for Round 2.

Two entities appealed to the Board about the recommendations of the FDC.
The Board has carefully considered all of the points raised in the appeal,
and invited the Ombudsperson to comment as well. After reviewing all of the
information, the Board decided not to override the recommendations of the
FDC, and has responded to the appeals in more depth. [2]

I am pleased to share with you the news that the Board of Trustees has made
the decision to approve the FDC's 2012-2013 Round 2 funding recommendations
in full. [3] These funding recommendations will now be implemented by the
Foundation.

We would like to thank the Round 1 applicants themselves, the Funds
Dissemination Committee members and staff, the ombudsperson, and the
members of the community who participated in the community review  period.

Again, we thank you all for your dedication and commitment to this funding
process.

Best,

Patricio Lorente and Bishakha Datta, Board Representatives to the FDC


[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2013-2014_round1

[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_on_the_recommendations_of_the_FDC

[3]
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Board_decisions/2013-2014_round1
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board approval of FDC's 2013-14 Round 1 recommendations

[Bishakha Datta]

Please refer to this corrected version, in place of the earlier email I
just sent.

Dear members of the Wikimedia community,

As you know, on 24 November, 2013, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
made its Round 1 funding recommendations to the WMF Board of Trustees. [1]

Eleven proposals were submitted in this round, with requests for funds
totaling US$5.9 million. Out of its 2013-2014 annual budget of US$6
million, the FDC recommended allocations totaling US$4,432,000 to these
eleven movement entities, leaving US$1,568,000 for Round 2.

Two entities appealed to the Board about the recommendations of the FDC.
The Board has carefully considered all of the points raised in the appeal,
and invited the Ombudsperson to comment as well. After reviewing all of the
information, the Board decided not to override the recommendations of the
FDC, and has responded to the appeals in more depth. [2]

I am pleased to share with you the news that the Board of Trustees has made
the decision to approve the FDC's 2013-2014 Round 1 funding recommendations
in full. [3] These funding recommendations will now be implemented by the
Foundation.

We would like to thank the Round 1 applicants themselves, the Funds
Dissemination Committee members and staff, the ombudsperson, and the
members of the community who participated in the community review  period.

Again, we thank you all for your dedication and commitment to this funding
process.

Best,

Patricio Lorente and Bishakha Datta, Board Representatives to the FDC


[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2013-2014_round1

[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_on_the_recommendations_of_the_FDC

[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Board_decisions/2013-2014_round1



On Wed, Jan 1, 2014 at 12:53 AM, Bishakha Datta wrote:

> Dear members of the Wikimedia community,
>
> As you know, on 24 November, 2013, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
> made its Round 1 funding recommendations to the WMF Board of Trustees. [1]
>
> Eleven proposals were submitted in this round, with requests for funds
> totaling US$5.9 million. Out of its 2013-2014 annual budget of US$6
> million, the FDC recommended allocations totaling US$4,432,000 to these
> eleven movement entities, leaving US$1,568,000 for Round 2.
>
> Two entities appealed to the Board about the recommendations of the FDC.
> The Board has carefully considered all of the points raised in the appeal,
> and invited the Ombudsperson to comment as well. After reviewing all of the
> information, the Board decided not to override the recommendations of the
> FDC, and has responded to the appeals in more depth. [2]
>
> I am pleased to share with you the news that the Board of Trustees has
> made the decision to approve the FDC's 2012-2013 Round 2 funding
> recommendations in full. [3] These funding recommendations will now be
> implemented by the Foundation.
>
> We would like to thank the Round 1 applicants themselves, the Funds
> Dissemination Committee members and staff, the ombudsperson, and the
> members of the community who participated in the community review  period.
>
> Again, we thank you all for your dedication and commitment to this funding
> process.
>
> Best,
>
>  Patricio Lorente and Bishakha Datta, Board Representatives to the FDC
>
>
> [1]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2013-2014_round1
>
> [2]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Appeals_to_the_Board_on_the_recommendations_of_the_FDC
>
> [3]
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Board_decisions/2013-2014_round1
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Wmfcc-l] [press] Erik Zachte in Wired

[Bishakha Datta]

About time.

The more recent Monthly Report Cards (http://reportcard.wmflabs.org/) which
organizes stats by region are extremely useful and I often use your
animated history of wikipedia to start presentations because it's so
beautiful.

Bravo!
Bishakha


On Sat, Jan 4, 2014 at 7:01 AM, Sue Gardner  wrote:

> Just wanted to share this article, because it makes me so happy!
> Erik's one of our earliest contributors and *we've* all depended on
> his work for years, but it's mostly invisible to the world beyond
> Wikimedia. It makes me really happy to see him get some external
> recognition :-)
>
> Thanks,
> Sue
>
> -- Forwarded message --
> From: "Jay Walsh" 
> Date: 27 Dec 2013 12:20
> Subject: [Wmfcc-l] [press] Erik Z in Wired
> To: "Communications Committee" 
> Cc:
>
> http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/12/erik-zachte-wikistats/
>
> Meet the Stats Master Making Sense of Wikipedia’s Massive Data Trove
>
> BY ASHIK SIDDIQUE
> 12.27.13
> 9:30 AM
>
> Erik Zachte. Photo: Lane Hartwell/Wikimedia Foundation
>
> There are websites, and then there’s Wikipedia. The internet behemoth
> boasts 30 million articles written in more than 285 languages, tweaked
> by 70,000 active editors and viewed by 530 million visitors worldwide
> each month. As mountains of information go, it’s Everest. Teasing out
> trends from the open source encyclopedia’s archives is a task few
> would even attempt. Yet Erik Zachte did just that.
>
> Zachte used his statistical intuition to create “Wikistats,” an online
> statistics package that’s more than a trove of charts and graphs for
> data geeks. It’s the most direct measure yet of Wikipedia’s success in
> achieving its central objective: making the sum of all human knowledge
> available to everyone everywhere.
>
> “When I discovered Wikipedia I felt thrilled from the outset,” says
> Zachte, who was working as an IT guy at KLM Airlines in the early days
> of the Wiki revolution. Not content simply to edit articles, he joined
> the mailing lists in which a fervid network of volunteers debated how
> to increase the site’s functionality. As Wikipedia exploded in
> popularity, power users complained there was no consistent way to
> measure its growth in article count from the beginning.
>
> “In 2003 there was already an online page counter if I remember
> correctly, but not much else,” says Zachte. He realized it was
> possible to extract far more descriptive data from historical metadata
> in Wikipedia’s massive database dumps, copies of all raw content that
> available to anyone in XML format.
>
> He started crunching numbers and quickly became famous among fellow
> Wikiholics for developing Wikistats. The site’s monthly reports filled
> a valuable niche for descriptive metrics in the Wiki community, with
> measures like article count, number of editors, and edits per article
> that serve as proxy indicators of Wiki quality. Impressed by Zachte’s
> stat-fu, the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation that supports the
> Wikipedia infrastructure made him its data analyst in 2008.
>
> Since then, Zachte’s figures – all of which are open source and in the
> public domain – have revealed ongoing challenges to the organization’s
> growth, as well as noteworthy trends.
>
> Wikistats data made it clear that a core of Wikipedians does an
> outsize portion of the editing. As of October, 4.7 million people have
> contributed to the English language Wikipedia, but just over 26,000
> people have made more than 1,000 edits. In fact, that relatively small
> group of people has made 73 percent of all edits. While a small core
> of very active editors has remained stable, a larger pool of active
> editors (those making at least five edits monthly) in all Wikipedia
> language editions peaked at 90,000 in 2007 and has dropped since. As
> of October, the count stands at 70,000.
>
> That has some worried that a shrinking community indicates declining
> quality and concerted efforts within the Wikimedia Foundation to boost
> editor engagement, which the organization considers one of the
> foremost indicators of Wikipedia’s success. In 2009, the organization
> launched an ambitious five-year strategic plan to drastically increase
> language and content diversity by encouraging internet users in the
> “Global South” – particularly the developing regions of Africa, Asia,
> the Middle East, and Latin America – to contribute. Wikistats metrics
> gauge its progress each month.
>
> “Many projects exist within WMF to influence editor influx and
> retention,” says Zachte, “but in the end Wikistats gives the final
> count: Are we on the right track?”
>
> The numbers show reason for measured optimism. While the largest and
> most densely populated language editions like English, German, French,
> and Japanese, have seen the number of active editors level off or even
> decline since about 2007, newer editor networks in highly populous
> languages like Chinese, Arabic, and Persian continue to grow. In
> addition

[Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions from 11 July 2012 meeting

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

Greetings from Wikimania!

At its board meeting on 11 July 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
Trustees passed the following resolutions:

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:2012-2013_Annual_Plan

This resolution approves management's proposed 2012-13 annual plan, and
also directs the Executive Director to carry out an assessment of the
Foundation's programs and strategic priorities.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Funds_Dissemination_Committee_framework_and_initial_operation

This resolution approves the initial operation and charter of the Funds
Dissemination Committee.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions from 11 July 2012 meeting

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Jul 13, 2012 at 7:14 AM, MZMcBride  wrote:

> However, I don't see any posted resolutions or votes regarding the new
> Board
> appointments (yet). Will those be forthcoming?
>
> Yes.
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] Board resolution on personal image hiding feature

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

At its 11 July board meeting, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution
rescinding its previous direction to implement the personal image hiding
feature.

The resolution is online at
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:_Personal_Image_Hiding_Feature

We are working on a Q&A document that will be published after Wikimania.

The following is the resolution's text:

"In May 2011, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees unanimously passed
a resolution regarding controversial content. The resolution included a
request to the Executive Director to implement a "personal image hiding
feature" for the Wikimedia projects.

Following a community poll organized by the Foundation, and extensive
discussion in various venues, it has become clear that this issue can be be
highly divisive and distracting to the Wikimedia community. We trust our
community, and we respect the arguments that have been made opposing the
feature as well as those in support of it. We affirm our support for better
user choice and user preferences, but do not want to prescribe a specific
mechanism for offering that choice. Therefore we rescind the request to
develop this feature. The remainder of the May 2011 resolution remains in
effect."

Cheers

Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] FAQ - Board Resolution on Personal Image Hiding Feature

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

I am happy to announce that the Board of Trustees has now *unanimously*
approved this resolution [1] rescinding our previous direction to the
Executive Director to develop a personal image hiding feature.

At our in-person board meeting of 11 July 2012, the vote on this was
provisionally recorded at 9-1, with Jimmy voting against. Jimmy has since
changed his vote to a yes, on reviewing an FAQ accompanying this resolution
which notes that the board is willing to approve a plan broadly backed by
the community.

Thus the vote on this has now been changed to 10-0.

The FAQ accompanying the board resolution on this has been published at:
Talk:Personal_image_hiding_feature

The resolution remains at: [1]
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:_Personal_Image_Hiding_Feature
Best
Bishakha

PS - I will be on a 24-hour plane ride in a few hours, so please excuse any
delayed responses.
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[Wikimedia-l] Further resolutions from board meeting of 11 July 2012

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

At its board meeting on 11 July 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
Trustees also passed the following resolutions:

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:_Board_visitor_-_Doron_Weber_(2012)
This resolution inviting Doron Weber to be a Board Visitor for 2012-13 was
approved unanimously.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Delegation_of_Banking_Authority
This resolution approving the delegation of banking authority was
unanimously approved.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Delegations_of_Financial_and_Spending_Authority
This resolution approving the delegation of banking authority was
unanimously approved.

The minutes from four board meetings held on 21 March (IRC), 30-31 March
(in-person), May 7 (IRC), June 6 (IRC) were also approved. These are
available at:http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Minutes

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Best
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] Board appointments July 2012

[Bishakha Datta]

Greetings, all.

And apologies. This resolution approving the Wikimedia Chapters' selections
to the Board of Trustees was unanimously approved, in-person, on July 11,
2012.

It took much longer to publish than it should have due to a procedural
issue.

It has finally been published at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Board_appointments_July_2012

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board appointments July 2012

[Bishakha Datta]

On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 7:48 PM, Bence Damokos  wrote:

> Hi Beria,
>
> I am sure Bishakha will give a more thorough answer if I am mistaken, but
> from what I heard from Board members when I asked the same question: the
> new board members fully participated in the meeting on the 11 July, but for
> technical reasons and simplicity's sake, they only assumed the positions of
> the outgoing board members

at the very end of the meeting.
>

Just confirming that this is exactly right.
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Farewell

[Bishakha Datta]

(Posted on India list and would like to share with larger wikimedia
community)


Dear Hisham,



I’m thinking back on your time here and want to thank you for so much that
you’ve done and built in these one and a half years. For setting up things
from scratch when there was neither a team nor an office and you were on
your own. For building and motivating a small team to venture into unknown
terrain (and for even daring to step into this terrain) without any
surefire guarantee of success. For tirelessly and successfully supporting
many Indic language wikipedias and the first-ever community-led
WikiConference India. For keeping up team morale in the difficult days
following the India Education program. For reaching out to hundreds of
people in India through any means necessary to create new editors. And,
yes, for being bold.



One of the things that makes this kind of work difficult is not just its
newness or its experimental unsure nature, but also its publicness.
Brickbats pour in much faster than bouquets in public fora, creating a
narrative of their own that is hard to buck. I want to thank you for being
able to smell the roses, for having a tough enough hide to survive the
brickbats while continuing to steer India programs and motivating your team
to do its best. I also want to urge the Wikimedia India community to be
constructive and rigorous in holding India programs accountable in its next
avatar - without being destructive or personal.



You’ve laid a very solid foundation for India programs that I expect the
team will continue to build on. I hope you enjoy your remaining time here
and leave with many more good memories than bad.



Will miss you, my friend!

Bishakha

On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 9:55 PM, phoebe ayers  wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 3:43 AM, Hisham  wrote:
> > Dear Wikimedia Community
> >
> > Here's a copy of an email I have just sent to all the individual
> community mailing lists in India.
> >
> > I'm writing to inform you that I plan to leave my current role
> supporting Wikimedia in India.  I am going to be exploring opportunities
> and evaluating options that are closer to my career aspirations and my
> personal circumstances.  I will be working through to ensure that there is
> a smooth transition - and this is likely to take 2-3 months.  I am writing
> now because I felt it appropriate and opportune to inform you as early as
> possible.
>
> :( I am sorry to hear this -- you will be greatly missed! I hope the
> transition is smooth and productive, and the future brings wonderful
> things for you.
>
> all best,
> phoebe
>
> --
> * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers
>  gmail.com *
>
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[Wikimedia-l] Board resolution inviting Barry Newstead to join the Advisory Board

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

The Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a resolution inviting Barry
Newstead to join the Advisory Board for a term ending 31 December 2013.

The resolution is published
at:http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Advisory_board_-_Barry_Newstead

Best
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] Minutes of 11 July Board meeting, Agenda of 26-27 Oct Board meeting

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

The minutes of our board meeting of 11 July 2012 were ratified yesterday,
and have been published at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Minutes/2012-07-11

The agenda of our board meeting of 26-27 October 2012 (ongoing) has now
been published at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_meetings#October_26-27.2C_2012

Questions and comments, as always, are welcome.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Minutes of 11 July Board meeting, Agenda of 26-27 Oct Board meeting

[Bishakha Datta]

On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 8:29 AM, Abbas Mahmood  wrote:

> Dear Bishakha,
>
> Thanks for sharing the minutes. Is Sue's presentation (slides?), which has
> been referred to in the minutes, publicly available?
>
> Thanks,
> Abbas.
>
>
Dear Abbas,

It will be made available.

Best
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] Four Board resolutions from 26 October 2012

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

The following resolutions, which were passed at the in-person Board meeting
of 26 October, have now been published.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:HR_Committee_Charter
This resolution approves the charter for the Human Resources Committee.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Audit_Committee_Charter
This resolution approves the charter for the Audit Committee.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Committee_appointments
This resolution approves the appointment of Trustees to serve on Board
committees and Board-created committees.

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Legal_Fees_Assistance_Program
This resolution approves the Legal Fees Assistance Program.

Best to all,
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] Board vote on narrowing focus

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

At its in-person meeting on 26 October, the board unanimously agreed to
accept the recommendation to narrow focus as presented by the Executive
Director.

This vote has been published at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Vote:Narrowing_Focus

Best
Bishakha
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[Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear all,

At its in-person meeting of 26 October, the Board of Trustees also approved
the two following resolutions:

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Amended_Bylaws
This resolution approved the revised and amended Foundation bylaws. The
updated Bylaws are being adopted to ensure the Foundation's continued
compliance with applicable laws and to further clarify certain procedural
matters.

Please note the substantive change in Article V: Officers and Duties. As
per the amendments, the Secretary and Treasurer are now non-trustee officer
positions.

In line with this amendment, non-trustees have been appointed to both these
positions.
The resolution approving these appointments is published at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Appointment_of_Foundation_Staff_Officers

All resolutions from the in-person meeting of 26 October have now been
published.

Questions and comments, as always, are welcome.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

Dear Thomas, Lodewijk and others,

I will reply to this thread once I finish the work meeting at which I am
currently.

Best
Bishakha
On Nov 2, 2012 5:26 PM, "Thomas Dalton"  wrote:

> Bishaka,
>
> Seeing as there was no public discussion of these amendments, to my
> knowledge, can you at least explain them now?
>
> The responsibilities of the Secretary and Treasurer are board
> responsibilities. While the day-to-day work of the role may be delegated to
> staff, it is still the job of the board to ensure that everything is done
> correctly. How does the board intend to do that in future? Have individual
> trustees been appointed as liaisons to these new officers? Or are there
> committees to oversee their work?
> On Nov 2, 2012 9:29 AM, "Bishakha Datta"  wrote:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> > At its in-person meeting of 26 October, the Board of Trustees also
> approved
> > the two following resolutions:
> >
> > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Amended_Bylaws
> > This resolution approved the revised and amended Foundation bylaws. The
> > updated Bylaws are being adopted to ensure the Foundation's continued
> > compliance with applicable laws and to further clarify certain procedural
> > matters.
> >
> > Please note the substantive change in Article V: Officers and Duties. As
> > per the amendments, the Secretary and Treasurer are now non-trustee
> officer
> > positions.
> >
> > In line with this amendment, non-trustees have been appointed to both
> these
> > positions.
> > The resolution approving these appointments is published at:
> >
> >
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Appointment_of_Foundation_Staff_Officers
> >
> > All resolutions from the in-person meeting of 26 October have now been
> > published.
> >
> > Questions and comments, as always, are welcome.
> >
> > Best
> > Bishakha
> > ___
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> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
> >
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 5:26 PM, Thomas Dalton wrote:

>
> The responsibilities of the Secretary and Treasurer are board
> responsibilities. While the day-to-day work of the role may be delegated to
> staff, it is still the job of the board to ensure that everything is done
> correctly. How does the board intend to do that in future? Have individual
> trustees been appointed as liaisons to these new officers? Or are there
> committees to oversee their work?
>

Yes, both will be overseen by Board members. The Treasurer will be overseen
by the Audit Committee head, while the Secretary will be overseen by the
Board Governance Committee head.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board vote on narrowing focus

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 4:35 PM, Lodewijk wrote:

> Thanks Bishakha,
>
> while I can understand the move of the WMF to do what they are best at, for
> me it is always a bit confusing when the Board (or Sue) is talking about
> the Foundation, and when about the movement. I hope I'm correct in my
> assumption that this narrowed focus is mostly a Foundation thing.
>
> Yes, this narrowed focus relates to Foundation programs.


> I do hope that freeing up
> these resources does mean that chapters and other groups will be supported
> more in taking over these tasks and where necessary, a transition process
> is considered.
>
> As I see it, the intention of re-allocating or re-prioritizing resources
(rather than freeing it up) is to make it easier for the Foundation to
focus on two key priorities: engineering and grantmaking, and to move
towards more impactful execution of each.

I don't think the re-prioritization can be seen either as supporting or not
supporting other groups to take over these tasks; many of these decisions
are upto other groups themselves. For instance, there is scope for chapters
to fund fellowships, but that is a decision that each chapter needs to make
for itself.

A narrower focus by the Foundation does leave room for other community
entities to step up, but whether they do so or not is also dependent on
each entity's annual plans, its vision, and how it sees its own role in the
movement now and going forward in the future. As slides 13 and 16 say,
there is scope to support the growth and build the eco-system of entities
via the grants process.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 3:07 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) wrote:

> After the fact, I'd appreciate a readable resolution or diff as both
> https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Amended_Bylaws and <
> https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Bylaws&diff=84853&oldid=84852>
> are useless.
>
>
Ok, I've added a reference link into the resolution at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Amended_Bylaws

Please go through this to compare old and revised versions of the bylaws;
since there are many small changes, I have uploaded the entire document.

The document showing the revisions can also be directly accessed from this
link:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_Bylaws_posted_mark-up.pdf

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 9:31 PM, Benjamin Lees  wrote:

> On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 5:29 AM, Bishakha Datta  >wrote:
>
> > Please note the substantive change in Article V: Officers and Duties. As
> > per the amendments, the Secretary and Treasurer are now non-trustee
> officer
> > positions.
> >
>
> This doesn't seem too unreasonable in itself, but it is somewhat surprising
> that you didn't readjust the board's composition accordingly.  The
> justification for having unelected seats is to ensure that the board has
> people with specific skills or backgrounds, and my impression was that
> getting someone with accounting experience to serve as treasurer was part
> of that.
>

And that accounting experience is still very much needed on the Board - to
head the Audit Committee and to oversee the treasurer.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 4:53 PM, Lodewijk wrote:

> Dear Bishakha,
>
> could you please elaborate why the board has chosen for a secretive
> amendment procedure here, rather than sharing the proposed amendments with
> the community and asking their input on it? Especially where it concerns
> such non-trivial changes.
>
> Ok, now that the document showing old and new has finally been uploaded, I
will try to answer your question.

The legal team proposed that we amend the bylaws, primarily to ensure
compliance with Florida non-profit laws.

Since most of the changes are legal in nature, they were not referred to
the community for prior input.

I understand how this action can be seen as secretive or opaque, even
though it may not have been intended as such.

Is it also possible to see this action as reasonable, given the nature of
most of the changes?

Just asking! Feel free to disagree,
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 10:03 PM, Bence Damokos  wrote:

> Hi Bishakha,
>
> In my opinion, given the generally curious nature of our movement, it might
> be a good idea to make more preparatory material for the board meetings
> available publicly in advance.
> Not necessarily as a way to allow comments or input, but as a matter of
> transparency. Especially for proposals that are not likely to be changed
> during the meeting (e.g. the technical bylaw amendments) and that will
> become public as a result of the board vote, it might be possible to
> publish them in advance without any adverse consequences, and resulting in
> greater transparency.
>
> (In this regard, the fact that Sue's recommendations were on Meta already
> was a great step; without knowing the exact deliberations that happened at
> the meeting, probably the bylaw amendments and the committee charters could
> have been made public in advance.)
>
> Fair point. And kudos to Sue for creating her recommendations on Meta.

But I do (now speaking personally) actually agree with your larger point,
and this is something we will discuss on the Board and, hopefully, take on
board more fully.

Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board vote on narrowing focus

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:30 PM, MZMcBride  wrote:

>
> It would be nice if someone could export the linked presentation from
> Google
> Docs and upload it to wikimediafoundation.org (or Wikimedia Commons) as a
> PDF or ODP (or both). I don't think we should rely on external resources in
> the context of historical Board archives unless absolutely necessary.
>
> Taken your feedback and done the needful,
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

On Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 6:23 AM, Federico Leva (Nemo) wrote:

> Bishakha Datta, 02/11/2012 17:08:
>
>  On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 9:31 PM, Benjamin Lees wrote:
>>
>>  This doesn't seem too unreasonable in itself, but it is somewhat
>>> surprising
>>> that you didn't readjust the board's composition accordingly.  The
>>> justification for having unelected seats is to ensure that the board has
>>> people with specific skills or backgrounds, and my impression was that
>>> getting someone with accounting experience to serve as treasurer was part
>>> of that.
>>>
>>>
>> And that accounting experience is still very much needed on the Board - to
>> head the Audit Committee and to oversee the treasurer.
>>
>
> This seems quite a weak answer to Benjamin's point: if the experience of
> an "expert" board member is relevant/needed only for one committee which
> can consist also of non-board members (who in principle can also head it),
> then the board may well decide to restrict his/her partecipation to that
> committee, to take advantage of that experience where it's most effective
> and free a board position to allow further diversification and expansion of
> board member experiences.
>
> The point I didn't make explicit is that someone on the board needs to
embody the notion of financial accountability - although all of us, as
trustees, see this as part of our fiduciary duties, it is extremely useful
to have among us, a trustee, who 'owns' the overall concept, and pushes to
consistently strengthen financial accountability (as part of overall
accountability), both at the Foundation and across the movement.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Democratizing the Wikimedia Foundation

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 11:11 PM, Lodewijk wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I have set up a brainstorming page on metawiki (
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Democratizing_the_Wikimedia_Foundation)
> where I would like to invite you to think about ways to democratize the
> Wikimedia Foundation.
>
> This doesn't mean that the Wikimedia Foundation is totally undemocratic,
> but it does mean that in my humble opinion, improvements are possible.


Agree with the reading that improvements are possible - the page name is a
bit dramatic, with an underlying whiff of revolution: Democratize!
(exclamation mine).

Personally, I think this is a timely, useful and constructive initiative
and I've added a bunch of comments to the page.

Hope we will hear from a wider cross-section of the community.

Cheers
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board vote on narrowing focus

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 11:33 PM, ENWP Pine  wrote:

> Could I ask about what information the Board had in addition to these
> slides?
>

In addition to the slides, we referred to the proposal on meta and the
discussion on the talk page.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board resolutions on bylaw amendments and appointment of Foundation staff officers

[Bishakha Datta]

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 11:36 PM, Thehelpfulone
wrote:

>
> Thus, in the future (this is for both Board members and WMF staff) it would
> be much better, when announcing *any* potentially controversial changes
> like this to *proactively* provide such documents, than potentially give
> the impression that you are intentionally trying to hide something by
> waiting for a community member to request it.
>

I agree that this needs improvement, but I think we must also allow for the
possibility that not pro-actively providing a document does not necessarily
translate into an intention to hide something.

I find this underlying layer of impressions very interesting - to me, it
speaks of much work needed to increase levels of trust between different
movement players.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikitech-l] Alpha version of the VisualEditor now available on the English Wikipedia

[Bishakha Datta]

On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 11:37 AM, Erik Moeller  wrote:

>
> The future just got a little more real.
>

Congratulations, all - this is really huge.

Just did a few quick edits to test it out. Much easier adding text in this
format, and also ran into some glitches which I reported.

I'm just imagining how much easier it will be to do wiki workshops and
outreach sessions as this develops further. And for readers to make quick,
small edits as a first step.

The future looks good.

Best
Bishakha
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Reappointment of Bishakha Datta as WMF Trustee

[Bishakha Datta]

Thank you, all.

It's been a terrific experience, and I hope to continue to be of use to the
Foundation and to the movement in my next term.

Best
Bishakha

On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 3:18 AM, Florence Devouard wrote:

> Excellent decision !
>
> Flo
>
> On 12/28/12 4:39 PM, Geoff Brigham wrote
>
>  I am happy to report that Bishakha Datta has been reappointed as a Trustee
>> on the WMF Board for another two-year term.
>>
>> The Board resolution may be found here:
>>
>> http://wikimediafoundation.**org/wiki/Resolution:Bishakha_**
>> Datta_Reappointment_2012<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Bishakha_Datta_Reappointment_2012>
>>
>>
>> The Board minutes may be found here:
>>
>> http://wikimediafoundation.**org/wiki/Minutes/2012-12-27<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Minutes/2012-12-27>
>>
>> Congratulations to Bishakha!
>>
>>
>
>
> __**_
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