Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Delphine Ménard
Le 12 févr. 2014 04:20, "Nathan" a écrit : > > On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 6:55 PM, Delphine Ménard wrote: > > > Le 12 févr. 2014 00:10, "Nathan" a écrit : > > > > > > Well, it's actually pretty straightforward. For members of the Board of > > Trustees, FDC and AffCom, as well as Board members of all

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Nathan
On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 10:20 PM, Nathan wrote: > > Perhaps you misunderstood what I was wondering about, which is probably my > fault as I was trying to avoid giving any specific examples. But without at > all attempting to disparage her or suggest that her intentions are anything > but sincere,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Nathan
On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 6:55 PM, Delphine Ménard wrote: > Le 12 févr. 2014 00:10, "Nathan" a écrit : > > > Well, it's actually pretty straightforward. For members of the Board of > Trustees, FDC and AffCom, as well as Board members of all Chapters. All of > us are volunteers. We do not get any sa

[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] This Month in GLAM: January 2014

2014-02-11 Thread The 'This Month in GLAM' team
*This Month in GLAM* is a monthly newsletter documenting recent happenings within the GLAM project, such as content donations, residencies, events and more. GLAM is an acronym of *G*alleries, *L*ibraries, *A*rchives and *M*useums. You can find more information on the project at glamwiki.org. *This

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Mark
On 2/11/14, 9:18 PM, Samuel Klein wrote: The WMF also wants to let all groups have easier access to trademarks and funds. This is what user groups were designed to allow, with minimal overhead. These two ideas were combined into "be a user group for two years". This part I do think is a good

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Delphine Ménard
Le 12 févr. 2014 00:10, "Nathan" a écrit : > > For me in these debates about funding, which often present the staff on one > side pushing to reduce the relative power and centrality of chapters on one > side and chapter representatives pushing the opposite way on the other > side, there is always

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Nathan
> > > > Hi Greg and all, > > This is not a direct reply to your points, but I think it might be helpful > in removing the cloak of mystery from all this. > > Here is what happened during the board meeting, from my perspective.* > > Background context: > > * The board has been discussing movement ro

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Cristian Consonni
2014-02-11 23:01 GMT+01:00 Risker : > Consensus is not the same as unanimity, and anyone who's crossed a few > different Wikimedia projects will know that what is defined as consensus > varies pretty widely, from majority +1 to 80% or higher support. For the > purposes of board votes, it's majorit

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread phoebe ayers
On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 10:37 AM, Gregory Varnum wrote: > While AffCom will likely be making an official statement later, I am having > a hard time not chiming in and I do think it is worth pointing out that > AffCom was not consulted in a manner I think most of us would have imagined > occurring.

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Bence Damokos
Speaking in my personal capacity, I echo the surprise that the Board has decided to move a motion before they had full or close to full consensus on the issue - which is in general a departure from the usual. I can only assume that there was a better reason behind the urgency than the need to paus

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Risker
Consensus is not the same as unanimity, and anyone who's crossed a few different Wikimedia projects will know that what is defined as consensus varies pretty widely, from majority +1 to 80% or higher support. For the purposes of board votes, it's majority +1. I'm actually quite pleased that the b

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Cristian Consonni
2014-02-11 19:22 GMT+01:00 Cynthia Ashley-Nelson : > Yes, I agree that the consensus of the Board is clear. IMHO, I wouldn't say that for two decisions taken with 7-3 and 6-4[1], when you can see that most of the times[2] the vote was unanimous. Cristian [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread phoebe ayers
On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 12:43 PM, Gregory Varnum wrote: > One of the (many) problems that I have with this is that it both makes > these user groups more dependent on movement funds for a longer period of > time, but then caps those funds in the same decision. > One quick correction: we're not ca

[Wikimedia-l] IEG Round 1 Conculsion

2014-02-11 Thread Jessie Wild
Hello All - We (WMF Grantmaking) have reached the conclusion of the first round of Individual Engagement Grants (IEG)! The grants program itself was an experiment, and we are excited by the types of innovations emerging from the project thus far. Take a look and join the discussion on the blog po

[Wikimedia-l] Registration Open: Wikimedia Hackathon 2014 in Zürich

2014-02-11 Thread Manuel Schneider
Dear all, as announced earlier we will have a Hackathon in Zürich May 9th to 11th. Now our registration is open - especially if you come from a country where you need a visa for the Schengen area or if you need a scholarship - register early! Registration Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1n

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Gregory Varnum
One of the (many) problems that I have with this is that it both makes these user groups more dependent on movement funds for a longer period of time, but then caps those funds in the same decision. It is easy to tell the org to just find some outside funding (which is mentioned in the FAQ) - excep

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Nicole Ebber
Dear members of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, dear Wikimedians, I would like to share a few thoughts and questions with you. Thoughts and questions that I would love to see being addressed when talking about these movement issues. I have the feeling that this substantial decision is

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Consultation & decision making (was: Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues)

2014-02-11 Thread Federico Leva (Nemo)
Lodewijk, 11/02/2014 19:36: Maybe the board had a reason to rush through this decision without consultation, but I still haven't heard any satisfying argument for that. To me it seems rather obvious. The board (together with the WMF executives?) is worried about more organisations asking money

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Samuel Klein
Hello Frédéric, a quick comment: On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 4:44 AM, Frédéric Schütz wrote: > Your decision is not "you should have a good track > record", it is "you should have a good track record AND NOT have bylaws". Bylaws are fine, whatever makes sense for each group; just not mandatory. The

[Wikimedia-l] Programmatic experience in past 2 years (was: Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues)

2014-02-11 Thread Pharos
Certainly, in the last 2 years and before, a handful of Wikimedia volunteer groups have been quite as active and organized as those currently being classified as User Groups - only the option of being recognized as User Groups did not exist for them at the time of their founding. And it is a good

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Dariusz Jemielniak
that is correct (about the FDC involvement; we have not participated in consulting or idea exchange in any systematic way). dj "pundit" On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:37 PM, Gregory Varnum wrote: > While AffCom will likely be making an official statement later, I am having > a hard time not chiming

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Gregory Varnum
While AffCom will likely be making an official statement later, I am having a hard time not chiming in and I do think it is worth pointing out that AffCom was not consulted in a manner I think most of us would have imagined occurring. I have noticed it mentioned a few times that our feedback was ta

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Consultation & decision making (was: Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues)

2014-02-11 Thread Lodewijk
Hi Phoebe, Thanks for the swift reply. Please note that the proposal sent to AffCom by the staff was /not/ the same proposal considered by the board. The arguments presented with it, were not even close to the ones presented now - it is unrealistic to expect AffCom to be able to provide any helpfu

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Cynthia Ashley-Nelson
Yes, I agree that the consensus of the Board is clear. I'm referring to the current consensus of the community, i.e., the feedback being received about this decision. Cynthia On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 10:14 AM, Risker wrote: > Not to be nit-picky, but what consensus would that be, Cynthia? The

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Consultation & decision making (was: Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues)

2014-02-11 Thread phoebe ayers
Per Fae, a short response in bullet points: * I'm sorry. I take your criticisms seriously. * How we got to this point, as I see it*: I think the Board felt we had gotten input from AffCom because we saw their responses to the proposal to change to a usergroup-first approval model, which was presen

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Consultation & decision making (was: Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues)

2014-02-11 Thread
Thanks for this honest critical feedback Lodewijk. It is refreshing to have a straight-forward statement. Most emails from established members of our community being critical about the WMF board or staff seem to feel they need to wrap anything negative in so much cotton wool and glib praise, that i

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Risker
Not to be nit-picky, but what consensus would that be, Cynthia? The board's consensus is reflected in the decision. There's almost no public discussion of this outside of this specific thread on a mailing list (a grand total of two comments on the talk page of the FAQ, as I write), so I'm not sure

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Cynthia Ashley-Nelson
Consensus indicates that the implementation of this decision will greatly hinder the work of affiliates.It may help to disclose the initial problem statement presented to the Board, which resulted in the establishment of these new guidelines.What resolution is the Board seeking to achieve? In the B

[Wikimedia-l] Consultation & decision making (was: Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues)

2014-02-11 Thread Lodewijk
Hi, I'm very sorry about these decisions. Not only because I disagree with them on the content (although there are one or two aspects I can live with) and because I think this is very bad for the volunteers, but also because the board returned to a mode where they make decisions without involving

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Jan-Bart de Vreede
Dear Frederic, On 11 Feb 2014, at 10:44, Frédéric Schütz wrote: > On 11/02/14 09:03, phoebe ayers wrote: > > Hi Phoebe, > > thanks for your answer ! > >>> It is indeed up to the WMF to decide the conditions a group must have >>> achieved before being recognized as a chapter or thematic organ

[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Fwd: [Wikimania-l] Reminder: Wikimania 2014 scholarship deadline 17 February

2014-02-11 Thread Katie Chan
If you were thinking of applying for a scholarship from either the Wikimania Foundation, Wikimedia Deutschland, or Wikimedia Österreich, the deadline is end of the day UTC this coming Monday. Don't miss it! Katie On 08/01/2014 17:37, Katie Chan wrote: Hi all, Scholarship applications for Wiki

[Wikimedia-l] Reminder: Wikimania 2014 scholarship deadline 17 February

2014-02-11 Thread Katie Chan
If you were thinking of applying for a scholarship from either the Wikimania Foundation, Wikimedia Deutschland, or Wikimedia Österreich, the deadline is end of the day UTC this coming Monday. Don't miss it! Katie On 08/01/2014 17:37, Katie Chan wrote: Hi all, Scholarship applications for Wik

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Frédéric Schütz
On 11/02/14 09:03, phoebe ayers wrote: Hi Phoebe, thanks for your answer ! >> It is indeed up to the WMF to decide the conditions a group must have >> achieved before being recognized as a chapter or thematic organization. >> However, this is an assessment at a given point in time. How the group

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Anders Wennersten
Itzik Edri skrev 2014-02-11 09:26: makes the FDC kind of powerless, having to face him over the next 2 year with a really hard decisions about really limiting the allocation for the chapters, without of course, having enough time, knowledge or resources for them to prepare for self fundraisin

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Federico Leva (Nemo)
phoebe ayers, 11/02/2014 06:33: The Board also decided that new organizations should first form as a user group and have two years of programmatic experience before being approved as a legally incorporated entity (either a chapter or thematic organization). A very unfortunate slowdown. What a p

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Itzik Edri
What I can say about this new-old not surprising decision? When WMDE posted their feedback about the FDC, the responses from the board/fdc was "wait, we want to finish 2 years cycle and then talk about the it". Of course it didn't stopped the WMF, before having such a discussion, to decide and limi

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread Gerard Meijssen
Hoi, There are two areas where the Wikimedia Foundation is active; the USA where it is active through both chapters and the office in San Francisco. The rest of the world where it is active through chapters and whatever. Does the funding gap limit the office in the same way it does the rest of the

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread phoebe ayers
On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 11:46 PM, phoebe ayers wrote: > > On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 10:30 PM, rupert THURNER > wrote: > >> pheobe, concerning your motion to vote saying: >>"wikimedia foundation grows, the affiliated organisations do not grow" >>"the affiliated organisations are recommended

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board decisions on movement funding and approval issues

2014-02-11 Thread phoebe ayers
On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 11:43 PM, Frédéric Schütz wrote: > On 11/02/14 06:33, phoebe ayers wrote: > > > I want to draw your attention to two Wikimedia Board of Trustees > decisions > > that were recently published, regarding funds allocated to the FDC/Annual > > plan grant process and Board appro