Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation elections committee: Call for volunteers

[Henry Wood]

Joe,

I think this call might fairly be described as too little too late.
Firstly, you describe the votes being held on a regular cycle.  So there's
no reason for delaying this call until 10 January with a closing date of 19
January (one working week).  Secondly, the first meeting is to be held in
January, so you've given yourself less than another two weeks to have staff
vet the candidates, get the approval of the Board Governance Committee, and
then hold the first meeting.  Why give yourself and your propsective
candidates so little time for a process which you have known will be coming
since this time last year?  Thirdly, there is some important information
missing (and very little time to disseminate it effectively).  For example,
what are these meetings?  Is personal attendance necessary?  If so, and any
committee members need to get a US visa, it's already far too late, they
will have needed to apply back in November or early December.  Again, and
especially if travel is required, will the Foundation reimburse the
out-of-pocket expenses of committee members?  Failure to think through
these points may explain why certain groups continue to be
under-represented.

Henry

On Fri, 10 Jan 2020 at 23:28, Joe Sutherland 
wrote:

> Hello everyone!
>
> *Please disseminate this email to anyone who may be interested.*
>
> As you are probably aware, the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees[1]
> contains three community-selected seats which are voted in by the wider
> Wikimedia community on a regular cycle. In 2020, we will be hosting another
> one of these selection processes, which are coordinated by the Wikimedia
> Foundation in collaboration with the Elections Committee[2].
>
> We are seeking 2–3 new members for the committee to join us in time for the
> first meetings in January 2020. Applicants will be vetted by Foundation
> staff and ultimately approved by the Wikimedia Foundation Board Governance
> Committee[3]. The term is three years, though the bulk of the work involved
> occurs in the buildup to an election.
>
> This role comes with the following responsibilities:
>
> * Attending 3–4 meetings between January and April 2020 with the Foundation
> and the rest of the committee
> * Setting up the wiki pages for the board election (example from last
> cycle)
> * Helping to mark pages for translation and potentially import translations
> as required
> * Working with the committee to fulfill its other responsibilities[4]
>
> Ideally, you would have the following qualities:
>
> * Fluency in English
> * Experience with advanced wikitext markup
> * Responsiveness to email outreach
>
> We are particularly interested in those who come from a traditionally
> under-represented background. If you are interested in volunteering for
> this role, please let me know by *emailing me directly before January 19,
> 2020*.
>
> Thank you in advance for your interest! Please let me know if you have
> questions; I'm more likely to see these questions if you send them to me
> directly.
>
> best,
> Joe
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees
> [2]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_committee
> [3]
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_Governance_Committee
> [4]
>
> https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Elections_Committee#Responsibilities
>
>
> --
> *Joe Sutherland* (he/him or they/them)
> Trust and Safety Specialist
> Wikimedia Foundation
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Brief request for advice about "What's making you happy this week?"

[Henry Wood]

>I don't know sending such emails of limited number of good
> news cherry-picked by mostly one person all the time to hundreds of
> wikimedians across the globe with very wide range of interests would be a
> good idea.

Leading inevitably to the question -- what postings to this list would
be good ideas?

Henry

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Greener travel and the ethics of carbon offset for Wikimedia community events

[Henry Wood]

Mike

> Paying for carbon offsets does not further Wikimedia’s goals.

Not directly, any more than paying for petrol or aviation fuel does.
If you regard it as part of the cost of travel, and that travel does
indeed further the Foundation's goals, then it seems reasonable to pay
for it.

Henry

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Ombuds Commission now accepting nominations for 2020

[Henry Wood]

> Just noting in passing that, technically, the Ombudsman Commission formally
> reports to the WMF Board of Trustees, which has in turn delegated the
> ongoing management and responsibility for the commission to the WMF Trust &
> Safety Department.

So the Ombudsman Commission is managed by a department that they are
likely to want to report on?

Henry

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [LGBT] Best practices for awarding scholarships

[Henry Wood]

Risker

> I've never created a Wikidata profile about anyone, not even someone who is
> widely known.

I did not say you had.  I said that the common view on the projects
you support is that the consent of the person written about is not
necessary and that volunteers have a right to create that material.
Indeed, I would go further, and say that it is not unknown for
subjects who object to personal information being published to be
treated with scorn, contempt and ridicule.  Do you accept that, and if
so, do you condone it?

> No, I would never create an article about a Wikimedian - or a Wikidata
> profile either - unless they are clearly and obviously notable outside of
> our little microcosm.

Is the subject being a Wikimedian relevant to whether or not material
should be published?

> Further, I think it's terrible use of Wikidata to use it to store what are
> essentially the personnel records of Wikimedia volunteers.

Indeed, in some jurisdictions it is likely to be unlawful.

Henry

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [LGBT] Best practices for awarding scholarships

[Henry Wood]

Risker

> I'm pretty shocked at this idea; in fact, if someone created a Wikidata
> profile about me, I'd have it taken down under applicable legislation.

... and yet you are an energetic volunteer for projects that assert
the right to do that to other people?

Henry

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF work environment

[Henry Wood]

Pine

What exactly do you suggest that you or the rest of us could actually
do with a "better understanding" of these issues?  Without taking any
position on whether there is some form of stress, is it likely to be
anything other than exacerbated by exposing it in public, with no real
prospect of that exposure leading to any kind of amelioration?

Henry

On Wed, 2 Oct 2019 at 21:09, Pine W  wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Something I am sensing from multiple sources, sometimes more through
> implication than specific statements, is that there is a sense of turmoil
> in WMF. I think that some amounts of internal politics and staff turnover
> are normal, but over the past few months I am sensing an increase in
> internal turmoil. I am noticing the departures of some staff people that I
> personally like and respect. I am wondering if WMF Talent and Culture or
> maybe someone on the ED's office would be willing to comment regarding
> these issues. I'm not intending to add additional stress to people who are
> generally competent and are trying to do good work. I would like to better
> understand the degree of turmoil (perhaps my impressions are incorrect),
> what might be causing the turmoil, and whether the turmoil is good or bad.
> Hopefully any increase in turmoil is temporary, but I am somewhat
> concerned. If staff are focused too much on internal WMF issues then this
> may affect their productivity on projects that support the community, and
> having highly stressed or discouraged staff would be a problem.
>
>
> Thank you,
> Pine
> ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] How does Wikimedia handle non-US requests for user information?

[Henry Wood]

As a follow-up, it would be helpful for those community members in the
EU to know how the Foundation handles GDPR requests.

Henry

On Wed, 2 Oct 2019 at 07:29, David Gerard  wrote:
>
> https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requests_for_user_information_procedures_%26_guidelines
>
> What do you tell non-US authorities who ask if their local courts can
> submit orders allowing Wikimedia to release information?
>
> Are there relevant international treaties in place that would mean
> that a foreign request from certain countries would be sufficient?
>
>
> - d.
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Movement Strategy: Outcomes of the Harmonization Sprint in Tunis

[Henry Wood]

Paulo,

There is nothing more for us to do, since community input closed on
the 15 September.  The community will next be consulted on the
implementation of the recommendations after they are finally agreed.

Henry

On Tue, 1 Oct 2019 at 18:08, Paulo Santos Perneta
 wrote:
>
> " A second iteration of draft recommendations [4] was published on Meta
> just before the sprint for
> the communities’ information." - It's quite unclear what are we supposed to
> do with this, since those recommendations most probably became outdated in
> the course of the Tunis meetings in the days following their publication.
> Are we supposed to do anything at all with them?
>
> Best,
> Paulo
>
> Nicole Ebber  escreveu no dia segunda,
> 30/09/2019 à(s) 17:27:
>
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > We recently held the harmonization sprint in Tunis [1], where
> > representatives from each working group met in person to continue bringing
> > nine separate sets of draft recommendations into one set. The event also
> > brought together staff members from the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia
> > Deutschland, the WMF Chair of the Board of Trustees, and members of the
> > core team. A longer narrative report will be published in the coming weeks;
> > in the meantime, see a short day-by-day report on Meta, photos on commons
> > [2], and check out the hashtag #hs2030 on Twitter [3].
> >
> > In the lead up to the meeting, the working groups were busy refining their
> > draft recommendations based on feedback received at in person events from
> > Wikimedians across the movement as well as on wiki, via email, and on
> > social media since March of this year. They had also begun identifying
> > overlaps in each other’s recommendations and content. A second iteration of
> > draft recommendations [4] was published on Meta just before the sprint for
> > the communities’ information.
> >
> > At the sprint, we continued to group recommendations based on
> > commonalities. From there, we looked at what kinds of structures would need
> > to be in place to deliver the Wikimedia 2030 vision. A first, rough
> > grouping of recommendations came together at the sprint. But what became
> > clear during the event was that before it’s possible to create a coherent
> > and actionable set of recommendations, fundamental principles that underpin
> > the path towards 2030 need to be formalized.
> >
> > The core team is currently processing the discussion materials and
> > outcomes. Analysis of the current draft recommendations will continue so as
> > to create one unified set. The timeline will shift and we are looking into
> > options for another round of community input.
> >
> > I would like to make clear that the reason we were not able to achieve our
> > initial goal in Tunis was due to a lack of clarity and guidance on the core
> > team’s part. Still, the time was not wasted and important, honest
> > conversations were had. The working group members, as ever, devoted an
> > enormous amount of energy and care in the lead up to and during the event,
> > and demonstrated their deep understanding of the challenges and
> > opportunities in our movement. We are extremely grateful for all their
> > effort. In short, the harmonization sprint underlined the high level of
> > work and dedication every single working group member has put into getting
> > the movement strategy to its current point, and the passion to shape the
> > future of the diverse and inclusive movement we envision.
> >
> > We have valuable lessons to take from this event and incorporate into the
> > overall process and the next steps. We will share these with you all as
> > soon as possible. If you have questions in the meantime, please feel free
> > to reach out to me.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Nicole
> >
> > [1]
> >
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recommendations/Harmonization_Sprint
> > [2]
> >
> > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_2030_Harmonization_Sprint
> > [3] https://twitter.com/search?q=%23hs2030
> > [4]
> >
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recommendations
> >
> >
> > --
> > Nicole Ebber
> > Adviser International Relations
> > Program Manager Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy
> > Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
> > Tel. (030) 219 158 26-0
> > https://wikimedia.de
> >
> > Unsere Vision ist eine Welt, in der alle Menschen am Wissen der Menschheit
> > teilhaben, es nutzen und mehren können. Helfen Sie uns dabei!
> > https://spenden.wikimedia.de
> >
> > Wikimedia Deutschland — Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
> > Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
> > der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
> > Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation joins the global climate strike

[Henry Wood]

Surely it doesn't really matter who within the organisation is racking
up the CO2?  More important is the fact that the Foundation
acknowleges itself responsible for about 2,000 tonnes of CO2 emission.
At an offset price around $100/tonne, presumably we may expect that as
an interim measure, WMF will purchase $200K worth of offsets -- an
eminently affordable sum on its current budget.

Henry

On Fri, 20 Sep 2019 at 14:28, Adrian Raddatz  wrote:
>
> I'm more interested in the numbers for the WMF as a whole. One CEO does not
> make an emissions problem, and in a global-reaching organization I'd hope
> that the CEO would be flying around a bit. Focusing on the ten or so
> executives at the Foundation seems like a sensational approach rather than
> a useful one.
>
> Adrian
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 9:24 AM Fæ  wrote:
>
> > Nice to see that https://wikimediafoundation.org has a banner linking
> > to the global climate strike today.
> >
> > Can anyone produce some verifiable metrics that the WMF has taken
> > significant action to reduce the total number of aircraft flights the
> > WMF uses?
> >
> > I am asking as though there are no transparently published figures for
> > how much the WMF spends on air travel, I recall that the Katherine
> > Mahler was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, where is was part
> > of her impressive executive profile to be "on the road" for 200 days
> > of the year. This probably puts Katherine in the very top numbers for
> > CEOs with damaging carbon footprints resulting from travelling so
> > often by flying.[1] If the WMF wants to be seen as an ethical company
> > when it comes to reducing their organizational impact on climate
> > change, perhaps this could start with publishing travel figures for
> > the CEO and the rest of the management team, so that everyone can see
> > whether there is year on year improvement, or none.
> >
> > Thanks again for the banner, it does help increase the sense of urgency.
> >
> > Links:
> > 1.
> > https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-35-year-old-executive-director-of-wikimedia-travels-1529588701
> >
> > Fae
> > --
> > fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
> >
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wiki loves SDGs

[Henry Wood]

Ad,

On Tue, 17 Sep 2019 at 20:27, Ad Huikeshoven  wrote:
>
> tl;dr Wikipedia can engage millions, billions of people to achieve the
> Sustainable Development Goals by 2030


That's nice, but the mission of the Foundation is to help everyone
share in the sum of all knowledge, and people who have donated to the
Fundation have done so to further that mission, not some other
mission, however worthy.  If members of the Community wish to support
the SDG, there are plenty of ways in which they can do so.  Diverting
resources from the mission of the Foundation weakens its core mission
and, I'll be blunt, is a fraud on the donors.

Henry

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] "The Foundation does not care so much of the French-speaking contributors"

[Henry Wood]

Joseph

I saw no criticism of  a named individual, but of the Foundation.  With
nearly three hundred employees and a budget of a hundred million dollars,
when the Foundation commits to sending a representative to a meeting, it
may reasonably be expected to have the resources to deliver on that
commitment.  Not to do so -- with an airy "Sometimes things don't work out"
-- suggests either a very poor state of internal organisation or, as has
been suggested here, a lack of commitment to the function that it was
supposed to have been represented at.

Henry

On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 at 22:07, Joseph Seddon  wrote:

> Before we call out individuals for lack of attendance publicly, I think we
> should remember that both volunteers and staff have lives outside of
> Wikimedia that include children, families and other commitments in life.
> They all come with complications. Sometimes things don't work out. There
> are tens of conferences every year at various scales all over the world.
> Many staff and volunteer board members will have recently just travelled to
> Wikimania and a strategy summit in Tunis. Attendance at these events is
> often to the detriment to people's personal lives to some degree.
>
> So please lets just be careful about how we talk about this and keep the
> above in mind.
>
> Regards
> Seddon
>
> On Sun, Sep 15, 2019 at 7:02 PM Thierry Coudray 
> wrote:
>
> > "*The Foundation does not care so much of the French-speaking
> > contributors*".
> > This harsh sentence is the translation of a statement in French, I've
> just
> > said in a conversation a week ago at the Francophone Wikiconvention held
> > last weekend in Brussels. The statement may seem excessive, because the
> > Foundation does things for the Francophone community as well as for other
> > communities (and its website is fairly well translated into French). But
> it
> > reflected my feeling, shared by my three interlocutors, all non-French,
> > facing that no Foundation high-level members were present to this
> > Wikiconvention: no executive director, nor members of the Board, nor any
> > level-C staff. In an another conversation, where the subject came up over
> > again, someone said this absence was offensive. I do not know if it
> > reflects the majority of attendees feelings but with varying degrees, I
> > would said it was widely shared.
> >
> > In 2017, for the Francophone Wikiconvention in Strasbourg we had a very
> > quick visit of Katherine Maher, in 2018, a simple video message and in
> 2019
> > ... nothing. At the same time, the Francophone Wikiconvention has stepped
> > up with ever more participants, always more countries represented. This
> > year, it brought together more than 220 Francophones, Algerian, Belgian,
> > Beninese, Cameroonian, Canadian, French, Guinean, Ivorian, Swiss and
> > Tunisian contributors, and I may forget some, with varied and enriching
> > conferences and meetings. A huge success, very well organized by
> employees
> > but also by several volunteers, who dedicated time and energy. This
> > Wikiconvention and the projects and achievements submitted have shown the
> > French-speaking Wikimedia community vitality, which will continue to
> grow.
> > FYI, French is foreseen, thanks to Africa, to be the most rapidly growing
> > languages in the next twenty years and will be the mother tongue or the
> > language used for communication for more than 8% of the world's
> population
> > in thirty years' time. But my reaction would have been the same if I had
> > attended an Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Swahili-speaking or any other
> > important languages Wikiconvention.
> >
> > So yes, this Wikiconvention is not in English. Fortunately, not all
> > Wikimedia meetings are in English. In a previous discussion on this
> mailing
> > list about the question of whether or not it is appropriate to continue
> > Wimania, one of the participants argued that unlike other Wikimedia
> > meetings, anyone could attend Wikmania. It may be obvious for those who
> > have English as a mother tongue or for Northern Europeans for whom
> English
> > is almost a second mother tongue but this is false: English is spoken
> only
> > by a small minority in the world, less than one human in six. So only one
> > human in six or seven could attend Wikimania or any other
> english-speaking
> > conferences or meetings (the case of the vast majority of global
> Wikimedia
> > conferences). I do not deny a common working language usefulness but a
> > Wikiconvention in French, as I hope other languages ones will be more to
> > come soon, allows all non-English speaking Francophones to participate in
> > the Wikimedia movement and above all, help them to meet our common goal
> of
> > spread freeknowledge.The movement talks a lot about its efforts to
> overcome
> > differents gaps (gender, LGBT,...) and it's rightly pointed, these topics
> > are important. But it simply forget the language gap and the almost
> > exclusive use of English excludes a