Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-30 Thread Alice Wiegand
Hi Lodewijk,
I like the idea of having more opportunities to talk and to try out
different approaches.
That was the reason for Patricio and me to offer a Chapters Lunch Meeting
on Sunday, where we want to talk about the role of Chapters Selected Board
members, expectations, limitations, and the relationship we have. I read
your suggestion like something similar, concentrating more on particular
issues and diving somehow deeper into the subject. And yes, I would be glad
to participate if it matches with my schedule.

Alice.



On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 7:34 AM, Bishakha Datta bishakhada...@gmail.comwrote:

 On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 8:20 PM, Lodewijk lodew...@effeietsanders.org
 wrote:

  Hi Phoebe,
 
  thanks for pointing to this!
 
  I see that this year we only have one hour of board QA. 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 phoebe.w...@gmail.com
 
   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
  at
   gmail.com *
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-30 Thread phoebe ayers
Hi Robert,

This is a great question. Would you mind adding it to the wiki so we don't
lose track of it?

Short answer, not speaking for the board, bearing in mind that I missed the
past year of board discussions:

The board doesn't chose what technology to use but we do have end goals in
mind: first and foremost making the wikis easier to edit (for everyone),
and also better supporting non-desktop computer technologies (e.g. mobile).

We've also had some philosophical discussions about the direction of the
internet, and the web slowly turning less hands-on, with people's
experiences online siloed into a few big sites -- and what that means for
our projects which depend on the experience of saying yes, I can edit this
thing. How do we make the projects attractive to new editors growing up in
a facebook world?

So I think we've certainly discussed the experience question in various
ways, though not to the extent of sitting down with look  feel/UI charts
or anything specific.

I think the board's role is to keep doing this, and also to help determine
and approve additional specific strategic goals for tech, including for
instance supporting community editing initiatives (like the wiki loves
monuments app), accurately and beautifully supporting all language
communities, etc.

You are right that UI and rollouts will be significant for the WMF, the
board  the editing community for many months to come :)

-- phoebe


On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 12:29 PM, Robert Rohde raro...@gmail.com wrote:

 Phoebe,

 I am wondering if you (or another board member) would elaborate a
 little on how you see the Board's role when it comes to the evolving
 technical development of WMF projects?

 WMF has articulated a medium- to long-term vision for Mediawiki that
 builds on projects like VisualEditor, Flow, Echo (notifications),
 Parsoid, etc.  While I don't expect the Board to be in the business of
 choosing what technology to use, the WMF vision does seem to speak
 heavily to future changes in what the experience of editing Wikipedia
 (and other projects) will be like.  More visual and mouse based, etc.
 Is that something the Board ever involves itself in?

 Given current plans, it seems likely that questions surrounding
 changes in user experience and the deployment of new technology will
 be among the most significant issues for the editor community.

 -Robert Rohde

 On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 8:31 PM, phoebe ayers phoebe.w...@gmail.com
 wrote:
  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
 at
  gmail.com *
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-30 Thread Robert Rohde
On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 1:24 PM, phoebe ayers phoebe.w...@gmail.com wrote:
 Hi Robert,

 This is a great question. Would you mind adding it to the wiki so we don't
 lose track of it?
snip

I don't mind adding it, but I'm not sure where you want it to go?
Also, should I copy your reply, too?

-Robert

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-29 Thread Lodewijk
Hi Phoebe,

thanks for pointing to this!

I see that this year we only have one hour of board QA. 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? Or perhaps the technical strategy (at a
board level)? If we could do that in somewhat smaller groups (max 50
people), maybe even parallel, I think we could finally engage in truly
helpful and constructive discussions. It would of course require a neutral
discussion facilitator each time, but I'm sure we'd be able to arrange that
somehow?

We could then flag those discussion topics during the QA even.

Best,
Lodewijk


2013/7/29 phoebe ayers phoebe.w...@gmail.com

 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 at
 gmail.com *
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-29 Thread phoebe ayers
Hi Lodewijk,

Thanks for the idea! I can't commit right now that anyone will be able to
do this (all the trustees have a busy schedule and are pulled in lots of
different directions during Wikimania) but we might be able to schedule a
session or two (though since the schedule is so packed with good sessions,
it will be difficult to find a slot!)

I will bring it up. Maybe we can figure out what topics people are most
interested in discussing via the wiki. I'd be interested in a discussion
about WMF strategy and planning for the future, personally.

Also, everyone should feel free to say hello to any of the trustees during
Wikimania, if you don't already know us :)

best,
Phoebe


On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 7:50 AM, Lodewijk lodew...@effeietsanders.orgwrote:

 Hi Phoebe,

 thanks for pointing to this!

 I see that this year we only have one hour of board QA. 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? Or perhaps the technical strategy (at a
 board level)? If we could do that in somewhat smaller groups (max 50
 people), maybe even parallel, I think we could finally engage in truly
 helpful and constructive discussions. It would of course require a neutral
 discussion facilitator each time, but I'm sure we'd be able to arrange that
 somehow?

 We could then flag those discussion topics during the QA even.

 Best,
 Lodewijk


 2013/7/29 phoebe ayers phoebe.w...@gmail.com

  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
 at
  gmail.com *
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-29 Thread Robert Rohde
Phoebe,

I am wondering if you (or another board member) would elaborate a
little on how you see the Board's role when it comes to the evolving
technical development of WMF projects?

WMF has articulated a medium- to long-term vision for Mediawiki that
builds on projects like VisualEditor, Flow, Echo (notifications),
Parsoid, etc.  While I don't expect the Board to be in the business of
choosing what technology to use, the WMF vision does seem to speak
heavily to future changes in what the experience of editing Wikipedia
(and other projects) will be like.  More visual and mouse based, etc.
Is that something the Board ever involves itself in?

Given current plans, it seems likely that questions surrounding
changes in user experience and the deployment of new technology will
be among the most significant issues for the editor community.

-Robert Rohde

On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 8:31 PM, phoebe ayers phoebe.w...@gmail.com wrote:
 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 at
 gmail.com *
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-29 Thread Bishakha Datta
On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 8:20 PM, Lodewijk lodew...@effeietsanders.orgwrote:

 Hi Phoebe,

 thanks for pointing to this!

 I see that this year we only have one hour of board QA. 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 phoebe.w...@gmail.com

  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
 at
  gmail.com *
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[Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

2013-07-28 Thread 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

-- 
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gmail.com *
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