Hey folks, For those who've been following this thread -- I wanted to let you know I've posted a comment from the Wikimedia Foundation, on the talk page for the meta page James made, here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wiki_Travel_Guide#Comment_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation
I pasted the full text below, for anyone who doesn't want to go to the wiki. But if you want to discuss it, I think that's arguably better done on the wiki than a mailing list, in order to keep the conversation unfragmented. Thanks, Sue Hey folks, I've been very interested reading the discussions here and on the mailing lists about whether the Wikimedia movement should start a new travel project. In response to questions I've been getting privately, I want to lay out the Wikimedia Foundation's position. First, a quick recap: The initiator of this idea is enWP editor James Heilman. James first proposed the idea in an e-mail to me about a month ago, and a few weeks after that he made a formal proposal on meta here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Travel_Guide, and started raising it on the lists. So far, there has been a fair bit of a discussion – here, and also on wikimedia-l (formerly foundation-l). Some editors have expressed support; some have been questioning whether travel fits inside our educational mission, and some have been discussing how a travel site might handle or interpret NPOV. I've been pleased, watching the talking, because in my time with the Wikimedia projects, I have mostly seen new project proposals either ignored or quickly quashed. IMO this one is getting more serious consideration than is typical, and I am choosing to interpret that as a signal of renewed energy in the Wikimedia movement :-) So. Some thoughts from the Wikimedia Foundation: * The Wikimedia Foundation is open to the idea of new projects, and is happy to have the community discussing ideas for new projects. * Whether it makes sense to create a Wikimedia travel project is a discussion for the community to have with itself. I encourage you to continue talking (and I, and the rest of the staff, and the Board, will continue listening). * The specifics of how new projects get created are not particularly clear at this time. I think it would be great for the community to use this as an opportunity to (re)define a good process for new project creation, regardless of what happens regarding a travel project. I imagine that a good process might look something like this (combining the process that approved Wikiversity and the chapter approval process): i) Someone from the community makes a basic, public proposal; ii) there is some form of community discussion, which might include an RfC; iii) when/if a decision is made to move forward, then the Board is asked to provide approval; iv) the Board reviews and, if it chooses to, provides provisional approval pending staff review. v) The staff then works out the details and implements the decision. That could work, or something like that. Regardless of what the community decides regarding creating a Wikimedia travel project, the Wikimedia Foundation believes there's enough room for multiple travel sites to co-exist, and for community members to contribute to multiple sites in this area. Of course, if the community decides to support a travel project, we would need to choose a name that is not confusing with that of other sites. That is the kind of detail the staff would need to be involved in. The main purpose of this comment is to encourage people to keep discussing the idea, and to work towards further defining the process for new project creation. It looks like James started an RfC yesterday, just above this comment, which is great. Regardless of whether or not a travel project moves forward, personally I am glad to see the proposal being seriously discussed. To me it's a sign of energy and openness and fertility in the movement, which makes me very happy :-) Thanks, Sue Gardner (talk) 22:33, 18 April 2012 (UTC) -- Sue Gardner Executive Director Wikimedia Foundation 415 839 6885 office 415 816 9967 cell Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
