Great work Nicole!
On Sat, Aug 2, 2014 at 3:41 AM, Katy Love <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for sharing, Nicole! I really appreciate the work you and Kira did > here. Looking forward to reviewing this body of work, and hope to further > the dialogue at Wikimania! > > Katy > > > On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 1:28 PM, Nicole Ebber <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Dear Wikimedia friends, > > > > I am happy to announce that we have finally released the documentation > > of the Chapters Dialogue project. > > > > You might probably remember: The Chapters Dialogue was the project > > that was initiated by Wikimedia Deutschland in spring 2013, my former > > colleague Kira Krämer interviewed representatives from Wikimedia > > Chapters, the Wikimedia Foundation as well as Funds Dissemination and > > Affiliations Committee. Kira and I presented the insights at several > > occasions already, and now the written report is at your disposal. > > > > Please find all the information on the Meta page: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapters_Dialogue > > > > For those of you who are already on their way into the weekend, to > > London, or reading via mobile, I’m copying the Executive Summary of > > the findings at the end of this email. > > > > Luckily, Wikimania is coming and I will be available to answer your > > questions and reflect on ideas or concerns with anyone interested. > > I’ll be in London from Tuesday till Monday, and will host a session on > > the Chapters Dialogue insights on Saturday from 12:15 to 13:00 in room > > Auditorium 1[1]. Attendees of this session will witness the premier of > > the Chapters Dialogue movie, which will be released to the public > > shortly after. If you cannot attend the session and don’t find me > > hanging around at the Wikimedia Deutschland booth in the Community > > Village, you can reach me via my user page[2] or via email. > > > > I would like to take this opportunity to again express my sincere > > gratitude to everyone who participated, be it as one of the 94 > > interviewees or one of our mentors, critical friend or supporter in > > any other way. It’s been a blast! > > > > A very special and very warm thank you goes out to Kira. Together, we > > rocked this last year and went through most exciting times. Kira is no > > longer working for WMDE, but I promised to forward her every comment > > and email that we receive from you. > > > > Best regards, > > Nicole > > > > > > [1] > > > https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/The_State_of_Wikimedia_-_A_movement_Dialogue > > [2] > https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nicole_Ebber_%28WMDE%29 > > > > > > > > Wikimedia Deutschland – Chapters Dialogue > > Nicole Ebber (Project Lead), Kira Krämer (Project Manager) > > > > Executive Summary > > Wikimedia is a global movement: the Wikimedia Foundation, the > > Wikimedia Chapters and the international communities work and fight > > for Free Knowledge. In spring 2013, Wikimedia Deutschland initiated a > > structured assessment of the movement organisations’ needs, goals and > > stories: the Chapters Dialogue. Nicole Ebber led the project and hired > > Kira Krämer, who adapted the Design Thinking methodology to the > > process. > > > > In the course of the project (August 2013-February 2014), 94 movement > > representatives (volunteers and staff) from Chapters, the Wikimedia > > Foundation as well as the Funds Dissemination Committee and the > > Affiliations Committee were interviewed. > > > > The interviewees spoke about their understanding of roles and > > relationships within the movement, of responsibilities that come with > > being a Chapter or being the WMF. They described their goals and > > stories, what support they need and who they think is in a position to > > offer this support. > > > > The synthesis of all the interviews resulted in an overall picture of > > the movement and a distillate of the most pressing issues. The > > findings and insights cover these main areas, which have had a great > > influence on the movement as it is today. > > > > Lack of empathy and the persistence of old narratives: All the > > conflicts described in this report are based on causes that are deep > > rooted and manifested in people’s perceptions about each other that > > still persist today. Each party in the movement has its own needs and > > tries to solve issues in its own interests, while lacking empathy for > > other views, opinions, contexts and behaviour. > > > > Measuring success when exploring new territory: The movement lacks a > > definition of what impact actually means to it, as all Wikimedia > > activities can be described as exploring entirely new territory. > > Chapters struggle with proving that they and their activities are > > worth invested in while WMF has difficulty providing a clear movement > > strategy. > > > > Organisational structures: Organisational structures have grown > > organically without any official recommendation for or analysis of the > > best organisational form to achieve impact. The lack of a shared > > understanding about the Chapters’ role and contribution to the > > movement causes severe insecurities and is fuelling conflicts and > > misperceptions. > > > > Money-driven decisions: Creating a consensus about money, its > > collection and responsible dissemination (donors’ trust!) is scarcely > > possible. The Haifa trauma persistently blights the relationship > > between WMF and the Chapters, fuelled by additional disagreement about > > the new fundraising and grantmaking processes. > > > > The gap in leadership: Who should take the leadership role and what > > should leadership in the Wikimedia movement look like? Adopting the > > narrowed focus, the WMF clearly states that it does not see the > > development of movement entities as their duty. Chapters on the other > > hand expect the WMF to take a leading role in Chapters’ development, > > while the WMF expects Chapters to be more proactive. > > > > None of these conflicts can be viewed in isolation, and no solution > > can be developed without a thorough understanding and frank > > conversations about the causes in the first place. We therefore > > consider that it would be highly irresponsible to suggest solutions to > > any of the described issues. Instead, we have distilled tough > > questions from the insights that need to be addressed urgently and > > answered in an open and comprehensive manner: > > > > 1. What do we as a movement want to achieve? Do we run a website or > > foster free knowledge? Why are we doing the things we do, and what > > for? > > 2. How do we define impact when exploring new territory? And how do we > > measure success? > > 3. What is the role of the Wikimedia Foundation? > > 4. How do we want to communicate with each other? How can we build the > > necessary empathy and learn from each other? How can we overcome the > > old narrative and perceptions? > > 5. Where does the money come from and where should it go? Should money > > be the limiting factor when striving for Free Knowledge? > > 6. What movement framework is best suited to fulfil the Wikimedia > mission? > > > > The way things are at present inhibits the movement from striving > > effectively for Free Knowledge. Instead of using its full potential to > > further its mission, it revolves around itself. The common mission is > > at serious risk if the movement does not tackle the causes of its > > problems. > > > > These tough questions can only be approached in a structured and > > professional way, with dedication and commitment. There is no point in > > tinkering with the symptoms and finding single-problem solutions. > > > > The Chapters Dialogue concludes with the recommendation to build upon > > the insights and to initiate a sequel: the design of a framework for > > the Wikimedia movement in which it can work strongly and effectively > > towards its mission in a professional way, yet stay true to its > > grassroots and maintain its diversity. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > [email protected] > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > -- *Nurunnaby Chowdhury Hasive* Administrator | Bengali Wikipedia <http://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/user:nhasive> Member | IEG Committee, Wikimedia Foundation <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/People> Social Media Interaction Moderator | The Daily Prothom-Alo <http://www.prothom-alo.com> Bangladesh Ambassador | Open Knowledge Foundation Network <http://www.okfn.org> Treasurer | Bangladesh Open Source Network (BdOSN) <http://www.bdosn.org> Task Force Member | Mozilla Bangladesh <http://www.mozillabd.org> fb.com/nhasive | @nhasive <http://www.twitter.com/nhasive> | Skype: nhasive | www.nhasive.com _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
