#Iamwithrisker On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 4:23 PM, Risker <risker...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Andreas, I think you are being unfair here. Whatever anyone's personal > opinion of Jimmy, the bottom line is that WMF staff have expressed that the > Board has not been listening to them. Jimmy is a board member. He's > directly saying "I'm coming to listen to you". And he's being transparent > about it, by sharing his plan publicly on this list and perhaps > elsewhere. That pretty much sounds as though he's being responsive. Now, > none of us knows what the outcome will be, and I don't think it would be > appropriate for any of us to speculate on how various staff members will > choose to interact given this direct opportunity. Other board members live > in the immediate area and maybe they too will attend (and maybe not, we > don't know). This is a very short notice attendance, and since many board > members have responsibilities to their employers, families, and other > activities, they may not be able to drop everything and jump on a plane, > even if they want to. > > Myself, I'd suggest that staff take advantage of this opportunity, with the > hope of having a more responsive interaction than the November meeting. It > is in *everyone's* interest that all of the groups within the Wikimedia > community start moving toward better integration, communication, > transparency, and carving out a shared vision. This is a step. It's only > a step. > > As to this hypothetical Wikia connection, it's a speculation by Fae (and > only Fae, as far as I can see), who has not provided any evidence that his > statement is based on some known information. It may come as a surprise to > a lot of people, but Wikia's software has been increasingly diverging from > the MediaWiki we all use on Wikimedia projects, and they already have > better inter-wiki search than WMF projects have. > > Risker/Anne > > On 26 February 2016 at 10:02, Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Brion, > > > > I understand you and Jimmy Wales go way, way back. But what is the point > of > > "coming together" with someone who, just hours before the Knowledge > Engine > > grant agreement was released, insisted, > > > > ---o0o--- > > > > 'To make this very clear: no one in top positions has proposed or is > > proposing that WMF should get into the general "searching" or to try to > "be > > google". It's an interesting hypothetical which has not been part of any > > serious strategy proposal, nor even discussed at the board level, nor > > proposed to the board by staff, nor a part of any grant, etc. It's a > total > > lie.' > > > > ---o0o--- > > > > When the grant agreement was released -- flatly contradicting his very > > words, in the view of everyone who read it, including every single > > journalist who wrote about it -- Jimmy Wales disappeared for four days > from > > the wiki. He eventually resurface and later made an appearance at the > > Knowledge Engine FAQ on Meta explaining that he had only just learnt that > > there really was a search engine project.[1] > > > > How plausible is that? By all accounts, James and Dariusz fought to be > > shown the documents that were later leaked, against the resistance of > other > > board members, which presumably included Jimmy Wales (I don't think it > > takes too much intelligence to figure out that Guy Kawasaki and Jimmy > Wales > > were among Lila's main supporters and defenders on the board). > > > > So are we to believe that Jimmy Wales had never seen the grant > agreements, > > had never seen those documents that all these arguments in the board were > > about, had never even bothered to look at them? > > > > In November 2015, board discussions referred to the Knowledge Engine > > project as a "moon shot", according to James. So all this time Jimmy > Wales > > was ignorant of what this "moon shot" was, until some staff member > informed > > him on February 19 that there really were plans for a search engine? > > > > "Nor even discussed at board level" my foot! > > > > Even if you bend over backwards to assume Jimmy Wales is telling the > truth, > > and he really didn't know anything about this (he might have been struck > by > > temporary deafness during these "moon shot" discussions, after all, or > > suffered a bout of amnesia), what does it say about him that he blithely > > went round denouncing people who were telling the truth as liars > spreading > > "bullshit", rather than asking questions and informing himself before > > shooting his mouth off? > > > > What's the point of talking when you can't believe a word a person is > > saying? > > > > Andreas > > > > P.S. Now, what is this about Wikia? This is news to me. How would Wikia > > have profited from the Knowledge Engine? Did anyone plan to include Wikia > > among the wikis the search engine would prominently surface? > > > > [1] > > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowledge_Engine/FAQ&diff=15365968&oldid=15365951 > > > > Andreas > > > > On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 12:09 PM, Brion Vibber <bvib...@wikimedia.org> > > wrote: > > > > > Poo has indeed hit fans, as the metaphor goes. But that's hardly the > time > > > to STOP talking. > > > > > > I'll be coming down to the SF office as well next week to talk > > > directly with Jimmy and with any staff (and board members!) who want to > > > plan or brainstorm or vent or just share a moment of "aggghhh!" and I'm > > > very much hoping for the best. > > > > > > I think there's no expectation of magic resolutions, and Jimmy knows > well > > > that there's been mistrust and there remain serious open issues. But > this > > > is a rare inflection point, an opportunity to come together and > seriously > > > explore how we got to this point and what we can all do to avoid a > "next > > > time". > > > > > > Whatever the outcomes I'm glad to see Jimmy reach out and look forward > to > > > some "real talk" and a better understanding of how we all can make > > positive > > > changes together. > > > > > > -- brion > > > > > > On Friday, February 26, 2016, Ruslan Takayev <ruslan.taka...@gmail.com > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > Jimmy, et al > > > > > > > > As yet, we have yet to have coherent believable reasoning for the > > removal > > > > of James Heilman from the BoT, but one of the reasons that has been > put > > > out > > > > there (rightly or wrongly) is that James was talking to staff about > the > > > > state of affairs at the WMF. > > > > > > > > Is this trip not the exact same thing that James was alleged to have > > done > > > > all those months ago? i.e. talking to staff. > > > > > > > > Why are trustees, including yourself, only now willing to listen to > > staff > > > > concerns? The time for that was BEFORE the proverbial poo hit the > fan. > > > > > > > > I am seeing the announcement of your trip as nothing more than a > > "knight > > > in > > > > shining armor" routine, that frankly is too little too late. > > > > > > > > Warm regards, > > > > > > > > Ruslan Takayev > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 4:06 AM, Jimmy Wales <jimmywa...@ymail.com > > > > <javascript:;>> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Here is a note that I just sent to the staff mailing list (stuck > in a > > > > > queue at the moment, so some staff will see it here first.). > > > > > > > > > > Hi everyone! > > > > > > > > > > I am coming to San Francisco on Saturday for a few days to meet > with > > a > > > > > lot of you. I know many of you are not actually in San Francisco, > so > > > > > I'll be sure to set aside time for remote meetings as well. > > > > > > > > > > By now you of course have heard that Lila is leaving us, and my > hope > > is > > > > > that we're going to enter a new era of stability and productivity. > > And > > > > > for that to happen, the board - including me - needs to hear from > > you, > > > > > to listen and learn. > > > > > > > > > > Brion Vibber, who I hired as the first ever employee of the > > Foundation, > > > > > said this to me on Facebook recently: "Jimmy Wales welcome back to > > the > > > > > conversation. I look forward to how you address the current crisis, > > and > > > > > hope it will involve the kind of careful listening and thoughtful > > > > > consideration that I remember from 2001." > > > > > > > > > > That's what I want, too. I want to listen and I want to help the > > board > > > > > make good decisions. > > > > > > > > > > For me, the mission - a free encyclopedia for every single person > on > > > the > > > > > planet, in their own language - is what brought us all together. > > It's > > > > > what keeps us going even in difficult times. But my view is that > it > > > > > doesn't have to be difficult times. Working at the WMF should be - > > and > > > > > will be, I really think - a joy: the joy of working with the best > > > > > colleagues, the joy of doing work that matters to the world, and > the > > > joy > > > > > of working for the fantastic global community of Wikipedians. > > > > > > > > > > I'll be reaching out to some of you - probably starting with > people I > > > > > already know - but please reach out to me as well if you'd like to > > > meet. > > > > > > > > > > I'm in SF from Saturday afternoon through Wednesday evening, so > > > > > depending on demand, I may not be able to see everyone, but I'd > like > > to > > > > > get a good overview. > > > > > > > > > > --Jimbo > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org <javascript:;> > > > > > Unsubscribe: > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org <javascript:;> > > > > ?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org <javascript:;> > > > > Unsubscribe: > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org <javascript:;> > > > > ?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
