Denny, Thank you for your very thoughtful email. I appreciate your reasoning. Sydney
Sydney Poore User:FloNight Wikipedian in Residence at Cochrane Collaboration On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 2:33 PM, Manuel Schneider < manuel.schnei...@wikimedia.ch> wrote: > Thanks a lot Denny for your honest and inspiring mail. > I kept stumm for the most part of the last month's controversy, as I > merely could have +1ed a lot of stuff that has been said and that's not > worth spinding bandwidth and people's time. > > Now I want to take that time to say thank you, for your time on the > board and for your role in Wikidata. For a return in a role that > inspires you again. > > /Manuel > > On 04/08/2016 08:17 PM, Denny Vrandecic wrote: > > I exchanged a walk on part in the war for a lead role in the cage. > > > > I find myself tied and limited in my actions and projects. In order to > > avoid the perception or potential for Conflict of Interests I have to act > > extremely carefully in far too many parts of my life. Instead of being > able > > to pursue my projects or some projects at work - which I think would > align > > very well with our mission - I found myself trapped between too many > > constraints. I feel like I cannot offer my thoughts and my considerations > > openly, since they might easily be perceived as expressions of interests > - > > regarding my previous work, regarding my friends, regarding my current > > employment. > > > > This hit home strongly during the FDC deliberations, where I had to deal > > with the situation of people deliberating a proposal written by my Best > > Man, around a project that has consumed the best part of the previous > > decade of my life. Obviously, I explained the conflicts in this case, and > > refrained from participating in the discussion, as agreed with the FDC. > > > > This hit home every time there was a topic that might be perceived as a > > potential conflict of interest between Wikimedia and my employer, and > even > > though I might have been in a unique position to provide insight, I had > to > > refrain from doing so in order not to exert influence. > > > > There were constant and continuous attacks against me, as being merely > > Google’s mole on the Board, even of the election being bought by Google. > I > > would not have minded these attacks so much - if I would have had the > > feeling that my input to the Board, based on my skills and experiences, > > would have been particularly valuable, or if I would have had the feeling > > of getting anything done while being on the Board. As it is, neither was > > the case. > > > > I discussed with Jan-Bart, then chair, what is and what is not > appropriate > > to pursue as a member of the Board. I understood and followed his advice, > > but it was frustrating. It was infuriatingly limiting. > > > > As some of you might know, Wikidata was for me just one step towards my > > actual goal, a fully multilingual Wikipedia. I hoped that as a Trustee I > > could pursue that goal, but when even writing a comment on a bug in > > Phabricator has to be considered under the aspect that it will be read as > > "it is a Board-member writing that comment" and/or “It’s a Googler > writing > > that comment”, I don’t see how I could effectively pursue such a goal. > > > > It was at Wikimania 2006 in Boston, when Markus Krötzsch and I had lunch > > with Dan Connolly, a co-editor of the early HTML specs. Dan gave me an > > advise that still rings with me - to do the things worth doing that only > > you can do. This set me, back then, on a path that eventually lead to the > > creation of Wikidata - which, before then, wasn't something I wanted to > do > > myself. I used to think that merely suggesting it would be enough - > someone > > will eventually do it, I don’t have to. There’s plenty of committed and > > smart people at the Foundation, they’ll make it happen. Heck, Erik was > back > > then a supporter of the plan (he was the one to secure the domain > > wikidata.org), and he was deputy director. Things were bound to happen > > anyway. But that is not what happened. I eventually, half a decade later, > > realized that if I do not do it, it simply won't happen, at least not in > a > > reasonable timeframe. > > > > And as said, Wikidata was just one step on the way. But right now I > cannot > > take the next steps. Anything that I would do or propose or suggest will > be > > regarded through the lense of my current positions. To be fair, I do see > > that I should not be both the one suggesting changes, and the one > deciding > > on them. I understand now that I could not have suggested Wikidata as a > > member of the Board. It takes an independent Board to evaluate such > > proposal and its virtues and decide on them. > > > > I want to send a few thank yous, in particular to the teams at the > > Wikimedia Foundation and at Google who helped me steer clear of actual > > conflicts of interests. They were wonderful, and extremely helpful. It > > bears a certain irony that both organizations had strong measures against > > exactly the kind of things that I have been regularly accused of. > > > > I only see three ways to stay clear from a perceived or potential > Conflict > > of Interest: to lay still and do nothing, to remove the source of the > > Conflict, or to step away from the position of power. Since the first > > option is unsatisfying, the second option unavailable, only the third > > option remains. > > > > So I have decided to resign from the Board of Trustees. > > > > It was not an easy decision, and certainly not a step made any easier by > > the events in the last few months. I understand that I will disappoint > many > > of the people who voted for me, and I want to apologize: I am sorry, > > honestly sorry, but I don’t see that it is me the Board needs now, or > that > > the movement needs me in that position. What I learned is that the > profile > > that allows someone to win an election is not the profile that makes an > > effective Trustee. > > > > But be warned that you will continue to hear from me, after a wikibreak. > > Expect crazy ideas, project proposals, and requests to fund and implement > > them. I will return to a more active role within the movement. I will be, > > again, free to work on things that are worth doing and that only I can > do. > > I think that in that role I can be more effective and more valuable to > the > > movement, the Foundation, and for our mission. > > -- > Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens > www.wikimedia.ch > > _______________________________________________ > 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>
