Hi Pine, So far the chairperson meetings took place during Wikimedia Summit or Wikimania, and some other were online. So yes, undoubtedly there are ways to prevent more travels, and this is what we did for the past four years.
You mentioned three factors about international meetings, but you forgot one important one. The chairpersons are volunteers, so the element of vacation days is also a factor which we need to consider when we evaluate such volunteers meetings. Adding another two days meeting to Wikimania for example (which was this year in a distant destination) - can mean almost a week off to the ones that would have participated. Also, we worked to arrange this meeting for a quite long time, additional to other work-related and our affiliate's obligations. And even if we wanted, we couldn't be ready enough with this meeting enough time before Wikimania, in a way that will also give enough notice time to the chairs (some of them didn't attend Wikimania this year). As far as we were concerned, it was a pilot, so it was very important for us to be assisted by an external facilitator and to be immediately attentive to feedback to assess the value of the meeting. Thank you for the warm words in your email summary. *Itzik Edri* Chairperson it...@wikimedia.org.il +972-54-5878078 On Sun, Dec 30, 2018 at 5:39 AM Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Itzik, Frans, and Vojtěch, > > I am very behind on email but I wanted to say thanks for sharing this > report from the chairpersons' meeting. > > I am wondering whether, for the purposes of (1) increasing the cost > effectiveness of travel expenses, (2) reducing the negative environmental > effects from travel, and (3) increasing the number of chairpersons who > participate, if future meetings could be scheduled immediately before or > after Wikimania or the Wikimedia (WMF + Affiliates) Summit. Alternatively, > future meetings could be held online so that travel is not necessary. What > do you think? > > Thanks again for sharing this report. I get the impression that the > chairpersons found the meeting to be valuable, and I hope that similar > meetings will happen in the future. My guess is that being a chair of a > Wikimedia affiliate can require significant time and involve difficult > conversations. I'm grateful for those who volunteer their time to serve. > > Regards, > > Pine > ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) > > > On Mon, Dec 3, 2018 at 8:31 PM Itzik - Wikimedia Israel < > it...@wikimedia.org.il> wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > For four years now, since Wikimania 2014 in London, the chairpersons of > the > > recognized chapters have met as a group twice a year, during Wikimania > and > > the Wikimedia Conference (now the Wikimedia Summit), usually for 1 - 2 > > hours during one of the lunch breaks. > > > > I started to arrange these meetings as an opportunity for the > chairpersons > > to meet, and the concept of these meetings at the beginning was to host > > every time a different person from our movement. > > > > Later on, Tim Moritz Hector (WMDE) and Frans Grijzenhout (WMNL) joined to > > help me arrange and plan these meetings, and as result also from the > > feedback of the other chairs, we changed the concept to discussions and > > presentations format in order to speak about issues related to the > > organizations we represent and our movement in general. We also created a > > mailing list as a place to get updates but also to raise questions and > > share information (such as questions related to the organization's > > policies, ED, board issues and other). > > > > About half a year ago, Frans and me thought we had to take these meetings > > to a higher level, and, for the first time, we proposed to organize a two > > days meeting, where we can have a dedicated time, without interruptions > > (and lunch on our tables...) in order to focus on bigger issues. > > > > We already have board trainings for new board members, but we don’t have > > any program which supports the chairpersons as leaders of their boards > and > > their organizations. So we decided to focus on improving the > interpersonal > > skills and leadership competencies of chairpersons and give them other > > tools to become better and more effective in their roles. > > > > In order to achieve this, we decided to contract an experienced external > > trainer & facilitator. > > > > In the beginning, we planned to have this meeting with all the > > chairpersons, from the big and from the small chapters. But as the WMF’s > > grants program were temporarily not accepting new grants requests, we > > weren't able to get support to finance the participation of the small > > chapters which didn’t have the budget to cover the costs. > > > > So in the end, we hold a smaller meeting a week ago (hosted by WMCZ in > > Prague), with 17 chairpersons which could cover the travel and meeting > > costs (with a small grant from the WMF to help to support part of the > > facilitator's fee). > > > > During the meeting (or you can also call it a retreat) we had workshops > and > > sessions to know each other better, to speak about effective and > > accountable boards, team dynamics, failures (and how to continue) and > work > > on interpersonal skills and more. > > > > We decided to share with you the results and feedback we received, which > > may be used by other groups or similar events: > > > > > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MOBru_m1wQu-IESItb5IWjWp9mVVdRuG/view?usp=sharing > > > > You can read more about the meeting on Meta: > > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate_Chairpersons_meeting_November_24_-_25,_2018 > > > > And also the notes of some of the session: > > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Affiliate_Chairpersons_meeting_November_24_-_25,_2018 > > > > We felt this information will be valuable to share with the rest of the > > movement. > > > > Yours, > > Itzik, Frans, and Vojtěch (WMCZ) > > > > > > > > *Itzik Edri* > > Chairperson > > it...@wikimedia.org.il > > +972-54-5878078 > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > 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 and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > 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 and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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>
