Thank you Katherine, We will be happy to see you in Tunis! Along with other reps of the WMF I hope, with the possibility of booking appointments with : - T&S - outreach - grant rep - tech rep Kind regards,
Nattes à chat > Le 16 sept. 2019 à 23:54, Katherine Maher <kma...@wikimedia.org> a écrit : > > Hi all, > > Just a quick note that I was invited to Wikiconvention on Friday 9 August > by Wikimedia France. On Monday 12 August (delayed by travel to Wikimania!) > I sent a note expressing my regrets, as I had a family wedding to attend > during that same weekend as the Convention. I also asked at the same time > to be notified as soon as the 2020 Tunis dates were confirmed, so that I or > other members of the Foundation's leadership team are able to plan to > attend (and I have already put those dates in my calendar). > > Unfortunately, as all volunteers know, sometimes personal/family > commitments do preclude travel. I similarly cannot attend the CEE > Conference due to a personal commitment this year. Sometimes there are also > scheduling conflicts: This year the German-speaking WikiCon gathering is > the same weekend as WikiArabia, and WikiCon North America is the same > weekend as WikiIndaba. This means there's always going to be a sense of > missing something important! > > I would also agree with what Leila shared. I was very appreciative to be > invited to Wikiconvention, WikiArabia, and WikiIndaba this year. But I want > to respect that not every community feels that it is the place of the > Foundation's ED to participate or speak at their events, and that's totally > fine. I don't think people always need to hear from me, but I am always > very happy to support any event in which I am invited! > > Katherine > > > > On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 2:25 PM Natacha Rault via Wikimedia-l < > wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> wrote: > >> Thanks for sharing this Leila! This is of course a useful angle. >> Nattes >> >>> Le 16 sept. 2019 à 21:51, Leila Zia <le...@wikimedia.org> a écrit : >>> >>> Hi, >>> >>> A different angle for looking at the question of WMF staff attending >>> community events which may help this conversation: >>> >>> As a staff member (and acknowledging that my position is none of the >>> ones Thierry called out in their first email on this thread), with the >>> exception of a few community events, I very much hesitate to attend a >>> local community-run event unless the specific community, or at least >>> one person from that community, has specifically invited me or told me >>> I should consider attending. There is definitely some feeling of >>> fear/self-consciousness on my end about entering in a place where I >>> may not be welcome, where I impose my presence to others, or entering >>> conversations where my expertise may not be valued/considered because >>> I'm carrying a history which may or may not even be really mine. >>> >>> I'm sharing my feelings and the way I think about whether to attend a >>> local event or not here not to ask for empathy in my specific case >>> (which is btw, always welcomed:) but to say that there may be other >>> staff members like me, especially those who have joined WMF more >>> recently, who may be in the same boat. My recommendation would be for >>> the local communities to signal to the specific people which they want >>> in their meetings that they're welcome to attend. At least this way >>> you will know the person has felt invited/welcomed and will have a >>> higher chance to decide to attend. >>> >>> To be clear: I'm not saying WMF not attending this specific event >>> would have been addressed by the above. I don't know. I'm just >>> explaining one of the reasons this may have happened, and providing a >>> suggestion to address this specific reason. >>> >>> Best, >>> Leila >>> -- >>> Leila Zia >>> Principal Research Scientist, Head of Research >>> Wikimedia Foundation >>> >>> On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 4:20 AM Philip Kopetzky >>> <philip.kopet...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Gereon, you clearly forget the whole Mediaviewer saga and attendance of >> WMF >>>> staff at the following WikiCon in Cologne ;-) But that was a long time >> ago >>>> :-) >>>> >>>>> On Mon, 16 Sep 2019 at 01:53, Gereon Kalkuhl <gkalk...@freenet.de> >> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Since 2010 we have the WikiCon for the German language communities with >>>>> more than 300 attendants. I don't remember that the WMF has sent anyone >>>>> to these conventions. And why should they? It's all in German, the >>>>> communities are established and have strong chapters. I suppose the >> same >>>>> applies to the French language communites. The WMF visits emerging >>>>> communities, to learn about them and to help them by transfering >>>>> knowlege. They visit the CEE meetings, they visit Wiki Indabas. I don't >>>>> think that the WMF is neglecting big communities, it rather makes sense >>>>> that when sending employes across half the planet they check before, >>>>> what benefits the conferences have from their attendance and what >>>>> benefits their attendance bring to the particpants of the conference. >>>>> Cheers, Gereon >>>>> >>>>>> Am 15.09.2019 um 20:02 schrieb Thierry Coudray: >>>>>> "*The Foundation does not care so much of the French-speaking >>>>> contributors*". >>>>>> This harsh sentence is the translation of a statement in French, I've >>>>> just >>>>>> said in a conversation a week ago at the Francophone Wikiconvention >> held >>>>>> last weekend in Brussels. The statement may seem excessive, because >> the >>>>>> Foundation does things for the Francophone community as well as for >> other >>>>>> communities (and its website is fairly well translated into French). >> But >>>>> it >>>>>> reflected my feeling, shared by my three interlocutors, all >> non-French, >>>>>> facing that no Foundation high-level members were present to this >>>>>> Wikiconvention: no executive director, nor members of the Board, nor >> any >>>>>> level-C staff. In an another conversation, where the subject came up >> over >>>>>> again, someone said this absence was offensive. I do not know if it >>>>>> reflects the majority of attendees feelings but with varying degrees, >> I >>>>>> would said it was widely shared. >>>>>> >>>>>> In 2017, for the Francophone Wikiconvention in Strasbourg we had a >> very >>>>>> quick visit of Katherine Maher, in 2018, a simple video message and in >>>>> 2019 >>>>>> ... nothing. At the same time, the Francophone Wikiconvention has >> stepped >>>>>> up with ever more participants, always more countries represented. >> This >>>>>> year, it brought together more than 220 Francophones, Algerian, >> Belgian, >>>>>> Beninese, Cameroonian, Canadian, French, Guinean, Ivorian, Swiss and >>>>>> Tunisian contributors, and I may forget some, with varied and >> enriching >>>>>> conferences and meetings. A huge success, very well organized by >>>>> employees >>>>>> but also by several volunteers, who dedicated time and energy. This >>>>>> Wikiconvention and the projects and achievements submitted have shown >> the >>>>>> French-speaking Wikimedia community vitality, which will continue to >>>>> grow. >>>>>> FYI, French is foreseen, thanks to Africa, to be the most rapidly >> growing >>>>>> languages in the next twenty years and will be the mother tongue or >> the >>>>>> language used for communication for more than 8% of the world's >>>>> population >>>>>> in thirty years' time. But my reaction would have been the same if I >> had >>>>>> attended an Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Swahili-speaking or any other >>>>>> important languages Wikiconvention. >>>>>> >>>>>> So yes, this Wikiconvention is not in English. Fortunately, not all >>>>>> Wikimedia meetings are in English. In a previous discussion on this >>>>> mailing >>>>>> list about the question of whether or not it is appropriate to >> continue >>>>>> Wimania, one of the participants argued that unlike other Wikimedia >>>>>> meetings, anyone could attend Wikmania. It may be obvious for those >> who >>>>>> have English as a mother tongue or for Northern Europeans for whom >>>>> English >>>>>> is almost a second mother tongue but this is false: English is spoken >>>>> only >>>>>> by a small minority in the world, less than one human in six. So only >> one >>>>>> human in six or seven could attend Wikimania or any other >>>>> english-speaking >>>>>> conferences or meetings (the case of the vast majority of global >>>>> Wikimedia >>>>>> conferences). I do not deny a common working language usefulness but a >>>>>> Wikiconvention in French, as I hope other languages ones will be more >> to >>>>>> come soon, allows all non-English speaking Francophones to >> participate in >>>>>> the Wikimedia movement and above all, help them to meet our common >> goal >>>>> of >>>>>> spread freeknowledge.The movement talks a lot about its efforts to >>>>> overcome >>>>>> differents gaps (gender, LGBT,...) and it's rightly pointed, these >> topics >>>>>> are important. But it simply forget the language gap and the almost >>>>>> exclusive use of English excludes a very large majority. >>>>>> >>>>>> So why no high level Foundation members in Brussels ? >>>>>> I was told that Valerie D'Costa, the new Chief of Community >> Engagement, >>>>>> should initially be there but finally told she will not. But then, no >>>>> other >>>>>> member could then replace her and why only one Foundation representant >>>>>> given the part of French language in the WM projects ? Perhaps no >>>>> Foundation >>>>>> Board or high level member speaks French or feels she/he speaks good >>>>> enough. >>>>>> But with more than 220 attendants at the FWC, it would have been easy >> to >>>>>> find volonteers with a good level of English to provide simultaneous >>>>>> translation in discussions with other non-English speaking >> participants >>>>> or to >>>>>> translate conferences.A higher-level representation would have helped >> the >>>>>> Foundation top level to gain more insight into Wikimedian >> French-speaking >>>>>> community and enabled this community to have a direct access to the >>>>>> Foundation, like in Wikimania. That would have helped bridging the gap >>>>>> between these "two worlds". Because this gap is real. In the 2011 >> Finance >>>>>> Meeting in Paris, during workshops where a Board member was in each >>>>>> group (Jan-Bart >>>>>> de Vreede for mine), me and another non english-speaking chapter head >>>>> (she/he >>>>>> will recognize her/himself) had made the comment that we had the >>>>> impression >>>>>> in our relation with the Foundation of "*colliding with an Anglo-Saxon >>>>> wall*". >>>>>> I notice that despite more Foundation staff diversity in recent years, >>>>>> French speaking organizations would probably still have the same >> feeling >>>>>> and clearly many French-speaking wikimedians feel that gap. >>>>>> >>>>>> It is sad that the Foundation, which is very demanding with >> Francophone >>>>>> chapters, does not apply itself to these demands with the Francophone >>>>>> community. FYI the next French-speaking Wikconvention will be held on >> WE >>>>> 31 >>>>>> october/1 November 2019 in Tunis. Save the date. >>>>>> >>>>>> Regards >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> 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> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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> > > > > -- > > Katherine Maher (she/her) > > Executive Director > > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> > _______________________________________________ > 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>
