Thanks Pine, +1, in particular for this sentence, which goes beyond the legal status of the brand name: "I think that the Wikipedia brand is, in a way, the brand of the community. WMF is the steward of the brand, and should not use the brand in ways which the community has not authorized by consensus." Frans *Frans Grijzenhout*, voorzitter / chair +31 6 5333 9499 -- *Vereniging Wikimedia Nederland* Mariaplaats 3 - 3511 LH Utrecht Kamer van Koophandel 17189036 http://www.wikimedia.nl/
Op zo 2 feb. 2020 om 01:31 schreef Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com>: > Hello, > > I have waited to return to this thread until I could clear enough > space in my mind to try to address it thoroughly. Apologies for the > delay. I will try to address multiple topics in one email. > > I think that the Wikipedia brand is, in a way, the brand of the > community. WMF is the steward of the brand, and should not use the > brand in ways which the community has not authorized by consensus. > > There was a previous mailing discussion on Wikimedia-l in September > 2019. I would have expected an update after that discussion if WMF was > considering moving ahead with rebranding itself. An email announcing > that the matter was being reviewed by the Board, and/or that WMF was > starting an RfC, would have been fine. Community consultations or an > RfC could have taken place at that time without using outside > contractor. > > I don't appreciate being surprised. Given that the focus of this > effort in WMF is inside of its Communications Department, I think that > staff should be especially proactive in communicating what they are > doing with regards to major initiatives, and prior to engaging in a > contracting process with donors' funds. > > Staff appear not to have addressed, at least in public on English > Wikipedia, the sockpuppeting allegations with regards to Snøhetta. [1] > [2]. > > Also worth noting is the RfC, which was previously mentioned in this > thread: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requests_for_comment/Should_the_Foundation_call_itself_Wikipedia > . > The current count as of the time of my writing this email is 26 > support and 292 oppose. > > This series of events should have been handled differently. Nobody is > perfect, but there are problems here that appear to be more > significant than a simple one time failure to communicate on an issue > of moderate importance. > > One oversight that I made in my earlier email, and which I will > correct with an apology for not stating this earlier (I too can be > wrong), is that problems in this series of events could include > decisions that were made by the WMF Board. However, without access to > WMF's internal communications, it is impossible to know how this > series of events happened. > > I am not advocating adding stress to people who do good work, or > people who have so much work that they can't realistically handle > everything that they're told to do. It is possible that staff are > simply overworked. However, while I don't enjoy writing about this > topic, sometimes changing personnel is for the best. This happens in > government organizations and companies, and I imagine happens on > occasion in WMF, although often in private. Also, in WMF and in > affiliate boards, sometimes board members are replaced as a result of > elections. In the community, we occasionally revoke people's > permissions or block people in public, and here too people sometimes > are replaced as a result of elections. I realize that this is a topic > that can be stressful, but I think that candor is appropriate. I feel > rooted in the English Wikipedia community and I think that what I say > in this paragraph is consistent with how our community works, and is > consistent with how I see government agencies sometimes work in the > United States. At the same time (and I wish that I said this in my > previous email) the point isn't to have a culture where people should > be fearful on a daily basis. I would hope that generally things go OK > for people, and that one time mistakes which are easily reversed don't > result in someone feeling fearful. What is more concerning is a > pattern of problems, or an error that results in a single major > problem that is difficult to reverse. > > I personally have made considerable efforts during my personal time to > try to address what I heard was widespread fear among WMF staff about > communicating in public, and that interest continues. A "culture of > fear" can limit communication and erodes trust. At the same time, I > think that the WMF Board and staff should communicate proactively > about initiatives and decisions with significant implications. > > Pine > ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine ) > > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Sn%C3%B8hettaAS > [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Leilaoes > > _______________________________________________ > 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>
