Hoi,
I totally agree that it is about community.. There are some 200 Wikipedia
communities, there is Commons, Wikisource and the community I am most
involved in Wikidata. What ties it together is the organisation of it all.
THAT is Wikimedia for me, both the org and the movement.
Thanks,
GerardM
On Sun, 2 Feb 2020 at 12:12, Frans Grijzenhout <fr...@wikimedia.nl> wrote:
> 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
> >
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