Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Italia recognized as OpenStreetMap chapter

[Milos Rancic]

On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:36 PM, Laurentius  wrote:
> after a long process, today Wikimedia Italia has been officially
> recognized as the Italian OpenStreetMap chapter!

This is great and shows the uniqueness and general value of the
Wikimedia movement! It shows that Wikimedia chapters are capable to
become local umbrella organizations for other free content movements.
That's very important for people involved in such projects, as they
could rely on our infrastructure.

-- 
Milos

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Advisory board

[Dariusz Jemielniak]

hi,

restructuring the Advisory Board has been on my mind for a while - I've
actually put  it to the list
of initial priorities I set for myself as a Board member. I hope we'll be
able to zero in on this issue once the higher priority stuff stops
overflowing. I plan to discuss it within the BGC, and also with WMF, to
establish the needs, as well as possibilities.

best,

dariusz

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 2:57 AM, Asaf Bartov  wrote:

> Thank you, Kat.  That was very informative, and of course, my sharing my
> frustrating experience was merely an attempt to use this chance to draw
> attention to that issue (not the person, but what you described as type 4),
> not an attempt to provide the full context you just did. :)
>
> (and your e-mail reminded me of Ms. Hagemann's being (er, having been) on
> our AB, and gives me a chance to amend my earlier statement; she is an
> example of a fantastically valuable ally whom I, too, had a chance to
> benefit from, in several impromptu conversations, most recently a few
> months ago, in Delhi.)
>
>A.
>
> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:42 PM, Kat Walsh  wrote:
>
> > The advisory board basically never gets used as a group (and IMO it
> > wouldn't really make sense to). In my experience, people named to the
> > list fill one of a few functions:
> >
> > 1. Big Names who don't have the time to commit to being on the board
> > or are otherwise unsuited to being one of the main decision-makers,
> > but whose formal association with the project makes sense and is
> > beneficial. (I think of Clay Shirky as one of these: he is busy with
> > his existing work, but he is a great champion of the projects; he's
> > given presentations and press mentions that were helpful, consults on
> > some issues, and has offered his university's resources.)
> >
> > 2. People who are prominent in some area relevant to the projects and
> > whose work touches on it, who offer their expertise in their
> > particular domain and may be all but invisible to others. (Melissa
> > Hagemann is an example--she is prominent in open access and the people
> > working in that domain have worked with her, but people outside of it
> > may not see her work.)
> >
> > 3. People who have held high-level formal roles within WMF and whose
> > continued connection is recognized through being named an advisor. In
> > an organization with Senior Fellows, this is probably what we would be
> > called; it basically recognizes that although these people no longer
> > hold their roles, they continue to be supporters and advisors and
> > would like to continue to be available to offer their input and
> > expertise. I fall into this role, for example, and the structure of
> > having the formal connection makes it easier for current board and
> > staff to call on me. (FWIW, I was named to the advisory board by a
> > resolution after my term ended, though I see the page is poorly-enough
> > maintained that I'm not listed.)
> >
> > 4. People we hoped would fall into one of these roles, but who have
> > not actually kept up the relationship or whose guidance turned out not
> > to meet our needs.
> >
> > It is useful to have a formal structure to call on people for their
> > help; most of the help the AB members provided in my experience was
> > through 1-on-1 consultation (more by Sue than by myself). But I think
> > there are more people in category 4 than there ought to be. The
> > renewal mechanism was intended to make it easier to graceully remove
> > people who fell into that category without making it feel like they
> > were "fired", but as it turns out if you renew some but not others,
> > people will feel that way no matter how gracefully you try to do it,
> > and probably not wrongly--and since they are all people who were
> > originally named because of a desire to strengthen the relationship,
> > souring it by ending their terms is a very difficult thing to do,
> > especially when it is easy to keep them.
> >
> > Yes, the advisory board is invited to Wikimania with travel expenses
> > covered, though of the few members who come, some pay their own way
> > anyhow; the financial cost is relatively small. (I would say I made a
> > principled stand to pay my own way last year, but really I just
> > waffled over it for a while until it was late enough that I'd have
> > been embarrassed to submit receipts.)
> >
> > In my tenure the advisory board was considered a few times, but it was
> > just never a high-priority item; I am aware of it having been
> > considered again last year but not sure if anything came of it. The
> > main drawback I think of is that people tend to forget it exists until
> > too late in a decision process, and many who could usefully consult
> > them don't even know who is on the advisory board, what their
> > backgrounds are, and how receptive they are to messages, so it is hard
> > to use them effectively.
> >
> > -Kat
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 10:51 

[Wikimedia-l] Board meeting January 30

[Pete Forsyth]

https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=WMF_Board_meetings&diff=15288840&oldid=15052206

Agenda: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Board_meetings/2016-01-30

-Pete
[[User:Peteforsyth]]
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Advisory board

[Anthony Cole]

Excellent. Bearing in mind Kat's points, you might consider appointing
experts for the duration of specific projects or until predetermined goals
have been achieved, or for fixed periods with the clear prior understanding
that renewall is unlikely. (You can always offer renewal at the end of a
term if you want.)
On 29 Jan 2016 9:53 pm, "Dariusz Jemielniak"  wrote:

> hi,
>
> restructuring the Advisory Board has been on my mind for a while - I've
> actually put  it to the list
> of initial priorities I set for myself as a Board member. I hope we'll be
> able to zero in on this issue once the higher priority stuff stops
> overflowing. I plan to discuss it within the BGC, and also with WMF, to
> establish the needs, as well as possibilities.
>
> best,
>
> dariusz
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 2:57 AM, Asaf Bartov 
> wrote:
>
> > Thank you, Kat.  That was very informative, and of course, my sharing my
> > frustrating experience was merely an attempt to use this chance to draw
> > attention to that issue (not the person, but what you described as type
> 4),
> > not an attempt to provide the full context you just did. :)
> >
> > (and your e-mail reminded me of Ms. Hagemann's being (er, having been) on
> > our AB, and gives me a chance to amend my earlier statement; she is an
> > example of a fantastically valuable ally whom I, too, had a chance to
> > benefit from, in several impromptu conversations, most recently a few
> > months ago, in Delhi.)
> >
> >A.
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 11:42 PM, Kat Walsh 
> wrote:
> >
> > > The advisory board basically never gets used as a group (and IMO it
> > > wouldn't really make sense to). In my experience, people named to the
> > > list fill one of a few functions:
> > >
> > > 1. Big Names who don't have the time to commit to being on the board
> > > or are otherwise unsuited to being one of the main decision-makers,
> > > but whose formal association with the project makes sense and is
> > > beneficial. (I think of Clay Shirky as one of these: he is busy with
> > > his existing work, but he is a great champion of the projects; he's
> > > given presentations and press mentions that were helpful, consults on
> > > some issues, and has offered his university's resources.)
> > >
> > > 2. People who are prominent in some area relevant to the projects and
> > > whose work touches on it, who offer their expertise in their
> > > particular domain and may be all but invisible to others. (Melissa
> > > Hagemann is an example--she is prominent in open access and the people
> > > working in that domain have worked with her, but people outside of it
> > > may not see her work.)
> > >
> > > 3. People who have held high-level formal roles within WMF and whose
> > > continued connection is recognized through being named an advisor. In
> > > an organization with Senior Fellows, this is probably what we would be
> > > called; it basically recognizes that although these people no longer
> > > hold their roles, they continue to be supporters and advisors and
> > > would like to continue to be available to offer their input and
> > > expertise. I fall into this role, for example, and the structure of
> > > having the formal connection makes it easier for current board and
> > > staff to call on me. (FWIW, I was named to the advisory board by a
> > > resolution after my term ended, though I see the page is poorly-enough
> > > maintained that I'm not listed.)
> > >
> > > 4. People we hoped would fall into one of these roles, but who have
> > > not actually kept up the relationship or whose guidance turned out not
> > > to meet our needs.
> > >
> > > It is useful to have a formal structure to call on people for their
> > > help; most of the help the AB members provided in my experience was
> > > through 1-on-1 consultation (more by Sue than by myself). But I think
> > > there are more people in category 4 than there ought to be. The
> > > renewal mechanism was intended to make it easier to graceully remove
> > > people who fell into that category without making it feel like they
> > > were "fired", but as it turns out if you renew some but not others,
> > > people will feel that way no matter how gracefully you try to do it,
> > > and probably not wrongly--and since they are all people who were
> > > originally named because of a desire to strengthen the relationship,
> > > souring it by ending their terms is a very difficult thing to do,
> > > especially when it is easy to keep them.
> > >
> > > Yes, the advisory board is invited to Wikimania with travel expenses
> > > covered, though of the few members who come, some pay their own way
> > > anyhow; the financial cost is relatively small. (I would say I made a
> > > principled stand to pay my own way last year, but really I just
> > > waffled over it for a while until it was late enough that I'd have
> > > been embarrassed to submit receipts.)
> > >
> > > In my tenure the advisory board was cons

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board meeting January 30

[Risker]

I am sure the agenda was prepared well in advance and before the events of
the last 48 hours; however, it should be noted that there are now *two*
open board seats (one community-selected, one Board-appointed).

Risker/Anne

On 29 January 2016 at 09:01, Pete Forsyth  wrote:

>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=WMF_Board_meetings&diff=15288840&oldid=15052206
>
> Agenda: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Board_meetings/2016-01-30
>
> -Pete
> [[User:Peteforsyth]]
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Board meeting January 30

[Chris Keating]

> I am sure the agenda was prepared well in advance and before the events of
> the last 48 hours; however, it should be noted that there are now *two*
> open board seats (one community-selected, one Board-appointed).
>

Since the agenda is on Meta, I have been bold and changed "seat" to "seats"
:-)

Chris
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Advisory board

[Andreas Kolbe]

I've never understood why corporate appointees like Guy Kawasaki or the
just-departed Arnnon Geshuri are voting board members, instead of being on
the Advisory Board.

The board structure needs to be revised, and brought in line with basic
democratic principles.

Andreas
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[Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Patricio Lorente]

Dear all,


I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
two year term, until Wikimania 2017.


Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
and policymaking.


We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
for their considerations. (
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015

)


We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
selection process, which is coming up soon.


I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
with wisdom and grace.


Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
to our movement.


Patricio

--
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Ziko van Dijk]

Dear Patricio,

Thank you for the information. I would be interested in an elaboration
of the advantages and disadvantages of a community election, though.

Kind regards
Ziko

2016-01-29 16:27 GMT+01:00 Patricio Lorente :
> Dear all,
>
>
> I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
> seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
>
>
> Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
> member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
> Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
> of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
> and policymaking.
>
>
> We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
> deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> for their considerations. (
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> 
> )
>
>
> We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
> that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
> without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> selection process, which is coming up soon.
>
>
> I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
> the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> with wisdom and grace.
>
>
> Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
> to our movement.
>
>
> Patricio
>
> --
> ___
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> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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> 

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Richard Symonds]

Congratulations María! It's good to see you on the board.

Richard Symonds
Wikimedia UK
0207 065 0992

Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).

*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*

On 29 January 2016 at 15:27, Patricio Lorente 
wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>
> I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
> seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
>
>
> Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
> member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
> Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
> of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
> and policymaking.
>
>
> We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
> deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> for their considerations. (
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> >
> )
>
>
> We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
> that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
> without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> selection process, which is coming up soon.
>
>
> I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
> the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> with wisdom and grace.
>
>
> Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
> to our movement.
>
>
> Patricio
>
> --
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Chris Keating]

Hi Ziko,

The advantages and disadvantages are articulated here, though I have to say
I wasn't aware of it until Patricio posted it just now.

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman

I would speculate that the Board agreed with the advantages of the course
of action they have taken and felt the disadvantages of it are limited. But
that is only a guess ;)

Personally I think it is the right (and to me very obvious) decision.

Chris



On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 3:36 PM, Ziko van Dijk  wrote:

> Dear Patricio,
>
> Thank you for the information. I would be interested in an elaboration
> of the advantages and disadvantages of a community election, though.
>
> Kind regards
> Ziko
>
> 2016-01-29 16:27 GMT+01:00 Patricio Lorente :
> > Dear all,
> >
> >
> > I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community
> Trustee
> > seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> > an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> > community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> > two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
> >
> >
> > Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> > Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> > elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> > number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> > been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a
> founding
> > member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> > Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations
> and
> > Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the
> role
> > of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> > and improving channels for community participation in Foundation
> governance
> > and policymaking.
> >
> >
> > We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
> before
> > deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> > thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> > for their considerations. (
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> > <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> >
> > )
> >
> >
> > We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> > another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> > outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> > quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> > have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to
> us
> > that the community perspective is fully represented in these
> conversations,
> > without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> > selection process, which is coming up soon.
> >
> >
> > I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings
> to
> > the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> > with wisdom and grace.
> >
> >
> > Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her
> service
> > to our movement.
> >
> >
> > Patricio
> >
> > --
> > ___
> > 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,
> 
>
> ___
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> 
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Salvador A]

¡Felicidades María!

Happy to see you again in the Board. Thanks to the BoT and to the 2015
Elections Committee for all the efforts solving this problem. The diversity
inside the Board gets many benefits with this appointment.

I trust you María!

2016-01-29 9:44 GMT-06:00 Galileo Vidoni :

> Congratulations, María! I am sure your experience, sensibility and wisdom
> will be of great help for the Foundation at this difficult time.
>
> Galileo
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 12:36 PM, Ziko van Dijk 
> wrote:
>
> > Dear Patricio,
> >
> > Thank you for the information. I would be interested in an elaboration
> > of the advantages and disadvantages of a community election, though.
> >
> > Kind regards
> > Ziko
> >
> > 2016-01-29 16:27 GMT+01:00 Patricio Lorente  >:
> > > Dear all,
> > >
> > >
> > > I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community
> > Trustee
> > > seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will
> accept
> > > an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> > > community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of
> the
> > > two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
> > >
> > >
> > > Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> > > Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015
> community
> > > elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and
> highest
> > > number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and
> has
> > > been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a
> > founding
> > > member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> > > Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations
> > and
> > > Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the
> > role
> > > of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase
> editorship,
> > > and improving channels for community participation in Foundation
> > governance
> > > and policymaking.
> > >
> > >
> > > We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
> > before
> > > deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> > > thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re
> grateful
> > > for their considerations. (
> > >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> > > <
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> > >
> > > )
> > >
> > >
> > > We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> > > another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> > > outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> > > quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and
> we
> > > have important issues to address in the near future. It was important
> to
> > us
> > > that the community perspective is fully represented in these
> > conversations,
> > > without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate
> Trustee
> > > selection process, which is coming up soon.
> > >
> > >
> > > I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings
> > to
> > > the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our
> mission
> > > with wisdom and grace.
> > >
> > >
> > > Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her
> > service
> > > to our movement.
> > >
> > >
> > > Patricio
> > >
> > > --
> > > ___
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> > 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,
> > 
> >
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> >
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-- 
*Salvador Alcántar*
*@salvador_alc*
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Chandres Wikipedia]

Thanks Patricio,

There was many solution to the situation and I personally felt the board choose 
one of the less bad ;-)

charles

> Le 29 janv. 2016 à 16:27, Patricio Lorente  a 
> écrit :
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> 
> I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
> seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
> 
> 
> Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
> member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
> Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
> of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
> and policymaking.
> 
> 
> We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
> deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> for their considerations. (
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> 
> )
> 
> 
> We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
> that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
> without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> selection process, which is coming up soon.
> 
> 
> I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
> the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> with wisdom and grace.
> 
> 
> Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
> to our movement.
> 
> 
> Patricio
> 
> --
> ___
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> 


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[Wikimedia-l] On boards and good governance: The Bottom Line

[Andy Mabbett]

Given recent issues, I found last night's episode of 'The Bottom Line':

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bottom_Line_%28radio_programme%29

a BBC Radio 4 discussion & BBC World Service programme, most interesting.

Although its topic was the role of boards of directors of commercial
companies, much of what it had to say about the selection and training
of appropriate board members, and issues such as diversity,
skill-matching, and group psychology, was more generally applicable.

The episode, titled 'Managing the Boardroom', is available on BBC iPlayer:

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06yfm8d

and as a podcast:

   
http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/5/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download/proto/http/vpid/p03gqtgh.mp3

One of the panellists, Margaret Heffernan:

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Heffernan

has written on similar issues.

-- 
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Galileo Vidoni]

Congratulations, María! I am sure your experience, sensibility and wisdom
will be of great help for the Foundation at this difficult time.

Galileo

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 12:36 PM, Ziko van Dijk  wrote:

> Dear Patricio,
>
> Thank you for the information. I would be interested in an elaboration
> of the advantages and disadvantages of a community election, though.
>
> Kind regards
> Ziko
>
> 2016-01-29 16:27 GMT+01:00 Patricio Lorente :
> > Dear all,
> >
> >
> > I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community
> Trustee
> > seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> > an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> > community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> > two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
> >
> >
> > Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> > Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> > elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> > number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> > been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a
> founding
> > member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> > Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations
> and
> > Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the
> role
> > of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> > and improving channels for community participation in Foundation
> governance
> > and policymaking.
> >
> >
> > We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
> before
> > deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> > thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> > for their considerations. (
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> > <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> >
> > )
> >
> >
> > We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> > another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> > outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> > quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> > have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to
> us
> > that the community perspective is fully represented in these
> conversations,
> > without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> > selection process, which is coming up soon.
> >
> >
> > I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings
> to
> > the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> > with wisdom and grace.
> >
> >
> > Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her
> service
> > to our movement.
> >
> >
> > Patricio
> >
> > --
> > ___
> > 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,
> 
>
> ___
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Andreas Kolbe]

Another mistake. A lot has happened over the past few weeks. The community
should have been given a voice, in light of vast changes in circumstances
since last May.

María, too, might have felt better about joining the board with a clear
endorsement from the community – an endorsement given now, rather than last
May. As things stand, her tenure begins under a cloud.

Andreas
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Ad Huikeshoven]

Say welcome to María on
https://discourse.wmflabs.org/t/appointment-of-maria-sefidari-to-wikimedia-foundation-board/32
or just like the post there.

Ad Huikeshoven
Op 29 jan. 2016 16:27 schreef "Patricio Lorente" :

> Dear all,
>
>
> I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
> seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
>
>
> Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
> member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
> Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
> of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
> and policymaking.
>
>
> We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
> deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> for their considerations. (
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> >
> )
>
>
> We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
> that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
> without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> selection process, which is coming up soon.
>
>
> I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
> the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> with wisdom and grace.
>
>
> Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
> to our movement.
>
>
> Patricio
>
> --
> ___
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Osmar Valdebenito]

Congratulations María!
I'm sure that her experience and support from the community (given she had
the most favourable votes in the election a few months ago) will be
important to bring the Board back on track after so many unfortunate
decisions in the past weeks.

2016-01-29 13:15 GMT-03:00 Ad Huikeshoven :

> Say welcome to María on
>
> https://discourse.wmflabs.org/t/appointment-of-maria-sefidari-to-wikimedia-foundation-board/32
> or just like the post there.
>
> Ad Huikeshoven
> Op 29 jan. 2016 16:27 schreef "Patricio Lorente" <
> patricio.lore...@gmail.com
> >:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> >
> > I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community
> Trustee
> > seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> > an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> > community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> > two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
> >
> >
> > Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> > Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> > elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> > number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> > been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a
> founding
> > member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> > Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations
> and
> > Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the
> role
> > of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> > and improving channels for community participation in Foundation
> governance
> > and policymaking.
> >
> >
> > We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
> before
> > deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> > thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> > for their considerations. (
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> > <
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> > >
> > )
> >
> >
> > We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> > another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> > outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> > quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> > have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to
> us
> > that the community perspective is fully represented in these
> conversations,
> > without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> > selection process, which is coming up soon.
> >
> >
> > I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings
> to
> > the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> > with wisdom and grace.
> >
> >
> > Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her
> service
> > to our movement.
> >
> >
> > Patricio
> >
> > --
> > ___
> > 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,
> > 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Milos Rancic]

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:51 PM, Andreas Kolbe  wrote:
> Another mistake. A lot has happened over the past few weeks. The community
> should have been given a voice, in light of vast changes in circumstances
> since last May.
>
> María, too, might have felt better about joining the board with a clear
> endorsement from the community – an endorsement given now, rather than last
> May. As things stand, her tenure begins under a cloud.

If I remember well (not willing to check), Maria got the most of the
votes on the elections (more than any of the elected members), which
means that it's fair that she becomes a Board member.

At the other side, I'd ask Board members to stop making fringe
decisions. Now. Please!

-- 
Milos

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Josh Lim]

I am happy to see María returning to the Board, though I wish it took place 
under happier circumstances.  I have confidence in her wisdom and her ability 
to help steer us out of this mess, though I certainly hope that she’ll be able 
to commit to whatever it is that James was fighting for while he was on the 
Board. ¡Felicidades! :)

That said, I do want to point out something that Salvador said in his e-mail:

> The diversity inside the Board gets many benefits with this appointment.


I have significant problems with this statement.  While I appreciate the fact 
that María represents two of our underrepresented communities (women, sexual 
minorities), I am doubtful that her return to the Board will suddenly lead to 
"more diversity", especially when it comes to our communities in the developing 
world.  We’ve been fighting for more geographic diversity on the Board and in 
the movement at large with very limited success as it is, so yet another 
developed world trustee does no favors for us even if I have lots of praise for 
María otherwise.

Josh

JAMES JOSHUA G. LIM
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Class of 2013, Ateneo de Manila University
Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

jamesjoshua...@yahoo.com  | +63 (915) 321-7582
Facebook/Twitter: akiestar | Wikimedia: Sky Harbor
http://about.me/josh.lim 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Tanvir Rahman]

It's good to have María back, indeed.

Congratulations and welcome back, María!

T.

Tanvir Rahman
Wikitanvir
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Dariusz Jemielniak]

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:43 AM, Milos Rancic  wrote:

> If I remember well (not willing to check), Maria got the most of the
> votes on the elections (more than any of the elected members), which
> means that it's fair that she becomes a Board member.
>
>
that is correct. Also, if the voting system relied on a net sum (support
votes minus oppose votes) she would have been elected.

dj
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Yaroslav M. Blanter]

On 2016-01-29 17:56, Dariusz Jemielniak wrote:
On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:43 AM, Milos Rancic  
wrote:



If I remember well (not willing to check), Maria got the most of the
votes on the elections (more than any of the elected members), which
means that it's fair that she becomes a Board member.


that is correct. Also, if the voting system relied on a net sum 
(support

votes minus oppose votes) she would have been elected.

dj


Whereas this is a correct statement, it is irrelevant. The voters voted 
knowing that only support votes count. If the system were different, 
they could have voted differently.


Cheers
Yaroslav

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Mardetanha]

It is good to see her back on board again, Maria Khosh Umadi (welcome back
in Farsi)

Mardetanha

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 8:26 PM, Dariusz Jemielniak 
wrote:

> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:43 AM, Milos Rancic  wrote:
>
> > If I remember well (not willing to check), Maria got the most of the
> > votes on the elections (more than any of the elected members), which
> > means that it's fair that she becomes a Board member.
> >
> >
> that is correct. Also, if the voting system relied on a net sum (support
> votes minus oppose votes) she would have been elected.
>
> dj
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Vituzzu]

Simplest and wisest solution on both short and medium term.

Vito

Il 29/01/2016 16:27, Patricio Lorente ha scritto:

Dear all,


I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
two year term, until Wikimania 2017.


Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
and policymaking.


We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
for their considerations. (
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015

)


We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
selection process, which is coming up soon.


I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
with wisdom and grace.


Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
to our movement.


Patricio

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[Wikimedia-l] Voting formula was Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Anders Wennersten]

Actually the formula used (S/S+O) is from a ranking point identical to 
(S-O/S+O) (=(S-O)/(Total-Neutral). And the result would have been 
different if the formula (S-O)/Total had been used (Maria would have 
been in). So in some ways it was the Neutral votes who decided, or 
rather that the formula used disregard the Neutral ones, saw them as 
identical to abstain.


A discussion exist on the election pages already and for future election 
it is worthwhile to look into how the neutral votes should be taken into 
account  (and if there a distinction between abstain and neutral).


Anders



Den 2016-01-29 kl. 18:02, skrev Yaroslav M. Blanter:


Whereas this is a correct statement, it is irrelevant. The voters 
voted knowing that only support votes count. If the system were 
different, they could have voted differently.


Cheers
Yaroslav

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Dariusz Jemielniak]

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 12:02 PM, Yaroslav M. Blanter 
wrote:

> Whereas this is a correct statement, it is irrelevant. The voters voted
> knowing that only support votes count. If the system were different, they
> could have voted differently.
>
>
Sure, and with many alternative systems the results could have been
different. I'm only pointing out that she did have a lot of support by
common sense metrics.

Btw, it is not true that "only support votes count". In our current system
the opposing votes count much more, in fact.

dj
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Nathan]

Thanks Maria for agreeing to join the Board in this manner and at this time.

On the subject of advantages vs. disadvantages... I imagine one of the most
important is that a new election may have seen the community elect James
Heilman again, requiring the board to publicly pass over him in favor of
someone else.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Sydney Poore]

Congratulations, María.

In a perfect world, this seat would be confirmed with a community
election. But, the circumstances as they are now, selecting her is a
reasonable decision and one that I support.

The larger conversation about WMF annual plan and strategy, the Board
elections and structure, and other governance issues can not be
completed before an election. In my opinion the priority is robustly
addressing these issues. An election happening simultaneously will
negatively impact the results of all of them.

And since we now know that one (if not more) of the appointed seats
will go to North Americans' with a corporate background, María's
passion for diversity across the movement will be a good fit for the
current Board.

The greatest concern is that some people in wikimedia movement will
not accept a solution unless it gives James Heilman a way to be voted
back into a seat on the Board.

While I understand and share their concern that a community elected
seat can be removed without a formal arbitration process or a finding
of legal incompetence or legal impropriety, I don't think an election
is the correct way to find a resolution to the current situation with
the existing election and governance processes.

Furthermore, James' removal from the Board has drawn greater attention
to serious concern around transparency, WMF strategy, and the
relationship between the WMF Board, WMF staff, and the greater
wikimedia movement.

I have confidence that these conversation will continue, and that
María has gained insight from the discussions.  And will understand
the importance of engaging the broad community to find solutions.

Thank you to the Board of Trustees for moving forward with a decision,
the election committee for their assistance, and María for agreeing to
return to the BoT at this turbulent time.
Sydney Poore
User:FloNight
Sydney Poore
User:FloNight
Wikipedian in Residence
at Cochrane Collaboration


On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 10:27 AM, Patricio Lorente
 wrote:
> Dear all,
>
>
> I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
> seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
>
>
> Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
> member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
> Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
> of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
> and policymaking.
>
>
> We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
> deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> for their considerations. (
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> 
> )
>
>
> We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
> that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
> without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> selection process, which is coming up soon.
>
>
> I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
> the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> with wisdom and grace.
>
>
> Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
> to our movement.
>
>
> Patricio
>
> --
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Sydney Poore]

I agree. And most importantly, I don't think that the results of the
last election show that the community has a lack of confidence in her
returning to the Board.

Sydney


Sydney Poore
User:FloNight
Wikipedian in Residence
at Cochrane Collaboration


On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 12:29 PM, Dariusz Jemielniak  wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 12:02 PM, Yaroslav M. Blanter 
> wrote:
>
>> Whereas this is a correct statement, it is irrelevant. The voters voted
>> knowing that only support votes count. If the system were different, they
>> could have voted differently.
>>
>>
> Sure, and with many alternative systems the results could have been
> different. I'm only pointing out that she did have a lot of support by
> common sense metrics.
>
> Btw, it is not true that "only support votes count". In our current system
> the opposing votes count much more, in fact.
>
> dj
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Voting formula was Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Adam Wight]

I found that the "support percentage" formula S/(S+O) fails some important
criteria for voting systems, for example it gives more weight to a vote for
minor candidates, which violates the one person, one vote principle among
others.  "Net support" (S-O) is equally obscure and problematic.  My
personal suggestion is to stick with straight "approval" voting, ranking
winners by the total number of support votes, rather than attempting to
invent or explain more exotic systems.

If we still want to factor in oppose votes as a measure of
"controversiality", we can set a minimum support percentage, rather than
using it to rank directly.  Looking at the support percentages for the top
5 candidates in the last election, they were within 5% of one another and
the score was quite inappropriate to use for ranking.  Sigh, lessons
learned!

Here's my analysis, I'd be happy to move to the main namespace if others
want to expand on it:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Adamw/Draft/Board_Election_analysis

-Adam
[[mw:User:Adamw]]

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 9:28 AM Anders Wennersten 
wrote:

> Actually the formula used (S/S+O) is from a ranking point identical to
> (S-O/S+O) (=(S-O)/(Total-Neutral). And the result would have been
> different if the formula (S-O)/Total had been used (Maria would have
> been in). So in some ways it was the Neutral votes who decided, or
> rather that the formula used disregard the Neutral ones, saw them as
> identical to abstain.
>
> A discussion exist on the election pages already and for future election
> it is worthwhile to look into how the neutral votes should be taken into
> account  (and if there a distinction between abstain and neutral).
>
> Anders
>
>
>
> Den 2016-01-29 kl. 18:02, skrev Yaroslav M. Blanter:
> >
> > Whereas this is a correct statement, it is irrelevant. The voters
> > voted knowing that only support votes count. If the system were
> > different, they could have voted differently.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Yaroslav
> >
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> > 
>
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Steinsplitter Wiki]

Looks like a voting has been avoided... :/


... but María Sefidari is a good decision :-). Congrats.

> From: mardetanha.w...@gmail.com
> Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:33:46 +0330
> To: dar...@alk.edu.pl; wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l]Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia 
> Foundation Board
> 
> It is good to see her back on board again, Maria Khosh Umadi (welcome back
> in Farsi)
> 
> Mardetanha
> 
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 8:26 PM, Dariusz Jemielniak 
> wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:43 AM, Milos Rancic  wrote:
> >
> > > If I remember well (not willing to check), Maria got the most of the
> > > votes on the elections (more than any of the elected members), which
> > > means that it's fair that she becomes a Board member.
> > >
> > >
> > that is correct. Also, if the voting system relied on a net sum (support
> > votes minus oppose votes) she would have been elected.
> >
> > dj
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Liam Wyatt]

Congratulations María on your return to the Board - or commiserations
depending on your perspective!

Appointing María to the vacant seat is the best decision in the
circumstances IMO. Not only does she come with strong "community seat"
legitimacy as the person who came 'next' in the quite-recent election, she
also is coming BACK to the board. The shorter learning-curve means that,
during this difficult and important time, she will be able to be an
effective board member much faster than someone joining it for the first
time.

Running a new and timeconsuming election, now, would only have delayed
bringing the board back to full strength without adding any extra
legitimacy to the result than appointing María already brings. And, I say
this as the person she beat to 'third place' in the 2013 election which saw
her elected to the board in the first place :-) :-)
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2013/Results

- Liam / Wittylama
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[Wikimedia-l] 2015 Harassment Survey - Results Report

[Patrick Earley]

Hello all,

The preliminary report of the results of the 2015 Harassment survey is now
available on Commons, as linked from Meta.[1]  This is the first version of
our analysis of the results, and while it is nearly completed, it will be
amended and updated within a week as we finish developing it. The data set
is large, involving sixteen languages with several free text questions, and
it has also been linked from the Meta page.

This information is an important factor in gaining a better understanding
of both the forms harassment takes and the impact it has on the Wikimedia
projects.  We welcome your feedback and impressions on the Research talk
page on Meta.[2]

We want to thank the many Wikimedia volunteers, academics, and Wikimedia
Foundation staff who helped prepare and translate the survey, and who gave
feedback on the report.

Best regards,

Patrick, for the Support and Safety team[3]


[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Harassment_survey_2015#Results

[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research_talk:Harassment_survey_2015

[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Support_and_Safety

-- 
Patrick Earley
Community Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation
pear...@wikimedia.org
(1) 415 975 1874
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Sam Klein]

Thank you, Patricio & María.

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:13 PM, Liam Wyatt  wrote:

> Appointing María to the vacant seat is the best decision in the
> circumstances IMO. Not only does she come with strong "community seat"
> legitimacy as the person who came 'next' in the quite-recent election, she
> also is coming BACK to the board. The shorter learning-curve means that,
> during this difficult and important time, she will be able to be
> an effective

board member much faster than someone joining it for the first time.
>

Well said.

S.
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[Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia Day events: Share your photos!

[Joe Sutherland]

Hello all,


It's now two weeks since Wikipedia Day, marking a global celebration of the
birth of the Wikimedia movement fifteen years ago. Almost 150 events,
parties and gatherings were listed on the Wikipedia 15 page on Meta
 to take place over the
weekend. How did they go?

We'd love to see your photos and outcomes from your events. For this, I've
created a page on Meta: Wikipedia 15/Scrapbook
. Feel free to add
pictures, edit-a-thon outputs, and so on.

We're excited to see what you've all been up to!

best,
Joe

-- 
*Joe Sutherland*
Communications Intern [remote]
joesutherland.rocks | @jrbsu  | +44 (0) 7722 916
433
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] 2015 Harassment Survey - Results Report

[Lila Tretikov]

Patrick,

Thank you for posting this -- excellent work done by our team and deep
engagement with the community. I encourage everyone to review as we
continue to assess best ways to support healthy and safe Wikimedia
environment for all our contributors and readers.

Lila

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 1:20 PM, Patrick Earley 
wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> The preliminary report of the results of the 2015 Harassment survey is now
> available on Commons, as linked from Meta.[1]  This is the first version of
> our analysis of the results, and while it is nearly completed, it will be
> amended and updated within a week as we finish developing it. The data set
> is large, involving sixteen languages with several free text questions, and
> it has also been linked from the Meta page.
>
> This information is an important factor in gaining a better understanding
> of both the forms harassment takes and the impact it has on the Wikimedia
> projects.  We welcome your feedback and impressions on the Research talk
> page on Meta.[2]
>
> We want to thank the many Wikimedia volunteers, academics, and Wikimedia
> Foundation staff who helped prepare and translate the survey, and who gave
> feedback on the report.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Patrick, for the Support and Safety team[3]
>
>
> [1]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Harassment_survey_2015#Results
>
> [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research_talk:Harassment_survey_2015
>
> [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Support_and_Safety
>
> --
> Patrick Earley
> Community Advocate
> Wikimedia Foundation
> pear...@wikimedia.org
> (1) 415 975 1874
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-- 
Lila Tretikov
Wikimedia Foundation

*“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”*
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] 2015 Harassment Survey - Results Report

[SarahSV]

Patrick, I also want to thank you and the team for having done this work.
It's extremely interesting and informative, and I think it will be very
helpful moving forward.

Sarah



On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:17 PM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:

> Patrick,
>
> Thank you for posting this -- excellent work done by our team and deep
> engagement with the community. I encourage everyone to review as we
> continue to assess best ways to support healthy and safe Wikimedia
> environment for all our contributors and readers.
>
> Lila
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 1:20 PM, Patrick Earley 
> wrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> >
> > The preliminary report of the results of the 2015 Harassment survey is
> now
> > available on Commons, as linked from Meta.[1]  This is the first version
> of
> > our analysis of the results, and while it is nearly completed, it will be
> > amended and updated within a week as we finish developing it. The data
> set
> > is large, involving sixteen languages with several free text questions,
> and
> > it has also been linked from the Meta page.
> >
> > This information is an important factor in gaining a better understanding
> > of both the forms harassment takes and the impact it has on the Wikimedia
> > projects.  We welcome your feedback and impressions on the Research talk
> > page on Meta.[2]
> >
> > We want to thank the many Wikimedia volunteers, academics, and Wikimedia
> > Foundation staff who helped prepare and translate the survey, and who
> gave
> > feedback on the report.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Patrick, for the Support and Safety team[3]
> >
> >
> > [1]
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Harassment_survey_2015#Results
> >
> > [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research_talk:Harassment_survey_2015
> >
> > [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Support_and_Safety
> >
> > --
> > Patrick Earley
> > Community Advocate
> > Wikimedia Foundation
> > pear...@wikimedia.org
> > (1) 415 975 1874
> > ___
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> > 
>
>
>
>
> --
> Lila Tretikov
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
> *“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”*
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Can we see the Knight grant application and grant offer?

[Lila Tretikov]

Hi Anthony,

I know this request was for the Board, but I took time to explain as much
as I could about the context of this grant and the work it funds as well as
to answer as many questions as possible that I have seen. I realize many
people a curious about what it actually funds, so you will find the
statement of work cut and pasted there.

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:LilaTretikov_(WMF)#Knowledge_Engine_grant


Hope this answers some of your questions,
Lila



On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 1:53 PM, Anthony Cole  wrote:

> Just copying part of Andreas's comment from another thread:
>
> "...can the board now please come to a decision on whether the Knight
> Foundation grant letter and grant application documents will be posted on
> Meta, and if not, provide an explanation to the community why they cannot
> be made public?
>
> "To recap, Jimmy Wales said over two weeks ago on his talk page[1] that in
> his opinion the documentation should be posted on Meta, to clear the air
> around this issue. However, nothing appears to have happened since then."
>
> [1]
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3AJimbo_Wales&diff=698861097&oldid=698860874
>
> Anthony Cole
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Wikimedia Foundation

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] 2015 Harassment Survey - Results Report

[Sam Klein]

Thanks Patrick, a wonderful first step.

For future updates, I hope you can find ways to add data from automated
analysis of interactions, like the League of Legends example Toby shared a
few months back.

Sam

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:20 PM, Patrick Earley 
wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> The preliminary report of the results of the 2015 Harassment survey is now
> available on Commons, as linked from Meta.[1]  This is the first version of
> our analysis of the results, and while it is nearly completed, it will be
> amended and updated within a week as we finish developing it. The data set
> is large, involving sixteen languages with several free text questions, and
> it has also been linked from the Meta page.
>
> This information is an important factor in gaining a better understanding
> of both the forms harassment takes and the impact it has on the Wikimedia
> projects.  We welcome your feedback and impressions on the Research talk
> page on Meta.[2]
>
> We want to thank the many Wikimedia volunteers, academics, and Wikimedia
> Foundation staff who helped prepare and translate the survey, and who gave
> feedback on the report.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Patrick, for the Support and Safety team[3]
>
>
> [1]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Harassment_survey_2015#Results
>
> [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research_talk:Harassment_survey_2015
>
> [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Support_and_Safety
>
> --
> Patrick Earley
> Community Advocate
> Wikimedia Foundation
> pear...@wikimedia.org
> (1) 415 975 1874
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-- 
Samuel Klein  @metasj  w:user:sj  +1 617 529 4266
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Changes in the Board

[Lila Tretikov]

Hi Josh,

I agree there are solid improvements to be made with respect to recruiting
of our trustees, and with partnering with our community.  Perhaps the
election committee can play a role in checking out the finalists, for
example.

On-boarding trustees and leadership is a critical process, during which it
can be so easy to make unexpected mistakes. For trustees and leadership
coming from outside of our movement, being aligned with our vision and our
values is simply the first step in the process. As I have learned, from
there it is a long and difficult journey to learn what matters *most* to
our diverse community, and to align those values with the Foundation.  I am
still learning, and will never stop learning, growing and adapting.
Similarly, when trustees and leadership come from the *within* the
movement, they must adapt to and grok new perspectives, and see with new
lenses.

An essential part of improving our governance involves welcoming our
incoming trustees and leadership, integrating them into our movement, and
providing support and guidance as they take their important first steps.

I know this is something our trustees are actively thinking about.

Lila



On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 4:04 AM, Josh Lim  wrote:

> Thank you, Patricio, for the heads-up.  I’m sure that it must’ve been
> difficult for everyone, especially those on the Board.
>
> It was very honorable of Arnnon to step down in deference to the
> community, and I hope that while we may be indignant at his past actions,
> we can continue to find places for people in our community who may show an
> interest in what we do but to who we don’t always see eye-to-eye on our
> values.  While I still think that this episode will generate a whole lot of
> lessons for us to learn from, I hope that Arnnon will continue to engage
> with the movement in a meaningful way even though he is no longer a part of
> the Board.  Thank you for taking heed of the community, and I hope that
> despite what may be a rude awakening, that you will find your place among
> us, somehow, somewhere in the movement.
>
> Hopefully, now that this episode has come to a close, we can finally begin
> the process of healing and figuring out what went wrong.  There’s still a
> lot of things left unaccounted for, and I hope that after this, the Board
> will continue to build on that momentum by doing the right thing and
> helping the community understand what on Earth happened over the last few
> weeks so we can finally move forward.
>
> Josh
>
> > Wiadomość napisana przez Patricio Lorente 
> w dniu 28.01.2016, o godz. 04:52:
> >
> > Dear All,
> >
> > Throughout the discussion about the appointment of Arnnon Geshuri to the
> > Board of Trustees, the Board has carefully listened to you and discussed
> > internally. Earlier today, Arnnon decided to step down from the Board. To
> > paraphrase his words, he doesn't want to be a distraction for the
> important
> > discussions that the community and the Foundation need to face in the
> times
> > to come. We want to thank Arnnon for his ongoing commitment and for
> helping
> > us to move forward.
> >
> > The Board Governance Committee is working to improve and update our
> > selection processes before we fill the vacancy left by Arnnon’s
> departure.
> > We are sorry for the distress and confusion this has caused to some in
> our
> > community, and also to Arnnon.
> >
> > Patricio and Alice
> >
> > 
> >
> > Patricio Lorente
> > Chair, Board of Trustees
> >
> > Alice Wiegand
> > Vice Chair, Board of Trustees
> > --
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>
> JAMES JOSHUA G. LIM
> Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
> Class of 2013, Ateneo de Manila University
> Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
>
> jamesjoshua...@yahoo.com  | +63 (915)
> 321-7582
> Facebook/Twitter: akiestar | Wikimedia: Sky Harbor
> http://about.me/josh.lim 
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-- 
Lila Tretikov
Wikimedia Foundation

*“Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”*
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Can we see the Knight grant application and grant offer?

[SarahSV]

Lila, thank you for posting this. I have no technical background, so I only
have a limited understanding of how the Discovery project works. But as an
editor and reader I've been frustrated by the limitations of Wikipedia
search. Even things that I know are there, because I added them myself, are
regularly not returned. Sometimes for reasons I can't fathom; sometimes
because I've mistyped something.

It's the same with Siri on iPhone. I ask it something that I know is on
Wikipedia and it can't seem to find it. Or it will return a link to
articles in which certain terms appear. But people don't want to have to
look at whole articles.

We have this enormous and wonderful amount of knowledge to some extent
trapped inside Wikipedia. How do we unlock it? How do we teach computers
how to find and deliver it? In future, could Wikipedia reply to questions
on people's phones, instead of Siri?

This kind of research sounds very exciting, and the Foundation is
well-placed to do it.

Sarah


On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:27 PM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:

> Hi Anthony,
>
> I know this request was for the Board, but I took time to explain as much
> as I could about the context of this grant and the work it funds as well as
> to answer as many questions as possible that I have seen. I realize many
> people a curious about what it actually funds, so you will find the
> statement of work cut and pasted there.
>
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:LilaTretikov_(WMF)#Knowledge_Engine_grant
> <
> https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fmeta.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FUser_talk%3ALilaTretikov_%28WMF%29%23Knowledge_Engine_grant&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHbv_CPFd5d3dh7WKET5YlNSZvHdA
> >
>
> Hope this answers some of your questions,
> Lila
>
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Eduardo Testart]

María,

Congratulations for your appointment!


Cheers!

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 7:17 PM, Sam Klein  wrote:

> Thank you, Patricio & María.
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:13 PM, Liam Wyatt  wrote:
>
> > Appointing María to the vacant seat is the best decision in the
> > circumstances IMO. Not only does she come with strong "community seat"
> > legitimacy as the person who came 'next' in the quite-recent election,
> she
> > also is coming BACK to the board. The shorter learning-curve means that,
> > during this difficult and important time, she will be able to be
> > an effective
>
> board member much faster than someone joining it for the first time.
> >
>
> Well said.
>
> S.
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-- 
Eduardo Testart
(56)(98) 293 5278 Móvil
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Can we see the Knight grant application and grant offer?

[Lila Tretikov]

Thank you, Sarah for an excellent question.  Sometimes I compare Wikimedia
with an iceberg, only a small portion is visible.

When we started investigating this problem we found out that nearly 30% of
searches on Wikipedia return no results at all. That motivated us to dig
deeper.

Since then we've made our first improvements (by about  1 million  searches
a day) , but we have a very long way to go...especially searching across
sites. Commons for example is a very tough one that we will need to help
one day.

I encourage you to read through,  I tried to explain our thinking the best
I could,  but I can always use help :)

Lila

sent from mobile. please excuse typos.
On Jan 29, 2016 3:50 PM, "SarahSV"  wrote:

> Lila, thank you for posting this. I have no technical background, so I only
> have a limited understanding of how the Discovery project works. But as an
> editor and reader I've been frustrated by the limitations of Wikipedia
> search. Even things that I know are there, because I added them myself, are
> regularly not returned. Sometimes for reasons I can't fathom; sometimes
> because I've mistyped something.
>
> It's the same with Siri on iPhone. I ask it something that I know is on
> Wikipedia and it can't seem to find it. Or it will return a link to
> articles in which certain terms appear. But people don't want to have to
> look at whole articles.
>
> We have this enormous and wonderful amount of knowledge to some extent
> trapped inside Wikipedia. How do we unlock it? How do we teach computers
> how to find and deliver it? In future, could Wikipedia reply to questions
> on people's phones, instead of Siri?
>
> This kind of research sounds very exciting, and the Foundation is
> well-placed to do it.
>
> Sarah
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:27 PM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:
>
> > Hi Anthony,
> >
> > I know this request was for the Board, but I took time to explain as much
> > as I could about the context of this grant and the work it funds as well
> as
> > to answer as many questions as possible that I have seen. I realize many
> > people a curious about what it actually funds, so you will find the
> > statement of work cut and pasted there.
> >
> >
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:LilaTretikov_(WMF)#Knowledge_Engine_grant
> > <
> >
> https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fmeta.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FUser_talk%3ALilaTretikov_%28WMF%29%23Knowledge_Engine_grant&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHbv_CPFd5d3dh7WKET5YlNSZvHdA
> > >
> >
> > Hope this answers some of your questions,
> > Lila
> >
> >
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[Wikimedia-l] Proposed change to Metrics schedule

[Lila Tretikov]

Hi all,

We’re proposing to change the schedule of the Foundation’s monthly public
Metrics meeting. We plan to move the meeting to the final Thursday of each
month, in order to better align these important presentations with the
Foundation’s regular data production cycles. This will result in a three
week delay for February’s meeting as we move to a new cycle.

As many know, the Foundation’s monthly Metrics meeting is an open,
hour-long series of presentations on key data related to the projects,
highlights of Foundation and community projects and achievements, research
and product demos, and other updates on Foundation operations. The meeting
is livestreamed and recorded, and open to public participation on IRC.

Currently, the Foundation’s Metrics meeting is held the first Thursday of
each month. However, most of our data for the preceding month isn’t
actually available until mid-month. For example, it may take until
mid-January to process data from December, and at that point, the January
Metrics meeting has already taken place. As a result, we end up presenting
December data in February, with up to six weeks delay.

By moving the Metrics meeting to the last Thursday of the month, Foundation
departments will be able to prepare their presentations using the most
recent data available, and align on a more consistent cycle.

The Foundation is planning to implement this change for February. The first
meeting to be affected will be the planned February 4th meeting, which will
be moved to February 25th. Our next step is to update this schedule in
public venues. The Foundation will continue to send a monthly invitation
and reminder, and post the full Metrics presentation and video, aligned
with the new cycle.

Many thanks to the Analytics and Finance teams for raising this issue and
proposing the change.

Lila
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Jens Best]

Patricio writes:

"*we **have important issues to address in the near future.*"

Does that mean:

"So, we don't want to be disturbed by maybe another 'asking the wrong
questions'-guy we again have then to get rid of in the process by "losing
trust in him". We'll better stick to people from who we already know that
they will "function" in the current system"?


2016-01-29 16:27 GMT+01:00 Patricio Lorente :

> Dear all,
>
>
> I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community Trustee
> seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
>
>
> Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a founding
> member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations and
> Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the role
> of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> and improving channels for community participation in Foundation governance
> and policymaking.
>
>
> We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee before
> deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> for their considerations. (
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> <
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> >
> )
>
>
> We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to us
> that the community perspective is fully represented in these conversations,
> without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> selection process, which is coming up soon.
>
>
> I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings to
> the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> with wisdom and grace.
>
>
> Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her service
> to our movement.
>
>
> Patricio
>
> --
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Italia recognized as OpenStreetMap chapter

[ramzymuliawan]

Congratulations for the Italian community!
Sent from my Samsung device

 Original message 
From: Laurentius  
Date: 29/01/2016  05:36  (GMT+07:00) 
To: Wikimedia Mailing List  
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Italia recognized as OpenStreetMap chapter 

Dear all,
after a long process, today Wikimedia Italia has been officially
recognized as the Italian OpenStreetMap chapter!

OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project that shares the same value as
the Wikimedia movement. It's not based on a wiki software and it's not
in the Wikimedia family, but from many points of views, it's the project
that is more similar to the Wikimedia ones; indeed, many wikipedians are
mappers also, and viceversa.

Similarly to Wikimedia, there is an OpenStreetMap Foundation (based in
the UK) and there are national OpenStreetMap chapters. In Italy, the
OpenStreetMap community has been talking for years about the creation of
a chapter. Most people felt that it was important, but also that
founding yet another association was pointless. Associations are not
built only on projects, but also, and mainly, on common values and on a
common vision: Wikimedia and OpenStreetMap share both, and it's just
natural to work together.

Wikimedia Italy officially started the process of becoming an
OpenStreetMap chapter in 2013 [1]. The association has supported
OpenStreetMap even before that (e.g., supporting the Italian
OpenStreetMap conference), and in the last two years, thanks also to the
work of many OpenStreetMap users that became members (and among them,
Simone Cortesi, OpenStreetMap volunteer since the beginning and WMI's
vicepresident), we have increased our efforts (as described also in
WMI's annual plan [2]). The recognition process has been quite long, but
today we've signed the chapters agreement, and now Italy is the second
country (after Iceland) to have an official OpenStreetMap chapter! (but
there are actually other unofficial chapters besides these two)

Lorenzo

[1]https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2013-July/127304.html
[2]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2014-2015_round2/Wikimedia_Italia/Proposal_form#OpenStreetMap



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[Wikimedia-l] WMF Advisory board

[Uwe Herzke]

I fully subscribe to that notion. The board has to be equipped with
members, who are primarily selected for their adherence with the core
values of the Wikiverse, the five pillars[1]. The WMF is not, and should
never be, anything like a corporation, it's an educational charitable
non-profit NGO.

"Member of the board" is not just a job but but a trusted position based
primarily on virtue, credibility and values.

Outside advise should be fetched either ad hoc or with some kind of
standard procedure from experts, like an advisory board.

Sänger

[1]https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Values

> Andreas Kolbe schrieb:
> I've never understood why corporate appointees like Guy Kawasaki or the
> just-departed Arnnon Geshuri are voting board members, instead of being on
> the Advisory Board.
> 
> The board structure needs to be revised, and brought in line with basic
> democratic principles.
> 
> Andreas

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[Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Tomasz W. Kozlowski]

Yet another hugely surprising decision from the Board, I’m sorry to say.

Considering the results of the 2015 May Board elections, I think it fair to say 
that María’s appointment to the Board lacks any community legitimacy 
whatsoever. As a then-active member of the Board of Trustees, Maria stood in 
the elections, and lost in a vote that was equal and fair for every candidate. 
For the Board to now appoint María to fill in the vacancy created upon James’s 
removal from the Board stands in the face of that clear and unequivocal 
community decision.

This is particularly worrying given the high number of “oppose” votes that 
María received during the election — over 200 more than Dariusz, James, Denny 
and Mike (Taketa) each; indeed, more than any other candidate in the top 10.

What is more, the fact that María was specifically voted down from the Board by 
the community is a clear signal that the electorate did not want her to 
continue in that role. To see her return to the Board in a “community-selected” 
seat is just absurd.

What the Board should have done is organise a by-election. If María wants to be 
a community-selected Trustee, she should earn the seat. Let her run, and 
convince the community that the reasons she was not re-elected in May are no 
longer valid. Let her answer questions openly and transparently, and discuss 
issues with her rivals – the way that by-elections everywhere are run.

Of course, not organising a by-election avoids these highly unpleasant 
obligations.

But then, maybe that’s the point.

Tomasz
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Adam Wight]

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 6:09 PM Tomasz W. Kozlowski 
wrote:

> Considering the results of the 2015 May Board elections, I think it fair
> to say that María’s appointment to the Board lacks any community legitimacy
> whatsoever.


I have to disagree with this statement.  Please see my analysis of the
election, where I show that Sefidari would have been the top-ranked
candidate if we had counted votes equally.[1]  The "oppose" votes you refer
to are not serving the purpose you imagine they are, of weeding out
controversial candidates.

Yet another hugely surprising decision from the Board, I’m sorry to say.
>

That's another story... It would be nice to read the minutes of this Board
discussion, to see what alternatives were raised and how they were
evaluated.  It would be even nicer if the broader community had been
directly involved in deciding how to backfill their hatcheted
representative's seat.

-Adam
[[mw:User:Adamw]]

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Adamw/Draft/Board_Election_analysis
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Advisory board

[Anthony Cole]

Andreas, yes. We have a limited number of voting trustees. The affiliates
and the community throw up well-respected voting trustees with a lot of
chapter and project experience, but we're not getting the diversity or
range of experience we need from them. When it comes to selecting voting
members - who will decide the vision and long-term goals of the
organisation - the board needs to choose people with deep expertise in
education, knowledge, volunteer-led nonprofit governance and third world
knowledge-distribution issues.

A smaller, highly-engaged and highly-valued advisory board, peopled by IT,
finance, HR and other technical experts who can keep an eye on those
aspects of the WMF, would leave room for the board to appoint trustees who
bring novel (or just informed) philosophical and educational insights from
outside our movement, and outside the global north to help better chart and
monitor our course to our shared vision.


Anthony Cole


On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:08 PM, Andreas Kolbe  wrote:

> I've never understood why corporate appointees like Guy Kawasaki or the
> just-departed Arnnon Geshuri are voting board members, instead of being on
> the Advisory Board.
>
> The board structure needs to be revised, and brought in line with basic
> democratic principles.
>
> Andreas
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Todd Allen]

So, why not make the best of both worlds?

If you need another Trustee immediately, well...I don't really think that,
you have a quorum without it. And an appointed trustee who lost a community
election is not a community elected trustee. It is insulting to say that
they are. James Heilman was the community trustee, and we still have been
given absolutely no specifics about his removal, just vague handwaves at
"lack of trust". Why, specifically, did he lose your trust? What,
specifically, did he supposedly do wrong?

But if the seat absolutely must be filled, make this an interim appointment
until a new election is complete, and hold such an election as soon as
possible. A new election is necessary, and not having one is unacceptable.
A lot has changed since the last one, and the individual you appointed did
not pass the previous election.

Or in other words: This is still not acceptable.

Todd

On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 7:47 PM, Adam Wight  wrote:

> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 6:09 PM Tomasz W. Kozlowski <
> tom...@twkozlowski.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Considering the results of the 2015 May Board elections, I think it fair
> > to say that María’s appointment to the Board lacks any community
> legitimacy
> > whatsoever.
>
>
> I have to disagree with this statement.  Please see my analysis of the
> election, where I show that Sefidari would have been the top-ranked
> candidate if we had counted votes equally.[1]  The "oppose" votes you refer
> to are not serving the purpose you imagine they are, of weeding out
> controversial candidates.
>
> Yet another hugely surprising decision from the Board, I’m sorry to say.
> >
>
> That's another story... It would be nice to read the minutes of this Board
> discussion, to see what alternatives were raised and how they were
> evaluated.  It would be even nicer if the broader community had been
> directly involved in deciding how to backfill their hatcheted
> representative's seat.
>
> -Adam
> [[mw:User:Adamw]]
>
> [1]
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Adamw/Draft/Board_Election_analysis
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

[Anthony Cole]

Welcome back Maria. Recent events have shed a much-needed bright light on
the board, and it would have been good to hold a community election in that
light. We do have a limited volunteer capacity to manage elections, though,
and I can understand the desire not to impose too much on volunteer
goodwill. A shame, though. We all might have learned something from the
process.

On Saturday, 30 January 2016, Todd Allen  wrote:

> So, why not make the best of both worlds?
>
> If you need another Trustee immediately, well...I don't really think that,
> you have a quorum without it. And an appointed trustee who lost a community
> election is not a community elected trustee. It is insulting to say that
> they are. James Heilman was the community trustee, and we still have been
> given absolutely no specifics about his removal, just vague handwaves at
> "lack of trust". Why, specifically, did he lose your trust? What,
> specifically, did he supposedly do wrong?
>
> But if the seat absolutely must be filled, make this an interim appointment
> until a new election is complete, and hold such an election as soon as
> possible. A new election is necessary, and not having one is unacceptable.
> A lot has changed since the last one, and the individual you appointed did
> not pass the previous election.
>
> Or in other words: This is still not acceptable.
>
> Todd
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 7:47 PM, Adam Wight  > wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 6:09 PM Tomasz W. Kozlowski <
> > tom...@twkozlowski.com >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Considering the results of the 2015 May Board elections, I think it
> fair
> > > to say that María’s appointment to the Board lacks any community
> > legitimacy
> > > whatsoever.
> >
> >
> > I have to disagree with this statement.  Please see my analysis of the
> > election, where I show that Sefidari would have been the top-ranked
> > candidate if we had counted votes equally.[1]  The "oppose" votes you
> refer
> > to are not serving the purpose you imagine they are, of weeding out
> > controversial candidates.
> >
> > Yet another hugely surprising decision from the Board, I’m sorry to say.
> > >
> >
> > That's another story... It would be nice to read the minutes of this
> Board
> > discussion, to see what alternatives were raised and how they were
> > evaluated.  It would be even nicer if the broader community had been
> > directly involved in deciding how to backfill their hatcheted
> > representative's seat.
> >
> > -Adam
> > [[mw:User:Adamw]]
> >
> > [1]
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Adamw/Draft/Board_Election_analysis
> > ___
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> >
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-- 
Anthony Cole
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Can we see the Knight grant application and grant offer?

[Anthony Cole]

Thank you Lila. That's very clear, and I think it's a worthwhile project,
exactly in line with our shared vision.

Anthony Cole


On Sat, Jan 30, 2016 at 8:05 AM, Lila Tretikov  wrote:

> Thank you, Sarah for an excellent question.  Sometimes I compare Wikimedia
> with an iceberg, only a small portion is visible.
>
> When we started investigating this problem we found out that nearly 30% of
> searches on Wikipedia return no results at all. That motivated us to dig
> deeper.
>
> Since then we've made our first improvements (by about  1 million  searches
> a day) , but we have a very long way to go...especially searching across
> sites. Commons for example is a very tough one that we will need to help
> one day.
>
> I encourage you to read through,  I tried to explain our thinking the best
> I could,  but I can always use help :)
>
> Lila
>
> sent from mobile. please excuse typos.
> On Jan 29, 2016 3:50 PM, "SarahSV"  wrote:
>
> > Lila, thank you for posting this. I have no technical background, so I
> only
> > have a limited understanding of how the Discovery project works. But as
> an
> > editor and reader I've been frustrated by the limitations of Wikipedia
> > search. Even things that I know are there, because I added them myself,
> are
> > regularly not returned. Sometimes for reasons I can't fathom; sometimes
> > because I've mistyped something.
> >
> > It's the same with Siri on iPhone. I ask it something that I know is on
> > Wikipedia and it can't seem to find it. Or it will return a link to
> > articles in which certain terms appear. But people don't want to have to
> > look at whole articles.
> >
> > We have this enormous and wonderful amount of knowledge to some extent
> > trapped inside Wikipedia. How do we unlock it? How do we teach computers
> > how to find and deliver it? In future, could Wikipedia reply to questions
> > on people's phones, instead of Siri?
> >
> > This kind of research sounds very exciting, and the Foundation is
> > well-placed to do it.
> >
> > Sarah
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 4:27 PM, Lila Tretikov 
> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Anthony,
> > >
> > > I know this request was for the Board, but I took time to explain as
> much
> > > as I could about the context of this grant and the work it funds as
> well
> > as
> > > to answer as many questions as possible that I have seen. I realize
> many
> > > people a curious about what it actually funds, so you will find the
> > > statement of work cut and pasted there.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:LilaTretikov_(WMF)#Knowledge_Engine_grant
> > > <
> > >
> >
> https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fmeta.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FUser_talk%3ALilaTretikov_%28WMF%29%23Knowledge_Engine_grant&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHbv_CPFd5d3dh7WKET5YlNSZvHdA
> > > >
> > >
> > > Hope this answers some of your questions,
> > > Lila
> > >
> > >
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] On boards and good governance: The Bottom Line

[Anthony Cole]

That was enlightening. Thank you Andy.

Anthony Cole


On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 11:49 PM, Andy Mabbett 
wrote:

> Given recent issues, I found last night's episode of 'The Bottom Line':
>
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bottom_Line_%28radio_programme%29
>
> a BBC Radio 4 discussion & BBC World Service programme, most interesting.
>
> Although its topic was the role of boards of directors of commercial
> companies, much of what it had to say about the selection and training
> of appropriate board members, and issues such as diversity,
> skill-matching, and group psychology, was more generally applicable.
>
> The episode, titled 'Managing the Boardroom', is available on BBC iPlayer:
>
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06yfm8d
>
> and as a podcast:
>
>
> http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/5/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download/proto/http/vpid/p03gqtgh.mp3
>
> One of the panellists, Margaret Heffernan:
>
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Heffernan
>
> has written on similar issues.
>
> --
> Andy Mabbett
> @pigsonthewing
> http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
>
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