Re: [Wikimedia-l] Transition plans for WMF leadership

[Steven Zhang]

I don't really know Lila at all, and I've not been paying an awful lot of 
attention to all of this until recently, when my former manager Siko Bouterse 
resigned. This act alone, plus her email rang alarm bells that things with the 
WMF aren't going great. The subsequent resignation of others (including today, 
Oliver Keyes, whom I also have much respect for) is quite concerning. I worked 
for WMF for 6 months as a Community Fellow back in 2012, and for a long period 
of time always wanted to work there again. It felt like a great place to work. 
While I recently applied for a role and was unsuccessful, recent events have 
made me feel that cannot maybe I dodged a bullet.

Lila's current position cannot one that anyone wants to be in. I am reminded of 
the recent appointment and subsequent resignation of Arnon Geshuri, where one 
way or another, he realised that all the discussion around him was a 
distraction for the community. It's not my place to say (or really, anyone's 
except the BoT) but I would hope that Lila would consider whether it is really 
in the best interests of the Wikimedia Foundation, and the community in general 
to stay on as the ED, given the loss of significant key staff, for a multitude 
of reasons, and the significant distraction and "drama" this has caused. I 
would respectfully suggest that it might be time to step aside.

Best,

Steven Crossin (formerly Steven Zhang)
Sent from my iPhone

> On 24 Feb 2016, at 3:41 PM, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I appreciate the many constructive comments in this thread. I wish that we
> knew
> that the Board was having similar discussions, and that these discussions
> were transparent.
> 
>> I don't think it would be wise to have a total simultaneous Board
> step-down
>> though - at least a situation of zero continuity is dangerous.
> 
> Agreed. My choice of the term "transition plans" was carefully considered.
> I agree with several of the comments made above in this thread regarding
> the Board and options for an orderly Board transition in the next several
> months. Perhaps some of those transitions will involve replacing some of
> the newer board members with former board members who have valuable
> experience and who have demonstrated knowledge with how we work
> in WMF and the Wikimedia community to create positive change.
> 
> To clarify some thoughts about Lila:
> 
> For the record, I think I too may have had a part in the selection of Lila
> for ED.
> I advocated for someone with private sector performance-management
> perspective to be brought into WMF. At the time I didn't appreciate that
> this
> might create a culture clash with our values and practices regarding
> transparency, communications, and community participation. I feel like I
> share part of the blame for my advocacy at the time, which in hindsight
> should have been more carefully nuanced.
> 
> Based on nonpublic communications, I believe that Lila generally has good
> intentions, and I would like her to feel good about things that have gone
> well while she has been here. For example, the community consultation
> regarding PC, and also the plans for re-imagining grants. We are also
> seeing some exciting developments in Analytics and revision scoring,
> the "big English" fundraiser in late 2015 went well, and there seems
> to be strong community support for WMF taking legal and technical
> steps to protect our editors and readers from mass surveillance.
> 
> I have heard allegations that some of the information about the Knight
> grant as presented to the public were intentionally deceptive.
> I have *not* seen evidence, in public or private, that yet convinces me
> that there was any intent to deceive. On the other hand, communications,
> planning, and transparency regarding the Knight grant were deeply
> problematic, to the point where WMF Board members and staff seemed to
> be confused and were themselves uncertain about what the right
> answers were.
> 
> Going forward, I believe that the staff of WMF and the larger Wikimedia
> community would be best served with new leadership in the executive
> director role. The retention of skilled staff, the relations with donors
> such
> as Knight, and the handling of strategic, financial, and product planning
> in an orderly and transparent manner are all important roles for the ED.
> 
> I hope that Lila and the Board will ponder the points raised in this thread
> and many others, as well as the information in this *Signpost *commentary
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2016-02-17/Special_report>
> and in http://mollywhite.net/wikimedia-timeline/. It seems to me that the
> leadership at WMF simply must change, and that Lila and the Board would
> act

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcement about changes to the Board

[Steven Zhang]

Quite surprised by this action, it does indeed seem unprecedented and I would 
hope the board would release a statement as to why this decision was made. 
Unless there are legal reasons that mean the board cannot disclose why, I would 
think that an explanation should be provided.

Steve Crossin

Sent from my iPhone

> On 29 Dec 2015, at 11:32 AM, Kevin Gorman  wrote:
> 
> I really, really hope that, as fast as one can be written, a resolution
> explaining more fully the circumstances of James' departure from the board
> is written and passed.  If there are legal reasons that mean that his
> departure cannot be more fully explained, that itself needs to be noted -
> and I hope they're particularly strong reasons.  Without looking up the
> vote count in the last election: James has the trust of a huge segment of
> the community, and also has a much stronger sense of direction in how WMF
> should be steered than many of our trustees have in the past.  His sudden
> removal (the power mechanism I've cobbled together to have my laptop
> functional today is hilarious) without further explanation looks way too
> much like one of only three directly elected trustees spoke up too openly
> in a way that wasn't welcomed about the directions he thought Wikimedia
> should go - even though he literally published a platform before he was
> elected.  The sudden removal of a very well respected community elected
> trustee has at least the appearance of a board that may not want to be
> responsive to those who literally create it's only valuable asset.
> 
> Best,
> KG
> 
>> On Mon, Dec 28, 2015 at 4:10 PM, Tito Dutta  wrote:
>> 
>> Add me as well.
>> Eager to know what happened.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimania 2017 Montreal - scooped by Signpost

[Steven Zhang]

I have to say I'm quite surprised by this as well. It seems a real departure 
from the norm and even though I've been told first hand that WMF would never 
choose Australia as a venue for a Wikimania due to cost (and the shift to a 
Europe/North America/elsewhere rotating format demonstrates this) but it's 
still very disheartening for those that have started preparing a bid only to 
find out it's a complete waste of their time.

Steve Crossin
Sent from my iPhone

> On 4 Oct 2015, at 2:13 PM, Craig Franklin  wrote:
> 
> You could excuse the Perth and Manila bid teams for being very angry at
> having wasted a lot of time and energy when the decision was apparently
> made behind closed doors weeks ago.  Even if you think the idea of getting
> rid of the expensive bid process is a good idea (and I do), the way that
> this was not communicated to the community is simply abominable.
> 
> Cheers,
> Craig
> 
>> On 4 October 2015 at 08:13, Nathan  wrote:
>> 
>> Evidently the Signpost has scooped the WMF by revealing that Montreal has
>> been selected for the 2017 Wikimania host city in a secret process that
>> completed this past August. [1]
>> 
>> It seems like the community could have been looped into this new method
>> before it was a done deal.
>> 
>> ~Nathan
>> 
>> [1]
>> 
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-09-30/News_and_notes
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcement

[Steven Zhang]

Philippe,

I feel honoured to have known you these last few years. I will sorely miss you 
around here, and I wish you all the best with everything.

Steven Crossin (Zhang)

Sent from my iPhone

> On 1 Sep 2015, at 5:01 AM, Philippe Beaudette  wrote:
> 
> Dear friends,
> 
> Six years is a long time.  Over the last six years, I've been privileged to
> be a part of so many things with you.  And I'm proud of what we've done
> together.  For the last six years, I've been a part of things that will
> excite me until the day that I die - the things that, together, we did in
> service of that phrase - "the sum of human knowledge" - were magical.  I'll
> never forget them, and I've been honored to be a part of this movement.
> 
> But it's time for me to move on.
> 
> As many of you know, for the last couple of years, I've struggled with my
> health.  I've come to the unpleasant realization that for my own good, I
> need to step back and focus on healing, and then look around for new and
> exciting opportunities.
> 
> When Sue left, she said that her decision process included looking around
> and taking stock of the people and the condition of the Foundation, and
> asking herself "Is it safe? If I leave, is it safe?" and when she knew it
> was, she began to consider the idea.
> 
> I've been doing the same, obviously focused on projects and programs that
> are important to me.  And I look around and I know that with the
> contributors that we have - brilliant, dedicated, passionate people and
> the staff that we have - dynamic, talented, devoted, and fearless it's
> safe.  So it's time for me to move on, and to leave it to them.
> 
> As a housekeeping note:  I've agreed with Luis that I'll be available until
> 9/15, though I'll be out on medical leave, so may be slow to answer
> questions.  If I owe you something, please remind me so that we can get it
> properly assigned out.
> 
> You can all reach out to me at any time... phili...@beaudette.me and
> any time I see you will be a celebration.
> 
> With my deepest affection,
> 
> Philippe
> 
> *Philippe Beaudette * \\  Director, Community Advocacy \\ Wikimedia
> Foundation, Inc.
> T: 1-415-839-6885 x6643 |  phili...@wikimedia.org  |  :  @Philippewiki
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Results of the 2015 Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) election

[Steven Zhang]

Correct, Kirill was elected as ombudsman.

Sent from my iPhone

 On May 15, 2015, at 8:04 PM, Nathan nawr...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 That formatting is messy for me (and it isn't perfect on Meta either),  but
 just to clarify:
 
 The elected candidates are Lorenzo Losa, Michal Buczynski, Liam wyatt, Mike
 Peel and Itzik Edri? And for the ombusman, the elected person is Kirill
 Lokshin?
 
 Thanks,
 ~Nathan
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Most obnoxious banner yet

[Steven Zhang]

I've little to add to this thread than my personal point of view and take on 
how I would fundraise. 

I've been very involved in organisational work with Wikimedia Australia (the 
comments here are mine and mine alone) so haven't been logging on and editing 
as much as of late but continue to refer to Wikipedia daily. I found the 
fundraising banners (I actually first typed out ads) intrusive, and they do 
follow you down the screen. I realise WMF needs to fundraise but I preferred 
the personal appeal from Brandon, GorillaWarfare and other users. It allowed 
readers to learn about the people that keep Wikipedia going and why they do it. 
I don't fundraise. But if we are trying to get people to donate to us I don't 
agree giant banners that nag them into donating or reminder emails that, when 
you boil it down, read along the lines of zomg donate to us or we will have no 
money and have to put up ads

I've never really spoken out about the Foundation and I don't really plan about 
continuing to do so. But this fundraiser bothered me and while this likely 
won't be read, I felt it should be said.

Steven Zhang
Sent from my iPhone

 On 12 Jan 2015, at 11:25 pm, Liam Wyatt liamwy...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 *TL;DR summary: I don't want the discussion about fundraising principles to
 be forgotten for another year until we do the whole thing again in 11
 months... We need to finish the discussion about whether it is acceptable
 for all other values to be made secondary to the goal of maximising
 fundraising efficiency.*
 
 Now that the 2014 Fundraising campaign has finished and which, according to
 a WMF blogpost from a week ago, surpassed our goal of $20 million
 (receiving donations from 2.5 million people in 4 weeks) [1], I hope that
 the fundraising team has had the time to get some well-earned rest and
 relaxation over the new-year period.
 
 With that busiest time of year now over, but with all the discussions
 still fresh in our mind, I was hoping that the Fundraising team or
 Executive would have the time to respond to the various concerns that were
 raised here (and elsewhere) about the theory and practice of WMF fundraising.
 If responding here isn't appropriate, then at least over on Meta at [[Talk:
 Fundraising Principles]] where a fair amount of detail has been compiled,
 particularly by WMF Board of Trustees member SJ [2].
 
 There were some practical/specific questions, including:
 - why isn't fundraising using the same software to receive bug reports (
 phabricator) as everyone else?
 - why haven't the crowdsourced banner text suggestions been A/B tested?
 - why were new banners shown to people who had chosen to dismiss previous
 ones, and why were they allowed take up such a large proportion of the
 screen/obscure content?
 - has anyone responded to the Russian community yet to their polite and
 important question?
 [This is a non-exhaustive list, of course]
 
 But there were also more fundamental/theoretical questions, including:
 - what degree of 'urgency' is morally acceptable in a donation request,
 especially when the financial situation of the WMF has never been
 healthier/stable? (e.g. threatening phrases like keep us online and
 ad-free for another year)
 - Is the practice of finishing the fundraiser period as fast as possible
 by any means the correct interpretation of the the official fundraising
 principle of minimal disruption?
 - Is the official fundraising principle of maximal participation being
 adhered to? That principle calls for empowering individuals to
 constructively contribute to direct messaging, public outreach... Does the
 WMF Board believe this has happened?
 - Is the current we don't like asking for money so just give it to us and
 we'll stop annoying you approach to fundraising (implied by the final
 phrase in the final 2014 campaign email Please help us forget fundraising and
 get back to improving Wikipedia.) potentially damaging to the Wikimedia
 brand value, even if it does raise the money in the short term? Lila said
 that there has been sentiment analysis done about this, what was the
 result?
 
 -Liam
 
 [1] http://blog.wikimedia
 .org/2015/01/05/thank-you-for-keeping-knowledge-free-and-accessible/
 [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fundraising_principles
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedian-In-Residence at NIOSH

[Steven Zhang]

Congrats I'm really happy for you :-)

Steve Zhang

Sent from my iPhone

 On 3 Jan 2015, at 8:56 am, Keilana keilanaw...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 Sort of - Ebola is definitely an occupational health hazard for health care
 people! ;) And of course, I always appreciate advice!
 
 I'm the second US Federal WIR as far as I can tell - Dominic was the first,
 and, unless someone has been very under-the-radar (or I've had my head
 under a rock), NIOSH is the first federal science/technology/medicine
 agency with a WIR.
 
 Thank you!
 
 -Emily
 
 On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 3:52 PM, Andy Mabbett a...@pigsonthewing.org.uk
 wrote:
 
 On 2 January 2015 at 21:00, Keilana keilanaw...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 I am excited to announce that I am starting today as the
 Wikipedian-in-Residence for NIOSH, the National Institute for
 Occupational
 Safety and Health, a subsidiary of the CDC.
 
 Congratulations! CDC - does that make you the Wikipedian in Residence
 for Ebola? ;-)
 
 I'm sure you'll do well, but please let me know if I can offer any
 help or advice - especially where the subject interests of NIOSH and
 the Royal Society of Chemistry (where I am Wikimedian in Residence)
 overlap.
 
 As a matter of interest, how many US federal WiRs have there been now -
 I know of Daniel at NARA; are there others?
 
 --
 Andy Mabbett
 @pigsonthewing
 http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Jake Orlowitz/Ocaasi comes onto the Grantmaking team at WMF with The Wikipedia Library

[Steven Zhang]

Congrats buddy. You've earned it

Sent from my iPhone

 On 7 Oct 2014, at 2:40 pm, Keilana keilanaw...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 A big big congratulations to Jake! His work is so important to our mission.
 
 -Emily
 
 On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 10:07 PM, Anasuya Sengupta asengu...@wikimedia.org
 wrote:
 
 Dear friends and colleagues,
 
 I am delighted to announce that Jake Orlowitz (User:Ocaasi, User:Ocaasi
 (WMF))
 is joining the Grantmaking department at WMF to lead The Wikipedia Library
 (TWL)[1], an online resource for Wikipedians to get free access to
 journal subscriptions.
 In the last year, TWL has helped nearly 2000 unique users access 3000
 accounts of sources like JSTOR, Elsevier, De Gruyter, and Oxford University
 Press,[2] and is now experimenting with community-run branches in Arabic,
 German and other languages.
 
 Jake will be a full-time contractor with part-time support from Alex
 Stinson
 (User:Sadads, User:Astinson (WMF)) for an initial period of six months.
 They are both working with an amazing volunteer team of Wikipedians guided
 by Head of Volunteer Coordination (User:Nikkimaria). We're particularly
 looking forward to seeing how TWL can expand its global (non-English) work,
 and what it can teach us about the best ways to support some of our top
 contributors, and improve content on our projects.
 
 Many of you know Jake well, but for those who don't: Jake (Ocaasi) is a
 long time Wikipedian, with two Individual Engagement Grants from us, and he
 has been on the IEG grants committee for the past two years. Jake works
 remotely from Philadelphia but is frequently in the Bay Area, especially
 during long and dark East Coast winters.  Alex has been involved for many
 years with both Education and GLAM outreach. He resides in Kansas where he
 works on Digital Humanities at Kansas State.
 
 You can catch up on all of TWL's new happenings in the latest edition of
 the Books and Bytes newsletter.[7] We're excited to bring The Wikipedia
 Library on board and look forward to its growth and evolution!
 
 Warmly,
 Anasuya
 
 Jake Orlowitz (User:Ocaasi) started editing in 2007 as an ip. Early on he
 worked on articles about religious groups, political movements,
 and alternative health. Around 2010 he shifted focus from editing
 to helping new users, working in the irc-help channel and developing the
 Plain
 and Simple guide for New Editors [3] and its COI counterpart [4]. In 2012
 Jake began developing projects through the Individual Engagement Grants
 department at WMF. He built The Wikipedia Adventure,[5] a playful
 interactive game to onboard new editors. He also began establishing and
 expanding donation partnerships in The Wikipedia Library to provide free
 research access to top article contributors. He helps out as a board member
 of Wiki Project Med Foundation [6] and gives talks about Wikipedia's role
 in education. Jake grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and studied
 political theory at Wesleyan, before starting a tutoring company in
 Colorado. He currently splits his time between coasts, working
 full-time on Wikipedia
 projects. His contract with WMF will focus on expanding the number and
 global reach of Wikipedia Library partnerships.
 
 Alex Stinson (User:Sadads) is a 9-year editor with over 80,000
 contributions,
 actively involved in different forms of outreach.  He
 is currently a project manager with the The Wikipedia Library, a long time
 volunteer with The Wikipedia Education Program, and supporter of GLAM-Wiki
 outreach. Alex has a Masters degree in English Literature from Kansas State
 University with research focused on cultural studies and the digital
 humanities. He works as a digital humanist at K-State, where he helps
 develop projects and create partnerships with educators and cultural
 institutions.
 
 [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library
 [2]
 
 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IEG/The_Wikipedia_Library/Renewal/Final
 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:PANDS
 [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:PSCOI
 [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:The_Wikipedia_Adventure
 [6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WPMED
 [7]
 
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:The_Wikipedia_Library/Newsletter/August-September2014
 
 --
 
 
 *Anasuya SenguptaSenior Director of GrantmakingWikimedia Foundation*
 
 Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
 the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!
 Support Wikimedia https://donate.wikimedia.org/
 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Wikimania 2015 - Call for Jury volunteers

[Steven Zhang]

Australia? :) (It'll never happen of course since we're in the middle of 
nowhere) 
Steven Zhang
Committee Member, Wikimedia Australia
steven.zh...@wikimedia.org.au

On 7 Nov 2013, at 12:24 am, Itzik Edri it...@infra.co.il wrote:

 There is no one from the Maldives who want to bid maybe? :)
 I'm ok also with Hawaii
 
 
 
 
 
 On Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 12:44 PM, Florence Devouard anthe...@yahoo.comwrote:
 
 Whilst we are at Sealand Principality... a head up...
 
 We now have received five (5) candidacies. Good ones. Which is great.
 
 I'd love to see some more.
 
 Also please... we would need more geographical diversity (err, less
 primarily English speaking people). Help relay the call for volunteers
 within your linguistic communities.
 
 Thanks
 
 Flo
 
 
 
 
 
 On 11/5/13 8:25 PM, Michael Snow wrote:
 
 On 11/5/2013 11:01 AM, David Gerard wrote:
 
 On 5 November 2013 18:58, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemow...@gmail.com
 wrote:
 
 Yes if it's South enough to be in the middle of the Channel for best
 neutrality.
 
 Jersey 2015!
 
 That really ought to be Principality of Sealand instead. We already had
 Gdansk, time to continue the history tour of Wikipedia edit wars.
 
 --Michael Snow
 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Conference 2014 location decision

[Steven Zhang]

I still think that Berlin is a suitable location out of the bids, and given 
their experience, am sure they'll do a great job. I look forward to it.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

 On 14 Oct 2013, at 6:46 pm, Jon Davies jon.dav...@wikimedia.org.uk wrote:
 
 Perhaps next year in sunny Goa?  Dates?
 
 
 On 13 October 2013 12:05, Steven Zhang cro0...@gmail.com wrote:
 
 Bulk of the chapters are in Europe, so it's generally seen as cheaper for
 most chapters, and more convenient for them. I agree with your sentiment.
 
 Sent from my iPhone
 
 On 13 Oct 2013, at 7:06 pm, Srikanth Ramakrishnan 
 srik.r...@wikimedia.in wrote:
 
 As one of the team for the India bid, I must say I'm a bit disappointed
 in
 this decision. It seems like this event will never leave Europe.
 
 
 On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 10:20 PM, Sarah Stierch sarah.stie...@gmail.com
 wrote:
 
 Congratulations - Berlin is one amazing city. Some great bids were
 placed,
 too.
 
 Looking forward to it!
 
 -Sarah
 
 
 On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 12:07 PM, Ivan Martínez gala...@gmail.com
 wrote:
 
 Thanks to all the team involved in the bidding and decision. We will
 have a
 very nice conference in Berlin.
 
 Regards.
 El oct 12, 2013 8:31 a.m., Bence Damokos bdamo...@gmail.com
 escribió:
 
 Dear all,
 
 Following considerable deliberation it is with great pleasure that we
 announce that the Location Committee has selected Berlin as the
 location
 for the 2014 Wikimedia Conference.
 
 We received a total of four bids from Germany, India, Italy and
 Sweden.
 In
 selecting the Berlin location we have taken into consideration the
 experience and capacity of the team; the travel time and cost for
 attendees; the cost of hosting the conference; and the facilities and
 room
 configuration of the proposed venues.
 
 Throughout our deliberations we kept an open mind towards having the
 conference in a new location/country, and we have appreciated the
 compact
 solutions offered by having all participants close to each other or
 staying
 at the same lodging; however, we felt that the Berlin bid provides –
 by a
 small margin – the best combination of price, distance and experience
 this
 year.
 
 We thank all the organisations that have entered a bid for their time
 and
 effort and we hope that even if they were not selected this year, they
 can
 make use of the experience when they organise other meetings that will
 further the Wikimedia mission.
 
 In closing, we would like to thank all Wikimedia organisations for
 placing
 their trust in this process and committee, which was an interesting
 experience for all of us. In the hope that the Wikimedia organisations
 keep
 the hosting choice an open process, we would like to propose a number
 of
 potential process improvements[1], and we would invite all the bidders
 and
 other interested parties to provide their own feedback.
 
 Best regards,
 
 Asaf Bartov, Bence Damokos, Arnau Duran, Itzik Edri, Mike Peel, Osmar
 Valdebenito, Ilario Valdelli
 Wikimedia Conference 2014 Location Committee
 
 [1]
 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2014/Bids/Learnings
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 --
 --
 *Sarah Stierch*
 *Museumist, open culture advocate, and Wikimedian*
 *www.sarahstierch.com*
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 --
 Srikanth Ramakrishnan
 Treasurer,
 Wikimedia Chapter [India]
 
 Donate to the Wikimedia India Chapter today
 http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Donations
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Please, let's save the Wikipedia - from itself

[Steven Zhang]

On 7 Sep 2013, at 8:14 am, Lars Gardenius lars.garden...@yahoo.de wrote:

 Sorry, but I didn't say that everone, but me, is wrong.
 
 I said that I believe that you are wrong concerning this question.
 
 Regards,
 Lars Gardenius
 

Fair enough. I have to agree with the comments made by Marc Pelletier before. I 
respect that you have your own opinion and I have mine. I'll continue my work 
to improve the process and you of course are free to take your own path. 
Farewell.

Steve

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Please, let's save the Wikipedia - from itself

[Steven Zhang]

The dispute resolution page is a little bit of a mess, but we're working on 
streamlining things. Informal mediation was closed as it had been made largely 
redundant by the dispute resolution noticeboard. The same could perhaps be said 
about the mediation committee, but it's a long-standing process and I don't see 
it being closed anytime soon, regardless of how effective it is, due to its 
longevity, and due to the fact there'd be nowhere to take a dispute after DRN.

I did have a chat to a few folk at Wikimania and am coming up with an 
alternative DR process to try and take the pain out of things - DRN would have 
a go at resolving the dispute, and if that failed, a moderated discussion would 
take place where the question(s) or matters under dispute would be clearly 
defined, and then put to the wider community for a discussion. I believe there 
was recently a discussion like this on Jerusalem.

But I think the main thing that holds our processes back is a lack of involved 
volunteers. It causes burnout. You can't scream aah, this process sucks 
and it's broken! and expect things to magically fix itself. Getting involved 
will go a long way to fixing things.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

On 6 Sep 2013, at 5:33 am, Fred Bauder fredb...@fairpoint.net wrote:

 On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 4:16 PM, Fred Bauder fredb...@fairpoint.net
 wrote:
 
 It is addressed but by a rather complicated and demanding process. See
 Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. Not really workable for new users who
 bump
 up against well-established users who have bad habits, or have learned
 that nasty behavior pays off in being able to control content.
 Removing the mediation committee from that process might
 streamline things a bit. I notice the mediation cabal has closed
 its doors since the last time I looked.
 
 -Chad
 
 I confess I'm not up to date; hardly anyone ever tries to seriously argue
 with me; and, often, if they do, I find something more productive than
 arguing with an idiot. (See, I am a very bad citizen). The Dispute
 resolution pages should be up to date and reflect current practices,
 whatever they are; in many cases matters that once would have been
 considered for arbitration are now handled by administrators.
 
 Fred
 
 
 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcing four new Community Liaisons (Product)

[Steven Zhang]

Congratulations to you all, and good luck. I'm sure you will all do a great job!

Steven Zhang

Sent from my iPhone

 On 20/06/2013, at 4:04 am, Philippe Beaudette phili...@wikimedia.org wrote:
 
 Hi everyone,
 
 Howie and I are pleased to announce the onboarding of four new community
 liaisons for the product team.  Howie has generously allowed me to send
 this email, since their initial tasking will be to VisualEditor and the
 Change Management team, working with me.  At the conclusion of the
 deployment of VisualEditor, they will be assigned as community liaisons to
 other groups within the product team.
 
 Please welcome four new contractors:  Erica Litrenta, Sherry Snyder,
 Patrick Earley, and (a returning face) Keegan Peterzell.
 
 These positions are temporary, contract-based positions, each with an
 initial term of roughly 90 days.  Below, I've pasted below a brief summary
 of each of the four so that you can get to know them.  I know you'll join
 me in wishing them the best with their new work!
 pb
 
 ___
 Philippe Beaudette
 Director, Community Advocacy
 Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
 
 
 
 *Erica / Elitre*
 Erica will be initially primarily tasked with supporting the deployment on
 Italian Wikipedia, but will also be helping out with other wikis as well.
 She edits as User:Elitre https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utente:Elitre on
 the Italian Wikipedia.  Born and raised in Cosenza, Italy, she graduated
 from Università della Calabria (with a Master's degree in Foreign Languages
 and Literature), and now lives in Bologna.  Her favorite work experience so
 far was last year with lettera27 Foundation, where she wrote case studies
 for the WikiAfrica/Share Your Knowledge projects (go GLAMs!) and hunted for
 more free contents and institutions to involve (She's been involved with
 the Wikimedia Movement and has evangelized about our projects since 2005).
 She's  fond of: playing life/construction and management videogames, taking
 pictures, making cheesecakes, studying and writing about Italian folklore -
 notably the Palio di Siena, listening to symphonic metal/rock.
 
 She's in a romantic relationship with OTRS (yes, you read that right - she
 was once dubbed romantic and dreadful because of this) since 2006 which,
 she points out, is longer than her relationship with her boyfriend: she met
 him later.
 
 
 *Sherry / WhatamIdoing*
 Some of you know her well, if nothing else, for her descriptive username (
 WhatamIdoing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WhatamIdoing).  She
 writes:
 
 *My name is Sherry Snyder, better known as WhatamIdoing on several
 English-speaking projects.  My culinary quest for the summer is a low-sugar
 chocolate peanut butter, which those of you with European tendencies should
 interpret as like Nutella, only better.  (In response to this, my husband
 says, POV-inline, dubious - discuss?)  I've been a Wikipedian since
 2007.  I am a metapedian by nature and a typo fixer by compulsion.  I'm
 still a little amazed that the WMF hired me for this project and happy to
 be joining the team that is trying to make the transition to VisualEditor
 be more successful and less surprising.
 *
 
 Sherry will be supporting the deployment on the English Wikipedia and
 non-English speaking projects to be assigned still.  She was a huge help
 during the development of the Terms of Use, and I'm looking forward to
 working with her.
 
 
 *Patrick / The Interior*
 Patrick is from Kamloops, British Columbia (yes, another Canadian!), a
 logging and cattle town in the Interior of the province.  He edits enwiki
 as The Interior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:The_Interior.  He
 has studied library science and film, and has worked a variety of
 interesting jobs so far, including wildland firefighting, documentary
 filmmaking, treeplanting, sorting books at a second hand store,
 cataloguing, screenwriting, teaching English in Taiwan and, now, liaising
 for the WMF! He currently lives in Vancouver in the aptly named Mount
 Pleasant neighbourhood.  He wishes to point out that he uses Canadian
 spelling.  :P
 
 Patrick has been a Wikipedia editor since 2008. He loves working on
 geography and both natural and human history.  He has worked with the
 Education Program, hopes to be more involved in GLAM projects in the
 future, and is very interested in the Wikipedia/library interface.  Patrick
 will be focused on non-English speaking wikis.
 
 *Keegan*
 Some of you will remember that
 Keeganhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Keegan previously
 worked with us  on the 2010 Fundraiser.  He has been editing since 2005,
 and has a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of
 Tennessee-Chattanooga.  An English Wikipedia administrator, oversighter,
 and CheckUser, he served a year-long appointment to the audit subcommittee
 for 2011-2012.
 
 Globally he is a volunteer response team leader (OTRS admin) and member of
 the Communications committee.
 
 He says that he's not an article writer, so

Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Announcement *please read*

[Steven Zhang]

We all started talking about Sue Gardner for President 2016 on IRC today. I'd 
vote for her...

Sent from my iPhone

On 28/03/2013, at 6:35 PM, Isarra Yos zhoris...@gmail.com wrote:

 It's odd, but I think I'm glad - not so much that you're leaving, but where 
 you're going, what you intend to do... somehow I find that comforting...
 
 On 27/03/13 22:00, Sue Gardner wrote:
 Hello Wikimedia community members,
 
 This is not an easy e-mail to write, and it’s been a very hard
 decision to make. But I’m writing to tell you that I’m planning to
 leave my position as the Executive Director of the Wikimedia
 Foundation.
 
 My departure isn’t imminent -- the Board and I anticipate it’ll take
 at least six months to recruit my successor, and I’ll be fully engaged
 as Executive Director all through the recruitment process and until we
 have a new person in place. We’re expecting that’ll take about six
 months or so, and so this note is not goodbye -- not yet.
 
 Making the decision to leave hasn’t been easy, but it comes down to two 
 things.
 
 First, the movement and the Wikimedia Foundation are in a strong place
 now. When I joined, the Foundation was tiny and not yet able to
 reliably support the projects. Today it's healthy, thriving, and a
 competent partner to the global network of Wikimedia volunteers. If
 that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t feel okay to leave. In that sense, my
 leaving is a vote of confidence in our Board and executive team and
 staff --- I know they will ably steer the Foundation through the years
 ahead, and I’m confident the Board will appoint a strong successor to
 me.
 
 And I feel that although we’re in good shape, with a promising future,
 the same isn’t true for the internet itself. (This is thing number
 two.) Increasingly, I’m finding myself uncomfortable about how the
 internet’s developing, who’s influencing its development, and who is
 not. Last year we at Wikimedia raised an alarm about SOPA/PIPA, and
 now CISPA is back. Wikipedia has experienced censorship at the hands
 of industry groups and governments, and we’re --increasingly, I
 think-- seeing important decisions made by unaccountable
 non-transparent corporate players, a shift from the open web to mobile
 walled gardens, and a shift from the production-based internet to one
 that’s consumption-based. There are many organizations and individuals
 advocating for the public interest online -- what’s good for ordinary
 people -- but other interests are more numerous and powerful than they
 are. I want that to change. And that’s what I want to do next.
 
 I’ve always aimed to make the biggest contribution I can to the
 general public good. Today, this is pulling me towards a new and
 different role, one very much aligned with Wikimedia values and
 informed by my experiences here, and with the purpose of amplifying
 the voices of people advocating for the free and open internet. I
 don’t know exactly what this will look like -- I might write a book,
 or start a non-profit, or work in partnership with something that
 already exists. Either way, I feel strongly that this is what I need
 to do.
 
 I feel an increasing sense of urgency around this. That said, I also
 feel a strong sense of responsibility (and love!) for the Wikimedia
 movement, and so I’ve agreed with the Board that I’ll stay on as
 Executive Director until we have my successor in place. That’ll take
 some time -- likely, at least six months.
 
 Until then, nothing changes. The Wikimedia Foundation has lots of work
 to do, and you can expect me to focus fully on it until we have a new
 Executive Director in place.
 
 I have many people to thank, but I’m not going to do it now --
 there’ll be time for that later. For now, I’ll just say I love working
 with you all, I’m proud of everything the Wikimedia movement is
 accomplishing, and I’m looking forward to our next six months
 together.
 
 Jan-Bart’s going to write a note in a couple of minutes with
 information about the transition process. We’ll be hosting office
 hours this weekend as well, so anybody with questions can ask them
 here or turn up to talk with us on IRC.
 
 Thanks,
 Sue
 
 
 
 --
 Sue Gardner
 Executive Director
 Wikimedia Foundation
 
 415 839 6885 office
 415 816 9967 cell
 
 Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
 the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!
 
 https://donate.wikimedia.org/
 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] unsubscribssion

[Steven Zhang]

Unsubscription can be done by clicking on this link: 
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/options/wikimedia-l

I've taken your email as a request to be removed from the list, so I have done 
this for you through the above link - you should have received a confirmation 
email.

Regards,
Steven Zhang


On 08/03/2013, at 11:44 PM, Shmuel Shraga sshr...@gmail.com wrote:

 *unsubscribssion request*
 -- 
 
 * *
 
 *  **Best Regards, *
 
 *.Shraga Shmuel Ph.D.***
 
 SHRAGA™ Griseofulvin Topical for Treatmen of *fungal skin diseases
 .Patent.8192750*
 
 *35 Yaacov-Yehoshuah st.
 97550 Jerusalem,ISRAEL
 Home:972-2-585-3712
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF HR and leadership questions

[Steven Zhang]

Staff and contractors page includes Fellows...not sure about contractor and 
such but I'm pretty sure they are put on there too.

Steve Zhang

Sent from my iPhone

On 29/12/2012, at 12:14 AM, Thehelpfulone thehelpfulonew...@gmail.com wrote:

 On 28 December 2012 10:59, Andrew Gray andrew.g...@dunelm.org.uk wrote:
 
 On 28 December 2012 07:31, Matthew Roth mr...@wikimedia.org wrote:
 
 A count of office.wikimedia.org account deactivations suggests that
 about 59 people left the WMF in 2012, for whatever reason. To me, that
 seems like a lot of people. Maybe it's occasionally good for people to
 leave, but so many?
 
 Does that include interns? I know my interns get access to Office Wiki,
 so
 it might skew the numbers higher. I believe LCA has had at least 8-10 (?)
 interns cycle through in 2012. I've had a couple.
 
 Gayle no doubt has more precise numbers, but using @wikimediaatwork I
 count 3 Dec, 1 Oct, 2 Sep, 3 Aug, 1 July, 4 Jun, 1 May, 2 Apr, 3 Feb,
 1 Jan - twenty-one departures in a year, including fixed-term
 contractors (who probably shouldn't be counted in turnover
 discussions)
 
 Whether that result is still too high or not I leave as an exercise
 for the reader!
 
 
 
 There are a few from that page that are missing if you consider the
 historyhttps://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Staff_and_contractorsoffset=limit=500action=historyof
 the Staff and contractors page on Foundation wiki, but that could be a
 reasonable count as it excludes fellows/legal interns/comms
 interns/short-term contractors - Gayle?
 
 -- 
 Thehelpfulone
 http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Thehelpfulone
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] proposed urgent Board of Trustees resolution without a meeting

[Steven Zhang]

I too am baffled.

Sent from my iPhone

On 24/12/2012, at 5:42 PM, Liam Wyatt liamwy...@gmail.com wrote:

 Whereas I'm confused.
 
 On Monday, 24 December 2012, James Salsman wrote:
 
 Kat Walsh
 Chair
 Board of Trustees
 Wikimedia Foundation
 
 In accordance with your discretionary power to divert from the Board
 deliberation procedures approved July 8, 2010,[1] and because of
 certain recent serious misleading and contradictory statements from
 senior Foundation staff and obvious financial accounting regularities
 concerning the Board's direction that the Foundation maintain a six
 month cash reserve, and for the other reasons stated below, I ask that
 you and the Board approve the following or a substantially similar
 resolution without a meeting in accordance with Article IV, Section
 4(f) of your Bylaws[2] as soon as possible, and no later than this
 week:
 
 
 Whereas the Foundation's mandatory fiduciary duty of care requires
 that trustees act on a fully informed basis;[3]
 
 whereas the trustees were led to believe on May 12, 2012 that senior
 Foundation staff were in doubt as to whether they could significantly
 exceed last years' fundraising;[4]
 
 whereas in fact senior Foundation staff knew on May 11, 2012 that they
 were already able to exceed the performance of the best performing
 fundraising message from 2011;[5]
 
 whereas based on the information pertaining to Fundraising provided by
 senior Foundation staff, the 2012-2013 Annual Plan was proposed and
 adopted with a revenue target increase of $7.2 million, or $900,000
 less than the previous Annual Plan's revenue target increase;[6]
 
 whereas actual fundraising far exceeded the stated expectations of
 senior Foundation staff, so much that the nominal fundraising goal
 based on the stated expectations of senior Foundation staff was
 achieved in about nine days of unlimited fundraising messaging to
 Foundation project readers;[7]
 
 whereas ceasing Fundraising prior to the last four business days of
 December in unprecedented in the history of the Foundation;[7]
 
 whereas the last four business days of December have over the previous
 five years yielded fundraising performance typically about triple the
 performance of the median fundraiser day's performance;[7]
 
 whereas senior Foundation staff have proposed fundraising next year in
 part during April, which this year was in fact the last month that
 senior Foundation staff were not able to produce a fundraising message
 outperforming those of the prior year's fundraiser;[8]
 
 whereas the tax code of the United States and other countries provide
 an incentive for wealthy donors to determine the optimal amount of
 their donations during the last week of December;
 
 whereas the Foundation staff has failed to maintain a six month cash
 reserve as directed by the trustees, even with lower than expected
 expenses and higher than expected revenues;[9]
 
 whereas junior Foundation staff are compensated substantially below
 that of typical advanced information processing technology workers in
 San Francisco;[10]
 
 whereas because of their low levels of compensation, the retention of
 foundation technical staff has been substantially below optimal
 levels;[11]
 
 whereas because of their low levels of compensation, junior foundation
 technical staff are often unable to afford housing which does not
 involve a lengthy commute from unsavory neighborhoods;[11]
 
 whereas the ratio of the compensation of Foundation executives to
 junior foundation staff and contractors has substantially widened in
 recent years;[10]
 
 whereas Foundation staff have been unable or unwilling to effectively
 staff programs such as the very successful Wikimedia Education Program
 at levels preventing serious problems for the editor community, such
 as, for example, including sufficient information to discern which
 articles are currently pending in the Education Program;[12]
 
 whereas the Foundation Annual Plan as amended lacks sufficient funding
 to explore telepresence options for those who can not attend events
 such as Wikimania or chose not to attend for ecological reasons;
 
 and whereas senior Foundation staff have recently discontinued major
 programs of the Annual Plan and the Strategic Plan without consulting
 the community,[13]
 
 therefore, be it resolved, that the Foundation will resume fundraising
 at maximal levels immediately until such time as sufficient funds are
 raised such that:
 
 staff salaries and contractor compensation can be increased so no
 contributor is compensated less than 50% of the amount of the highest
 compensated executive staff member, calculated on a per-hour basis for
 contractors;
 
 a one year contingency cash reserve can be maintained;
 
 sufficient staff can be added to the Education Program so that program
 article talk page templates can be provided with their correct
 academic calendar dates;
 
 the Wikimania program can include a telepresence pilot program;
 
 and 

[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Australia Public IRC meeting today at 5PM AEDST

[Steven Zhang]

Hi everyone,
The Wikimedia Australia public meeting will start today, 2nd December 2012 at 
17:00 hours (5:00pm Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (AEDST) ) in 
#wikimedia-australia. Come and go as you please. I will be chairing the 
meeting, and there is no set agenda so you are welcome to start a discussion 
about anything related to Wikimedia Australia.
 
http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/IRC
 
 
Regards,
Steven Zhang

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] The new narrowed focus by WMF (cleaner version)

[Steven Zhang]

.
 
 Sincerely,
 
 * Anya Shyrokova User:Anyashy, prospective Fellow
 * Jake Orlowitz User:Ocaasi, prospective Fellow
 * Jon Harald Søby User:Jon Harald Søby, former Community Fellow
 * Jonathan Morgan User:Jtmorgan, former Research Fellow
 * Liam Wyatt  User:Wittylama, former Cultural Partnerships Fellow
 * R.  Stuart Geiger  User:Staeiou, former Wikimedia Research Fellow
 * Peter Coombe User:The wub, Community Fellow
 * Steven Zhang User:Steven Zhang, Community Fellow
 * Tanvir Rahman User:Tanvir Rahman, Community Fellow
 
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[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Improving dispute resolution processes on Wikipedia

[Steven Zhang]

Hi all - a blog post has recently been written which details the work I have 
been doing as a fellow and also outlines my plans for the future. I invite you 
to read it and would appreciate any comments or feedback you have. You can read 
the post at 
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/09/05/improving-dispute-resolution-processes-on-wikipedia/

Regards,

Steve Zhang
Community Fellow, Wikimedia Foundation
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[Wikimedia-l] Articles for Creation broken

[Steven Zhang]

So, I had a look at articles for creation today, and there was nearly 1,000 
pending article submissions. Articles for creation has changed a lot since 2008 
- it was of a similar structure to XFD - all submissions for a particular day 
were on one page, and people could come along and approve or reject based in 
certain criteria.

I think that system worked well. True, we have a lot more article creations, 
but I think it gave more visibility than the current system where everything is 
subpaged.

Some may think that the bar at AFC is set too high but this high bar 
discourages new users, especially when their submissions stay unreviewed for 
weeks at a time. And since editor retention is something we are trying to focus 
on, it seems a worthy project since many new users have their first experiences 
in AFC. The lack of volunteers in wikiprojects like AFC is not a new thing, so 
it's not that volunteers have reduced. I think we need to consider if AFC is 
something we still want to have, and if so, how can we improve it?


Steve Zhang
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Leaving the Wikimedia Foundation

[Steven Zhang]

Hi Barry,

It may not mean much, but I wanted to express my gratitude to you for all the 
hard work you've done over the past two years, both for the Foundation and for 
the entire Wikimedia movement. When you leave, I think your successor will have 
big shoes to fill.

As you know, I'm in Australia (though one day I may find myself relocating to 
the US if I was brought on permanently) and we have a strong community with the 
Australian chapter. Whereabouts in Australia are you moving to?

Steve Zhang
Community Fellow, Wikimedia Foundation
szh...@wikimedia.org

On 08/08/2012, at 4:41 AM, Barry Newstead bnewst...@wikimedia.org wrote:

 Dear Wikimedia friends and colleagues,
 
 It is bittersweet for me to share with all of you that I will be leaving
 the Wikimedia Foundation at the end of August to relocate to Australia for
 personal reasons.
 
 It is difficult for me to leave Wikimedia and particularly leave the Global
 Development team, which I’ve had the pleasure of building and leading over
 the past two years. I am proud of what we have accomplished in raising the
 priority of much of the globe within the Wikimedia movement, strengthening
 our mobile strategy and education program, globalizing communications, and
 tackling the difficult movement roles issues that I hope can be put in the
 past. It hasn’t been easy or uncontroversial, but I truly believe that we
 are heading in the right direction.
 
 One of the great joys of my work has been the opportunity to travel and
 meet many amazing Wikipedians and to share the Wikimedia story with the
 world. It is so inspiring to hear first hand how much people love our
 projects and the amazing things that so many people do in support of the
 movement. This is what helped me survive the many long flights and
 jetlag-filled nights.  It was an honour representing the Wikimedia
 Foundation and often the Wikimedia movement in so many places.
 
 I am confident that the Global Development work will thrive with the team
 in place and with all of the dedicated community members who see us as
 partners. I look forward to becoming a volunteer member of the movement and
 supporting the work in new ways. Sue will share plans for the transition
 shortly.
 
 Many thanks to all who have supported me and our work.
 
 Kind regards,
 Barry
 
 -- 
 Barry Newstead
 Chief Global Development Officer
 Wikimedia Foundation
 
 Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
 the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!
 
 Donate to Wikimedia https://donate.wikimedia.org/
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Leaving the Wikimedia Foundation

[Steven Zhang]

Hi all,

Please disregard my previous correspondence, it was sent in error.

Regards,

Steve Zhang
Community Fellow, Wikimedia Foundation
szh...@wikimedia.org

 On 08/08/2012, at 4:41 AM, Barry Newstead bnewst...@wikimedia.org wrote:
 
 Dear Wikimedia friends and colleagues,
 
 It is bittersweet for me to share with all of you that I will be leaving
 the Wikimedia Foundation at the end of August to relocate to Australia for
 personal reasons.
 
 It is difficult for me to leave Wikimedia and particularly leave the Global
 Development team, which I’ve had the pleasure of building and leading over
 the past two years. I am proud of what we have accomplished in raising the
 priority of much of the globe within the Wikimedia movement, strengthening
 our mobile strategy and education program, globalizing communications, and
 tackling the difficult movement roles issues that I hope can be put in the
 past. It hasn’t been easy or uncontroversial, but I truly believe that we
 are heading in the right direction.
 
 One of the great joys of my work has been the opportunity to travel and
 meet many amazing Wikipedians and to share the Wikimedia story with the
 world. It is so inspiring to hear first hand how much people love our
 projects and the amazing things that so many people do in support of the
 movement. This is what helped me survive the many long flights and
 jetlag-filled nights.  It was an honour representing the Wikimedia
 Foundation and often the Wikimedia movement in so many places.
 
 I am confident that the Global Development work will thrive with the team
 in place and with all of the dedicated community members who see us as
 partners. I look forward to becoming a volunteer member of the movement and
 supporting the work in new ways. Sue will share plans for the transition
 shortly.
 
 Many thanks to all who have supported me and our work.
 
 Kind regards,
 Barry
 
 -- 
 Barry Newstead
 Chief Global Development Officer
 Wikimedia Foundation
 
 Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
 the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!
 
 Donate to Wikimedia https://donate.wikimedia.org/
 ___
 Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately 
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