Allow me first to congratulate Frank. I think he is a great choice and already proved how much he capable to do amazing things, so I have a great hopes in this new organizations.
Saying that and moving to talk about the organization and the process, and not about the person, this grant and program itself had been discussed over the past months in a unofficial lists. This grant is a the biggest grant the WMF ever gave to a new group - 147,570$. The grant department gave in the past (for one year) more than that to a few big chapters (WMNL/AT/SE/DE) but all of them was a already existing chapters with a record of few years. The WEF hasn't been yet approved by the affcom, BTW. I can't see in the near future (especially after the last board decision) any other new group or chapter getting even quarter of budget in their first new year. It's worth to read the discussion the GAC had around this grant request: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:PEG/User:Pjthepiano_-_Wiki_Education_Foundation/US_and_Canada_Wikipedia_Education_Program I'm part of the communication committee for a many years, and indeed this press release was also very strange to me (and it been also published on Wikipedia's official Facebook page and others social media channels). It seem like it will be unclear if the WEF will get a special treatment from the WMF/staff, not like others groups or chapters. BTW, the WEF didn't budgeted office rent in their grant request, and as the grants are restricted, it seem like they will need to find a Pro bono office, or to ask for revising their grant. On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 8:30 AM, Jan-Bart de Vreede <jdevre...@wikimedia.org > wrote: > Hi > > On 13 Feb 2014, at 04:46, Liam Wyatt <liamwy...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Good question Andy! > > Moreover, as this is an independent organisation, why does the fact of it > > getting a director deserve a WMF press-release? For comparison, has the > > hiring of senior staff for any of the Chapters received a WMF-written > press > > release? > > Because the director happens to be an extremely valued long time member of > the senior staff of the Wikimedia Foundation. > > <SNIP> > > > I note that on the Q&A that the > > organisation is "Based in San Francisco" - I hope this means that it is > not > > getting free accommodation in the WMF offices as I'm sure there's lots of > > other independent groups that would like free office space too. > > > > Assuming good faith would be a good start here. Funny thing is... Frank > moved to San Francisco for his work at the Wikimedia Foundation (and built > up a life there), so that could also be a logical reason for the office > being based there (and in fact I think that is the reason, because the last > I heard the Wiki Education Foundation will not be located in the Wikimedia > Foundation office) > > Rather than just answer your concerns I want to take the opportunity to > congratulate Frank on this move. While he will be sorely missed at the > Wikimedia Foundation this step makes sense for him personally. The fact > that he will remain part of our movement helps make this a little less > painful. I am sure that in his new capacity he will continue to move > mountains to further our goals. I wish him the best of luck and hope that > the Wiki Education Foundation becomes a great succes. > > Jan-Bart de Vreede > Chair > Board of Trustees > Wikimedia Foundation > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
