Think of this more as the hub of a bicycle wheel with many spokes, rather than a centralised body. A device that makes for quicker progress than walking alone, but isn't a burdensome stone wheel.
Having a lightweight central organisation that can keep an eye on what is going on, that can provide advice, and can fix things when they go wrong is vital. Having a single organisation that everything's centralised into is monolithic, bureaucratic and ineffective in the long run. Thanks, Mike On 18 Mar 2012, at 19:47, Nathan wrote: > So a group of chapters, reacting against a perceived effort to centralize > the movement, create a brand new central body with an extensive (and > apparently, expensive) bureaucracy? Are there really a lot of people that > think this is a good idea? > > > On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 3:30 PM, Ziko van Dijk <vand...@wmnederland.nl>wrote: > >> Dear friends, >> >> After weeks of full work, this is the draft charter that has been >> worked on. I copy for you here the introduction and the link to meta. >> >> If you have questions about it, you may put them on the talk page or >> send them to me. >> >> Kind regards >> Ziko >> >> >> In February 2012, in Paris, Chapter representants agreed on creating a >> new organization. As there was no person or group assigned to write a >> draft charter, finally, after having talked to some people on general >> questions, I took the task on me. Subsequently I presented this page >> (March 7th) which was very much altered in the meanwhile. >> >> I have tried to integrate Paris texts, parts from the models B and >> KISS, and I have contacted a lot of the people who are going to Berlin >> (end of March; alas I did not find all e-mails but I believed I >> contacted every participating chapter). There were some phone calls >> and chats e.g. with Sebastian Moleski. There is also another draft, by >> Tango, which I (and others) have read carefully. >> >> Now we nearly arrived March 18th, on which, according to the timeline, >> a draft charter is supposed to be ready. Whatever that means, I would >> like to call the draft provisorily ready (there will be certainly >> changes, especially for the final incorporation) and invite people >> again to read. >> ... >> >> The idea is to have an organization with a kind of parliament >> (Council) and a kind of government (Secretariat). A Judicial Board has >> the task to arbitrate in severe cases of conflict; this could have >> been a simple Council committee, but for general reasons a seperate >> organ is better: the Council or Council members could be part of a >> conflict. We hope that the Judicial Board will have nothing to do. >> >> Normally, the members of the organs are elected for a certain term. >> This is important to give them a certain independence. There must be a >> relationship between work, responsibility and the right to make >> decisions. But if there is a severe problem, then the Council can >> dismiss people (by a 2/3 majority). >> >> There was a lenghy discussion on several levels about the position of >> the Council members, the Representatives. Now, according to the >> general principle, the Representative has a fixed term and can be >> dismissed in certain cases. But the Representative can have a position >> in a chapter (in contrary to a former model). >> >> Maybe the most important question to be answered: If a chapter joins, >> what are the consequences and obligations? First of all: A chapter >> joins only if it wants to, it does not become a member automatically. >> A chapter agrees to elect a Representative and pay an annual >> contribution. Later in the year 2012, there will be a budget. >> Possibly, the chapters will have to pay some % of their annual chapter >> budget. Of course the Wikimedia Chapters Association will consider the >> financial possibilities of the chapters. >> >> Why is it good for a chapter to join? The Association will support the >> chapters and represent their interests. A lot of international >> coordination work, that now has to be done by chapter boards, will be >> done (or supported by) the organs of the Association. Even if a >> chapter is already big and mature - it is good for every chapter to >> belong to a big family of well organized chapters. >> >> >> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapters_Council/Draft_charter_of_the_Wikimedia_Chapters_Association >> -- >> >> ----------------------------------------------------------- >> Vereniging Wikimedia Nederland >> dr. Ziko van Dijk, voorzitter >> http://wmnederland.nl/ >> >> Wikimedia Nederland >> Postbus 167 >> 3500 AD Utrecht >> ----------------------------------------------------------- >> >> _______________________________________________ >> foundation-l mailing list >> foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l >> > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
