Yes, and I should have also mentioned that this statement from the chairs was read out loud during the Esino Lario discussion session on “The Future of Wikimania.”
-Andrew -Andrew Lih Associate professor of journalism, American University Email: [email protected] WEB: http://www.andrewlih.com BOOK: The Wikipedia Revolution: http://www.wikipediarevolution.com PROJECT: Wiki Makes Video http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Wiki_Makes_Video On Fri, Jul 8, 2016 at 11:04 PM, Christophe Henner <[email protected]> wrote: > My bad I forgot it already is on meta > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters/Statements/Chapter_chairs_statement:_Wikimania_needs_to_be_arranged_every_year > Le 9 juil. 2016 4:50 AM, "Pine W" <[email protected]> a écrit : > > Thanks Christophe. I, for one, have had difficulty figuring out what is > going on with Wikimania in regards to varying decisions in different parts > of WMF and the community, so I look forward to the clarifications. > > Personally I am currently neutral on the decision of whether to have > annual Wikimanias, or alternate Wikimanias with years in which there is > emphasis on national or regional conferences. My hunch is that some > research about costs and benefits is needed so that we have reliable data > about a variety of scenarios before making a decision. > > Thanks again for working on this. > > To the board chairs: I would be interested in seeing that letter. In the > spirit of transparency, would you please publish it on Meta? As you know I > am an advocate for much more transparency from WMF, and I would like for > the affiliates to also to be transparent about governance matters such as > this one. > > Thanks, > > Pine > On Jul 8, 2016 19:18, "Christophe Henner" <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi everyone, >> >> The same question was raised to the board a few days ago by chairs of >> Wikimedia organizations asking Foundation's board to make sure there's a >> comprehensive decision on this very topic. >> >> The chairs letter wasn't public, I let them share it on meta or here if >> they want to :) >> >> First step, in my opinion, is to set expectations and define the scope >> (in the role of the event but also in the ressources (both human and >> financial) we commit to the event. >> >> Katherine is working with the staff to provide groundings. >> >> Here is the answer I provided them with. >> >> ---- >> >> Hi chairs! >> >> First of all, thank you with the email, the feedback is clearly useful >> and raises interesting point. >> >> Now, the Wikimania discussion definitly is on the table. Living by what >> we said during Wikimania, we, as WMF, will make sure we end up with a clear >> answer to your questions but also to the different points you raise. >> >> Wikimania is an important time in our movement, but as you said it also >> comes with costs and challenges that we have to adress. Katherine is going >> to meet in the coming days with the staff in charge of that topic to start >> that discussion within WMF and provide groundings for a comprehensive >> decision. >> >> We will try to be as diligent as possible on that topic, but I would ask >> you to keep in mind that as we're in a transition phase and that might take >> a little more time than you could expect. >> >> Again thank you for your email, I love the fact that he raises issues but >> also includes the challenges we have to take care of :) >> >> We'll get back to you as soon as possible to continue that discussion. >> >> Have all a really great day / night :) >> >> Christophe >> >> While I concur with Coren’s conclusion, I’ll try to neutrally report on >> the events at Wikimania which led to this result. :) >> >> Full disclosure: I’m a fan of Wikimania being yearly, and was asked to >> serve on the Wikimania Committee after Esino Lario. I was also the main >> moderator of the Wikimania 2016 session on the “Future of Wikimania.” These >> views are my own, and not anything official from the committee. >> >> Background: Many folks (I’d say a majority) who I talked to in Esino >> Lario early in the conference thought that the decision to do Wikimania >> every other year was a done deal, as a result of the IdeaLab consultation. >> I told them that might not necessarily be so. The vote was close, not >> particularly widely known, and we could still be heard. Chris Schilling >> from the WMF, who oversaw the Idealab consultation, sought me out >> specifically at the start of the conference and to my delight, said that >> the consultation was “just another data point,” and that it was by no means >> the final word on things. Obviously, this was good news to people who were >> interested in keeping a yearly Wikimania. >> >> I was scheduled to moderate the “Future of Wikimania” discussion session >> [1] at the very end of the conference, and encouraged people to let their >> views be heard. It was under these conditions that we entered into the >> final discussion room and I asked Chris Schilling to give an opening >> statement to the room. Most people were happy to hear him say that it was >> “just another data point.” During the discussion, there was overwhelming >> support to keep Wikimania going every year, which is not a surprise >> considering this was *at* Wikimania. I encourage folks to peruse the >> Etherpad notes, which are quite extensive and expertly done by several >> folks there. >> >> Some views I’d highlight: >> - Having yearly Wikimania is important to keep the momentum of the >> movement going, according to many >> - A case for cancelling yearly Wikimania was to encourage/fund regional >> meetups. However, there is no guarantee that those regional meetups would >> actually take place, or that WMF would necessarily take the money saved >> from Wikimania to fund them. Some folks from Asia specifically said that >> there is weaker linguistic, cultural and geographic synergy for an “Asian” >> conference like there is in Europe and Africa, which is why it has been >> hard to do one. >> - One person noted that one trip to Wikimania served the same role as >> several international trips to get the same benefit from meeting other >> Wikimedians/developers, so there are indeed cost efficiencies in having a >> central conference. >> >> Thanks. >> >> [1] >> https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Discussions/The_future_of_Wikimania >> [2] https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Wikimania2016-discussion7b >> >> >> >> >> -Andrew Lih >> Associate professor of journalism, American University >> Email: [email protected] >> WEB: http://www.andrewlih.com >> BOOK: The Wikipedia Revolution: http://www.wikipediarevolution.com >> PROJECT: Wiki Makes Video >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Wiki_Makes_Video >> >> On Fri, Jul 8, 2016 at 10:18 AM, Marc-Andre <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> On 2016-07-08 10:01 AM, Chris Keating wrote: >>> >>>> Interestingly, I couldn't see any sign of the Committee's decision >>>> being informed by the WMF's consultation on the future of Wikimania, or >>>> anyone from the WMF's community engagement department being present. >>>> >>> >>> Wikimania is, and always was, a community led and organized event. The >>> WMF, as its traditional biggest sponsor[1], has a great deal of influence >>> in the matter - but ultimately no decision power beyond "fund and resource >>> or not". >>> >>> The committee's decision has indeed taken into account the consultation >>> you refer to - as well as the roundtable discussion on the "Future of >>> Wikimania" that took place earlier[2]. Our evaluation, which is reflected >>> in that resolution, is that the consultation was clearly flawed and that >>> its conclusion does not reflect consensus - neither of the community >>> members who organize nor of those who attend Wikimania. >>> >>> -- Coren / Marc >>> >>> [1] Although "underwrite" might be a better term - the WMF has pretty >>> much shouldered the vast majority of the costs and given the most >>> logistical support year in and year out. >>> >>> [2] Where the consensus was to overwhelmingly reject that consultation's >>> conclusion in favor or continuing with Wikimania as a yearly even given its >>> irreplaceable role in our movement. >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimania-l mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimania-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimania-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l >> >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimania-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimania-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > >
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