I just wanted to add my thanks as well as both Jan-Bart and Stu have served the movement with a huge amount of dedication and commitment for many years and helped steer the WMF through many challenges. It has been a real pleasure to work with both of you.
Thank you both for everything you have done and best wishes for the future! On a more practical note as there is now no Dutch person on the WMF board I am concerned that there is now no obvious supplier of stroopwafel at board meetings - has a proper impact assessment been conducted? Chris On Wed, Jan 6, 2016 at 8:56 AM, Steven Walling <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for starting this thread Lodewijk. > > Jan-Bart and Stu: Wikimedia has been lucky to have your participation over > these years. > > Stu, thank you in particular for helping steer the financial governance of > the Wikimedia movement. Your expertise and professionalism have been deeply > important to making sure Wikimedia is a good steward of the money entrusted > to us by donors. > > Jan-Bart, my friend, you are a force to be reckoned with. It is difficult > to sum up the total impact of your leadership in the movement. I find > myself falling back on memories not just of your formal role on the board, > but of your warmth and generosity of spirit. I hope leaving the board (this > time) doesn't mean your Wikimania streak will be broken. ;-) > > On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 11:11 PM Lodewijk <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > While we have long discussions on this list about board composition, we > > seem to almost ignore the fact that two long time veterans are leaving > the > > Wikimedia Foundation board, as scheduled. Jan-Bart de Vreede and Stu West > > have been around longer than many regular editors nowadays, and I think > > there are not many people who can recall the days that the board didn't > > have them on it. I have never had the pleasure to serve on the board with > > them, but a little thank-you from our community side, would seem in > place. > > > > Stu joined the board already in 2008 (filling Michael Davis' seat), and > has > > been a solid power on the board's audit responsibilities (I believe he > > chaired the audit committee for quite a while) and was a force behind the > > accountability of movement affiliates. While we often strongly disagreed > on > > affiliate issues, I appreciate the fact that he always remained > > constructive and wanted to think about solutions rather than problems. He > > served both as treasurer and vice chair. > > > > Jan-Bart was on the board even longer, since early 2007, and I recall > > already working with him through Kennisnet (a Dutch foundation for > > education and IT) before that. Jan-Bart is one of those rare people who > > went to ALL wikimania conferences, and can be easily recognised there > with > > his big smile. I can't remember a theme Jan-Bart didn't work on in the > past > > years (Affiliates, HR, searching a new Executive Director) and he served > > the board in many positions, including as chair. > > > > I'm sure that the WMF communications staff and/or board has a nice > thankyou > > coming up - with a more accurate description of the awesome work they > did, > > that I now made up from the top of my head. But in the mean time, I'd > like > > to do it myself: Thank you Jan-Bart and Stu for all the time, energy and > > effort that you poured into our movement. I know that not all of us > > appreciate this as much as we perhaps should, and sometimes you may even > > have perceived us as hostile. I do sincerely hope that you had fun with > us > > though, and I'm confident that you made a big dent in our impossible > > mission of sharing the sum of all knowledge with everyone. > > > > I hope to meet you again soon, at least in Italy at Wikimania, and I hope > > to see you around in our movement in many different ways. > > > > Best, > > > > Lodewijk > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: [email protected] > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
