Thank you very much for this Chris. It's very useful to hear things from your perspective as a long standing member of the community, and a member of one of the working groups.
So far the take up for an-person conversation on the movement strategy has been very low. I think we would need to schedule something in May for it to be of value, so perhaps I could ask people to let me know by *Monday 15th April *if you are interested? In the meantime the survey isn't yet live, but I'll circulate a link to it once it is. All best Lucy On Tue, 2 Apr 2019 at 15:58, Chris Keating <chriskeatingw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello all, > > As someone serving on one of the strategy working groups, I just wanted to > encourage you all to take part in this. > > This strategy process is really the first time that the Wikimedia movement > has sat down to think about who it is, what it is doing, why, and how to be > structured and resourced to do it. If you have any views on this then > please do take part, in whatever way. I know with about 90 scoping > questions from 9 different groups contained in over 100 pages of document > it's easy to be baffled about where to start. However, many of those > questions overlap to some extent and a thoughtful conversation about any > one question might yield important insights for any of them. > > Some misconceptions I have heard about the process so far, and the > realities behind them: > ** The strategy process won't change anything > Not true! The strategy process will recommend significant changes. Even > the least radical options the working groups are considering would be the > most significant structural changes to the Wikimedia movement, ever. > ** The WMF has already worked out what it wants to do and the process is a > figleaf > Not true! I was a bit worried about this too when the process started. But > having met and spoken to the people involved, I'm confident the opposite is > true. The WMF is approaching this in a very open way and has literally no > preconceptions as an organisation. When Katherine Maher spoke to the Roles > & Responsibilities group in October, one of her questions for us was > "Should there still be a WMF?" Given that the WMF has the most potential to > be changed by the strategy process (because it's the biggest and most > complex body already), I feel this is a very bold step. > ** The WMF won't agree/deliver the recommendations > The WMF is certainly heavily committed to this process, including > investing a huge amount of senior staff and Board time (not to mention > money) in creating it and seeing it through. It would be odd if the WMF > then just went "nah, sorry, don't agree". Even if they are tempted to, the > best way to avoid this is for the working groups to come up with > compelling, well-evidenced recommendations - with your help > ** The outcomes will be imposed on everyone else by the WMF without any > consultation (NB, this is the logical opposite of the previous one) > The strategy process is just entering a significant round of consultation > (hence Lucy's email). So if you are worried about lack of consultation, > please take part in the consultation as far as you're able to! Everyone > in the working groups is keen to get feedback. Then the question of who > decides on which recommendations and how to implement them remains very > open. I have certainly heard no assumptions that the WMF will make the > decisions and everyone else will somehow fall in line (I think because > everyone involves feels that is not the WMF's place in the movement at all). > ** The strategy process will never end > It's certainly a slow-moving process and that causes a number of > frustrations. However, at the Wikimedia summit there was a clear timeline > presented (draft recommendations in time for Wikimania, followed by another > round of feedback, followed by final recommendations in the Autumn...) > which felt achievable, if very intense to get there. After that, the > challenge is implementing the recommendations. It certainly feels a bit > like rolling an endless strategy rock up a hill, but actually we are > getting on for halfway up. > > I hope that's useful, and please do respond to Lucy's call for input, or > just read and comment on the scoping document summaries on Meta! > > Chris > > > On Mon, Mar 25, 2019 at 4:34 PM Lucy Crompton-Reid < > lucy.crompton-r...@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: > >> Dear all >> >> As many of you will be aware, in 2017 the Wikimedia movement set out a >> new strategic direction, which is that *By 2030, Wikimedia will become >> the essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge, and anyone >> who shares our vision will be able to join us**.* >> >> Since July 2018, working groups made up of staff and volunteers from >> across the global Wikimedia movement have been working together to identify >> key guiding questions within nine thematic areas relevant to the movement. >> These were published last week in the form of *Scoping Documents >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Participate>.* >> >> There are three main ways of participating in the next phase of the >> movement strategy process, and responding to the questions posed by the >> working groups. These are as follows: >> >> 1. Contribute to on-wiki discussions through the talk pages on each of >> the nine thematic areas (by following the link to the scoping documents >> above) >> 2. Respond to the survey, which will be circulated in April (on here, and >> no doubt in other places/mailing lists) >> 3. Participate in a UK discussion, either in person or online >> >> As the Strategy Liaison Co-ordinator for the UK, I would like to gauge >> interest in holding an in-person community conversation about this phase of >> the movement strategy. Please could you let me know if you would like to >> attend an event of this kind, and if so what would make it easier for you >> to do so - for example in terms of the location, time of day, time of week >> etc. I'd also like to hear from people who would be unlikely to attend an >> in-person meeting but could join some kind of conference call or hangout. >> Please feel free to email me directly rather than responding to the whole >> group, just for the sake of people's inboxes. >> >> With many thanks and best wishes >> Lucy >> >> -- >> Lucy Crompton-Reid >> Chief Executive >> Wikimedia UK >> +44 (0) 203 372 0762 >> >> *Wikimedia UK* is the national chapter for the global Wikimedia open >> knowledge movement, and a registered charity. We rely on donations from >> individuals to support our work to make knowledge open for all. Have you >> considered supporting Wikimedia? https://donate.wikimedia.org.uk >> Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered >> No. 6741827 >> Registered Charity No.1144513 >> Registered Office Ground Floor, Europoint, 5 - 11 Lavington Street, >> London SE1 0NZ >> >> The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate >> Wikipedia, amongst other projects). Wikimedia UK is an independent >> non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility >> for its contents. >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia UK mailing list >> wikimediau...@wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediau...@wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk -- Lucy Crompton-Reid Chief Executive Wikimedia UK +44 (0) 203 372 0762 *Wikimedia UK* is the national chapter for the global Wikimedia open knowledge movement, and a registered charity. We rely on donations from individuals to support our work to make knowledge open for all. Have you considered supporting Wikimedia? https://donate.wikimedia.org.uk Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827 Registered Charity No.1144513 Registered Office Ground Floor, Europoint, 5 - 11 Lavington Street, London SE1 0NZ The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
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