[Offline-l] Fwd: Re: Wikimedia Brand Survey

_*New elements*_ 1. The online meetings planned last week-end to discuss how to move forward with regards to the survey were successfully held. Essie (WMF staff in charge of collecting the survey) attended the first part of the meeting to answer questions participants could have Second part of the meeting was "without WMF staff". Long discussions etc. Main point is that a team (Andrew Lih, Phoebe an Richard) *proposed to write a Letter to the Board*. A draft was produced and will be made public tomorrow (I will share the link, it is currently still private, but Sj and I have access to current version). *Essentially this Letter asks for a "pause" in the process to allow further discussions.* Keep in mind that when the meeting was held, the deadline to answer the survey was June 30th This letter will be proposed tomorrow for signature for Affiliates. <------ will have to be discussed from tomorrow on after link publicly published. 2. In the meanwhile, *the board issued a statement*. That you can read here : https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Boar… Summary and key points - it was published by Nataliia, and though a "board statement", mostly read in the "I'. Apparently due to the urgency of the situation and not all board members being available over the week-end. - outline that, contrariwise to what Heather said in the exec statement, the final decision has not been made yet. Likely to be made in August 2020 during the next board meeting - and note that no decision has been made regarding the naming of the affiliates - Natalia mentions the future Wikipedia 20th Anniversary and the former wish of the Board to get everything fixed before that date (which actually came a bit oddly in the discussion because very few community members discussed that in relation to the rebranding process) 3. This morning, Samir sent us an email and said t*he deadline to answer the survey is extended till July 7th*. He also says There are 3 office hours this weekwhere the Brand Project Team will continue to answer questions. All links available here in the news section : https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… If you are interested in joining and asking questions, this is the right time to do it. If you are short of time and/or already made it your time ---> drop 4. *There is a community feedback and straw poll* here *In light of recent events, including the publication of survey text and naming proposals, it may benefit the WMF to see how the community feels about certain naming-related issues, transparently and on-wiki. Therefore, the poll. This is an informal poll, and does not replace theWMF survey. At least, the results of this one are publicly visible ;)* https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… ----------- _*My personal take on this is*_ * that the board already decided a LONG time ago to rename Wikimedia Foundation into Wikipedia something; and that they will do that, no matter what. * that the two communication/brand companies were only hired to facilitate the process, and take the heat, being blamed for failing to provide good suggestions or supposingly pushing the board to adopt a new name. Whatever, they are just the safety valve. They will not take all the heat, but part of it making the pill easier to go down the throat of the community * that the process is being "pushed" with a feeling of urgency, which surprises many because usually we benefit from longer timeframe and covid19 oblige, everything is slowed. But the truth is... the main benefit of the renaming is likely to be financial, with an easier and better way to fundraise. With the current crisis, it is likely the future fundraising season will be bad. Fundraising season start around September. So the name change should benefit to be done before this year fundraising season. Additionnaly, the Wikipedia 20th birthday could be an excellent communication opportunity to promote the new name of the WMF. Hence the urgency and the unlikeliness that the process significantly slows down * in comparison, the renaming (or not) of affiliates is perceived as non urgent and non essential, which is quite logical in the WMF perspective. So it is possible to cut some slack here to cool down spirits * Natalia is possibly being the other sacrificed piece in the process. ---------- _*Your suggested todo list*_ 1) Quickly read this page : https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… 2) read the executive statement if you have not done so. Always interesting: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… 3) read the board statement. Always interesting. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Boar… 4) reflect on the implications of the WMF rename on your own activities and structure 5) decide whether you will answer the *individual survey* (before July 07th) : https://wikimedia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9G2dN7P0T7gPqpD 6) decide whether you want to take the *community poll *: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… 7) tomorrow, read the open letter when I sent the link, and tell Sj and I whether you think the Offline UG should sign it or not 8) tell Sj and I if you have a strong opinion on what we should answer in the *Affiliate Survey* Flo Le 21/06/2020 à 19:40, Florence Devouard a écrit :