[Foundation-l] Where we are headed

Tue Jun 13 15:50:11 UTC 2006

>On Sat, 3 Jun 2006, Gavin Chait wrote:
>
>  
>
>I like the ideas and examples you've shared, though some may be less 
>relevant to WMF than to other s-s n-p sbo's ... Wikipedia is an unusually
>self-defining, scaled, and vibrant project, and traditional rules of thumb 
>each deserve a second look to see how they might apply.
>
>IIRC, there are a number of people with relevant experience on this list. 
>I hope many more of them will chime in.
>  
>
It might be worth keeping in mind that the current operation is not 
really yet quite the equivalent of a huge international non profit like 
the Red Cross or Habitat for Humanity.  We may not actually need a "CEO".

We have a Board of five .... actually I guess they figure they have us.  `8)

Some subcommittees .... call it another twenty five?

five to ten currently compensated staff

I saw a number of approximately 50 developers but AFAIK only one local 
pro ... Brion,  at least five to ten others heavily involved with their 
own sites, rest are  regular contributors on the developer's mailing list.

Between fifty to a hundred  regular readers on this list interested in 
the "organizational" issues.

And thousands to tens of thousands of regular/occasional editors who 
need little to no supervision beyond propagating core policies to the 
projects approved for the Foundation's wiki/hard drive/bandwidth.

So we have about the equivalent of between 100 - 200 people  who need to 
be productively "managed".   Standards roles defined, basic standard 
procedures implemented, and some knowledgeable strategic planning and 
documentation and publication of the same after it is approved by the Board.

So we are looking for a low level executive or plant/office manager.  
Someone who knows how to setup and manage a small factory or a medium 
sized multi disciplinary professional office with special emphasis on IT 
and computer operations center.

Have we tried the Florida State Employment office, Kelly Temporary 
Services, or Monster.com yet?

Last time I checked there was no shortage of MBAs or business managers 
in the U.S. with some entrepreneurial startup experience.   Florida has 
a lot of retirees.  Maybe we could interest one in an "Interim Director" 
position/contract of three to six months.   I would offer my uncle 
(retired Weyerhauser executive) but he has already accepted a shorterm 
contract starting up a sawmill in Alaska this summer/fall.

regards,
lazyquasar