[Foundation-l] WMF Chapter Development Director job posting

Tue Aug 24 13:05:22 UTC 2010

Hoi,
In reply to theo10011, I am happy to inform you that there has been an
awesome project where 10 universities in Jakarta competed this year. This
competition was wildly successful, the number of editors doubled during the
run of the competition. If anything, it is sad that the Indonesian chapter
does not have the funding to build upon the success and make it a continuing
and national project where universities use Wikipedia as a place where they
can express their knowledge and ability.

In reply to Anna Shyrokova, as the WMF functions both as a worldwide
organisation and as a USA chapter there is no obvious distinction between
the two. When there is funding for a targeted project like the US policy
project, there would be little or no objection when it is run by a USA
chapter.  Now you have a worldwide organisation that runs a project that
impacts the notion of what public policy is and allows it to have a USA
point of view.

In reply to Steven Walling, perfection is the enemy of the good. But
projects are run first in the USA or are targeted towards English. I doubt
very much that a bot will be allowed that will create a stub for every
Indian town, village or hamlet. As there are no examples of a WMF project
that runs first in another country or language, the question is not about
perfection but about the good i.e. the even-handedness of a global
organisation. This would not be as much of an issue if there was an USA
chapter.

In rely to Noein, this thread started with Barry informing us about a new
function related to chapters. If there is an issue with understanding the
role of chapters and the WMF itself there can be no firm expectation of what
the person who will be fulfilling this role will actually do. Without an USA
chapter it will be "everywhere but in America". This is highly undesirable.

I do agree with what you wrote and the issue is now very practical. Someone
may get this job and it is best when there is clarity about the roles of
chapters and the role of the WMF.
Thanks,
        GerardM