[Foundation-l] Remarks on Wikimedia's fundraiser

Tue Mar 8 23:15:22 UTC 2011

Birgitte SB wrote:
> But seriously it's 2011, can we be stop discussing "the move to SF".
> Is anyone seriously complaining about funds from the 2006 fundraiser?

Sure, in a sense, what's done is done. However, it has (or had) little to do
with the relocation costs. You have to maintain salaries, buy office space,
etc. in that market going forward until the office moves again. That is, the
initial costs are bad enough, but expanding in that market is even worse.

As Wikimedia's paid staff continues to grow, the decision to move to San
Francisco (and its consequences) actually gets amplified, doesn't it? It
would only be offset by the benefits that Wikimedia gets for being in that
particular location (partnerships with other San Francisco-based companies,
presumably). I think the (relatively) low salaries make it even harder to
attract people when the cost of living is as high as it is in San Francisco
as well. There are plenty of other people on this mailing list who could
speak better to this than me, though. Maybe some of them will chime in.

All of this makes for one of the stronger arguments for a more decentralized
office structure at this point, in my opinion. (Lightly echoing what Liam
said.)

MZMcBride