Strategy/Wikimedia movement/2017/Updates/23 June 2017 - Update 19 on Wikimedia movement strategy process

Message from Katherine Maher

This message, "June 23: Update on Wikimedia movement strategy process (#19)", was sent by Katherine Maher on 23 June 2017.

Hi all,

Summary: Cycle 2 has concluded, and we are sharing a revised plan for Cycle 3 based on your feedback.

Thank you to everyone that participated in Cycle 2! A quick overview of participation:

• More than 50 Wikimedia groups, including:
  • Art+Feminism User Group
  • WikiDonne's User Group
  • Wikimedia Ghana User Group
  • Wikimedia Poland
• More than 1,000 individual participants
• Nearly 2,300 statements

In addition to the weekly summaries already available on Meta-Wiki, we will also be posting a final report in the coming weeks.

Over the past few weeks I’ve heard from many of you with feedback, concerns, and excitement regarding the movement strategy. Thank you, truly, to everyone that has reached out to share your thoughts. They have been so helpful in understanding your perspectives and needs.

Some things I’ve heard:

• Curiosity around how the findings from the different tracks will come together
• Request from affiliates for more time to engage more deeply in these topics
• Passionate and divergent ideas from non-editors who support our vision
• A desire to get as many endorsements from around the movement on the strategic direction as possible

I asked the strategy team for help in responding to this feedback, so we could improve the process based on what you were telling us. After discussions with the team and community advisors, we have decided to move to a more flexible schedule, and change the timeline. This will provide more time for discussions in your own communities. We also hope you will use the time to deeply consider the research emerging from the New Voices track, and incorporate it into the way you are thinking about our future.

Here is the new proposed timeline:

• July: Complete Cycle 3. Integrate insights from New Voices. Draft the strategic direction.
• August: Share the strategic direction. Wikimania! Finalize the direction.
• September: Sign on! Confirm support from around the movement.

As July approaches, we will share more information about opportunities to participate in drafting the strategic direction and engage with New Voices content.

Thank you for your patience as we worked through these improvements, and again, thank you for the feedback!

On a related note

As you have hopefully noticed, Wikimania is a part of the strategy process and it is coming up soon! (I’m so excited!) A draft program schedule has been posted. The schedule includes five keynote sessions from great speakers such as Esra'a Al Shafei and Evan Prodromou, more than 100 community-submitted talks, and two days of hackathon and pre-conference activities. Early bird pricing for registration ends on July 10 and the deadline for booking accommodations in the hotel is June 30, so if you have not done so already - please register today!

Bene habeas (Latin translation: “May it be well for you”)
Katherine