Wikimedia Foundation elections/FDC elections/2013/Questions/1
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Why do you want to be on the FDC
editWhy do you want to be on the FDC? -- phoebe - talk 04:03, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
Every time I read this, I’m just bowled over by how audacious this vision is, how impossible it will be to achieve, and by how far we have come toward achieving it!
Now imagine a World where Wikimedia can direct the funds of those people who invest in our vision, to finance the projects that will best help us achieve that vision.
This too is a vision that will be nearly impossible to achieve, but I want to see how far we can go toward achieving it.
FDC is still a fairly new concept and it needs to continue developing its ways in terms of programme evaluation, data gathering, communications with stakeholders etc. I would want to be a part of that and I think that my education and profession could be a big help there. Secondly, I believe I would be as supportive as I would like to be: I come from the community and as a long term contributor and now a Chapter person I think I understand many needs and problems of FDC's partners. And as a big reason, I believe in Wikimedians - I would love to see Wikimedia Movement more global and distributed, moving more resources and responsibilities from WMF to the affiliatesove and competent Wikimedians all over the world, using local competence centres and networks of cooperation among affiliates/chapters. Off-shoring and distributing could be both cheaper and more effective, thanks to increasing the talent pool and enriching it with local insight, opportunities. This and a focus on volunteers is a direction I would like to advocate.
As a spender: a few of you already learned that I have no big issues with financing initiatives with proper argumentation and an active search for good projects; on the other hand, I am a fan of getting things done with less money. I would like to keep proposing this "do more but in a smart way" approach. I want to support FDC in expressing interest in new ideas and promoting taking best cases from other affiliates and creating cooperations, while encouraging to review costs and trim unnecessary expences.
Oversight of funding
editDo you think that oversight of funding should include withholding funding from affiliate groups who violate norms such as transparency or inclusiveness? Thelmadatter (talk) 14:16, 29 May 2013 (UTC)
The Affiliations Committee Charter states
6. The (Affiliations) Committee will, upon information or evidence received, investigate the status of Affiliates and where necessary, recommend a change or removal of affiliate status to the Board of Trustees.
so I think it best that the FDC *not* try to expand its mandate into the Affiliations Committee's territory. Individuals on the FDC, however, have the same rights and responsibilities as anybody else to prevent the type of abuses implied by the question, so they should bring up problems on affiliates applications with the affiliates during the comment period (open to all individuals) and if necessary with the Affiliations Committee. In most cases, I'd expect an open and honest discussion of the problem will bring about the desired result. I do not see any reason the FDC members should recuse themselves from this type of discussion.
SMART goals and quantifiable measures
editDo you think that the entities should be required to describe their goals as precisely as possible, and as close to SMART requirements as viable? Also, do you think that all projects have to have quantifiable and measurable results, or should it be sometimes not required? Pundit (talk) 13:33, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
As this process evolves, I suspect that the proposal forms may improve significantly as the entities learn to write what the FDC wants, but the next step will be execution. It is much easier to promise big with a few hundred words than it is to deliver. At the risk of sounding overly cynical or suspicious of our Wikimedian brothers and sisters, we may find that verifying the veracity of reports could become an issue. Hopefully many of the goals can be verified with electronic data or other unambiguous documentation. If not, local financial support is a possible way to moderate this risk. Hopefully unnecessary in most cases would be formal assurance services, although large entities will probably need to be financially audited, including an audit of internal control. If over time the Chapters do not seem to be effectively executing and the FDC denies funding, the other question which arises is what to do with the money - does it all go to the WMF? Regardless of the FDC, I think the community needs to put more pressure on the WMF to spend this money on improving the technology platform, particularly in ways that the community desires rather than only imposed top-down. While this isn't directly an FDC issue, the FDC should keep in mind the opportunity cost of the spending by Chapters on outreach.
However, mind that any SMART-like framework does not tell everything. Organizations still need to be aware of their strong and weak sides (like: great experience in events, active base of volunteers but weak connections with GLAM and advocacy groups) and match them with their needs. In result, for me it is perfectly O.K. to focus your limited resources on activities you feel the strongest, if you are trying to map your strategic goals/possible actions and widen your competences e.g. expanding your Board or volunteer base with people bringing new skills and connections. Worse performance/costs in some key areas does not need to lead to axing the programme or limiting funds - it may just be an inherent specific of particular activity or a country; it may also mean a need of help: expertise, training or resources for the Chapter.
What is more, not all measurable effects are relevant and not all relevant achivements are measurable, at least easily in numbers. It is not easy to fairly quantify effects in terms of many perfectly legitimate goals, like keeping up enthusiasm among volunteers or external partners (there are many random factors to filter out) or judge whether new pictures of architecture are more important than quality legal articles or vice versa. Moreover, as a social researcher I must say that a number (a.k.a. key metrics) is just a step to an explanation.
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