Wikimedia Foundation elections/Board elections/2007/Candidates/Michael Snow/questions

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To ask me questions about my candidacy, please post your question in the Discussion section below. I speak English, French, and German, so questions in all of those languages are welcome. I can also try reading Italian or Spanish, although I'm not completely fluent in those. For languages unrelated to any of these, Babel Fish translations may be all I can manage. I may choose to answer questions in English, to be more precise in my statements and allow more people to understand them (if this is a problem for you, let me know with your question, and I can answer in a different language).

Self-questions

I'll try to quickly anticipate some basic questions for which people may be interested to know the answers.

You ran for the board three years ago, but not in either of the past two elections. Why are you running again now?

When I first ran, although I feel that I had a fair amount to offer, I was relatively new and somewhat unknown to many people, which was reflected in the results. By the next election, I was more established in the community. However, since Angela and Anthere had been elected the previous year and had considerable sentiment for re-election, I did not think trying to unseat one of them — successfully or not — would be particularly productive.

I was approached about taking Angela's seat temporarily when she planned to resign, and many people urged me to run in the ensuing election. Unfortunately, a previously scheduled family vacation meant that I would be out of contact for a month and effectively unable to serve in her place on an interim basis, or to run in the election. So this is the first time I could suitably consider the possibility since the initial board election.

What of your work on The Wikipedia Signpost? Would it continue if you're elected, and which is more important?

Between the workload of a board member and the responsibilities of a reporter, the two would seem mostly incompatible. I'm grateful to Ral315, who took over as editor some time ago, and others who help out, and I think additional people could take on responsibility for it as well. The Signpost has survived without my help for stretches in the past, and more people are now involved in it, though still more writers are always needed. My stepping aside may encourage other people to step up.

From my experience with other institutions, especially those whose operations depend primarily on volunteers taking on assignments, I have learned that some amount of rotation between duties is important to the health of the organization. People need both the opportunity for new experiences and the time to establish themselves in a given role, which might be three months or three years. Certain times come when change is appropriate, and I feel that this is such a time.

Is that picture what you really look like?

No. As I matured, my hair turned much darker. But as I get older, it continues to change, moving toward a color that is at least substantially closer to the original shade.

eh, I just came on this page to ask you whether you had artificial color as a kid or now ? :-)

Discussion

Wikipedia awareness

I asked this the other candidate, and I think it fair to ask you as well.

What do you think about Wikipedia awareness, eg. do people know about Wikipedia? Should the board do something to increase participation, at least in less spoken languages, or countries that have a smaller Wikipeda, than the number of speakers of the language would suggest? --Dami 01:19, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Whether people know about Wikipedia is very much a different issue from whether they participate in it. In the developed world where internet access is taken for granted, Wikipedia has many readers and people generally know something about the project, whatever their opinion of it. Even if it is not universal at this point, it can mostly spread naturally, though some education and clearing up misconceptions will remain necessary. Participation can and does then come from those who are interested, although I'm somewhat concerned about the obstacles to participation for those who aren't highly technically inclined.

When focusing on particular languages or questions of underrepresentation, the first problem is to examine the underlying reasons. If lack of internet access is the issue, correcting that is a monumental task the board cannot do much about, and frankly it lies outside the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation. As a work-around, other routes of distribution can be sought (and in fact Wikimedia has taken steps here, such as with One Laptop per Child). But that doesn't solve the problem for a language, because you have to reach people in their language before they will build Wikipedia in that language. It's difficult to achieve a breakthrough on a chicken-and-egg problem like that.

Another issue is that Wikipedia, as an encyclopedia project, naturally emphasizes education and learning. Certain languages may suffer because they are not perceived as languages of learning, sometimes even by native-speakers. That's a cultural issue which isn't susceptible to any quick fixes. For what the board itself should do, other than being aware of the matter and offering encouragement, I'd be happy to entertain concrete proposals. --Michael Snow 20:16, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Non-profit governance

What kind of competences and experience should the WMF Board as a whole have, in your view? How will your competences and experience contribute to that ideal?--BradPatrick 02:53, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

The collective experience of board members needs to be such that the board is competent to oversee any part of Wikimedia Foundation activity. Important qualifications would include business acumen, technical knowhow (given the importance of technology to the undertaking), management skills including understanding of both individual and organizational behavior, and ability to deal with legal issues. For a nonprofit relying primarily on donations, fundraising is sufficiently important to be considered distinct from business operations, and needs one or more people with that kind of expertise and connections on the board. The international scope of Wikimedia adds another dimension to almost all the areas I already mentioned. As an attorney my legal training would be valuable and offers something beyond what is available from the present board (though I do not mean to diminish the efforts of Kat Walsh, who has served well on the board and will undoubtedly become a fine lawyer). I hope my knowledge of other languages and cultures can help bridge some of the international issues as well, although the complexity this adds puts it beyond reach for any one person to master.

Another area that is discussed surprisingly little (at least explicitly) considering its central role in Wikimedia's mission is education. Professional training and education is the field I actually work in, so I bring some relevant experience to the table there. I have not been involved in Wikibooks or Wikiversity much so far (for me it can resemble work too much, and anyway my company pays me to work for them and not other people), but I think I could offer some useful observations. Adult professional education operates somewhat differently than primary education or university-level academics, and it would be good to have those domains represented in some fashion also. I think the lack of any true professional academic on the board is a serious gap, though partly a product of the way the organization functions at present. The board has been involved in a more hands-on way than would probably be the case in a mature, fully-staffed organization; a role emphasizing guidance and direction might work better for someone who also faces the demands of an academic career. The advisory board has several academics, of course, but I do think the board of trustees should have at least one such person as well. --Michael Snow 20:16, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Non-free images and other media

What are your opinions on the use of non-free images and other non-free media on Wikimedia Foundation projects? Should they be used at all, or disallowed completely? Do you support, oppose, or have mixed opinions on this 23 March board resolution regarding licensing? Picaroon (Talk) 20:17, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Wikimedia's mission focuses on the spread of freely-licensed educational material. Meanwhile, its vision statement emphasizes sharing "the sum of all knowledge." The dilemma arises that knowledge may relate to material which is not freely-licensed. Historical practice and legal systems have allowed for some degree of freedom with respect to such material, though we may call it "non-free" or "proprietary". The creation of freely-licensed material covering some areas of knowledge may need to take advantage of this freedom. Unfortunately, the boundaries of this freedom and the rights of the proprietor are fluid. Wikimedia should seek clarity and broader freedom from the overall system, but not in ways that take away the incentive to freely license material (newly created or pre-existing). The licensing resolution is a good effort at striking this balance, and I support the general principles it outlines. True necessity is rare enough that avoiding non-free media entirely is also a perfectly respectable way to simplify things for the time being, according to the preferences of the project. --Michael Snow 21:28, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Change

Hi Michael,

What is the top 3 things you want to have changed in the current strategy of the foundation? Thanks, Effeietsanders 21:13, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

With respect to fundraising, I would like to improve the strategy for bringing in large donations, which needs more effort but also more consideration about what sources to target. For example, Wikimedia has some useful relationships with technology and internet companies, but it's not clear that this has lived up to its revenue potential yet. In part, while these companies have some common interests with us, they also have their own efforts at synthesizing knowledge. They may see Wikimedia projects as potentially competing with their own, and they may find that whatever benefit they directly receive from Wikimedia is not clearly measurable, and all this may put a damper on the inclination to donate.

Contrast this with entertainment companies, since recent studies have indicated that entertainment topics easily constitute the largest identifiable group of visits to Wikipedia. This involves more than just people reading Wikipedia, it also drives traffic toward these companies. I was struck by reports of an SEO conference a couple months ago at which someone from Comedy Central said Wikipedia brings them $20,000 worth of traffic a month. Companies like this would be a logical place to look for financial support, because they already know or can be shown exactly how they're benefiting from the project. Perhaps some people will see this as resembling advertising, but it is not — I'm not looking to create ways they can buy space and attention they don't get now, I'm saying that we should get them to donate in recognition of the value of what they already get naturally, all for free. That's what most of our individual donors are doing, contributing because they feel they've received some value from our efforts.

In connection with this, another strategic issue involves technical resources. So far, attention has mostly focused on simply keeping the sites operational and adding or improving features. But there's a lot that can be done in terms of analyzing what sits on or passes through the servers, and efforts in that regard like the German chapter's toolserver only scratch the surface. Better tracking incoming and outgoing traffic is one example, which would help support the rationale when seeking donations like those I mentioned (releasing collective, not individual, data; large scale is the only way this makes sense anyway). Naturally, data may be useful for upgrading technical performance, but it can also be fed back into the system in other ways. For example, rigorous studies of Wikimedia content would be very helpful in efforts to improve its quality. While the role of the Wikimedia Foundation does not include acting as a global editor for its projects, it certainly could generate information individual editors can use as guidance in their work.

So, to summarize this as three points: 1) Better targeting and more diversified revenue sources, 2) More technical attention to generating data that can be useful for non-technical considerations, and 3) Actively supporting systems to provide feedback on quality. I'm not adopting the numbers as a ranking of priority, but I do think these are all areas needing improvement. --Michael Snow 21:46, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Added Value

Hi Michael,

What kind of value do you add to the current set of boardmembers in the area of Legal, Financial, Accounting etc expertise? Thanks, Effeietsanders 21:13, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

As I've mentioned before, I am a lawyer, so in the legal area I could add a degree of expertise beyond that of the current board. Law is a broad field, but in terms of training and experience relevant to Wikimedia, I'm familiar with copyright and licensing issues as well as the laws governing non-profit organizations. I've studied some accounting and did quite well in it at the time, but I can't imagine that I would bring any new skills to the board in that respect. However, with this and the interplay between legal and financial issues, I'm confident that I could at least master the essentials and help with the board's oversight of financial matters. --Michael Snow 22:22, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Ads

What are you views on advertisements on Wikimedia projects? Would you support a resolution that forced Wikimedia projects to use ads? Would you support a resolution that gave projects the right to vote on the use of advertisements? Would you support a resolution that forbid the user of advertisements? —METS501 (talk) 02:36, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it makes sense to pledge a particular vote on a vaguely outlined, hypothetical resolution, especially on an emotionally charged subject like advertising. There's already disagreement about what constitutes advertising, as we've seen in the past. To address the concept in general, I don't want to resort to advertising, and I think Wikimedia has other important potential sources of income to pursue. I'm also skeptical of some of the claims for what advertising would bring in, and what it would cost. If it did get implemented, allowing projects to choose in the fashion you describe does not sound like a good idea — it would almost certainly create significant tension between projects that do and projects that don't, particularly over how the resulting income is spent. If you really want to make the presence of advertising a choice, it seems more sensible to use the suggestion sometimes made, that we give readers an opt-in or opt-out method and leave the choice to them. Finally, I'm not sure what would be the point of a resolution forbidding advertisements; it doesn't really change or clarify the present situation, nor would it realistically be much of a barrier if the board changed its mind. --Michael Snow 20:22, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Flagged revisions

What is your view on the use of flagged revisions to help prevent vandalism from appearing before it is reverted and the extension's possible use to mark "quality" versions which would display by default even instead of the stable (non-vandalized) version? — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mets501 (talk)

I've supported using some type of feature along these lines for quite a while, as one part of the strategy to improve quality. I don't believe the exact implementation and choice of defaults are really something to be determined at the board level, however. --Michael Snow 20:58, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Business developer, GHGs.

What are your thoughts on the foundation's hiring of a business developer?

How would you vote on the board about the foundation reducing or offsetting anthropogenic greenhouse gases, e.g. power used by hardware, flights, etc.?

Thanks. -- Jeandré, 2007-06-13t11:16z

The Wikimedia Foundation clearly needs to solidify its sources of income. Before his departure, Danny Wool's official title was Grants Coordinator, although he also ended up with many other tasks because the office is understaffed. The phrase "business developer" may sound oddly corporate, but this kind of terminology is fairly common among nonprofits and public grant-seeking institutions for positions that focus on bringing in revenue, whether from donations, grants, or other types of transactions. With that kind of emphasis, I don't have any fundamental objection to the idea. The position does require guidance to ensure that financial dealings are consistent with Wikimedia values.

The flip side of needing income is the need to control costs. Electric power, travel, and probably other areas implicated in your second question, are already costs for the Wikimedia Foundation, often sizable ones. The idea that Wikimedia should self-impose additional costs on top of these is a challenging suggestion. The world at large currently has a great deal of noise around this — and the attention being given such issues is a good thing — but it's not clear yet what the standards will be by which institutions should conduct themselves. I'll reiterate that pledging a vote before the features of a resolution are sufficiently clear would be premature, and I would need more information to make a decision. --Michael Snow 22:00, 14 June 2007 (UTC)