Wikimedia Foundation elections/Board elections/2007/Candidates/Ivankinsman/questions
| 2007 board elections |
|---|
| Organization |
Polish[edit]
You said you participate in English and in Polish, but I can't find your Polish contributions. Do you have a link to them? —METS501 (talk) 12:40, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
- Sorry, I am an Englishman living in Poland and speak a bit of Polish but have made no Polish contributions as my language skills are not proficientIvankinsman 14:58, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
Inexperience[edit]
How do you feel that your relative inexperience with Wikimedia will affect you in this election and ultimately if you are elected to the Board? You've only participated in a corner of Wikipedia, are not an administrator, and don't know how to do much with the site beyond edit (not that any of this is really a bad thing, but it comes in to play when running for the Board). Are you aware of the wants and needs of smaller Wikimedia projects? —METS501 (talk) 12:40, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
- Well, I know that I am relatively inexperienced with specific regard to Wikimedia projects, but, as with any new situation, one has to start somewhere and learn and grow with the role. I believe I have good enough qualifications and mental ability to be able to handle any complexities. Yes, I have only been editing but I have been learning more as I have been going along regarding the way Wikipedia works.Ivankinsman 15:02, 18 June 2007 (UTC)
Office evolution[edit]
In what way do you forsee the office (and staff) evolving under your tenure as a board member, should you be elected? i.e. would you be in favor of expansion, contraction, status quo, more interns, new positions, less, what?
- Let me refer you to the Wikimedia position on current employee levels:
- Employees
- The functions of the Wikimedia Foundation are executed almost entirely by volunteers. As of October 4, 2006, the Wikimedia Foundation had 5 paid employees: two programmers (software manager Brion Vibber in California and server administrator Chad Perrin in Tampa); "to answer the phones", administrative assistant Barbara Brown, to handle fundraising and grants, Danny Wool; and to manage, interim executive director Brad Patrick. [16] As of December 8, 2006, the Wikimedia Foundation's list of current staff also names three other technical independent contractors (part-time hardware manager Kyle Anderson in Tampa, full-time MediaWiki software developer Tim Starling, and part-time networking coordinator Mark Bergsma). In January 2007 Carolyn Doran was named Chief Operating Officer and Sandy Ordonez came on board as Communication Manager.[17] The Foundation added a new position, Chapter Coordinator, and appointed Delphine Ménard, then a position of Volunteer Coordinator, in April 2007, and appointed Cary Bass to fill it. Most recent addition was Vishal Patel, to assist in business development. [18] The number of current staff members is still less than ten.[19]
- If the number of current staff members is still less than ten, then I feel that this is a considerable achivement given the scope of Wikimedia's remit. Should more staff be required to service this effectively, then I would be in favour of expanision. I feel that it would also be very useful work experience for interns so would also offer them vacancies if this would be of benefit.Ivankinsman 16:23, 18 June 2007 (UTC)