Wikipedia and Wikimedia, Where's your money going Options

[Peter Damian]

How many people who donate to Wikimedia think that their money is going to Wikipedia. I never realised this until recently (not that I have donated any money anyway).

I am still struggling to understand what Wikimedia is for, other than hosting all those servers. In particular, now that Wikimedia UK is registered as a charity, I am wondering what the money is for.
Wikimedia UK has 'raised' £500,000, but I understand this is a cheque from the parent WMF. It took me a long time to find out how it is actually being spent, but the page linked to below explains some of it. I itemise them below (I didn't finish it, it being far too boring). The CEO salary is about right for London charity director, but I don't understand what he (Jon Davies) is doing, apart from raising money to pay his own salary. The Office Manager is also about right, but, again, what are they actually doing? The other stuff is impenetrable, apart from the second "Wikipedians in Residence" which is (because of the Bristol connection) is probably a nice cheque for Martin Poulter for being a good all-round nice guy.

The whole thing seems to be to raise money for 'mates' - the various ne'er do wells and useless people that hang around the WMF.

Further investigation, followed by a letter to the charities commission, would seem to be in order.

Chief Executive 60,000
Office Manager 25,000
Events Manager 30,000
Communications 20,000
Developer 30,000
Train the Trainers Programme 20,000
Outreach merchandise & publications 5,000
Extended Reach programme 10,000
Technical development to support cultural outreach 80,000
GLAM-Wiki Conference Autumn 2012 10,000
Outreach Events 10,000
Wikipedians in Residence 15,000
Digitization 20,000
World Wars I and II project 30,000
University outreach events 10,000
Wikipedians in Residence 10,000
[etc]

http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/2012_Activity_Plan

[powercorrupts]

Unfortunately the UK is full of dodgy charities, it's just too easy to get a 'charity number'. Ultimately it's a decent living for a couple of people, and of course their mates too. What else do people really need other than a living? It's the ultimate truth, and Wikipedia provides a living with prospects: they are all over the fucking place. Jimbo isn't Gandhi whether he grabs a legal buck from the proceeds or not, as some plant suggested he was in his widely-BBCTV-advertised Radio3 interview the other day ("well - thank you").

A message to you thieving bastards at the WMF - While we are on the subject of fundraising product, can you stop using bullshit American phrases like "Brighton Hackathon"? I know it's basically appealing to feckless twerpy airheads you are always searching for, but for the rest of us they are not welcome here. Talk about cultural imperialism. You have to wonder if the UK Events Manager is obliged to say "awesome".

£30,000 GPB PA is a quite tidy sum in the UK for an Events Manager by the way - it's a very good UK wage anyway, and all these above are all good wages - and in hard times of high undemployment too. There is not a huge 'career ladder' at the WMF that employees must climb over the years either - one of the main reasons why wages tend to be structured as they are. Wikipedia is a hideous cash cow for select like-minded people (looked jealously upon by endless wannabees) - and only the 'censorious' governments that Jimbo seems to intrinsically dislike can ultimately intervene I think.

This post has been edited by powercorrupts:

[Peter Damian]

£30,000 GPB PA is a quite tidy sum in the UK for an Events Manager by the way - it's a very good UK wage anyway, and all these above are all good wages - and in hard times of high undemployment too. There is not a huge 'career ladder' at the WMF that employees must climb over the years either - one of the main reasons why wages tend to be structured as they are. Wikipedia is a hideous cash cow for select like-minded people (looked jealously upon by endless wannabees) - and only the 'censorious' governments that Jimbo seems to intrinsically dislike can ultimately intervene I think.

Well it seems to be about average http://www.salarytrack.co.uk/average-event...ger-salary.html at least for London. But (a) I would question why they need to open in London, given that most support for Wikipedia/Wikimedia seems to come from Manchester 'nearly the North' type places, and (b) why they need it at all. The volunteers seem to be doing this kind of thing anyway, why do they need 'event manager'??

[edit] And the CEO compensation looks a little on the low side from this http://society.guardian.co.uk/salarysurvey...1042677,00.html but again I question why they need this. A friend of mine who does this kind of thing told me a lot of the work is for advertising. But Wikimedia (if that includes Wikipedia) should have no problem at all with advertising.

This post has been edited by Peter Damian: