Cary Bass announces his departure from WMF, Will continue as a volunteer Options

[Moulton]

Announcing my departure from the Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by Cary Bass (cary at wikimedia.org), Mon Aug 2 22:01:04 UTC 2010

It is with deep regret that I tell you I will be leaving the staff of the Wikimedia Foundation at the end of December.

I'm leaving the staff, but I will continue to be involved with the Wikimedia movement as a volunteer, both as a contributor and in the organization of the annual Wikimania conference. Much of my work with Wikimedia will continue, except now I will be doing it as a volunteer rather than as a paid staff person.

More at the link.

[anthony]

But who's going to coordinate the volunteers?

[Moulton]

But who's going to coordinate the volunteers?

No one.

Cary continues in the next paragraph...

The Wikimedia Foundation is not planning to hire another volunteer coordinator to look after the specific range of work I've been doing, so if you are unsure about who will handle things I have been responsible for, please feel free to ask me, and we'll work it out over the next several months.

[anthony]

But who's going to coordinate the volunteers?

No one.

Cary continues in the next paragraph...

Sarcasm Moulton, sarcasm.

[Moulton]

Sarcasm Moulton, sarcasm.

How about this?

I'm not sure how the Foundation is going to survive without you.

Followed by this...

It won't. We're doomed. Cary was the glue that held everything together!

Was that hyperbole, too?

This post has been edited by Moulton: Mon 2nd August 2010, 10:29pm

[pietkuip]

More at the link.

When the Foundation is hiring?
I never could see that he was "extremely good with people" - he got upset, wanted me permanently banned at Commons, then composed an "I was wrong" speech, but did not lift my block.

And now he will enter the priesthood?

This post has been edited by pietkuip: Mon 2nd August 2010, 10:45pm

[Somey]

But who's going to coordinate the volunteers?

No one.

If the volunteers aren't coordinated, they could end up with serious ankle and wrist injuries!

[GlassBeadGame]

But who's going to coordinate the volunteers?

No one.

If the volunteers aren't coordinated, they could end up with serious ankle and wrist injuries!

My initial response is that his is one of the few positions touching on program areas and it is a steep in the wrong direction. But then think of the job title. They ain't "Volunteers," they are content contributors. God knows they ain't "coordinated" or otherwise managed in a coherent manner. It reminded me of meeting a guy from the Detroit Planning Commission. I fell into rage. I mean it was bad enough that things had got so bad for that great City. That it was planned was more than I could stomach.

[A Horse With No Name]

It is with deep regret that I tell you I will be leaving the staff of the Wikimedia Foundation at the end of December.

I'm leaving the staff, but I will continue to be involved with the Wikimedia movement as a volunteer, both as a contributor and in the organization of the annual Wikimania conference. Much of my work with Wikimedia will continue, except now I will be doing it as a volunteer rather than as a paid staff person.

[tarantino]

Now who are 16 year olds going to turn to when the want access to nonpublic data?

The wmf access to nonpublic data policy says

The access policies for OTRS e-mail queues or other communication systems of the Wikimedia Foundation are defined by WMF office staff in accordance with the intent of this policy.

The intent of the policy (originally posted by Florence Devouard) seems to be that the "user is at least 18 and explicitly over the age at which they are capable to act without the consent of their parent in the jurisdiction in which they reside", but the wording is all wishy-washy.

An aside to MZMcBride, Florence Devouard's wmf user page says she's chairman of the board. That hasn't been true since July 2008.

[Ottava]

I'm honestly sad over this.

[MZMcBride]

An aside to MZMcBride, Florence Devouard's wmf user page says she's chairman of the board. That hasn't been true since July 2008.

Fixed. I suppose if I created an account for you over there, someone would yell at me.

[Moulton]

I'm honestly sad over this.

Perhaps chagrined, even

[EricBarbour]

An aside to MZMcBride, Florence Devouard's wmf user page says she's chairman of the board. That hasn't been true since July 2008.

Fixed. I suppose if I created an account for you over there, someone would yell at me.

Give it a couple days. You might yet get your wish.

In other news: Jesus H. Christ, Florence Devouard hasn't updated her Wikipedia userpage since October 2006??
Did she give up on the whole thing 4 years ago??

This post has been edited by EricBarbour: Thu 5th August 2010, 7:04am

[thekohser]

In other news: Jesus H. Christ, Florence Devouard hasn't updated her Wikipedia userpage since October 2006??
Did she give up on the whole thing 4 years ago??

That's not her "Wikipedia" user page.

[Moulton]

Remind me how we disambiguate Florence Devouard from User:FloNight.

Which one is referred to as "Flo-Flo"?

Which one was on ArbCom?

[Kelly Martin]

This is significant in that it demonstrates Sue's increasing control over the organization. Who's left from Before Sue at this point? I think it's just Tim Starling, although there might be a junior sysadmin or two still on the payroll (who's that one guy who lives in Florida whose job it is basically to go into the server room and kick machines when they fall over?).

Cary was hired because he sucked up really really hard to Jimbo, and because he and Jimbo shared a common fetish for famous people. Plus Cary being gay meant that Jimbo didn't have to worry about Cary competing with him for hot babes. His position was never well-defined and looked pretty much like a sinecure. I imagine he was let go simply because his welcome ran out.

[A Horse With No Name]

Remind me how we disambiguate Florence Devouard from User:FloNight.

Which one is referred to as "Flo-Flo"?

Which one was on ArbCom?

Big Flo, aka FloNight, is on Arbcom. Little Flo is Ms. D.

[Jon Awbrey]

This is significant in that it demonstrates Sue's increasing control over the organization. Who's left from Before Sue at this point? I think it's just Tim Starling, although there might be a junior sysadmin or two still on the payroll (who's that one guy who lives in Florida whose job it is basically to go into the server room and kick machines when they fall over?).

Cary was hired because he sucked up really really hard to Jimbo, and because he and Jimbo shared a common fetish for famous people. Plus Cary being gay meant that Jimbo didn't have to worry about Cary competing with him for hot babes. His position was never well-defined and looked pretty much like a sinecure. I imagine he was let go simply because his welcome ran out.

Maybe he figures as a volunteer he can keep all the $CASH$ he'll be getting for those speaking engagments.

Jon

(Sorry if someone already said that — I haven't been following this one.)

[Moulton]

Remind me how we disambiguate Florence Devouard from User:FloNight.

Which one is referred to as "Flo-Flo"?

Which one was on ArbCom?

Big Flo, aka FloNight, is on Arbcom. Little Flo is Ms. D.

Were either of them on the WMF Board of Trustees or otherwise on the WMF Staff?