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Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel

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jwales at wikia

Jun 12, 2006, 2:53 PM

Post #1 of 39 (2436 views)
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Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel

Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
accepted. We have discussed at length the parameters of the
position, including job responsibilities, and so on. (This has been
posted and discussed publicly as well.)

Who is Brad? Brad has been our pro-bono legal counsel for the past
several months, has become very active in foundation matters and in the
projects. He is of course a huge fan of free software, Larry Lessig,
and Wikipedia, and lives and breathes this stuff. Rather than doing
"merely" legal work (nothing mere about it, of course) for us, he has
gotten involved in helping the board think about policy, in helping
Danny deal with various "customer support" issues, etc.

The need for fulltime legal counsel should be obvious to everyone
involved with the projects. We are increasingly approached with
interesting opportunities to partner with various organizations in ways
that are consistent with our community values and missions, and we
really need fulltime legal support to make sure these deals are done in
a way which is safe for the foundation. Additionally, of course there
is an ever increasing burden as we grow more popular of legal complaints
that we continue to try to deal with in a timely and effective manner.

The need for help in the executive arena is also obvious to
most of you... particularly any of you who have had to deal with the
critical lack of human bandwidth at the foundation level to get things
done in a timely fashion.

Brad was selected first and foremost because he is of the community,
actively involved for several months, and deeply committed to our mission.

Additionally, when I consulted recently with our volunteer attorneys,
including Alex Roshuk, Jean-Baptise Soufron and Michael Snow, as well
as consulting with Eben Moglen of the FSF and Larry Lessig of Creative
Commons, a common refrain was that we need someone who is familiar with
the particulars of Florida law, as well as someone who can effectively
co-ordinate and manage pro-bono legal resources.

This is important to emphasize: we are not hiring an in-house counsel
*instead of* seeking pro-bono help, but hiring in-house counsel *so
that* we can effectively seek and manage pro-bono help. As an example:
when I asked Eben Moglen for help, he said that he can (starting this
fall, most likely) arrange for us the equivalent of a half-time lawyer,
except he was quite adamant that he could do so only if we could manage
the pro-bono hours effectively, and he was very strongly in support of
us having someone fulltime.

Additionally, Brad will be taking on a number of job responsibilities
that fall outside of the strictly legal scope, *on an interim basis*.
We, the board, have been overwhelmed for many months, and we need help
and assistance with business deals, legal matters, finance, audit,
planing, etc., etc., the list goes on and on.

We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
community*. It is my intention that we be very very careful in this
process to preserve our fundamentally community-driven model, while at
the same time adding professionalism to the organization in order to
empower and defend the community model. :)

Among Brad's duties will be to assist in co-ordinating and managing that
search process, in conjunction with the board and community leaders of
all kinds.

We expect there to be significant press attention to this hiring, and
significant support and attention from the community. If you have been
following the discussion on foundation-l, you will know that there are
serious excitements and of course concerns in the community about what
this direction means for the future of the foundation and for the community.

I intend to keep repeating my same message strongly and simply: it is my
intention to build upon and extend our radical methods of openness and
community involvement, while at the same time playing close attention to
the needs of the organization which makes all of that possible.
Whatever side any of you personally may come down on, relating to some
of the details of all that, I hope that you will join me in saying that
our similarities and hopes and dreams for the future are more important
than any minor differences, and that we can work our way forward as we
always have... slowly and carefully, with genuine respect for everyone
who is taking part in the discussions in a constructive way...

It is important to emphasize that the ED position is primarily about the
organization, not about the community. That is to say, now is not the
time to start leaving "please unblock me" messages on Brad's talk page. ;-)

Brad is starting work immediately.

--Jimbo

--
#######################################################################
# Office: 1-727-231-0101 | Free Culture and Free Knowledge #
# http://www.wikipedia.org | Building a free world #
#######################################################################

robert_horning at netzero

Jun 12, 2006, 3:21 PM

Post #2 of 39 (2379 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

t.starling at physics

Jun 12, 2006, 3:44 PM

Post #3 of 39 (2375 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Jimmy Wales wrote:
> Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
> the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
> legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
> accepted. We have discussed at length the parameters of the
> position, including job responsibilities, and so on. (This has been
> posted and discussed publicly as well.)
>
> Who is Brad? Brad has been our pro-bono legal counsel for the past
> several months, has become very active in foundation matters and in the
> projects. He is of course a huge fan of free software, Larry Lessig,
> and Wikipedia, and lives and breathes this stuff. Rather than doing
> "merely" legal work (nothing mere about it, of course) for us, he has
> gotten involved in helping the board think about policy, in helping
> Danny deal with various "customer support" issues, etc.

Does he have any experience in running an organisation?

My only dealings with him have been conflicts: first exposing the errors in
his argument on [[m:Talk:Chapters committee]] and second defending Waerth
from his bullying on this list. I can only hope that the future will be
brighter.

-- Tim Starling

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poore5 at adelphia

Jun 12, 2006, 3:58 PM

Post #4 of 39 (2371 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Congratulations Brad!

Based on my recent experience, Brad is an excellent choice.

Back to lurking,
FloNight aka Sydney Poore
Georgetown, KY

---- Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>
> Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
> the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
> legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
> accepted. We have discussed at length the parameters of the
> position, including job responsibilities, and so on. (This has been
> posted and discussed publicly as well.)
>
> Who is Brad? Brad has been our pro-bono legal counsel for the past
> several months, has become very active in foundation matters and in the
> projects. He is of course a huge fan of free software, Larry Lessig,
> and Wikipedia, and lives and breathes this stuff. Rather than doing
> "merely" legal work (nothing mere about it, of course) for us, he has
> gotten involved in helping the board think about policy, in helping
> Danny deal with various "customer support" issues, etc.
>
> The need for fulltime legal counsel should be obvious to everyone
> involved with the projects. We are increasingly approached with
> interesting opportunities to partner with various organizations in ways
> that are consistent with our community values and missions, and we
> really need fulltime legal support to make sure these deals are done in
> a way which is safe for the foundation. Additionally, of course there
> is an ever increasing burden as we grow more popular of legal complaints
> that we continue to try to deal with in a timely and effective manner.
>
> The need for help in the executive arena is also obvious to
> most of you... particularly any of you who have had to deal with the
> critical lack of human bandwidth at the foundation level to get things
> done in a timely fashion.
>
> Brad was selected first and foremost because he is of the community,
> actively involved for several months, and deeply committed to our mission.
>
> Additionally, when I consulted recently with our volunteer attorneys,
> including Alex Roshuk, Jean-Baptise Soufron and Michael Snow, as well
> as consulting with Eben Moglen of the FSF and Larry Lessig of Creative
> Commons, a common refrain was that we need someone who is familiar with
> the particulars of Florida law, as well as someone who can effectively
> co-ordinate and manage pro-bono legal resources.
>
> This is important to emphasize: we are not hiring an in-house counsel
> *instead of* seeking pro-bono help, but hiring in-house counsel *so
> that* we can effectively seek and manage pro-bono help. As an example:
> when I asked Eben Moglen for help, he said that he can (starting this
> fall, most likely) arrange for us the equivalent of a half-time lawyer,
> except he was quite adamant that he could do so only if we could manage
> the pro-bono hours effectively, and he was very strongly in support of
> us having someone fulltime.
>
> Additionally, Brad will be taking on a number of job responsibilities
> that fall outside of the strictly legal scope, *on an interim basis*.
> We, the board, have been overwhelmed for many months, and we need help
> and assistance with business deals, legal matters, finance, audit,
> planing, etc., etc., the list goes on and on.
>
> We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
> process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
> defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
> good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
> community*. It is my intention that we be very very careful in this
> process to preserve our fundamentally community-driven model, while at
> the same time adding professionalism to the organization in order to
> empower and defend the community model. :)
>
> Among Brad's duties will be to assist in co-ordinating and managing that
> search process, in conjunction with the board and community leaders of
> all kinds.
>
> We expect there to be significant press attention to this hiring, and
> significant support and attention from the community. If you have been
> following the discussion on foundation-l, you will know that there are
> serious excitements and of course concerns in the community about what
> this direction means for the future of the foundation and for the community.
>
> I intend to keep repeating my same message strongly and simply: it is my
> intention to build upon and extend our radical methods of openness and
> community involvement, while at the same time playing close attention to
> the needs of the organization which makes all of that possible.
> Whatever side any of you personally may come down on, relating to some
> of the details of all that, I hope that you will join me in saying that
> our similarities and hopes and dreams for the future are more important
> than any minor differences, and that we can work our way forward as we
> always have... slowly and carefully, with genuine respect for everyone
> who is taking part in the discussions in a constructive way...
>
> It is important to emphasize that the ED position is primarily about the
> organization, not about the community. That is to say, now is not the
> time to start leaving "please unblock me" messages on Brad's talk page. ;-)
>
> Brad is starting work immediately.
>
> --Jimbo
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> #######################################################################
> # Office: 1-727-231-0101 | Free Culture and Free Knowledge #
> # http://www.wikipedia.org | Building a free world #
> #######################################################################

_______________________________________________
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http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

adhair at gmail

Jun 12, 2006, 4:07 PM

Post #5 of 39 (2375 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/12/06, Tim Starling <t.starling[at]physics.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> My only dealings with him have been conflicts: first exposing the errors in
> his argument on [[m:Talk:Chapters committee]] and second defending Waerth
> from his bullying on this list. I can only hope that the future will be
> brighter.

That page includes a few snippy comments of my own, and I feel
compelled to state that while we still disagree on that point, we're
now on very amicable terms and in general agreement about the nature
and direction of the Foundation. It would be an error for anyone
assume that I object to this decision; I have every confidence that
he'll be a capable interim director.

Austin
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eloquence at gmail

Jun 12, 2006, 4:17 PM

Post #6 of 39 (2371 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
> We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
> process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
> defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
> good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
> community*.

Is there a timetable for this? Failing that, is there a definite
commitment from all sides that this is, indeed, an interim position?
When can we expect the first report about the outcome of the search
process?

Erik
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t.starling at physics

Jun 12, 2006, 4:37 PM

Post #7 of 39 (2376 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Erik Moeller wrote:
> On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>> We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
>> process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
>> defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
>> good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
>> community*.
>
> Is there a timetable for this? Failing that, is there a definite
> commitment from all sides that this is, indeed, an interim position?
> When can we expect the first report about the outcome of the search
> process?

Mav assured us that Tim Shell and Michael Davis were temporary positions,
remember that?

http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikilegal-l/2004-January/000254.html

What optimism we had back then.

-- Tim Starling

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mindspillage at gmail

Jun 12, 2006, 4:40 PM

Post #8 of 39 (2375 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>
> Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
> the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
> legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
> accepted.

Happy to see someone chosen with his experience and his knowledge of
the way the projects work. Congrats, Brad; welcome aboard.

-Kat

--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mindspillage | G/AIM:LucidWaking
mindspillage or mind|wandering on irc.freenode.net | email for phone
The good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving
-- Lao-Tzu Wikia: creating communities - http://www.wikia.com
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amgine at saewyc

Jun 12, 2006, 4:42 PM

Post #9 of 39 (2378 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On Tue, 2006-13-06 at 09:37 +1000, Tim Starling wrote:
Erik Moeller wrote:
> > On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
> >> We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
> >> process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
> >> defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
> >> good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
> >> community*.
> >
> > Is there a timetable for this? Failing that, is there a definite
> > commitment from all sides that this is, indeed, an interim position?
> > When can we expect the first report about the outcome of the search
> > process?
>
> Mav assured us that Tim Shell and Michael Davis were temporary positions,
> remember that?
>
> http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikilegal-l/2004-January/000254.html
>
> What optimism we had back then.
>
> -- Tim Starling

Was that when devs were volunteers?

Amgine
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birgitte_sb at yahoo

Jun 12, 2006, 4:46 PM

Post #10 of 39 (2374 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

--- Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:

>
> Brad is starting work immediately.
>
> --Jimbo
>

I must say Brad is an excellent choice. He was one
the very first Wikimedia people I ever had contact
with. I can safely say that if it were not for that
experience being handled so professionally I would not
have ever stuck my nose out of Wikisource.
Congratulations Brad!

Birgitte SB

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kelly.lynn.martin at gmail

Jun 12, 2006, 5:01 PM

Post #11 of 39 (2373 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>
> Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
> the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
> legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
> accepted. We have discussed at length the parameters of the
> position, including job responsibilities, and so on. (This has been
> posted and discussed publicly as well.)

In the many opportunities I have had to work with and converse with
Brad, I have found him to be highly competent, helpful, and
personable. I have no doubt that he will serve the Foundation's
interests well in these two roles. Congratulations, Brad, and welcome
aboard!

Kelly
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foundation-l[at]wikimedia.org
http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l

anthere9 at yahoo

Jun 12, 2006, 5:09 PM

Post #12 of 39 (2372 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Tim Starling wrote:
> Erik Moeller wrote:
>
>>On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>>
>>>We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
>>>process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
>>>defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
>>>good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
>>>community*.
>>
>>Is there a timetable for this? Failing that, is there a definite
>>commitment from all sides that this is, indeed, an interim position?
>>When can we expect the first report about the outcome of the search
>>process?
>
>
> Mav assured us that Tim Shell and Michael Davis were temporary positions,
> remember that?
>
> http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikilegal-l/2004-January/000254.html
>
> What optimism we had back then.
>
> -- Tim Starling

I think that's an opportunity to give credit when credit is due.

I was not happy either with these two appointments.

Both had temporary positions and I expect that Tim will be replaced this
year.

However, whilst very few people are aware of that, I wish to say that
Michael plays a very important part in the running of the organisation.
He has done an outstanding job on the financial side and I believe that
without his help, the project would have collapsed some time ago. He may
have been appointed, he may have been interim, it does not make him less
valuable. As of today, I am relieved he is on the board.

I think we should not focus on the ways people have been set on board
and of whether they were temporary or not. We should see what they bring
to the organisation first.

I hope Brad and you succeed to work together in harmony as I think both
of you are valuable.

Ant

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wikilegal at inbox

Jun 12, 2006, 5:25 PM

Post #13 of 39 (2375 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/12/06, Tim Starling <t.starling[at]physics.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> Jimmy Wales wrote:
> > Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
> > the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
> > legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
> > accepted. We have discussed at length the parameters of the
> > position, including job responsibilities, and so on. (This has been
> > posted and discussed publicly as well.)
> >
> > Who is Brad? Brad has been our pro-bono legal counsel for the past
> > several months, has become very active in foundation matters and in the
> > projects. He is of course a huge fan of free software, Larry Lessig,
> > and Wikipedia, and lives and breathes this stuff. Rather than doing
> > "merely" legal work (nothing mere about it, of course) for us, he has
> > gotten involved in helping the board think about policy, in helping
> > Danny deal with various "customer support" issues, etc.
>
> Does he have any experience in running an organisation?
>
> My only dealings with him have been conflicts: first exposing the errors in
> his argument on [[m:Talk:Chapters committee]] and second defending Waerth
> from his bullying on this list. I can only hope that the future will be
> brighter.
>
> -- Tim Starling
>
His comment that he "disagree[s] that membership would be the correct
manner of organizing WMF in any circumstance" is worrysome.
Fortunately, it's not his decision. I hope to hear from the board
members that they are not intererested in creating the WMF as an
organization with no members.

I also don't understand Brad's aversion to advisory committees. I've
seen them work very effectively in the organizations I've been
involved in, and 9 times out of 10 the board adopts a resolution which
is essentially identical to the recommendation of the committee.

On the other hand, much of what Brad is saying shows that he has a
good understanding of Wikimedia and non-profit organizations. So long
as the channels of communication are kept open I'm sure his expertise
will prove extremely valuable and productive.

Anthony
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t.starling at physics

Jun 12, 2006, 5:48 PM

Post #14 of 39 (2379 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

No doubt judging by the flood of positive comments, this decision was
discussed at length before it was announced. May I ask where, and by whom?

-- Tim Starling

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erikzachte at infodisiac

Jun 12, 2006, 6:00 PM

Post #15 of 39 (2373 views)
Permalink

Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Jimmy
> It is my intention that we be very very careful in this process to
preserve our fundamentally community-driven model,
> while at the same time adding professionalism to the organization in order
to empower and defend the community model. :)

preserve or reaffirm ?

Jimmy
> Among Brad's duties will be to assist in co-ordinating and managing that
search process,
> in conjunction with the board and community leaders of all kinds.

leaders or members ?

Jimmy
> it is my intention to build upon and extend our radical methods of
openness and community involvement,

This is the best statement I heard from you since eight days, when you said
"Under promise over deliver"
I quoted you on that one every day since. :)

------------------------------------

Urgent matters obviously need to be resolved now. In Rome emergencies were
also addressed by subsiding democracy and *appointing* a dictator for half a
year (the meaning of the term dictator has drifted quite far since then).
I'm not sure if 'business deals' count as an emergency. We are not going
bankrupt, have even postponed fund raising. Apart from that I easily accept
that an understaffed central board is in need of speedy reinforcement, as
long as the current model is continued.

After we catered for emergencies, I still hope that the same community that
wisely elected Angela and Anthere (hurray for them) will some day be given
more direct responsibility in deciding how to resolve deficiencies at the
organisational level. To me a community and a foundation are not separate
entities ( I heard this as a closing argument all too often recently ), no
more than a people and its government are separate entities. A government
serves the people and is guided and controlled by the people. I'm not an
expert in political matters, but I feel it makes more sense to draw our
metaphores from an area of human activity where many are to gain from the
actions of some (state/governement) than from areas where some are to gain
much more than others from the activities of many (large corporations).

Having said this I am sure Brad is going to give us his best, and undoubtly
already has, so I wish you all the best, Brad

Erik Zachte

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jwales at wikia

Jun 12, 2006, 8:36 PM

Post #16 of 39 (2375 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Erik Zachte wrote:
>> It is my intention that we be very very careful in this process to
>> preserve our fundamentally community-driven model,
>> while at the same time adding professionalism to the organization in order
>> to empower and defend the community model. :)
>
> preserve or reaffirm ?

Both!

>> Among Brad's duties will be to assist in co-ordinating and managing that
>> search process,
>> in conjunction with the board and community leaders of all kinds.
>
> leaders or members ?

Both!

> Urgent matters obviously need to be resolved now. In Rome emergencies were
> also addressed by subsiding democracy and *appointing* a dictator for half a
> year (the meaning of the term dictator has drifted quite far since then).

There is no dictator here.

> After we catered for emergencies, I still hope that the same community that
> wisely elected Angela and Anthere (hurray for them) will some day be given
> more direct responsibility in deciding how to resolve deficiencies at the
> organisational level. To me a community and a foundation are not separate
> entities ( I heard this as a closing argument all too often recently ), no
> more than a people and its government are separate entities. A government
> serves the people and is guided and controlled by the people. I'm not an
> expert in political matters, but I feel it makes more sense to draw our
> metaphores from an area of human activity where many are to gain from the
> actions of some (state/governement) than from areas where some are to gain
> much more than others from the activities of many (large corporations).

I agree completely. I resist very strongly any separation of foundation
and community.

kelly.lynn.martin at gmail

Jun 12, 2006, 8:47 PM

Post #17 of 39 (2372 views)
Permalink

Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>
> Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
> the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
> legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
> accepted. We have discussed at length the parameters of the
> position, including job responsibilities, and so on. (This has been
> posted and discussed publicly as well.)

Really dumb question, but one which needs answering: What's Brad's
new email address? The only one I have for him is the fowlerwhite
address, and I assume that that's not good, since he doesn't work for
them anymore.

Kelly
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Jun 12, 2006, 10:19 PM

Post #18 of 39 (2377 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Erik Moeller wrote:

> On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>
>> We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
>> process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
>> defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
>> good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
>> community*.
>
> Is there a timetable for this? Failing that, is there a definite
> commitment from all sides that this is, indeed, an interim position?
> When can we expect the first report about the outcome of the search
> process?

I think Jimmy was pretty clear about the interim part in making his
announcement. Brad has also commented on another list emphasizing that
point. Executive director and legal counsel are two distinct roles, and
I don't think anybody would be able to fill both of them simultaneously
for any significant length of time without a sizable staff at his or her
disposal (which obviously is not the case here).

Brad hasn't even had his first day on the job yet, so I think it's a
little early to be asking where the timetables and reports are. This
isn't even as far along as the process for replacing Tim Shell on the
Board, and I think Jimmy's response on that issue applies just as well
here. Let's have less haste and more speed. If you want to speed things
along, I'm sure an outline of the strategy for conducting the search
would be welcomed.

To address other questions about the Executive Director position and
this announcement, I've posted a FAQ on Meta
(http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Executive_Director_FAQ). If people have
more issues they would like to discuss or questions to ask, I recommend
posting to the talk page so we can continue the conversation on the wiki.

--Michael Snow
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Jun 12, 2006, 10:56 PM

Post #19 of 39 (2379 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Tim Starling wrote:

> Erik Moeller wrote:
>
>> On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>>
>>> We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very
>>> careful
>>> process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
>>> defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
>>> good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
>>> community*.
>>
>> Is there a timetable for this? Failing that, is there a definite
>> commitment from all sides that this is, indeed, an interim position?
>> When can we expect the first report about the outcome of the search
>> process?
>
> Mav assured us that Tim Shell and Michael Davis were temporary
> positions, remember that?
>
> http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikilegal-l/2004-January/000254.html

Given that what Mav wrote is liberally laced with qualifiers like "I
imagine", "I can only surmise", and "My understanding is", and he
evinces some confusion about the meaning of the passages he interprets,
I find it surprising that his post would be taken as an assurance of
anything at all. Certainly the bylaws themselves do not say that Tim or
Michael were temporary appointments.

The reference to annual elections deals specifically with the community
representatives. (There's also a section about annual elections for
Chair, Treasurer, etc., but those are the Board electing "from among its
members" for its own internal positions, not elections to seats on the
Board itself.) The section dealing with replacement of board members
calls for an interim appointment if the resigning member was elected,
for the other positions it simply says "the remaining Trustees may elect
a replacement." There's no indication I can find that either the initial
position or the replacement would be limited to a particular term of
service.

--Michael Snow
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sannse at tiscali

Jun 12, 2006, 11:14 PM

Post #20 of 39 (2370 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

wikipedia at earthlink

Jun 12, 2006, 11:59 PM

Post #21 of 39 (2374 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Tim Starling wrote:

> No doubt judging by the flood of positive comments, this decision was
> discussed at length before it was announced. May I ask where, and by
> whom?

I believe Jimmy already addressed this in his original announcement,
where he elaborated about some of the people he consulted before making
this decision, with some obviously unnamed and I'm not sure he'd be able
to reconstruct a complete list. More specifically, I can tell you that
the information was also shared with the Communications committee so it
could prepare a press release. But so far as I know, for some of the
people responding all they would have known beforehand is what was in
the Board's resolution published earlier this month.

--Michael Snow
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eloquence at gmail

Jun 13, 2006, 12:10 AM

Post #22 of 39 (2379 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/13/06, Michael Snow <wikipedia[at]earthlink.net> wrote:

> Brad hasn't even had his first day on the job yet, so I think it's a
> little early to be asking where the timetables and reports are. This
> isn't even as far along as the process for replacing Tim Shell on the
> Board, and I think Jimmy's response on that issue applies just as well
> here. Let's have less haste and more speed. If you want to speed things
> along, I'm sure an outline of the strategy for conducting the search
> would be welcomed.

I wasn't asking for reports, only for guesstimates on when we might
reasonably expect them. An update on the process by August 2006 should
be possible, for instance. "Interim" can mean many things (in Steve
Jobs' case, it meant "the CEO who never left"), and I hope there is
consensus among everyone concerned that this is, indeed, a stopgap
solution until we have identified an ideal candidate for the role of
ED.

As for the strategy in identifying a future "permanent" ED, we need to
first be clear on what the future organizational model of the
Wikimedia Foundation is going to be. For instance, there is a
resolution to create an Executive Committee:

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution_Executive_committee

In spite of its creation being authorized by the Board, AFAIK nothing
has happened since it was last discussed in the Open Wikimedia
meeting. Do we still want this committee, and if so, what roles will
it serve? What will its interaction be with the Executive Director?
Will (all/some) of its members also be Board members (as is typical
for non-profits)?

I personally prefer the term "Administrative Director" to "Executive
Director" given that "ED" or "CEO" suggests a very broad scope of
abilities and responsibilities which, I fear, for an organization like
Wikimedia cannot really be united in a single person. For instance, I
believe that R&D is a key function that needs to be driven and
coordinated by the executive body.

Projects like Wiktionary(Z), Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikibooks,
Wikinews, and Wikicommons can only flourish if their specific needs
are identified, and strategies are developed to meet these needs. The
executive body (whatever it is called in the end) needs to set
priorities, assign responsibilities, and communicate with a large
group of individuals who bring ideas and capabilities to the
Foundation. While I value Brad's legal insights and his professional
background, I doubt he would be the right person to make such
decisions -- and the same is probably true for any ED who meets the
criteria of:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution_CEO

The term "Executive Director" suggests that the person will be
responsible for "executing" the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation,
when in reality, the tasks described on the above URL deal primarily
with "keeping things running", rather than "moving things forward". I
favor a larger Executive Committee with different roles, whose purpose
is to coordinate and oversee the work of the individual committees.
The "Administrative Director" in this model complements other roles
such as R&D, community communications, etc. (who the ExecCom members
are is the tricky question).

If, however, the "Executive Director" is to unite multiple very
different capabilities in one person, then of course that will make it
very difficult to find the ideal candidate for that role -- if not
impossible.

I'd be happy to help develop an organizational model, but I'd also be
interested in what plans there currently are, and what Brad's thoughts
on the above matters are.

Erik
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klempert at gmail

Jun 13, 2006, 3:08 AM

Post #23 of 39 (2377 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/13/06, Tim Starling <t.starling[at]physics.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> No doubt judging by the flood of positive comments, this decision was
> discussed at length before it was announced. May I ask where, and by whom?

IMHO it was high time to hire an inhouse legal counsel and an
(interim) executive director. And Brad seems to be a very good choice
for both. Congratulations to Brad, and to the board for making this
decision.

Disclaimer: Even if this might be seen as a positive comment, I am not
aware of any longish discussions. Is there any causal relationship
between discussing at length and making positive comments about wise
board decisions?

-- Arne (akl)
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elian at djini

Jun 13, 2006, 3:53 AM

Post #24 of 39 (2375 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

Arne Klempert schrieb:
> On 6/13/06, Tim Starling <t.starling[at]physics.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
>
>>No doubt judging by the flood of positive comments, this decision was
>>discussed at length before it was announced. May I ask where, and by whom?
>
> IMHO it was high time to hire an inhouse legal counsel and an
> (interim) executive director. And Brad seems to be a very good choice
> for both. Congratulations to Brad, and to the board for making this
> decision.
>
> Disclaimer: Even if this might be seen as a positive comment, I am not
> aware of any longish discussions. Is there any causal relationship
> between discussing at length and making positive comments about wise
> board decisions?

You should know by now that in Wikimedia discussing at length usually
only takes place for topics like cantonese or moldovian wikipedias, not
for such things as hiring a legal counsel ;-)

Add my congratulations here - so far my experiences with Brad have been
entirely positive and I'm really glad that we have a fulltime lawyer
aboard now :-)

greetings,
elian
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oscar.wiki at gmail

Jun 13, 2006, 5:04 AM

Post #25 of 39 (2375 views)
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Re: Hiring of Interim Executive Director and Legal Counsel [In reply to]

On 6/12/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales[at]wikia.com> wrote:
>
>
> Following a long discussion, both publicly and privately, the board of
> the foundation voted recently to hire an interim Executive Director and
> legal counsel. We offered the position to Brad Patrick, and he
> accepted. We have discussed at length the parameters of the
> position, including job responsibilities, and so on. (This has been
> posted and discussed publicly as well.)
>
> Who is Brad? Brad has been our pro-bono legal counsel for the past
> several months, has become very active in foundation matters and in the
> projects. He is of course a huge fan of free software, Larry Lessig,
> and Wikipedia, and lives and breathes this stuff. Rather than doing
> "merely" legal work (nothing mere about it, of course) for us, he has
> gotten involved in helping the board think about policy, in helping
> Danny deal with various "customer support" issues, etc.
>
> The need for fulltime legal counsel should be obvious to everyone
> involved with the projects. We are increasingly approached with
> interesting opportunities to partner with various organizations in ways
> that are consistent with our community values and missions, and we
> really need fulltime legal support to make sure these deals are done in
> a way which is safe for the foundation. Additionally, of course there
> is an ever increasing burden as we grow more popular of legal complaints
> that we continue to try to deal with in a timely and effective manner.
>
> The need for help in the executive arena is also obvious to
> most of you... particularly any of you who have had to deal with the
> critical lack of human bandwidth at the foundation level to get things
> done in a timely fashion.
>
> Brad was selected first and foremost because he is of the community,
> actively involved for several months, and deeply committed to our mission.
>
> Additionally, when I consulted recently with our volunteer attorneys,
> including Alex Roshuk, Jean-Baptise Soufron and Michael Snow, as well
> as consulting with Eben Moglen of the FSF and Larry Lessig of Creative
> Commons, a common refrain was that we need someone who is familiar with
> the particulars of Florida law, as well as someone who can effectively
> co-ordinate and manage pro-bono legal resources.
>
> This is important to emphasize: we are not hiring an in-house counsel
> *instead of* seeking pro-bono help, but hiring in-house counsel *so
> that* we can effectively seek and manage pro-bono help. As an example:
> when I asked Eben Moglen for help, he said that he can (starting this
> fall, most likely) arrange for us the equivalent of a half-time lawyer,
> except he was quite adamant that he could do so only if we could manage
> the pro-bono hours effectively, and he was very strongly in support of
> us having someone fulltime.
>
> Additionally, Brad will be taking on a number of job responsibilities
> that fall outside of the strictly legal scope, *on an interim basis*.
> We, the board, have been overwhelmed for many months, and we need help
> and assistance with business deals, legal matters, finance, audit,
> planing, etc., etc., the list goes on and on.
>
> We intend to hire a fulltime Executive Director following a very careful
> process of consulting with the community, building support globally,
> defining what the foundation needs, and a comprehensive search for a
> good candidate, both *within the existing community* and *outside the
> community*. It is my intention that we be very very careful in this
> process to preserve our fundamentally community-driven model, while at
> the same time adding professionalism to the organization in order to
> empower and defend the community model. :)
>
> Among Brad's duties will be to assist in co-ordinating and managing that
> search process, in conjunction with the board and community leaders of
> all kinds.
>
> We expect there to be significant press attention to this hiring, and
> significant support and attention from the community. If you have been
> following the discussion on foundation-l, you will know that there are
> serious excitements and of course concerns in the community about what
> this direction means for the future of the foundation and for the
> community.
>
> I intend to keep repeating my same message strongly and simply: it is my
> intention to build upon and extend our radical methods of openness and
> community involvement, while at the same time playing close attention to
> the needs of the organization which makes all of that possible.
> Whatever side any of you personally may come down on, relating to some
> of the details of all that, I hope that you will join me in saying that
> our similarities and hopes and dreams for the future are more important
> than any minor differences, and that we can work our way forward as we
> always have... slowly and carefully, with genuine respect for everyone
> who is taking part in the discussions in a constructive way...
>
> It is important to emphasize that the ED position is primarily about the
> organization, not about the community. That is to say, now is not the
> time to start leaving "please unblock me" messages on Brad's talk page.
> ;-)
>
> Brad is starting work immediately.
>
> --Jimbo

herewith also my sincere congratulations to brad and the organization!
(this quote about "a small step..." came to mind, and i couldn't resist
remembering how pete conrad felt) ;-)

oscar

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