Talk:Affiliate-selected Board seats/2019/Nominations/Taweetham Limpanuparb

Endorsement from Wikimedia Taiwan

• Wikimedia Taiwan has known Taweetham’s effort in Wikimedia Thai Usergroup and global effort in the joining campaign of Wiki Loves Monument and Wiki Loves Earth. We are glad and honored to endorse a Wikipedian who is able to voice the long underrepresented Asia/Oceania region. The conclusion of this endorsement is done by the online discussion of the board of Wikimedia Taiwan (Via Telegram private group)--- Ffaarr (talk) 14:28, 30 April 2019 (UTC)

Local Chapter vs. Worldwide

It is more than welcome to have the representative from the newly-emerging community, however, I have certain questions that relates to the local chapter (Wikimedia Thailand) and the comparative view with the governance in the worldwide scale. --124.122.198.168 15:54, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

1. While it is most welcome to secure the engagement/participation of new user and the retention of new user, this issue can become quite complex if the people engaged do not know what to expect in the live environment (in particular, one of the meetups I participated that attempted to recruit new editors or encourage further participation in the Wikimedia Community) suffered from the questionable issue of inability to conform with the policy, and the users will mostly frustrate if they discovered that their participation is not recognized. How do you plan to make the participation of new user conform with the policy established in each project, and how (if any) would the position of the Board of Trustee assist in resolving the discrepancy? --124.122.198.168 15:54, 25 May 2019 (UTC)
2. It was mentioned that you mentored students to succeed your position as an editor, and that your participation has slowed down. While offline contributions will always be appreciated, the intersperse nature of the online participation means it will be quite difficult to measure your future participation should you were elected as the Board of Trustee. How do you plan to participate further to the community if elected as the Board of Trustee? --124.122.198.168 15:54, 25 May 2019 (UTC)
3. Do you consider the governance of the Local Chapter, the Geographically Focused Chapter, and the Global Organization to be similar to one another? How? What makes governance of each chapter different? --124.122.198.168 15:54, 25 May 2019 (UTC)

Thank you for your questions. Let me share my opinions with you on the points you have raised.

• First of all, I do not characterize the Thai movement by the term emerging. This is besides the point but I only wish to mention that the Thai community gathered pace very quickly after the first introduction Wikipedia and sister projects.

1. My understanding is that we had had a very rapid expansion period. During that period (or the good old days) only Assume Good Faith (AGF) and Be Bold are good enough to foster positive environment to nurture new volunteers. It was the past. We now face a challenge of our own success - saturation of key metrics and frustration among the community of both veteran and novice. If elected, I can advocate for various policies as well as technical tools that will promote good mentorship and collegiality within the community. Here are some ideas:
   • Imagine if If you have a tool to see (1) how many people I have introduced to Wikipedia and how many of them are blocked, reverted or produced good/feature articles and (2) in articles that I make major edits, how many time they are visited since my last edit and how many views in total.
   • We should try to survey and understand the (1) demographic, (2) motivation, and nature of hours contributed by volunteers in different regions of the world. My suspicion is that there is more 'social' factor to volunteer satisfaction than what we anticipated/assumed earlier. Shall Wikipedia be more social-network like to address the market? The question shall be answered after we have more information from proper research.
2. I did not state "slow down" but wrote 'I am very grateful to my students and other volunteers whose work as Wikipedians and usergroup volunteers have already surpassed mine in terms of quality and quantity'. I do understand what you may feel if you had seen me online for hours everyday. However, we have to be realistic. Things have changed over time. My future contribution can still be measured in a similar manner as before. If the matter is not confidential, you will see it on meta or other relevant sites. It may be better to characterize the transition as "content creation" -> "policy and advocacy".
3. There are similarities and differences in many aspects. The legal and financial matters can be compared and contrasted accordingly by the standard protocol. However, the sociocultural/geopolitical aspects may be more relevant to your question. Currently, WMF recognized a large number of diverse affiliates and most of them are demarcated by their geographical presence. At first glance, they appear similar and uphold common value/principle/goal. However, they are very much varied in maturity, mentality and their short-term targets. The governance question here actually goes back to my answer to your first question - we need to understand what brings them together. Volunteerism is perceived and practiced differently in different cultures. To lead a volunteer organization, it is important to understand their nature first.

--Taweethaも (talk) 15:26, 26 May 2019 (UTC)