The following discussion is preserved as an archive of a successful nomination to join the Mediation Committee. Please do not modify it.

Wgfinley[edit]

Wgfinley (talk · contribs) is an old editor (2005) and one of the cofounders with of MedCab along with Kim Bruning. He´s currently active in AE, RFAR, and MedCab working principally on Israeli/Palestinian disputes. His work - as a school board member and claims adjuster - involves mediation in RL. Although he doesnt have many edits to his name, by all indications he´s one of the most clueful editors and mediators available to the project.

Questions from Committee members:'

• What are the core principles of Mediation Committee mediation?
  • I have always approached disputes in Wikipedia as misunderstandings of our Community. In most of the disputes I've worked on I've found frequently the core of the differences rest with a bad start. Therefore I believe one of the core principles has to be all disputes are able to be resolved if all parties are will to commit to resolving them. I also am a firm believer in keeping things simple, I live by the WP:TRI principles wherever possible because while I like the pillars, I like it simple. Finally I think many times we've resorted to behavior oriented solutions to content disputes. It's true, not all content disputes can be completely resolved but I'm not convinced that more of them could be and even more still could at least find some resolution.
• Discussions during formal mediation are privileged; they cannot be used against the parties in later proceedings (e.g. RfArb/RfC). Why is that important?
  • Without trust people will be less willing to speak their true feelings and therefore mediation will rarely be successful. It's important to have a process that encourages full disclosure by assuring confidentiality.
• What prior experience do you have in resolving disputes on Wikipedia? Please provide links, and how will these experiences help you to be an effective Committee member?
  • I know I may not have to most edits and I've taken my breaks, I think part of that has been the work I have chosen.
    • I co-founded MedCab with Kim, this came out of work we did together on Wikipedia:Mediation_(2005) (which was a series of ideas of how this committee would run interestingly enough), we had some great work that started there and I'm pleased to see it still around. MedCab was a place for people too disengage and many disputes that would consume a lot of resources have been diffused there.
    • I also got involved as an Advocate at one point and ended up running AMA for a time. I thought it was important that all editors, even those many considered not able to be saved, should have someone standing up for them. I took on tough cases in Netoholic and Instantnood. These two cases were tough and some of the core dispute areas in Wikipedia: science & technology disputes and China/Taiwan disputes.
    • I got exhausted by running AMA and dealing with an influx of Wikilawyers so I needed a Wikibreak. I found myself coming back though when someone who was running afoul of many Wikipedia rules was constantly getting blocked and reached out to me. Working with her I think she's made a great turnaround.
    • I've spent most of my time of late working on as an admin on WP:ARBPIA areas. I still work on MedCab as workable cases come in though I would imagine that would need to change if I were to go to MedCom. Most of the time I have to sit back and not mediate in the admin role, I see plenty of cases in need of a good mediator though. --WGFinley (talk) 01:52, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Mediation Committee:

• nom. Xavexgoem (talk) 18:50, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
• Support - substantial experience of dispute resolution. PhilKnight (talk) 11:14, 19 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
• Support, especially based on his efforts in the Israel-Palestine area. -- tariqabjotu 12:15, 19 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
• Support. WJBscribe (talk) 02:22, 11 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Community opinions:

Discussion and comments:

Decision of the Mediation Committee:

• Promoted. For the Committee, AGK 21:57, 29 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The above nomination to join the Mediation Committee is preserved as a discussion archive. Please do not modify it.