Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Minutes of committee meetings and other queries
Dear Andrew I am still a member because there was legally no secretary to receive my written resignation, as you correctly point out is required by Rule 6(1). Let's fast reverse for a moment: Charles resigned in writing as secretary several days after Graham was, somehow, appointed to the position, presumably using the casual vacancy rule—but there was no vacancy, so the appointment was invalid. I pointed out the problems at the time and was ignored—the fact that I was ignored is quite explicit in the minutes of the meeting during which everyone decided to appoint themselves into different office-bearing positions. http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Meeting:Committee_(2013-03-17)#Committee_reshuffle While we're on this matter, Action: Steven agreed to write up a formal re-shuffle motion, as per the email. – I see no evidence in subsequent minutes of such a a formal re-shuffle motion. It's as simple as that. You say: the committee will not be responding to your correspondence dated 25 January 2014; but you have responded. The failure to address my specific points might prompt members to wonder about several critical issues. Forgive me for being old-fashioned, but I'm rather fussy about adherence to rules and laws. Kind regards Tony On 25/01/2014, at 8:11 PM, Andrew Owens orderinchao...@gmail.com wrote: Dear Tony, On 1 October 2013, you resigned your membership per Rule 6(1) of the Association in writing, via a post to the chapter's lists. It is also on record that this resignation was accepted at the time. As such, you are not a member under the chapter's rules. As a consequence, the committee will not be responding to your correspondence dated 25 January 2014, and notes only that it contains several misunderstandings and errors of fact, some of which can be easily corrected with material already on the record, including reports submitted to the last AGM and the full text of the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012. Regards Andrew Owens Secretary Wikimedia Australia On 25 January 2014 13:17, Tony Souter to...@iinet.net.au wrote: Dear members Since under the chapter's rules I'm still a member of WMAU until 30 June—at which time no membership will be revewable for anyone under the rules, I'm sorry to say—may I ask whether the minutes of today's committee meeting will be posted promptly, unlike last time? Looking at the minutes of the most recent meeting (by the way, pretty short on links for members to navigate to referents), I see 12 red ACTION statements; only one of them is followed by a note that the action was taken: ACTION: Steven to advise Adam. (Update: Actioned 25 November - committee members CC'd on email.) Although it doesn't say whether the action succeeded in terms of the resolution. A sample of the other 11 is below, together with a few other queries. __ *ACTION: All to update COI register. Nope: http://www.wikimedia.org.au/w/index.php?title=Conflict_of_interest_policyaction=history __ *Update of records with CAV and the ACNC Steven advised that everyone had sent through the necessary details. Email issues have hampered the ACNC matter; Steven is sending Andrew the form via express post. The rule changes have not been sent to CAV from the SGM. If it goes beyond 26 November, the lodgment fee increases from $75.20 to $160.50. ACTION: Steven to email Andrew the form; Andrew to file it with CAV on Tuesday. Even if the rule changes were sent to CAV by 26 November, saving the chapter half the fee, it ignores the fact that the law (not the rules, the law) was breached by not communicating the change within a month of the SGM that approved the changes. I believe there's a fine for that breach, but would need to check the Act to confirm this. __ *A7 Past resolutions ACTION: Andrew to sort out past resolutions for posting to the public wiki. This cake looks worryingly half-baked: (add 2013-14, note out of date (will fill this in over coming week) http://www.wikimedia.org.au/w/index.php?title=Resolutionsaction=history __ *C4 Linkage project there are questions as to its fit with our Statement of Purpose—I don't see an argument anywhere supporting this claim. Like the CAV's answers to questions by one committee member about compliance, the answers depend on how those questions are framed. Presumably the previous committee thought the project fit with the SoP. The current spending is authorised by a resolution of the previous committee, but we have the option to rescind this. But one of the problems in squibbing on this funding is that the chapter signed a contract with the other parties. Why sign a binding contract if you're going to flush it down the pan in the hope you won't be sued, even if suing is unlikely? It's a pretty bad smell for the chapter's reputation at the very
[Wikimediaau-l] Minutes of committee meetings and other queries
Dear members Since under the chapter's rules I'm still a member of WMAU until 30 June—at which time no membership will be revewable for anyone under the rules, I'm sorry to say—may I ask whether the minutes of today's committee meeting will be posted promptly, unlike last time? Looking at the minutes of the most recent meeting (by the way, pretty short on links for members to navigate to referents), I see 12 red ACTION statements; only one of them is followed by a note that the action was taken: ACTION: Steven to advise Adam. (Update: Actioned 25 November - committee members CC'd on email.) Although it doesn't say whether the action succeeded in terms of the resolution. A sample of the other 11 is below, together with a few other queries. __ *ACTION: All to update COI register. Nope: http://www.wikimedia.org.au/w/index.php?title=Conflict_of_interest_policyaction=history __ *Update of records with CAV and the ACNC Steven advised that everyone had sent through the necessary details. Email issues have hampered the ACNC matter; Steven is sending Andrew the form via express post. The rule changes have not been sent to CAV from the SGM. If it goes beyond 26 November, the lodgment fee increases from $75.20 to $160.50. ACTION: Steven to email Andrew the form; Andrew to file it with CAV on Tuesday. Even if the rule changes were sent to CAV by 26 November, saving the chapter half the fee, it ignores the fact that the law (not the rules, the law) was breached by not communicating the change within a month of the SGM that approved the changes. I believe there's a fine for that breach, but would need to check the Act to confirm this. __ *A7 Past resolutions ACTION: Andrew to sort out past resolutions for posting to the public wiki. This cake looks worryingly half-baked: (add 2013-14, note out of date (will fill this in over coming week) http://www.wikimedia.org.au/w/index.php?title=Resolutionsaction=history __ *C4 Linkage project there are questions as to its fit with our Statement of Purpose—I don't see an argument anywhere supporting this claim. Like the CAV's answers to questions by one committee member about compliance, the answers depend on how those questions are framed. Presumably the previous committee thought the project fit with the SoP. The current spending is authorised by a resolution of the previous committee, but we have the option to rescind this. But one of the problems in squibbing on this funding is that the chapter signed a contract with the other parties. Why sign a binding contract if you're going to flush it down the pan in the hope you won't be sued, even if suing is unlikely? It's a pretty bad smell for the chapter's reputation at the very least. Who (including the WMF) would sign a contract with WMAU after that? This sits oddly with a generally loose approach to spending, without clear signs of improving the performance of the chapter: I see proposals to move from a free email system to one that costs $50 a year per person ($50? really?), and that the discourse on the site is so sensitive that a much more expensive non-shared option is being considered. Since the site remains a ghost town, I can't see the purpose in bumping up expenditure on it by one cent. Even snail-mail looks like incurring more costs (redirect fee, etc). May I ask why a mail box is used in the first place? If someone has to have the key to it, why not mail to their home to save costs and expedite communication? It's very unsuitable in a huge continent to assign one location for a paid mailbox. May I ask why nearly a thousand dollars was set aside in the August meeting for some online course experiment in ... what ... company board membership skills? Really? I thought the election would have sorted out who was competent to serve on the committee. And is the Committee pursuing the idea of spending the grand some of $5,000 each quarter to ferry to, and accommodate and feed the committee, in a different location in Australia? For the Sydney meeting last year, only one member turned up. How is that Fit to Purpose or value for money? http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Quarterly_board_meetings __ Minutes of previous meeting: It was noted that most present were not at the meeting, but that as Graham had prepared the minutes and Craig had agreed to them, an overall majority of the previous committee could be judged in favour. I'm not sure that's a logical assumption. __ Finance report Two red links for September and Octover reports. Where are they? __ The World War I event proceeded, but nobody on the committee was present, so a report will be sought from the organiser for the next meeting. No ACTION statement, so I can't imagine anything's been done on that one. Just sayin', members. Tony___ Wikimediaau-l mailing
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Meeting today..?
Peter, congratulations: you've found a YouTube vid that precisely describes Wikimedia Australia. Tony On 23/01/2014, at 11:02 AM, Peter Musings thepmacco...@gmail.com wrote: anyone? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA (could anyone receiving this just flick me a quick hello to confirm that the problem isn't the nut behind the keyboard this end...) best, Peter. PM. On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 11:43 AM, Peter Musings thepmacco...@gmail.com wrote: ping :-) Just wondering if I sent this ok? best, Peter, PM. On Tue, Jan 21, 2014 at 8:22 AM, Peter Musings thepmacco...@gmail.com wrote: hi folks, any news on minutes and the IRC log? best, Peter. PM. On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 5:14 PM, Steven Zhang cro0...@gmail.com wrote: Hi John, The minutes of the previous committee meeting are still forthcoming, and as Andrew has previously mentioned he has been unwell. We have not had our committee meeting this month to accept the minutes from the December meeting. Once this is done, they will be posted to the public wiki as is customary. I had a log of the meeting but it seems my IRC client creates it in a way so that converting it to text is impossible. I believe others may have a log and once I locate this it will be posted. Thanks for your patience. Steven Zhang On 12 Jan 2014, at 4:58 pm, John Vandenberg jay...@gmail.com wrote: They havent been posted Steven. :( On Jan 12, 2014 9:27 AM, Steve Zhang steven.zh...@wikimedia.org.au wrote: Hi John, I believe the minutes are in the process of being finalized today and we have a copy of the irc log to post. It will be going ahead as planned today at 4pm AEDST. Steve On 12/01/2014 1:15 PM, John Vandenberg jay...@gmail.com wrote: There are at least two items the committee should be attending to before the meeting today. The IRC log from the last public meeting should be published. The minutes from the last committee meeting should be published. fwiw, I am an apology for the meeting today, due to a prior commitment of being facilitator at a Wikidata workshop being here in Jakarta. -- John Vandenberg ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] opportunity
I don't think the Foundation will supply a letter, unless you have a particular person there in mind. This would not be a Wikemedian in residence, but an artist in residence, funded by Canberra and supported by a written commitment from the chapter (what would that commitment be?). Who is applying? They'd need to have a demonstrably good record of professional standard. And how to demonstrate the ability to promote research, conservation and management endeavours. Solid relations with WPian editors in these fields would be an advantage. The current holder writes a blog, which would be worth looking at, as would the link to previous holders. Note that originality, innovaiton and intellectual merit carry 20% weighting. Tony On 14/01/2014, at 12:58 PM, Gnangarra gnanga...@gmail.com wrote: WMAU is Australian and thats the focus of the application and within our control... Yes a WMF supporting letter would also be fantastic addition and the committee could approach them to provide one On 14 January 2014 09:50, Matt Inbgn mattin...@gmail.com wrote: Why a letter just from the chapter. Why not one from the Wikimedia foundation as well? Sent from my iPhone On 14 Jan 2014, at 12:44, Liam Wyatt liamwy...@gmail.com wrote: It's a fantastic idea, and nice work Gnang finding it and bringing it to everyone's attention. I recall back for the Wiki10 (10th anniversary of Wikipedia celebrations) the WMF tried desperately (but in vain) to get an antartic research group to host a party in order that there could be a party on every single continent. Certainly a letter of support from the Chapter should be submitted in association with any applicant. Ideally the applicant would not only be taking lots of gorgeous photos but also be able to provide some kind of bridge between the WP editing community and the scientists down there - to help increase a) the quality of texts about antarctic geography, science and history, but also to increase the awareness and skills of the science community down there in potentially their becoming editors themselves. -Liam wittylama.com Peace, love metadata On 14 January 2014 12:36, Kerry Raymond kerry.raym...@gmail.com wrote: Having been to the Antarctic back in 1996, I would certainly say to anyone “go for it”! How cool it would be to be (pun intended) to be the first Wikimedian in Residence in Antarctica. Kerry From: wikimediaau-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikimediaau-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Gnangarra Sent: Monday, 13 January 2014 8:50 PM To: Wikimedia-au Subject: [Wikimediaau-l] opportunity There is an opportunity for someone to spend time in Antartica, as photographer I love to be able to do this, as Wikimedian imagine what content you could enhance. For me I it's either 20 years too late or 10 years too soon, given the skills and knowledge of many people here if your able to apply I say go for it... applications close 30 March 2014 so give it some thought... Become the first Wikimedian in Residence in Antartica. http://www.antarctica.gov.au/media/news/2013/antarctic-arts-fellowship-apply-now I havent brought this matter to the committee but I'm sure if you were to apply WMAU committee would consider requests for supporting documentation where appropriate Gideon ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] Rule changes
Members, I notice that a member has gone in and changed the rules to incorporate the rule changes that gained the support of the special general meeting in October. http://www.wikimedia.org.au/w/index.php?title=Rulesdiff=11027oldid=10529 Was the result of the SGM communicated to Consumer Affairs Victoria within the 28-day period required by the law (a breach would attract a fine)? Has the result been communicated at all to CAV? If so, has CAV approved it? Rule changes are not valid until the CAV approves them. Tony___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] Queries
May I ask the chapter's management committee: (1) When did the chapter last supply a written activity and financial report to the WMF, as I believe is required by its trademark contract with the Foundation? (2) Is it the case that at least one must be supplied within four months after the end of the chapter year (what is the applicable date, in that case)? (3) Which office bearer is responsible for doing this? (4) Is a copy of the trademark agreement (probably called Chapter agreement) linked from the chapter's site? When does it expire? Tony ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] AGM and new committee appear to have no legitimacy under the law and chapter rules
Dear members I write with regret concerning the actions of Wikimedia Australia's management committee in March 2013, which have thrown the chapter into a cascade of legal illegitimacy that will continue ad infinitum unless addressed very soon. The outlines of this may be familiar to some members of the chapter, but to my surprise the issue has been pushed under the carpet. I have informed WMF Legal and Community Advocacy that there may be a problem that will impact on the the Foundation's trademark agreement with the chapter. Legal background The chapter is incorporated in the state of Victoria under the Associations Incorporation Act 2012, and the chapter's rules are approved and registered by Consumer Affairs Victoria—although by now everyone knows that CAV doesn't normally read the rules of associations they register, aside from a quick and sloppy flick through when the association is applying to change them. The secretary is the only officer invested with legal status in the Act. http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Rules http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/f932b66241ecf1b7ca256e92000e23be/F9AF0E97F6F86597CA2579F100184027/$FILE/12-020a%20authorised.pdf Problematic timeline In November 2012, chapter members directly elected four office-bearers – secretary, president, vice-president, and treasurer – and two ordinary members, all for a term of one year. The results were announced at the AGM on 25 November 2012. http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Meeting:2012_AGM/Minutes#Election_of_officers_of_the_association_and_members_of_the_committee On 17 March 2013, the committee decided to reshuffle these elected positions: the secretary would resign, the president and treasurer would swap positions, and the vice-president would become secretary (apparently the secretary's wish to resign sparked these changes en masse to the voters' decision). The committee's minutes record this as being done all in one hit, despite advice on the mailing list that casual vacancies would need to be created first through a succession of resignations in writing. http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Meeting:Committee_(2013-03-17)#Committee_reshuffle The chapter's rules provide that an office becomes vacant only under four conditions (resigns from the chapter, becomes insolvent, fails to attend three consecutive meetings, or resigns from office by notice in writing given to the secretary—Rule 24(c)). None of these conditions was satisfied, and the minutes simply announced the new offices as though it were like putting out the washing. I believe the secretary, Charles Gregory, did resign in writing, but critically this was two days later, on 19 March. At the time of the meeting, then, no one had resigned in writing given to the secretary—not even the secretary himself. So there were no casual vacancies. The committee appears to have relied on Rule 21(4) to make the new appointments to casual vacancies that didn't exist. (As an aside, had the committee's appointment of the vice-president to the secretary's role been valid, leaving the vice-presidency vacant for more than 14 days was a breach of 21(4), as is the failure to replace Charles Gregory with a new secretary according to legal process: In the event of a casual vacancy, as specified in rule 24, in any office referred to in sub-rule (1), the committee must within 14 days appoint an eligible member of the organisation to the vacant office ) In the minutes, committee member Steven Zhang agreed to write up a formal re-shuffle motion. It's not that doing so would have made it all legal, but yes, a formal motion would have been the proper procedure. There is no evidence of such a motion, and a CAV representative apparently told this committee member on the phone that as long as the chapter's rules are complied with, everything's fine. That is not an endorsement by CAV. The AGM Under rule 12, the secretary must cause to be sent a notice of all general meetings, like the annual general meeting. There is no secretary, so this rule was breached and the AGM is not valid. Under rule 23(1)(b), nominations for election to the committee must be delivered to the Secretary of the Association not less than 7 days before the date fixed for the holding of the annual general meeting. There is no secretary, so the election is not valid. The situation now *The whole musical chairs exercise in March was illegitimate, and subsequently informing CAV as required of the change in secretary was not based on a legal process within the chapter, and thus would not be recognised by the Melbourne Magistrate's Court or the Victorian Supreme Court. *There has been no secretary since Charles Gregory resigned in writing on 19 March; the committee's attempt to replace him two days before, on 17 March, is not valid under the rules. *The other changes in office bearers are not valid under the chapter's rules, since no
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] AGM results
That will be difficult, since you're not the legitimate president. John Vandenberg is in the short term. Tony On 23/11/2013, at 5:41 PM, Steve Zhang wrote: I want to thank everyone who supported my candidacy. I look forward to working with the rest of the new committee in moving our organization forward. Steven Zhang President - Wikimedia Australia On 23/11/2013 5:30 PM, Craig Franklin cfrank...@halonetwork.net wrote: Congraulations from me as well. I'm confident that this group is the right group to move the chapter forward, and I wish them the very best of luck for the coming year. Regards, Craig Franklin Andrew Owens said: Dear members and community, Firstly, thank you for the opportunity to serve again after a two-year absence from the committee. I hope that I will be able to fulfil your expectations :) Congratulations to Steven Zhang, who has been elected president of Wikimedia Australia for the 2013-14 term and to other members, all of whom were returned unopposed, and listed below: * Gideon Digby - Vice President * Andrew Owens - Secretary * Michael Billington - Ordinary Member * Charles Gregory - Ordinary Member * Pru Mitchell - Ordinary Member * Robert Myers - Ordinary Member The new committee will need to fill the role of Treasurer - no-one stepped forward at the AGM, so a vacancy was declared. Watch this space - we will be looking for ideas and opportunities to move forward. kindest regards Andrew Owens Secretary Wikimedia Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Interesting story in today's press
Producing a position paper that the ADA can use would be one of the most significant things the chapter ever did. Assistance from other Wikimedians might be forthcoming if messages are posted (by the committee) on mailing lists asking for advice after a draft is written. Some of Australia's copyright restrictions are ridiculous and unsustainable. Please think of what the strategy would be. At a guess, analysing any ADA proposal, setting out how draconian some aspects of Australian copyright law are compared with those in the US (e.g. no fair use), and organising WMAU members to lobby on social media etc. Tony On 12/11/2013, at 7:28 PM, Andrew Owens wrote: http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/why-creating-memes-is-illegal-in-australia/story-fnjwmwrh-1226758121774 The Australian Digital Alliance is pushing for a fair use amendment to the Copyright Act. Is there anything WMAu and its supporters can do to get on board with it? kindest regards Andrew ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] Resigning membership
Dear members and committee, I had decided to resign just before the notification about moderation of the private list arrived: that notification is irrelevant to my decision. Most members, and probably the whole committee, loathe me. I can't see that I'll have anything positive to contribute now, since the membership register fiasco has soured things. To be frank, I find I have to severely ration my WMF online time as it is, and chapter activities – I mean real stuff, not just going around in circles on the mailing list – have always been a much lower priority for me. So I want to leave on a positive note, which is to repeat what I've said before: in a country as sprawled out as Australia, forget meetups and get online to achieve the aims. Personal relationships with cultural institutions are the key: that can lead to real benefits for WMF sites. Well done John Vandenberg and Whiteghost, and a few others who've started good work on that count. I'd make those relationships a central aim, identifying the members who are best suited to forging them, and supporting them with small member teams. Probably you need to attract in more professionals from cultural institutions as ... associate/guest members, even fellowships, even if on a temporary basis: librarians, archivists, broadcasters, museum people, academics who have contacts – but only if they're prepared to work on temporary projects like persuading pre-targeted institutions to release cultural products under free licences. Now you can rejoice and be nasty about me behind my back for (another) five minutes, then forget. I hope your election goes well. Tony ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] vids
Gangarra et al., VisEd should have stabilised by the time we got around to writing/designing/producing vids. That's a pretty good time to start, to ride the new wave. T ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Annual Plan 2014: instructional videos and the larger question of SMART-vs-BHAG
we’d probably need to spend some money on professional tools for making instructional videos (screen-capture and video-editing software) and perhaps some training on how to use them effectively I was assuming WMAU would hire a contractor for the tech side. There are skilled individuals who have the right equipment/software at home and are prepared to produce an excellent product. Nothing less than professional will do nowadays, and it could be really slick, which sends a good message about WMF sites. WMAU's input would be in designing and writing the vid, probably in consultation with the contractor. And in the first place deciding on what aspects of editing are the targets – and whether they'd be Australian-specific. All I know is that I've not yet seen a really good, attractive vid about editing WP. If someone has, please link me to it. Gillian White probably has a good knowledge of what is available already, and might be able to identify ways in which we could fill an important niche. T On 21/07/2013, at 8:43 AM, Kerry Raymond wrote: In http://www.wikimedia.org.au//wiki/Proposal_talk:2014_Annual_Plan#Proposal Tony1 also suggests instructional videos to reinforce edit training and/or to replace it. He asks is “is it too ambitious”? Because of the WMF’s enthusiasm for metrics, it does drive our thinking towards “low-hanging fruit” projects. Edit training workshops are a good example of this “low hanging” fruit problem. We know we can run a certain number of edit training sessions, we know that with the help of our GLAM partners, we can probably get a certain attendance, we know that attendees seem to enjoy their day of edit training (based on feedback forms) – so that’s a nice measurable success for a nice project that we should keep doing. Could we put the effort instead into instructional videos? Obviously instructional videos could potentially reach a massive international audience, far greater than maybe the 100-200 people we can train each year through workshops, but maybe they would be absolutely zero downloads/views. So the risk/return profile of videos is much higher (we can both succeed and fail more spectacularly) than for edit training. Also we struggle to find volunteers among WMAU members and the Australian WP community for our edit training workshops as our library partners like to run these events on weekdays (incompatible with people’s work lives). Would we find it more-or-less easy to get people to prepare instructional videos which they could at 3am in their pyjamas if they wanted? I don’t know. What are the relative costs? Well, edit training generally has travel costs, but we’d probably need to spend some money on professional tools for making instructional videos (screen-capture and video-editing software) and perhaps some training on how to use them effectively. So what do we do? Low-risk/return edit training workshop or higher-risk/return edit training videos? Of course in the ideal world of infinite resources we can do both, but we don’t live in that world (“everything costs something” as my former Vice-Chancellor used to say). Aside. In regard to edit training in any form, we have a practical problem in relation to the progressive rollout of increasing functionality of the visual editor. This impacts on our existing edit training workshop materials (slides and manuals) and would impact on the preparation of videos. But my question here is more philosophical about the risk/return model of what we do. Kerry ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] [cultural-partners] This Saturday – in a language version near you
Will refreshments be served? T On 24/06/2013, at 6:27 PM, John Vandenberg wrote: This Saturday, we have an online only WWI edit-a-thon. If you are interested, please sign up at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_edit-a-thons/Australia#First If you have questions, post them here, or email Hawkeye7 (hawke...@gmail.com) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Hawkeye7 There will be a physical edit-a-thon in Sydney at State Library NSW on 11 November 2013 (Armistice Day), so please put that in your diary too. -- Forwarded message -- From: John Andersson john.anders...@wikimedia.se Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 6:03 PM Subject: [cultural-partners] This Saturday – in a language version near you To: cultural-partn...@wikimedia.ch cultural-partn...@wikimedia.ch, g...@lists.wikimedia.org g...@lists.wikimedia.org Dear everybody, Sorry for cross posting. On Saturday the 29th of June, there will be a number of WWI edit-a-thons organized in Europe and Australia! So far six countries have edit-a-thons planned and volunteers from two other countries are planning online events in two other Wikipedia language versions! This is an initiative by Wikimedia Sverige, in cooperation with Europeana, and we would like to invite all of you to organize a small gathering in your country/hometown; create an online contest in your language version; or simply join one of the existing ones – simply sign up on Meta or drop me an email if you have any questions! If you, as a participant, use the images from Europeana and write articles you can win a travel check with 300 euros (which for example could help cover part of your costs for participating at Wikimania or some other nice trip)! Read more about the Europeana Challenge here. As far as I know this is the largest number of parallel edit-a-thons ever! So don't miss out now when we are writing history! *pun intended* Kind regards, John - - - - John Andersson Wikimedia Sverige Project Leader Europeana Awareness Phone: +46(0)73-3965189 Email: john.anders...@wikimedia.se Skype: johnandersson86 Be sure to follow us on Twitter at @wikieuropeana Visit http://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Projekt:Europeana_Awareness/English for more information about our project! Vill du stödja fri kunskap? Bli medlem i Wikimedia Sverige! / Would you like to support free knowledge? Please consider becoming a member of Wikimedia Sweden! ___ Cultural-Partners mailing list cultural-partn...@wikimedia.ch https://intern.wikimedia.ch/lists/listinfo/cultural-partners Please treat emails sent to this list as confidential.Ask senders for permission before forwarding emails off-list. ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] time to join Wikimedia Australia?
Pyjamas: that's a timid concept. There's a rumour going around that some people edit Wikipedia in the nude. I don't believe it. T On 16/06/2013, at 7:29 PM, K. Peachey wrote: On Sun, Jun 16, 2013 at 7:07 PM, Kerry Raymond kerry.raym...@gmail.com wrote: … you get to spend more time with people who don’t think you are weird for editing Wikipedia at 3am in your pyjamas [delete this reason if you don’t edit at 3am in your pyjamas] … You mean that isn't normal‽‽ ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Wikimediaau-l Digest, Vol 81, Issue 6
Good resources indeed, on the training-day page. I'm bookmarking it with a view to suggesting other training sessions take a look. I wonder whether any of them are translated into other languages. Tony On 13/06/2013, at 10:52 PM, Craig Franklin wrote: Leigh, I just wanted to say thanks again for taking the time to do this session. The feedback we've got from the folk at GCCC is great and hopefully this is the first step in another partnership with them. I note that Kerry Raymond will be doing another session later this month also on the Gold Coast. Kerry's session will be open to the general public and not just council library staff. If any member of the Australian Wikimedia community available and interested in helping out, please drop Kerry or I a line to indicate your interest. Reasonable travel costs will be reimbursed by the chapter to participate. Cheers, Craig On 13 June 2013 22:00, wikimediaau-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org wrote: Send Wikimediaau-l mailing list submissions to wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to wikimediaau-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org You can reach the person managing the list at wikimediaau-l-ow...@lists.wikimedia.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than Re: Contents of Wikimediaau-l digest... Today's Topics: 1. Gold Coast Libraries Wikimedia Training Day (Leigh Blackall) -- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:06:51 +1000 From: Leigh Blackall leighblack...@gmail.com To: wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Wikimediaau-l] Gold Coast Libraries Wikimedia Training Day Message-ID: cahnmxu8rj1f52+fmkam6725ojaq_fjfaq5o2tqvkmtorldy...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Hi folks, A Wikimedia training day was held at the Palm Beach Community Lounge and Library, Queensland recently. Planning, resources and outcomes are documented here: http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_training_day,_Gold_Coast_Libraries -- -- Leigh Blackall http://about.me/leighblackall +61(0)404561009 -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaau-l/attachments/20130613/87875aab/attachment-0001.html -- ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l End of Wikimediaau-l Digest, Vol 81, Issue 6 ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] Link to vid on blind ABC radio cadet
Our secretary, Graham Pearce, just alerted me to this. First, any lateral thinkers as to ways WMAU could value-add from this idea, or from collaboration? Second, I've heard mention that the WMF could do with a thematic organisation to facilitate progress on innovations for visually impaired editors and readers. One can only hope. Tony ABC journalist breaking new ground - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] [---] Australian Census Data Released Under CC License, But Official Site Tries To Make It Hard To Download
And a huge thank you to Toby for his tireless work in bringing us these graphic resources. It would be good to have more of them used in articles – so if members know of editors on en.WP who are in a position to expand their use, please let them know. Tony On 30/04/2013, at 1:01 AM, Toby Hudson wrote: I find the ABS better than most government departments. Although I haven't found stable deeplinks to census data, I'm reasonably happy with everything else. Just a reminder that every timeseries the ABS makes available (all 64293 of them) has been plotted, is available on Commons, and gets updated to incorporate additional datapoints and new datasets: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Images_using_data_from_the_Australian_Bureau_of_Statistics https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Statistics_of_Australia About one hundred of these are in use on en-wiki, but I think there's potential for plenty more. Also, if it's census data you want, I have written the scripts to make maps like these for any census question (in the Basic Community Profile so far) for any geographic subdivision method: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SVG_maps_using_data_from_the_Australian_Bureau_of_Statistics I'd like to improve them before doing a mass upload, but if you want anything in particular, let me know. Toby / 99of9 ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] This is great news
Whiteghost and Liam, it's an excellent turn of events. And getting a critical mass among state libraries, so that they'll talk to each other about chapter-initiated moves to free up more of their cultural content – that will be a bonus. T On 22/03/2013, at 6:31 PM, Liam Wyatt wrote: As someone who has been working with Whiteghost.ink in the GLAM space in Sydney, with the SLNSW specifically, and in a wide variety of other ways for many years, I am extremely happy and proud of this announcement! In a way it is the payoff from having the first ever GLAM-Wiki conference in Canberra back in 2009 (that's my claim at least!) I'm not forgetting the great work with WiR that has happened in other libraries around the world, significant ongoing collaboration projects with other libraries in Australia, and Wikimedia Australia's ongoin relationship with the Paralympic commission (including the associated WiR there). However, being a Sydneysider whose first love is History means that I have a strong affinity for the Library, its collections and its cultural status. So, it is fantastic that across the whole country it should be the first GLAM to have a Wikipedian-in-Residence in the country! Congratulations :-) Liam / Wittylama On Friday, 22 March 2013, G. White wrote: Dear Australian Wikimedian and Cultural Partnerships teams, I'm extremely pleased to announce that this week I started as Wikipedian-in-Residence at the State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW), which is our oldest library and has a collection of global importance, including significant rare books, manuscripts and objects. It is a place to which almost every Australian scholar would pay homage. This is the first time there has been a Wikipedian-in-Residence in an Australian cultural institution and it has it has taken some time to work through the administrative processes to establish the position. As some of you know, Wikimedia Australia has been doing a lot of work with libraries locally. Most recently we were the major sponsors at the annual librarians conference and over the last couple of years we have been travelling to regional areas to deliver training to the local librarians (in partnership with several of the State Libraries). SLNSW also has a partnership with the National Library in Canberra, which is digitising Australian newspapers and linking the records back to the respective Wikipedia articles (example). Most significantly is that the SLNSW has been been building up a strong relationship with us recently and myself and other local Wikimedians have been delivered several training workshops to an in-house team of librarians who are contributing references and content to Wikipedia as part of their day-to-day work (project page). You can see there that a lot of the content we've been targeting for the team to write is the articles about the newspapers that have now been digitised. My WiR position reports to the Leader of the library's Innovation Project (Mylee Joseph, cc'd here), who is the instigator of that team. Since my term as WiR is for one day a week over 14 weeks, and the scope of work is excitingly ambitious, it is this team that will make it possible to achieve what one part time Resident could not. They are a keen and capable group. The Residency has been established to provide training, coaching, guidance, specialist advice to staff, evaluation of related projects as well as assistance with process mapping and benchmarking so that other Australian libraries can benefit from SLNSW's experience. In terms of content, as well as the newspapers, my Residency is likely to be involved in work on articles on the The 100 Objects Exhibition, indigenous and original materials, convict women, convict artists, the crossing of the Blue Mountains and Australia's involvement in World War I. I am glad this group has paved the way and am very excited about the possibilities before us! I will post updates here and in the This Month in GLAM report. I will also probably come here to ask questions and seek feedback and help. I hope that the process mapping and benchmarking would also be useful to similar projects elsewhere. Whiteghost.ink -- wittylama.com Peace, love metadata ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
[Wikimediaau-l] Constitutional query about this reshuffle
Dear members Given the legal requirements of incorporation in Victoria, it's important to check that the unusual reshuffle of committee office-bearers last weekend was conducted in accordance with WMAU's by-laws. These by-laws were forwarded to the WMF as part of the process of gaining the Foundation's agreement to renew the trademark agreement. The attempt to reshuffle the roles of three office bearers who were elected to specific positions by the membership a few months ago appears to have relied on the provisions for casual vacancies, just months after an election that filled those specific offices: 21. Office holders ... (4) In the event of a casual vacancy, as specified in rule 24, in any office referred to in sub-rule (1), the committee may appoint one of its members to the vacant office and the member appointed may continue in office up to and including the conclusion of the annual general meeting next following the date of the appointment. Could I ask whether the president, treasurer, and secretary each satisfied one of the four conditions required by section 24 for the offices to become vacant in the first place before the committee sought to appoint different members as president, treasurer, and secretary, and if so, which condition applied to each of John, Craig, and Graham? 24. Vacancies The office of an officer of the Association, or of an ordinary member of the committee, becomes vacant if the officer or member-- (a) ceases to be a member of the Association; or (b) becomes an insolvent under administration within the meaning of the Corporations Law; or (c) resigns from office by notice in writing given to the Secretary. (d) fails to attend three consecutive scheduled committee meetings without leave. Regards Tony ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
Re: [Wikimediaau-l] [wmau:members] Re: Wikimedia Australia public meeting
I'm flexible, but 20:00 AEST sounds good. Could I suggest a note to memebers about five to seven days beforehand, perhaps specifying a kick-off issue/agenda item or two, and that the meeting might be limited to 60 mins or less? If the maximum duration is long, or the end-time is open-ended, the drop-in drop-out casualness of it all detracts from the cohesiveness of the gathering. T On 04/03/2013, at 9:11 PM, Craig Franklin wrote: Firstly, apologies on the somewhat late notice - would members prefer it if we dropped a notice in a couple of days beforehand? Remembering that the meeting is *always* on the first Sunday of the month? Secondly, Gnangarra raises a good point that we should move the time around a bit every now and then for the benefit of those for whom the normal time is not convenient. As daylight savings ends at the beginning of April (I think), would anyone object to holding the April meeting at 8pm AEST (6pm WA time)? Or is there another time that would be even better for the other WA folk? Cheers, Craig On 3 March 2013 23:02, Gnangarra gnanga...@gmail.com wrote: WA 2pm on a sunday afternoon in the middle of a long weekend, not really practical. Hopefully once Vic, NSW SA and TAS go off daylight saving the committee will hold one of these at say 6pm wst, 8pm est. On 3 March 2013 20:52, Chris Watkins chriswater...@appropedia.org wrote: On 3 March 2013 14:46, Tony Souter to...@iinet.net.au wrote: Could there be more notice? And an agenda topic or two might attract more members into participating. Items don't have to be billed as occupying the meeting exclusively. Agreed - I appreciate the work done by the organizers, but I reckon more notice and topics would get more of us to join in. I have the meetings as a recurring event in my calendar, but something always distracts me... if I knew what was going to be discussed, I'm sure I'd be more likely to remember to actually log on. -- Chris Watkins Appropedia.org - Sharing knowledge to build rich, sustainable lives. ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l -- GN. Photo Gallery: http://gnangarra.redbubble.com Gn. Blogg: http://gnangarra.wordpress.com ___ Tony Souter *Fixed-line phone: +612 42633401 *Mobile: 0450 717627 (+61450 717627), but usually not switched on *Skype: tonysouter *Street address: 1/29 Tarrant Ave, Kiama Downs 2533, Australia ___ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
