Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wikipedia crosses the 25, 000 article mark
Hoi, Congratulations. At translatewiki.net there is a steady stream of localisations being done for the Tamil language. The result is improved usability in both the Tamil Wikipedia and Commons. Together with the growing number of articles the Tamil projects are likely to get more visitors and become more relevant. Thanks, GerardM On 6 October 2010 12:41, BalaSundaraRaman sundarbe...@yahoo.com wrote: I'm pleased to inform you all that Tamil Wikipedia has crossed the 25,000 article milestone now. :-) - Sundar That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted. - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wikipedia crosses the 25, 000 article mark
Congrats to Tamil wiki community for their hard work. And Tamil Wikipedia happens to be the 4th Indian language Wikipedia to cross the 25,000 article milestone. On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:41 AM, BalaSundaraRaman sundarbe...@yahoo.comwrote: I'm pleased to inform you all that Tamil Wikipedia has crossed the 25,000 article milestone now. :-) - Sundar That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted. - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wikipedia crosses the 25, 000 article mark
On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 1:06 PM, Shiju Alex shijualexonl...@gmail.comwrote: Congrats to Tamil wiki community for their hard work. And Tamil Wikipedia happens to be the 4th Indian language Wikipedia to cross the 25,000 article milestone. On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:41 AM, BalaSundaraRaman sundarbe...@yahoo.comwrote: I'm pleased to inform you all that Tamil Wikipedia has crossed the 25,000 article milestone now. :-) Wow Congratulations :) - Sundar That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted. - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Rajesh Pandey ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
[Wikimediaindia-l] who is the director of wikimedia india
hi, on the last page of this book (released last week) it says Kiruba Shankar is CEO of Business Blogging and a Director at Wikimedia India which runs Wikipedia http://www.krithya.in/rabbit/ has the wikimedia foundation already hired a national country director? i feel we as community should know about these things before they are announced generally. the announcement has been made publicly it seems: http://www.yourstory.in/expert-talk/guest-column/2902-kiruba-shankarbrain-behind-tedx-chennai?format=pdf http://www.businessblogging.org/facebookgarage/team http://ria-lize.blogspot.com/2009/10/ria-lization.html lots more as well. i am little confused. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] who is the director of wikimedia india
On 6 October 2010 15:21, Bharat Nedungadi bharatnedung...@yahoo.in wrote: has the wikimedia foundation already hired a national country director? i I am pretty sure they haven't. lots more as well. i am little confused. Kiruba was part of the India Chapter efforts but is no longer involved with it. His email to the group is here: http://www.mail-archive.com/wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/msg00340.html Cheers! - Gautam ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] who is the director of wikimedia india
Hi Bharath, Just to dispel any confusion, the hunt for Wikimedia India Foundation Director is still on. The information you pointed out is old and has been duly removed. I have sent out a clarification email to the group that I'm in no way related to the Wikimedia Board. Thanks for pointing this out. Regards, Kiruba Shankar CEO, Business Blogging Pvt Ltd Cell: +91-98415 97744 Email: kir...@kiruba.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/kiruba Event: http://TEDxChennai.com on 10/10/10 On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 3:21 PM, Bharat Nedungadi bharatnedung...@yahoo.inwrote: hi, on the last page of this book (released last week) it says Kiruba Shankar is CEO of Business Blogging and a Director at Wikimedia India which runs Wikipedia http://www.krithya.in/rabbit/ has the wikimedia foundation already hired a national country director? i feel we as community should know about these things before they are announced generally. the announcement has been made publicly it seems: http://www.yourstory.in/expert-talk/guest-column/2902-kiruba-shankarbrain-behind-tedx-chennai?format=pdf http://www.businessblogging.org/facebookgarage/team http://ria-lize.blogspot.com/2009/10/ria-lization.html lots more as well. i am little confused. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wikipedia crosses the 25, 000 article mark
Congrats to all the Tamil Wikipedians who worked behind this great achievement. Keep up the good work! -- വിക്കനഭി wikkanabhi.wordpress.com flickr.com/photos/abhishek_jacob ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/user:Abhishek_Jacob ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] who is the director of wikimedia india
Hi Bharath, I understand your concerns , IMHO but it is time to move on. Kiruba was associated with the chapter creation efforts in the initial stages. He also helped in several Wikimedia /Wikipedia outreach programmes that happened in chennai earlier. He was the one of organisers of the hugely successful Wikicamp-Unconference ( 2007 ) ( http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_wikipedia-planning-search-engine_1090149), Wikipedia takes Chennai and several Wikiacademies in Chennai. Altough Kiruba voluntarily disassociated with the Chapter efforts, he continues to be a wiki enthusiast and promotes Wikipedia. He had clarified this earlier. Thanks Tinu Cherian On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 4:15 PM, Kiruba @ Kiruba.com kir...@kiruba.comwrote: Hi Bharath, i was associated with the India team in the initial days of setting up the chapter. Now, I'm not. The book was published last year (2009) and copy of it was made online now. Regards, Kiruba Shankar CEO, Business Blogging Pvt Ltd Cell: +91-98415 97744 Email: kir...@kiruba.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/kiruba Event: http://TEDxChennai.com on 10/10/10 On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 4:10 PM, Bharat Nedungadi bharatnedung...@yahoo.in wrote: The information you pointed out is old and has been duly removed. I have sent out a clarification email to the group that I'm in no way related to the Wikimedia Board. but your twitter feed as i can see now http://twitter.com/kirubaannounces this book was published last week. strange. still confused mr kiruba shankar. i am sure you are an honest person but if you are not director of wikimedia foundation, then why there are so many links on the web that say you are? please google and see for yourself. i checked to see if you have made edits, and you do not seem to have done anything maybe except for some conflict of interest entries. just for my personal clarity: you are not a director of wikimedia foundation and never were, you are not associated with wikimedia india, you are not part of the india chapter, you are not a member of the india chapter executive committee and you are not a wikipedia editor. correct? ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] who is the director of wikimedia india
I thought Arun Ram was the one? [Pardon my ignorance].. -Regards, On 6 October 2010 18:33, CherianTinu Abraham tinucher...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Bharath, I understand your concerns , IMHO but it is time to move on. Kiruba was associated with the chapter creation efforts in the initial stages. He also helped in several Wikimedia /Wikipedia outreach programmes that happened in chennai earlier. He was the one of organisers of the hugely successful Wikicamp-Unconference ( 2007 ) ( http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_wikipedia-planning-search-engine_1090149), Wikipedia takes Chennai and several Wikiacademies in Chennai. Altough Kiruba voluntarily disassociated with the Chapter efforts, he continues to be a wiki enthusiast and promotes Wikipedia. He had clarified this earlier. Thanks Tinu Cherian On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 4:15 PM, Kiruba @ Kiruba.com kir...@kiruba.comwrote: Hi Bharath, i was associated with the India team in the initial days of setting up the chapter. Now, I'm not. The book was published last year (2009) and copy of it was made online now. Regards, Kiruba Shankar CEO, Business Blogging Pvt Ltd Cell: +91-98415 97744 Email: kir...@kiruba.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/kiruba Event: http://TEDxChennai.com on 10/10/10 On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 4:10 PM, Bharat Nedungadi bharatnedung...@yahoo.in wrote: The information you pointed out is old and has been duly removed. I have sent out a clarification email to the group that I'm in no way related to the Wikimedia Board. but your twitter feed as i can see now http://twitter.com/kirubaannounces this book was published last week. strange. still confused mr kiruba shankar. i am sure you are an honest person but if you are not director of wikimedia foundation, then why there are so many links on the web that say you are? please google and see for yourself. i checked to see if you have made edits, and you do not seem to have done anything maybe except for some conflict of interest entries. just for my personal clarity: you are not a director of wikimedia foundation and never were, you are not associated with wikimedia india, you are not part of the india chapter, you are not a member of the india chapter executive committee and you are not a wikipedia editor. correct? ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Regards, ME. Wear a Lungi, Support the Movement My infrastructure invasion... plus other images too.. on Wikimedia Commons. http://bit.ly/d50SIq ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] who is the director of wikimedia india
Just clarifying that the search for the National Program Director, India is still on - the last date for receiving applications is Friday 8 October at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/National_Program_Director,_India Best Bishakha On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 3:28 PM, Kiruba @ Kiruba.com kir...@kiruba.comwrote: Hi Bharath, Just to dispel any confusion, the hunt for Wikimedia India Foundation Director is still on. The information you pointed out is old and has been duly removed. I have sent out a clarification email to the group that I'm in no way related to the Wikimedia Board. Thanks for pointing this out. Regards, Kiruba Shankar CEO, Business Blogging Pvt Ltd Cell: +91-98415 97744 Email: kir...@kiruba.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/kiruba Event: http://TEDxChennai.com on 10/10/10 On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 3:21 PM, Bharat Nedungadi bharatnedung...@yahoo.in wrote: hi, on the last page of this book (released last week) it says Kiruba Shankar is CEO of Business Blogging and a Director at Wikimedia India which runs Wikipedia http://www.krithya.in/rabbit/ has the wikimedia foundation already hired a national country director? i feel we as community should know about these things before they are announced generally. the announcement has been made publicly it seems: http://www.yourstory.in/expert-talk/guest-column/2902-kiruba-shankarbrain-behind-tedx-chennai?format=pdf http://www.businessblogging.org/facebookgarage/team http://ria-lize.blogspot.com/2009/10/ria-lization.html lots more as well. i am little confused. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wikipedia crosses the 25, 000 article mark
Congratulations! On 10/06/2010 02:16 AM, Rajesh Pandey wrote: On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 1:06 PM, Shiju Alex shijualexonl...@gmail.com mailto:shijualexonl...@gmail.com wrote: Congrats to Tamil wiki community for their hard work. And Tamil Wikipedia happens to be the 4th Indian language Wikipedia to cross the 25,000 article milestone. On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:41 AM, BalaSundaraRaman sundarbe...@yahoo.com mailto:sundarbe...@yahoo.com wrote: I'm pleased to inform you all that Tamil Wikipedia has crossed the 25,000 article milestone now. :-) Wow Congratulations :) - Sundar That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted. - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org mailto:Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org mailto:Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Rajesh Pandey ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Barry Newstead Chief Global Development Officer Wikimedia Foundation Tel: +1-415-839-6885 x. 634 Skype: barry.wikimedia Twitter: @bazanews ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
[Wikimediaindia-l] community, chapter and foundation: who is who and who does what
To add to the recent discussion on this list, perhaps a few clarifications are in order. All of you are familiar with yourselves - i.e. us - the community; people who edit, organise and otherwise help Wikimedia projects move ahead in interesting and productive ways. Many of those interesting and productive things happening here are captured in this first edition of the Wikimedia India Community Newsletter: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_India_Community_Newsletter_2010_September.pdf Then there is the chapter. Chapters are independent organizations founded to support and promote the Wikimedia projects within a specified country. (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters). Chapters are approved by the Chapters Committee, constituted by folks whose mission is to further Wikimedia, and while affiliated to and recognised by the Wikimedia Foundation, are yet independent entities which plot their own course. Chapter efforts in India started up as early as 2004 and critical momentum was achieved from 2008 onwards, the result of which is that we now have an approved Wikimedia India chapter - awaiting registration in India as a non-profit organisation (for more see: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India). The Wikimedia India chapter is currently being registered as a 'society' in Karnataka and will function as a national organisation. As a 'society' it is required to have founding 'members' - and in our case, those members are Arun (President), Sundar (Secretary), Hari (Treasurer), Gautam, Srinivas and Arjuna. (See: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India/MoA-PostChapComVer). Once the chapter is recognised as a legal entity within India, these members will serve as the Executive Committee of the organisation. Contrary to earlier discussions, the Wikimedia India chapter has never had 'Directors' or 'Directors (designate)' - it's a society, and societies have members. On operation, it will, of course, extend membership widely to anyone who wishes to join. Chapters have a wide variety of functions, all of which are evolving - for now, a crude summary of their purpose would be that they allow individuals from within the community to do more than they could normally do alone, besides providing the benefits of a formal, organisational setup to utilise when necessary. Then we have the Wikimedia Foundation, the organisation based in San Francisco that is the legal home of all Wikimedia projects. Over the last few years, the Wikimedia Foundation has grown in staff strength and capacity, and works to facilitate everything we do as volunteers from around the world. In the last few months, and on the basis of a strategic planning exercise (http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy) the Wikimedia Foundation decided to actively help a few geographies grow, one of which is India. The National Country Director job that Barry Newstead (Chief Global Development Officer) talked about on this list (http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2010-August/000850.html) is a position that will report to him, which is to say, the staff employed at the Wikimedia Foundation office in India are exactly that, and not to be confused with the India chapter - they are a separate entity, an off-shoot of the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco, though they will obviously be working closely with both the community and the chapter. Further clarifications on the Wikimedia Foundation's office plans in India are available in this email from Barry (http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2010-August/000849.html). I trust this helps somewhat in understanding the landscape. Cheers, Achal ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wikipedia crosses the 25, 000 article mark
Hearty congrats to all tamil wikipedia members. On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:55 PM, Barry Newstead bnewst...@wikimedia.orgwrote: Congratulations! On 10/06/2010 02:16 AM, Rajesh Pandey wrote: On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 1:06 PM, Shiju Alex shijualexonl...@gmail.comwrote: Congrats to Tamil wiki community for their hard work. And Tamil Wikipedia happens to be the 4th Indian language Wikipedia to cross the 25,000 article milestone. On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:41 AM, BalaSundaraRaman sundarbe...@yahoo.comwrote: I'm pleased to inform you all that Tamil Wikipedia has crossed the 25,000 article milestone now. :-) Wow Congratulations :) - Sundar That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted. - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Rajesh Pandey ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing listwikimediaindi...@lists.wikimedia.orghttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Barry Newstead Chief Global Development Officer Wikimedia Foundation Tel: +1-415-839-6885 x. 634 Skype: barry.wikimedia Twitter: @bazanews ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Tamil Wikipedia crosses the 25, 000 article mark
Really great news, Bishakha 2010/10/6 സുനിൽ (Sunil) vss...@gmail.com Hearty congrats to all tamil wikipedia members. On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:55 PM, Barry Newstead bnewst...@wikimedia.orgwrote: Congratulations! On 10/06/2010 02:16 AM, Rajesh Pandey wrote: On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 1:06 PM, Shiju Alex shijualexonl...@gmail.comwrote: Congrats to Tamil wiki community for their hard work. And Tamil Wikipedia happens to be the 4th Indian language Wikipedia to cross the 25,000 article milestone. On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 7:41 AM, BalaSundaraRaman sundarbe...@yahoo.comwrote: I'm pleased to inform you all that Tamil Wikipedia has crossed the 25,000 article milestone now. :-) Wow Congratulations :) - Sundar That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted. - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Rajesh Pandey ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing listwikimediaindi...@lists.wikimedia.orghttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l -- Barry Newstead Chief Global Development Officer Wikimedia Foundation Tel: +1-415-839-6885 x. 634 Skype: barry.wikimedia Twitter: @bazanews ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] community, chapter and foundation: who is who and who does what
Achal, Thanks a lot for the detailed clarification. I was wondering how I could clearly differentiate these things and explain to people outside our list/community. I felt the media coverage (some / most) recently after Barry's meet up also did not convey the differences between the Chapter and Foundation office properly. I also felt one other point which Barry told us about motive of foundation office that did not reach well to the media / general public well. Barry mentioned to us the common misconception of press when some global org is setting up office, it brings jobs,money etc which he had come across during the meetups.Sadly the misconception seems to have been carried forward. Random sample (unscientific) of what reached out:- http://www.quoteurl.com/kmh92 . I think we gave out too much to the press to digest at the same time. Information about chapter, office, wikicapital etc. Only few articles I read clearly expressed them as different things and drew the line. My 2 paisa Regards, Srikanth L On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 20:35, Achal Prabhala aprabh...@gmail.com wrote: To add to the recent discussion on this list, perhaps a few clarifications are in order. All of you are familiar with yourselves - i.e. us - the community; people who edit, organise and otherwise help Wikimedia projects move ahead in interesting and productive ways. Many of those interesting and productive things happening here are captured in this first edition of the Wikimedia India Community Newsletter: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_India_Community_Newsletter_2010_September.pdf Then there is the chapter. Chapters are independent organizations founded to support and promote the Wikimedia projects within a specified country. (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters). Chapters are approved by the Chapters Committee, constituted by folks whose mission is to further Wikimedia, and while affiliated to and recognised by the Wikimedia Foundation, are yet independent entities which plot their own course. Chapter efforts in India started up as early as 2004 and critical momentum was achieved from 2008 onwards, the result of which is that we now have an approved Wikimedia India chapter - awaiting registration in India as a non-profit organisation (for more see: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India). The Wikimedia India chapter is currently being registered as a 'society' in Karnataka and will function as a national organisation. As a 'society' it is required to have founding 'members' - and in our case, those members are Arun (President), Sundar (Secretary), Hari (Treasurer), Gautam, Srinivas and Arjuna. (See: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_India/MoA-PostChapComVer). Once the chapter is recognised as a legal entity within India, these members will serve as the Executive Committee of the organisation. Contrary to earlier discussions, the Wikimedia India chapter has never had 'Directors' or 'Directors (designate)' - it's a society, and societies have members. On operation, it will, of course, extend membership widely to anyone who wishes to join. Chapters have a wide variety of functions, all of which are evolving - for now, a crude summary of their purpose would be that they allow individuals from within the community to do more than they could normally do alone, besides providing the benefits of a formal, organisational setup to utilise when necessary. Then we have the Wikimedia Foundation, the organisation based in San Francisco that is the legal home of all Wikimedia projects. Over the last few years, the Wikimedia Foundation has grown in staff strength and capacity, and works to facilitate everything we do as volunteers from around the world. In the last few months, and on the basis of a strategic planning exercise (http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy) the Wikimedia Foundation decided to actively help a few geographies grow, one of which is India. The National Country Director job that Barry Newstead (Chief Global Development Officer) talked about on this list ( http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2010-August/000850.html ) is a position that will report to him, which is to say, the staff employed at the Wikimedia Foundation office in India are exactly that, and not to be confused with the India chapter - they are a separate entity, an off-shoot of the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco, though they will obviously be working closely with both the community and the chapter. Further clarifications on the Wikimedia Foundation's office plans in India are available in this email from Barry ( http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2010-August/000849.html ). I trust this helps somewhat in understanding the landscape. Cheers, Achal ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
[Wikimediaindia-l] community, chapter and foundation: who is who and who does what
I agree that the press coverage is (and always tends to be) skewed when it comes to Wikipedia, Wikimedia and India. And it doesn't help that the explanation is pretty clear but complicated. In a few months, we will have the Wikimedia Foundation India office, the Wikimedia India chapter, and of course - as always - the Wikimedia community in India. I can only see more confusion! Perhaps you - or others - can set up something on India-meta? An explanation such as the one just offered (who does what) + something about the difference between Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects would be very useful for the press, if kept simple. Then we could point them to this page every time there's interest - or print it out and distribute it for subsequent press interactions as well. I'll help, and others will too - I'm sure - if you get it going. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
