from:"Osmar Valdebenito"

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Bridges across Cultures - 3rd edition!

2019-12-02 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Oops! I forgot to add the link to Meta:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bridges_across_Cultures

El lun., 2 de dic. de 2019 a la(s) 20:43, Osmar Valdebenito (
b1mbo.wikipe...@gmail.com) escribió:

> Hi all!
>
> I'm glad to announce that the 3rd edition of the Bridges Across Cultures
> contest has started.
>
> "Bridges across Cultures" is an editing contest organized by different
> Wikimedia affiliates with the goal to promote cultural exchange between
> three regions of the world: Latin America, Russia and the Middle East &
> North Africa (MENA). This is the first time that Russia will join, thanks
> to the work of Wikimedia Russia, the Wikimedians of Bashkortostan and the
> Wikipedians of North Caucasus user groups, who join different affiliates
> part of Iberocoop and WikiArabia collaboration groups.
>
> The contest will run till December 31st, 2019, and nine Wikipedias will
> participate: Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Russian,
> Bashkir, Lezgi and Chechen. Users of those projects will write articles
> from other regions with the intention to increase cultural exchange and
> break the bias towards Western European and North American contents.
>
> Hope you can all join!
>
> Osmar Valdebenito
> Wikimedia Chile
>
>
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[Wikimedia-l] Bridges across Cultures - 3rd edition!

2019-12-02 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Hi all!

I'm glad to announce that the 3rd edition of the Bridges Across Cultures
contest has started.

"Bridges across Cultures" is an editing contest organized by different
Wikimedia affiliates with the goal to promote cultural exchange between
three regions of the world: Latin America, Russia and the Middle East &
North Africa (MENA). This is the first time that Russia will join, thanks
to the work of Wikimedia Russia, the Wikimedians of Bashkortostan and the
Wikipedians of North Caucasus user groups, who join different affiliates
part of Iberocoop and WikiArabia collaboration groups.

The contest will run till December 31st, 2019, and nine Wikipedias will
participate: Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Russian,
Bashkir, Lezgi and Chechen. Users of those projects will write articles
from other regions with the intention to increase cultural exchange and
break the bias towards Western European and North American contents.

Hope you can all join!

Osmar Valdebenito
Wikimedia Chile
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Greener travel and the ethics of carbon offset for Wikimedia community events

2019-10-14 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Maybe it's cheap... for European participants in a conference.
People coming from developing nations tend to live further and require
longer trips to participate in events and conference, mostly hosted in
Europe or the US.
So, not only you are asking us to spend larger hours on flights but also
pay (or make someone else pay more) for it.
I calculated how much carbon offset costed for my Wikimania travel, using
the websites offered at the WM wiki, and it wasn't 1 or 2 usd. It was 107
euros, around 10% or more of the cost of the trip.
I'm all for making a greener Wikimedia movement, but we should do it not
affecting those that, supposedly, we want to include more in our movement.

El sáb., 12 de oct. de 2019 a la(s) 11:27, Andrea Zanni (
zanni.andre...@gmail.com) escribió:

> I agree with Bence.
> Right now, offsetting is cheap, likely 1-2 percentage points of the cost of
> travel.
> Those money could be asked directly in the grant to the WMF, for example,
> because offsetting several tonnes in bulk is probably cheaper than doing it
> person by person.
>
> But carbon offsetting is just one strategy. Those money could be also
> invested in charities that conserve rainforest (and thus native people, and
> thus native culture > perfectly aligned with Wikimedia goals), or manage to
> plant new trees and forests.
>
> I know for sure that Wikimedia Deutschland has contacts with Ecosia¹, a
> search engine that plant trees with revenue from web ads. There are surely
> ways we could partner with them in reforestation projects, or other.  And
> they surely know a lot more than us about carbon offsetting, so we could
> just ask for suggestions.
>
> ¹ https://www.ecosia.org/
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 12, 2019 at 10:00 AM Henry Wood 
> wrote:
>
> > Mike
> >
> > > Paying for carbon offsets does not further Wikimedia’s goals.
> >
> > Not directly, any more than paying for petrol or aviation fuel does.
> > If you regard it as part of the cost of travel, and that travel does
> > indeed further the Foundation's goals, then it seems reasonable to pay
> > for it.
> >
> > Henry
> >
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[Wikimedia-l] Iberoconf 2019 - Declaration of Santiago regarding affiliates' rights and responsabilities

2019-02-21 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Hello friends,

I would like to share with you the declaration made by most of the
participants in the last Iberoconf meeting in Santiago, hosted by Wikimedia
Chile between February 8-10th. The meeting had representatives of 13
affiliates from Ibero America and Italy, plus Wikimedia Foundation staff
members, two members of the BoT of the WMF and other guests.

The "Declaration of Santiago" (in Spanish: Carta de Santiago) is a
statement made by Iberocoop members regarding to rights and
responsabilities between different affiliates (chapters and user groups)
and the current rules regarding their formation. The statement is the
result of the discussion after long formal and informal discussions between
us.

English:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Iberocoop:Iberoconf_2019/Carta_de_Santiago
Spanish:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Iberocoop:Iberoconf_2019/Carta_de_Santiago/es

Kind regards,

Osmar Valdebenito G.
Wikimedia Chile trustee
Iberoconf 2019 organizer
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Freedom of panorama today approved by Belgian parliament

2016-06-17 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Congratulations to all the people involved! Finally we will have the
Atomium!

El vie, jun 17, 2016 12:30, Alex Wang  escribió:

> Wonderful news!! Congrats!
>
> On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 7:15 AM, James Heilman  wrote:
>
> > Hopefully this is just a start and the rest of Europe will follow
> Belgium's
> > lead.
> >
> > J
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 11:15 AM, Tanweer Morshed <
> wiki.tanw...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Great news indeed! Thanks to the people who worked to promote FoP.
> > >
> > > On Friday, June 17, 2016, Omar David Sandoval Sida <
> omarsa...@gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Good news, congratulations!
> > > > El 17/06/2016 9:54 a.m., "Shani"  >
> > > > escribió:
> > > >
> > > > > Wonderful news! Congrats!
> > > > > On 17 Jun 2016 02:38, "Romaine Wiki"  > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Hi all,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Great news!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Freedom of panorama has been voted today in the Belgian
> parliament.
> > > > > > A mayority voted in favour of freedom of panorama, including
> > > commercial
> > > > > > use.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Soon images of artworks and modern buildings in Belgium can be
> > > restored
> > > > > on
> > > > > > Commons.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > But first the law needs to be published in the Staatsblad, and
> ten
> > > days
> > > > > > later it will be official, but that is just a formality. (Will
> keep
> > > you
> > > > > > updated on that.)
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Article in the news in Dutch:
> > > > > > http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/politiek/1.2685852
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > In the past weeks, as well as since the campaign in Europe last
> > year,
> > > > we
> > > > > > from Wikimedia Belgium have worked hard on this subject and
> > > > communicated
> > > > > > with the members of the parliament informing what this subject
> > means
> > > > for
> > > > > > Wikipedia.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > With the founding of Wikimedia Belgium in 2014, this subject was
> a
> > > > > priority
> > > > > > for us.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks all for the support!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Let's get this implemented elsewhere too!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Greetings from Belgium,
> > > > > > Romaine
> > > > > > ___
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> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Regards,
> > > Tanweer
> > > ___
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> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > James Heilman
> > MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
> >
> > The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
> > www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Alexandra Wang
> Program Officer
> Community Resources
> Wikimedia Foundation 
> +1 415-839-6885
> Skype: alexvwang
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wmfall] Wikimedia Foundation executive transition update

2016-03-11 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Congratulations, Katherine! I hope this great announcement can help us to
move forward building trust again within our movement :)

2016-03-11 1:18 GMT-03:00 Amy Elder :

> You truly deserve this, Katherine, congratulations! I'm excited for and
> confident in the next chapter!
>
> On Thu, Mar 10, 2016 at 8:15 PM, Rosemary Rein 
> wrote:
>
> > Thank you Katherine for your service and leadership  at this critical
> > junction for the organization and our community.
> >
> > Rosemary
> > On Mar 10, 2016 6:56 PM, "Patricio Lorente" 
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Hello all,
> >>
> >> I’m happy to announce that the Wikimedia Foundation leadership team has
> >> proposed an interim Executive Director, and the Board has given our full
> >> support. Starting on March 14th, current Chief Communications Officer
> >> Katherine Maher (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Katherine_(WMF))
> >> will step into the role of interim Executive Director. We thank the
> >> C-levels for their careful consideration in this process, and Katherine
> for
> >> stepping up during this period of transition.
> >>
> >> In choosing an interim ED, the C-levels started by identifying immediate
> >> priorities for the coming months, including building trust, improving
> >> communications, and filling key leadership positions. They felt, and we
> >> agree, that Katherine is the right person to lead the organization
> while it
> >> addresses these and other important issues. Additionally, this will
> allow
> >> the rest of the executive team to focus on critical organizational
> >> functions, including community and engineering management, fundraising,
> and
> >> strengthening our human resources function. You can read more about our
> >> process and thinking here:
> >>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/March_2016_-_Leadership_Team_transition_planning
> >>
> >>
> >> Katherine has been with the Foundation as Chief Communications Officer
> >> for about two years now. During that time, she has developed a versatile
> >> and effective team that serves the needs of the organization and
> movement,
> >> collaborating closely with other departments and the community. She has
> >> thoughtfully introduced new capacities and led her team through
> >> transitions, and played a critical role in shepherding the strategy
> process
> >> and the annual plan, in collaboration with other C-levels. She is known
> for
> >> listening to and empowering the people that she works with.
> >>
> >> For those who don’t know Katherine, she’s been a longtime advocate for
> >> global open communities, culture, and technology. She previously led
> >> advocacy for the international digital rights organization Access Now,
> >> where she worked on freedom of expression, access to information, and
> >> privacy. She has supported the efforts of citizens and governments
> around
> >> the world to deepen transparency and participation in her roles at the
> >> World Bank, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and
> >> UNICEF (where her team built wikis for youth participation in major
> global
> >> issues). She is a member of the advisory board of the Open Technology
> Fund.
> >>
> >> With interim leadership in place, our next step as the Board is to move
> >> quickly to plan and implement the search for a permanent Executive
> >> Director. We will be working together over the coming weeks to clarify
> >> roles and responsibilities in this search, and identify the best way for
> >> community and staff to participate.  We want this process to be
> inclusive
> >> and incorporate many voices. We look forward to sharing an update on our
> >> progress toward the end of next week.
> >>
> >> As interim Executive Director, Katherine will report to the Board. Geoff
> >> Brigham will continue serving as Board Secretary, and Jaime Villagomez
> as
> >> Board Treasurer, reporting to the Board in those capacities. As of March
> >> 14, Katherine's reports include the C-team: Geoff Brigham, Jaime
> >> Villagomez, Maggie Dennis, Lisa Gruwell, Joady Lohr, and Wes Moran. The
> >> Communications team will continue to report to Katherine for the time
> >> being, with support from the leadership of Juliet Barbara and Heather
> >> Walls.
> >>
> >> Thank you,
> >>
> >>  Patricio
> >>
> >> Translation notice - This message is available for translation on
> >> Meta-Wiki:
> >>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/10_March_2010_-_Wikimedia_Foundation_executive_transition_update
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ___
> >> Wmfall mailing list
> >> wmf...@lists.wikimedia.org
> >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wmfall
> >>
> >>
> > ___
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> > wmf...@lists.wikimedia.org
> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wmfall
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Amy Elder
> Director of Recruiting
> W

[Wikimedia-l] [Affiliate-selected Board seats] Osmar Valdebenito candidacy

2016-03-03 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Hi everyone,

I would like to inform you that I have published my candidacy to the
Affiliate-Selected Board Seats. You can see my declaration and résumé in
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2016/Nominations/Osmar_Valdebenito

You can ask me some questions here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Affiliate-selected_Board_seats/2016/Nominations/Osmar_Valdebenito
I'll do my best to answer as soon as possible

Thanks to all,

Osmar V.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Appointment of María Sefidari to Wikimedia Foundation Board

2016-01-29 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Congratulations María!
I'm sure that her experience and support from the community (given she had
the most favourable votes in the election a few months ago) will be
important to bring the Board back on track after so many unfortunate
decisions in the past weeks.

2016-01-29 13:15 GMT-03:00 Ad Huikeshoven :

> Say welcome to María on
>
> https://discourse.wmflabs.org/t/appointment-of-maria-sefidari-to-wikimedia-foundation-board/32
> or just like the post there.
>
> Ad Huikeshoven
> Op 29 jan. 2016 16:27 schreef "Patricio Lorente" <
> patricio.lore...@gmail.com
> >:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> >
> > I am happy to announce the Board intends to fill the open community
> Trustee
> > seat at our meeting this weekend. On Saturday, María Sefidari will accept
> > an appointment to the Board of Trustees, stepping into the third
> > community-nominated seat. The appointment will last the remainder of the
> > two year term, until Wikimania 2017.
> >
> >
> > Many of you know María. She previously served as a community-selected
> > Trustee from August 2013 to July 2015. In the most recent 2015 community
> > elections, she received the next highest support percentage, and highest
> > number of support votes. She was born and lives in Madrid, Spain, and has
> > been a contributor to the Wikimedia projects since 2006. She was a
> founding
> > member of Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject, Wikimedia España, and
> > Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias. She has also served on the Affiliations
> and
> > Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is passionate about the
> role
> > of diversity in our strategic efforts to retain and increase editorship,
> > and improving channels for community participation in Foundation
> governance
> > and policymaking.
> >
> >
> > We consulted with the 2015 Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
> before
> > deciding how to proceed in identifying a new Trustee. They offered
> > thoughtful feedback on the possible available options, and we’re grateful
> > for their considerations. (
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015
> > <
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015#2015_Foundation_Elections_Committee_thoughts_on_how_to_fill_the_vacancy_in_the_Board_after_the_removal_of_James_Heilman
> > >
> > )
> >
> >
> > We are certain many of you are wondering why we decided against holding
> > another election. We did consider the option, but the disadvantages
> > outweighed the benefits. The last election was well-attended, and still
> > quite recent. Holding a new election would take considerable time, and we
> > have important issues to address in the near future. It was important to
> us
> > that the community perspective is fully represented in these
> conversations,
> > without delay. We also didn’t want to distract from the affiliate Trustee
> > selection process, which is coming up soon.
> >
> >
> > I am excited by the dedication, compassion, and experience María brings
> to
> > the Board at a crucial time. We are confident she will serve our mission
> > with wisdom and grace.
> >
> >
> > Please join me in congratulating our friend María, and thanking her
> service
> > to our movement.
> >
> >
> > Patricio
> >
> > --
> > ___
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] FDC funds allocation recommendation is up

2014-11-26 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Ilario, nobody has said that chapters should become fundraiser entities. We
have been very emphatic that the main focus of APG proposals should be
delivering impact in the projects and we maintain that. What we have said
is that chapters that have the opportunities to fundraise and reduce their
dependence from the FDC, should take those opportunities. But we have never
said that fundraising should be the main purpose of a chapter.

Most APG grantees are already doing this. With some particular exceptions,
all chapters have some level of external funding. Some chapters have staff
particularly devoted to this, but there are some that have done it without
fundraising staff (for example, Estonia). Other chapters have explained in
the past that external funding is very difficult to find given their
national and organizational context. The FDC has evaluated these situations
and has accepted to give all funding for those entities (i.e., Argentina).
Everything will depend on the context of each chapter, each country and
each level of maturity.

2014-11-26 9:33 GMT-03:00 Ilario Valdelli :

> I can also read that:
>
> "Yet the growth of *non-English communities* and project material is
> critical for a vigorous and energetic long-term future for the projects,
> and indeed, it is one of the top priorities developed by the movement
> through our strategic planning process".
>
> In addition I can read in the question of external funds that: "It should
> also mean that *movement entities with the ability to fundraise
> independently*, should seek to diversify their funding base in order to
> create a sustainable, scalable strategy for their own growth".
>
> In my opinion there is a misreading of the FDC in these guidelines because
> it seems that the FDC agrees that the chapters have organized themselves as
> "community supporter" and not as fundraiser.
>
> So the suggestion of looking for external funds should be valid for chapter
> "with the ability to fundraise independently". It's a good principle, but
> this principle asks also to evaluate if a chapter is sufficiently mature to
> do it.
>
> Sorry, everytime I read this guidance I see no real support in your
> "general" principles.
>
> regards
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 3:19 PM, Cristian Consonni <
> kikkocrist...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > 2014-11-24 14:04 GMT+01:00 Gerard Meijssen :
> > > Then why did the nl.wikimedia chapter not get the funding they asked
> for?
> >
> >
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2014-2015_round1#Wikimedia_Nederland
> >
> > If you want my personal take on it, I would highlight this passage:
> > «The FDC also notes the very large reserves Wikimedia Nederland has at
> > this moment, equal to nearly a full year of staff costs, which does
> > not seem justified in their context. The FDC expects the chapter to
> > reduce these large reserves in the near future, decreasing the amount
> > requested to the FDC in future proposals.»
> >
> > (see also what I said in my previous email)
> > (it may also worth to point out that the standard amount of reserves
> > in the field are considered to be among 3 and 6 months of operational
> > costs)
> >
> >
> > C
> >
> > ___
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> > 
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Ilario Valdelli
> Wikimedia CH
> Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens
> Association pour l’avancement des connaissances libre
> Associazione per il sostegno alla conoscenza libera
> Switzerland - 8008 Zürich
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> Skype: valdelli
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> Linkedin: Ilario Valdelli  >
> Tel: +41764821371
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] FDC funds allocation recommendation is up

2014-11-25 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

2014-11-25 18:09 GMT-03:00 Liam Wyatt :

> These points imply to me that the the FDC believes it has a duty to oversee
> the manner in which funds are raised by the Chapters from external sources,
> not just how the money that is requested from the WMF is used. (of course
> these points are linked if the WMF-derived money is being used to pay staff
> who will focus on external fundraising...)
>
> This is not a critique of the FDC, but it leaves me a bit confused about
> the 'rules of the game' about external funding, for organisations applying
> for APG funds.
>

I personally do not think the FDC has a duty to oversee external funding
made by chapters in general, but obviously is something we should analyze
in the case of those chapters applying to APG. As it has been said in this
thread, APGs are unrestricted funds and, in all cases (with the exception
of WMDE), are the largest source of funds for the grantees, so it is
important for the FDC to see how the proposed budget will be funded besides
APG and see if this is a realistic and correct proposal. Given external
funds usually are not 100% secured, there is a possibility that the chapter
will have to rearrange their programs, cutting some of those to fund more
important ones in case an external source is missed, using for example the
unrestricted funds from the APG. That is one reason why we want to see in
general the way the chapter works and not only the programs expected to be
funded by APG funds.



In addition, not all chapters really described the way each program was
supposed to be funded and what could happen if external funding does not
work as it was supposed to. Some exceptions were WM-EE and WM-SE; they were
very clear regarding this and their budgets gave us a lot of detail,
helping us a lot to understand their proposal.[1]



Besides this, it is important for grantees to understand that the growth
they had experienced in the past years is not sustainable entirely by APGs,
especially in the case of the largest chapters. We expect that as a chapter
grows, it can build capacity to search for more funds, be more efficient on
their expenditure and in general reduce its reliance on movement funds.



Funding staff for fundraising is possible through APG if the grantee can
give a good reasoning for this (as with any other staff increase). I would
expect chapters to start working on this with their current staff and
propose a dedicated member once there are real possibilities for external
funding. In some countries, there will be very few opportunities for funds
and the investment on a fundraising staff member may not be positive. At
the end, it will all depend on the context.


I hope this explanation helps :)



[1] For example, see WM-EE budget:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Eesti/Annual_budgets/2015
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Au Revoir from WMUK CEO

2014-11-13 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Thanks Jon for your work with Wikimedia UK and welcome to the ex-EDs group
:)

2014-11-13 9:04 GMT-03:00 Jon Davies :

> Thanks Erik.
>
> On 12 November 2014 17:42, Erik Moeller  wrote:
>
> > Jon --
> >
> > Thank you all the hard work for the movement, and for building a great
> team
> > and great foundations!  Hope to see you in different corners of the
> > movement & globe.
> >
> > Warmly,
> > Erik
> > --
> > Erik Möller
> > VP of Product & Strategy, Wikimedia Foundation
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> *Jon Davies - Chief Executive Wikimedia UK*.  Mobile (0044) 7803 505 169
> tweet @jonatreesdavies
>
> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
> Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
> Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
> United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
> movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
> operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
> Telephone (0044) 207 065 0990.
>
> Visit http://www.wikimedia.org.uk/ and @wikimediauk
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] The tragedy of Commons

2014-06-17 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

If you take a look at the undeletion requests after the URAA discussion,
most of the images restored were deleted afterwards anyway.[1][2] The only
exception that I've seen are some German stamps that haven't been deleted
(yet).
The problem is that, at this moment, most of the people whose valid images
were quickly deleted and re-deleted are tired and have no intention to
start again defending their contributions when they will be deleted no
matter what.

[1]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Per%C3%B3n_Funeral.jpg
[2]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Undeletion_requests/Archive/2014-05#Files%20of%20Category:Ra%C3%BAl%20Alfons%C3%ADn



2014-06-17 10:31 GMT-04:00 Fæ :

> On 17/06/2014, Tomasz Ganicz  wrote:
> > with final consensus that "URAA cannot be used as the sole reason for
> > deletion"...
>
> This is a selective quote, missing the explicit caveat that:
> "Deleted files can be restored after a discussion in COM:UDR."
>
> If the process is being followed correctly, there should be an
> established specific consensus via an undeletion request, *before* an
> administrator action can or should be taken.
>
> Links:
> 1.
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Massive_restoration_of_deleted_images_by_the_URAA#Close
> 2.
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Undeletion_requests/Current_requests
>
> Fae
> --
> fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] [PRESS RELEASE] Airtel Offers Nigerians Free Access to Wikipedia

2014-06-01 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Regarding the news from Chile, the QZ article is pretty misleading
regarding the decision taken by the Subtel. I've been talking with some
people that have been more involved in net neutrality discussions in Chile
and they say that the decision doesn't forbid zero-rated programs in
general. It just says that the current promotions were illegal, considering
certain social networks got preferential access (namely, Twitter, Facebook
and WhatsApp) over other services, breaking net neutrality and free market
rules. The decree says specifically that arbitrary discrimination between
services of "similar nature" is forbidden.

Technically, Wikipedia Zero can still be applied in Chile (if mobile
providers agree), but there shouldn't be a preferential treatment compared
to those platform "of similar nature". Certainly, it would be interesting
to know what might be considered as the competition of Wikipedia and the
rest of the market (is there a competing website? can we consider all
educational resources as competition?). As far as I know, there were some
internet pre-paid plans in the past that had several educational websites
available for free, including Wikipedia, but I'm not sure if they are still
available.

The full decree (in Spanish) is available here:
http://www.subtel.gob.cl/transparencia/Perfiles/Transparencia20285/Normativas/Oficios/14oc_0040.pdf


2014-06-01 3:57 GMT-04:00 Yana Welinder :

> As the Quartz article from Jens's email discusses, the decision in Chile is
> very unfortunate.[1] It's an example of when net neutrality — which is an
> important principle for the free and open internet — is poorly implemented
> to prevent free dissemination of knowledge. Although Wikipedia Zero is not
> yet available in Chile, it is a country of interest for the program, so we
> are thinking about what options are available in light of this decision.
>
> That said, I would like to clarify a couple of points about the
> implementation of Wikipedia Zero that were raised in this thread:
>
> 1. The newer Wikipedia Zero partnerships have provided the full Wikipedia
> sites (m.wikipedia) free of data charges for some time now and we are
> phasing out the reduced version (zero.wikipedia) from the older
> partnerships.
>
> 2. While earlier Wikipedia Zero partnerships only zero-rated Wikipedia, we
> are working on getting carriers to zero-rate all the Wikimedia projects.
>
> 3. We are also working on getting editing functions zero-rated, though
> there are some technical hurdles for that right now. But, eventually,
> Wikipedia Zero will not only make knowledge more accessible, but also
> empower more people in the Global South to contribute to the projects.
>
> 4. Finally, WMF does *not* pay carriers to zero-rate Wikipedia under
> Wikipedia Zero. Carriers zero-rate the sites because they want to make a
> commitment to access to knowledge as a corporate social responsibility.[2]
> I believe this question has already been answered in this thread since
> Scott raised it earlier, but I just wanted to confirm that Wikipedia Zero
> does not involve payments.
>
> Hope this is helpful!
>
> Best,
> Yana
>
> [1]
>
> http://qz.com/215064/when-net-neutrality-backfires-chile-just-killed-free-access-to-wikipedia-and-facebook/
> [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility
>
> --
> Yana Welinder
> Legal Counsel
> Wikimedia Foundation
> 415.839.6885 ext. 6867
> @yanatweets 
>
> NOTICE: As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical
> reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
> members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
> on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer
> .
>
> On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 5:52 AM, Jens Best  wrote:
>
> > News from Chile
> >
> > Chile’s Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones just decided that zero-rating
> > is a promotion tool which is against net neutrality. Therefore all
> > zero-rated-related marketing deals have to stop at the 1st of June.
> > According to a WMF-list in Chile no provider has been offering Wikipedia
> > Zero. Also I'm not sure if this dismissal reflects only on zero-rated
> > offers where payment of money is done by the content provider. So it
> still
> > needs to be checked how/if this decision is influencing our intent to
> > spread Wikipedia Zero.
> >
> > All in all it shows that we have to improve our arguments in a broader
> > scale if we don't want to get caught by promoting Free Knowledge" but in
> > fact 'only' pushing the use of a reduced version of one (very well known
> > and superb) website which stand exemplary for this idea. We are caught
> in a
> > dilemma which imho only can be solved when reaching out to more partners
> > which stand for Free Knowledge and Free Education. Not sure how this
> could
> > work, but fortunately that never was a reason to stop.
> >
> > News from Chile:
>

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Announcement regarding Host for Wikimania 2015

2014-04-21 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

¡Viva México! Felicitaciones a todo el equipo detrás de la candidatura.

Also, thanks to the Cape Town and Monastir team. I hope they will bid for
next year!

Osmar Valdebenito G.



2014-04-21 18:47 GMT-03:00 Patricia Pena :

> ¡Felicitaciones Wikimedia México! :)
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 1:24 PM, Anna Torres 
> wrote:
>
> > Congrats México!
> >
> > What a great job done! :) Hope to meet all your staff anf fellows asap!
> Any
> > help needed from Argentina, just ask and will be handled fondly!
> >
> > Hugs!
> >
> >
> > 2014-04-21 17:03 GMT-03:00 Aya Mahfouz :
> >
> > > Congratulations to Wikimedia Mexico and Mexico City!
> > >
> > > I add my voice to that of Cooper concerning the criteria of choosing
> the
> > > winner for 2015. In addition to the cities that Cooper has mentioned, I
> > > would like to know what happened with Bali's bid too.
> > >
> > > Kind Regards,
> > > Aya Saif El-yazal Mahfouz
> > >
> > >
> > > On Mon, Apr 21, 2014 at 8:23 PM, Christopher Cooper <
> > > ct-cooper.wikimedia...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Congratulations to Wikimedia Mexico and all those that helped put the
> > bid
> > > > together. I believe Mexico City will turn out to be a great place to
> > host
> > > > Wikimania and I look forward to attending.
> > > >
> > > > Regardless, I hope when appropriate, the reasons Mexico City were
> > chosen
> > > > and where other bids could have done better will be posted somewhere
> > for
> > > > digestion as done in previous years. In particular, while the bid was
> > > > clearly lacking, it would be helpful to have an official answer to
> why
> > > the
> > > > Dar es Salaam was disqualified.
> > > >
> > > > Kind regards,
> > > > Christopher
> > > > User: CT Cooper
> > > >
> > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:CT_Cooper
> > > > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:CT_Cooper
> > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:CT_Cooper
> > > >
> > > >
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Anna Torres Adell
> > Directora Ejecutiva
> > *A.C Wikimedia Argentina*
> >
> > *Imprime este correo solo si es realmente necesario*
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[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Argentina report: February 2014

2014-03-13 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Dear Wikimedians,

Here is the monthly report of Wikimedia Argentina for February 2014.
You can read the full report (in Spanish and English) here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Argentina/Reportes/2014-02
Also, the full reports of past months are available at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Argentina/Reportes

1. New Executive Director
2. New publication: Gender issues in Wikipedia
3. New scanner at our office
4. Open letter from Wikimedia Argentina on the URAA issue

== New Executive Director ==

After a selection process that was held during the first two weeks of
February, with several outstanding applicants, the board and staff of
Wikimedia Argentina hired Anna Torres Adell to be our new Executive
Director since March 1st, 2014.

Anna holds a BA in Political Sciences by the Pompeu Fabra University. She
has two postgraduate diplomas from FLACSO: one on International
Cooperation, Administration and Monitoring of Public Policy; and another
diploma in Local Development and Social Economics. She lived and worked in
Guatemala and Mexico, and she set residence in Argentina a couple years
ago. Before joining our organization, she worked as a coordinator of PROEM
Foundation, an institution that dedicates its efforts to work training and
enhancing new businesses.

At Wikimedia Argentina we are very happy with the applications received, as
well as hiring Anna, who was very welcomed within our community. We believe
her professional profile will allow us to take our organization up great
roads.

== New publication: Gender issues in Wikipedia ==

After a couple months of work, we have published the document «Gender
issues in the digital world. Wikipedia and other communities» (only
available in Spanish), that brings together a selection of presentations
held at WikiGénero. This congress was held on May 26, 2012, in Buenos Aires.

The meeting seek to debate the possible reasons of low women engagement in
the free encyclopedia, as well as reduced content of important women in the
history of Mankind. The presentations and discussions touched on these
topics, but also went further: subjects such as communication of science
and gender representation (in its wide spectrum) were also addressed.

With this publication, we hope to take back some of the valuable
discussions that took place back then, and put it at anyone's service, with
an aim to continue the discussion around these issues. Through these
actions we seek to improve Wikipedia's content ad expand its community with
new collaborators.

The document is available at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_cuesti%C3%B3n_de_g%C3%A9nero_en_el_mundo_digital._Wikipedia_y_otras_comunidades..pdf

== New scanner at our office ==

We now have available, at Wikimedia Argentina's headquarters, a DIY scanner
to digitalize books. The equipment is similar to those taken on loan by
several Argentine cultural institutions during 2013 that have made possible
to upload more than 100 books to Wikimedia Commons.

Among the benefits of this scanner are the preservation and care of old
books: the manual functioning prevents any binding from being hurt. In the
weeks to come, we will enable a schedule for our community to book the
scanner and use it for free culture promotion purposes.

== Open letter from Wikimedia Argentina on the URAA issue ==

The board of directors of our organization wrote a letter to give an
official answer on behalf of the chapter, regarding the multiple conflicts
originated by the application of URAA by the Wikimedia Commons community.
The board decided to address the conflict in a more active way when several
Argentinean collaborators of Commons received massive notifications that
their images were soon to be erased, based on URAA regulations. Among the
different exchanges that stem from this conflict, the Wikimedia Foundation
also expressed its position in a statement suggesting to stop massive
deletions of images. We hope to see an end to this discussion soon, not
without finding a solution that mirrors the prevailing rights on every
jurisdiction.

---

Kind regards,

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Open letter on open letters (Was: Open letter from Wikimedia Argentina regarding URAA)

2014-02-27 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Wikimedia Argentina is formed by a group of volunteers from the Wikimedia
movement. That includes several long-time contributors to Commons that have
discussed with us in the past months the situation about URAA. This open
letter is not something written by a group of strangers or people that
haven't participated in the discussions of the community; probably not all
of them have been able to participate before as much as we want in this
particular topic, but that doesn't mean their opinions are less valuable
than those that take a more active role within the discussions. Some of
them have seen in the past weeks their talk pages flooded with DR notices
against Argentine free pictures, uploaded even several years ago and they
have argued, trying to save them. Saying that they don't know how Wikimedia
Commons work to this group of volunteers is also really offensive.

I understand you could feel upset for the strong words of our letter
regarding the particular URAA situation, especially when most of the
contributors work hardly every day to maintain this project and a lot of
them have had a constructive approach to this discussion. If you feel our
letter has been disrespectful for the rest of the Commons community, our
sincere apologies for that.

However, we still believe in what we wrote on the letter. When you see
that, even after the BoT statement there are still new DR coming up [1] and
more files being deleted [2], then it is clear that something wrong is
happening. The BoT has called to stop the massive deletions unless there
are DMCA notices and this has been regarded as a "mere opinion" instead of
a statement from the authorities responsible of the project (it would be
great, anyway, to have a less ambiguous statement).

You may not agree with the BoT statement or the large majority on the
proposal to restore the deleted images on Commons [3], but there should
have been more prudence within some administrators and freeze the deletions
until we find a consensus for this situation. And it hasn't been the case,
clearly. This is what we criticize; this is the kind of attitudes that
de-motivates many editors. When one of the strictest interpretations of law
is applied without consideration of anything else, is what we labeled
"legal fetichism".

Maybe you don't agree with that opinion and that's ok, but it is a feeling
that a lot of people share, including even Commons contributors. Not only
those that wrote this open letter but also many of those that have voted
for the "massive restoration" proposal.

[1]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Carlos_Trillo.jpg
[2]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Le%C3%B3n_Gieco_1980.jpg

[3]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Massive_restoration_of_deleted_images_by_the_URAA

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina

2014-02-27 0:28 GMT-03:00 Avenue :

> Look, I have no problem with the open letters from WM Venezuela, España or
> Israel. I might not agree 100% with everything in them, but they are
> generally on top of the issues, and they focus on the problems they law
> poses for us and our need for better solutions - all worth bringing to a
> wider audience.
>
> But the letter from WM Argentina is very different. It condemns the actions
> of "certain Wikimedia Commons administrators" who have deleted
> URAA-affected files (without naming them or linking to any of the relevant
> deletions), and makes various claims about how Commons policy and practice
> has changed and is inconsistent with statements by the WMF Board and Legal
> team.
>
> If you want to make these sorts of claims in an open letter, you should be
> ready to back them up. But WM Argentina cannot do so IMO, because many of
> their claims are untrue. Our practice is consistent with the WMF Board and
> Legal team statements, and it isn't true that the "burden of proof has been
> inverted" - the burden of proof has always been on those who want us to
> keep hosting a file. These sorts of mistakes could easily have been avoided
> if they had talked directly to experienced Commons editors first.
>
> I'm a Commons admin, but I'm fairly inactive these days and I don't believe
> I have deleted any URAA-affected files, so I don't think I am one of the
> "certain" Commons admins they refer to. But I do find defamation of
> hard-working members of my community offensive. If WM Argentina wants to
> "respectfully call the Wikimedia Commons community to reflect" on
> something, that does not seem the best way to start.
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 6:03 AM, Carlos M. Colina  >wrote:
>
> > Wait, aren't the chapters composed from people from the wikimedia
> > community?
> >
&g

[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Argentina report: January 2014

2014-02-07 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Dear Wikimedians,

Here is the monthly report of Wikimedia Argentina for January 2014.
You can read the full report (in Spanish and English) here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Argentina/Reportes/2014-01
Also, the full reports of past months are available at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Argentina/Reportes

1. Training at the Buenos Aires City Legislature
2. Wikipedia's 13th birthday
3. Publication of GLAM brochure
4. Resignation of our Executive Director

=== Training at the Buenos Aires City Legislature ===
On January, Wednesday 15, we carried out a training for the team of
Modernization of the Buenos Aires City Legislature. The aim of this meeting
was to transfer basic skills on wiki editing to the team coordinated by
Natalia Carfi, as well as transmitting to them the collaboration logics of
Wikipedia. Through the dialogue with this institution, that began in mid
2013 when we developed the First Legislative Editathon, we continue our
work to promote the wiki culture.

The Legislative Modernization Office is working on the development of a
''Legislative Wiki'', a project that aims at enhancing the dialogue among
the different Legislative Powers on a national level. Through this kind of
tutoring initiatives, we promote the engagement of new users in wiki
projects, bringing more editors to Wikipedia and its sister projects.

=== Wikipedia's 13th birthday ===
On Wednesday, January 15, we celebrated Wikipedia's birthday in a very
special way. In a joint action that included Wikimedia México and other
Spanish-speaking chapters, we launched a one-day communication campaign to
show the impact and reach of Wikipedia in different cities. We also
highlighted certain aspects of the free encyclopedia that speak of its
benefits as far as local culture and heritage promotion goes in each
country.

The action had a great impact on Twitter, where «#GraciasWikipedia» (Thanks
Wikipedia) became a trending topic in Mexico, on top of also being a hot
topic in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Spain. As a whole,
the sum of efforts of all chapters reached 7,860,000 potential users, only
on Twitter. On Facebook, Wikimedia Argentina reported a total reach of 836
users and a record of engagement on that network.

=== Publication of GLAM brochure ===
During December and January, we created a brochure to promote the
participation of GLAM institutions through wiki projects. This document
aims to describe the many ways GLAM organizations can collaborate with our
community, getting benefits for the spread of their heritage. "Promotion og
Cultural Institutions" includes several images of different GLAM
activities, illustrating the different actions that can be developed
together with the GLAM institutions and a gallery of successful cases.

With this document, we not only have more resources when the time comes to
meet a new cultural partner, but we are also providing the associates of
our organization with new tools to understand the way we face these
projects.

The document is available at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Promoción_de_Instituciones_Culturales.pdf

=== Resignation of our Executive Director ===

Osmar Valdebenito, current Executive Director of Wikimedia Argentina,
announced this month his ressignation and his return to his home country,
adducing personal and professional reasons. The position will be vacant as
of March 30, 2014.

This is why, we have an open call to fulfill his position. Read the
official call (in Spanish only) to know more about the requisites and
responsibilities of this position:
http://www.wikimedia.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DirectorEjecutivo.pdf.
People who are interested in this position should be bilingual in Spanish
and English. Applications are accepted through email before February 15th,
by submitting CV and letter of interest to cor...@wikimedia.org.ar. Help us
spread the news of this call by sharing it with anyone whose professional
profile matches our search.

-------

Kind regards,

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Welcome 3 employees of Wikimedia Norway

2014-01-31 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Great news!
Congratulations from Argentina!

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2014-01-31 Stevie Benton :

> Welcome from the UK!
>
> Stevie
>
>
> On 31 January 2014 09:47, Gryllida  wrote:
>
> > Hei
> >
> > ___
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>
>
>
> --
>
> Stevie Benton
> Head of External Relations
> Wikimedia UK
> +44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
> @StevieBenton
>
> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England
> and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513.
> Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street,
> London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a
> global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the
> Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
>
> *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal
> control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
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[Wikimedia-l] Annoucement from the Executive Director of Wikimedia Argentina

2014-01-28 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Dear members of the Wikimedia Movement:

In the past weeks, I've taken the decision to resign to my position of
Executive Director of Wikimedia Argentina. This decision was presented to
the Board of the chapter past Saturday and it was accepted.

For personal and professional reasons, I've decided to return to my
country, Chile, in the following weeks and start a new stage of my life.
Two years ago, I was presented with the opportunity of living in Argentina
and working for one of my passions. This was a big challenge for me: I had
to leave my country and my family and work in a foreign country. These last
18 months have been a unique experience and I've learnt a lot, becoming a
better professional and a more mature person. However, at the same time I
feel that I need to move on and continue with new projects and challenges.

Certainly, this has not been an easy decision for me, because I'm very fond
of this work, the people that have participated in our activities and the
projects we worked on and we are still working on.

I leave the Association in a very different position than when I took
office. We have several ongoing projects and we regularized all the delayed
paperwork. We became the first organization from a developing country to
get an Annual Plan Grant via FDC and have been one of the best-graded
chapters in both processes. We are now a reliable and serious organization,
continuing a process of professionalization that can improve our programs,
making them more efficient and more effective. Clearly, this has not been
only due to my work, which is why I thank the Board of the Chapter that
helped me in everything and to María Cruz, which has been a great colleague
these months.

My main interest is that Wikimedia Argentina continues to grow, which is
why we have decided that my departure occurs at the end of March. This will
allow us to work calmly to ensure the continuity of the ongoing projects of
Wikimedia Argentina and the transfer of knowledge once the new Executive
Director takes office. In any case, I will continue to participate as a
member and Wikimedia volunteer, once this period expires. By request of our
Board, I will also attend the next Wikimedia Conference, so I will be able
to transmit the experiences of Wikimedia Argentina in the last year.

I appreciate the trust placed in me by the Board and all the members of
Wikimedia Argentina and their support all these months. I'm sure they will
continue the great work we have done lately.

Kind regards,

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
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[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Argentina report: December 2013

2014-01-10 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

ue to
promote Argentina's written heritage.

---

Kind regards,

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
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[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Argentina report: November 2013

2013-12-09 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Dear Wikimedians,

Here is the monthly report of Wikimedia Argentina for November 2013.
You can read the full report (in Spanish and English) here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Argentina/Reportes/2013-11
Also, the full reports of past months are available at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Argentina/Reportes

1. «Wiki Mundo» classroom in Aulas Creativas
2. Wiki Hackathon
3. Virtual training for teachers
4. Activity in Salta

=== «Wiki Mundo» classroom in Aulas Creativas ===

Within the framework of our educational outreach program, we started to
collaborate with the educational platform Aulas Creativas (Creative
Classrooms in Spanish). This platform, aimed at teachers, consists of a
space to share innovative resources in education. «Wiki Mundo» (Wiki World)
is the first classroom in Latin America and the only space to talk about
wiki culture and resources in education. This collaboration is, as well,
the first to be taken to an end within the new coordination model
established in the last Iberoconf meeting.

In this way, Carmen Alcázar, from Wikimedia Mexico, current coordinator of
Wikimedia Iberoconf; and María Cruz, communications coordinator at
Wikimedia Argentina, are both content editors of this blog. A schedule for
future posts has been created, that involves all the chapters in Latin
America, as far as their educational initiatives are involved. This will
enable us to generate a colourful patchwork of the experiences in the
region.

Aulas Creativas owns a very vast and active audience. The website has over
6,000 unique visitors per month, and the project has 21,000 followers on
Facebook, especially teachers from different places within Hispanic
America. With this action, we expect to widen the audience of our actions
beyond the movement's limits, and also bet on the local integration with a
very concrete project.

=== Wiki Hackathon ===

On Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1, we held the first Wiki
Hackathon, a space where volunteers of the movement offered presentations
on technical aspects involved in the different wiki projects. The crowd
analyzed Wikipedia tools and also offered trainings on Git, Python, PHP,
Bugzilla and Mediawiki installment.

The event was held in the Government Lab, a space for developers that
belongs to the Ministry of Modernization of the Buenos Aires City
Government. 16 people took part of this activity. During the first day, the
participants discussed users and edit metrics, geolocalization of recent
changes and census data from Argentina. These projects were coordinated by
Jonas Augusto and Ignacio Iglesias. Two presentations focused on
introducing newcomers to Wikipedia, directed by Osmar Valdebenito, and
other about Pywikibot and Mediawiki's API, directed by Jonas.

The second day of the hackathon started with the creation of a map of edits
located within the City of Buenos Aires. This allows the location in a
visual timeline where are the most edited articles by neighbourhood, which
is a first step towards georeference for the data hosted in our projects
and its connection with the local reality. A series of improvements were
applied to the Linha do Tempo, a project for metrics implemented on the
Portuguese Wikipedia. The crowd also discussed the need of a bot that
allows to categorize based on another wiki, according to existing
categories. The presentations of the second day were two: an introduction
to Git, coordinated by Patricio Molina, and another one on error
management, coordinated by Dennis Tobar.

=== Virtual training for teachers ===

During the month of November, the Center for Innovation in Technology and
Pedagogy (CITEP), which belongs to the Secretariat for Innovation and
Academic Quality of the University of Buenos Aires, organized a massive
online course oriented for training of teachers in the area of new
technologies and learning teaching practices associated with them. The
course «Technology scenarios: between the real and the possible» had a
participation of about 2,500 Spanish-speaking teachers from around the
world (including territories as far away as Albania or China), of which
approximately 200 were directly involved in all the proposed practical
activities.

As part of this course, one of the weeks was specifically oriented to the
subject of collaborative learning environments, with a strong emphasis on
Wikipedia. For this, it was created a video called "Wikipedia: open and
collaborative construction of content" featuring Patricio Lorente
explaining the main features of Wikipedia to teachers. A video conference
was held on November 27th, with the participation of Juan Sebastian
Quintero (Colombia), Fernando Da Rosa (Uruguay) and Osmar Valdebenito
(Argentina) to discuss the specific activities on Wikipedia conducted in
educational settings; various teachers joined the Hangout and made their
own questions.

Finally, a virtual learning space was opened for editing in Wikipedia.
Throu

[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Argentina report: September 2013

2013-10-08 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

se of the free encyclopedia in different teaching
environments.

The event was co-organized by Wikimedia Argentina and the National
University of North-West Buenos Aires (UNNOBA), and was held twice: on
Thursday, September 26, it took place in the city of Junín; and on Friday,
September 27, it was held in Pergamino. The presentation went over topics
described in the manual created by Wikimedia Argentina, trying to show to
teachers how they can use Wikipedia as a teaching tool.

-------

Kind regards,

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia France] Welcome to Nathalie, our new ED

2013-10-01 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Bienvenue! Welcome on board, Nathalie! :)

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2013/10/1 Nurunnaby Chowdhury 

> Congratulations & Welcome, Nathalie!
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 10:27 PM, Nicole Ebber  >wrote:
>
> > Congratulations, WMFR and welcome, Nathalie! :)
> >
> > Looking forward to working with you.
> >
> > Nicole
> >
> > On 1 October 2013 17:07, Dariusz Jemielniak  wrote:
> > > congrats and welcome :)
> > >
> > > pundit
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 4:34 PM, Christophe Henner <
> > > christophe.hen...@wikimedia.fr> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Hi everyone,
> > >>
> > >> We have the great pleasure to announce Nathalie Martin is starting
> > >> today as the new Executive Director of Wikimédia France!
> > >>
> > >> Her hiring is the tipping point of a process we started last January
> > >> when we hired a HR firm to audit our organization and support us in
> > >> finding the right person for this key role.
> > >>
> > >> With a background in political science and organizations strategy,
> > >> Nathalie has a deep experience managing several associations of
> > >> similar or bigger size as Wikimedia France. Even though she is not
> > >> from the movement, we believe she'll adapt quickly to who we are.
> > >>
> > >> She came to Wikimania in Hong-Kong, and some of you may have had the
> > >> pleasure to meet her. By coming to Wikimania she had the luck to
> > >> experience in 3 day what Wikimedia is at large, to meet wikimedians
> > >> from all around the world. I'm happy to say that she too suffered from
> > >> PWD (Post-Wikimania Depression).
> > >>
> > >> If you need to contact her, her email address is
> > >> nathalie.mar...@wikimedia.fr. Please keep in mind that it's her first
> > >> day within our movement and she still will need few days to adapt to
> > >> our awesomeness
> > >>
> > >> Please join us in welcoming Nathalie!
> > >>
> > >> Best,
> > >>
> > >> PS: please keep her in copy of your answers :)
> > >>
> > >> Christophe HENNER | Vice-chair
> > >> ---
> > >> › Mail : christophe.hen...@wikimedia.fr
> > >> › Mobile : +33(0)6 29 35 65 94
> > >> › Tel : +33(0)5 62 89 12 01
> > >> › Twitter : @Wikimedia_Fr
> > >> -
> > >> Wikimédia France | Association pour le libre partage de la
> > >> connaissance | Visitez notre blog http://blog.wikimedia.fr
> > >>
> > >> ___
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> > >> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
> ,
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> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > __
> > > dr hab. Dariusz Jemielniak
> > > profesor zarządzania
> > > kierownik katedry Zarządzania Międzynarodowego
> > > i centrum badawczego CROW
> > > Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego
> > > http://www.crow.alk.edu.pl
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Nicole Ebber
> > International Affairs
> >
> > Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Obentrautstr. 72 | 10963 Berlin
> > Tel. +49 30 219158 26-0
> >
> > http://wikimedia.de
> >
> > Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V.
> > Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg
> > unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das
> > Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.
> >
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[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Argentina report: August 2013

2013-09-10 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

he main venue of the
conference.

On Friday August 23, the most anticipated events of the summit took place:
the presentation of Lawrence Lessig, who drew attention to the copyright
license limitations currently taking place in creative processes. Lessig
also raised questions and key issues of the debate on copyright and
outreach, and proposed key aspects to be considered in proposals for
copyright reform. A summary of this presentation is available on our
website (in Spanish at
http://www.wikimedia.org.ar/2013/08/28/leyes-que-ahogan-la-creatividad-repasamos-la-conferencia-de-lawrence-lessig-en-buenos-aires/
)

== Literary contests in Buenos Aires Province ==

Wikimedia Argentina is supporting a series of literary contests organized
by the Direction of Libraries and Reading Promotion of the Buenos Aires
Province. These contests consist of the 3rd. "Arturo Jauretche" National
Essay Contest, the 3rd. "Enrique Santos Discépolo" National Drama Contest
and the VII "Haroldo Conti" National Contest for Young Story-tellers. Works
can be submitted from July 18th to October 18th.

The winners will not only have a prize money: the 15 best works will be
published in a collection whose digital edition will also be uploaded to
Wikimedia Commons and Spanish Wikisource. Rules are available on our
website (in Spanish at
http://www.wikimedia.org.ar/2013/08/20/participa-de-los-concursos-literarios-de-la-provincia-y-publica-tu-obra-en-commons/
).

Support for these contests is given in the framework of the cooperation
agreement signed between Wikimedia Argentina and the Cultural Institute of
the Buenos Aires Province.

== Conference at the National University of Córdoba ==

As part of our collaboration agreement with the National University of
Córdooba, on Thursday August 29th, the conference "Free licences and access
to knowledge at the university" was presented by Evelin Heidel and Beatriz
Busaniche, members of Wikimedia Argentina. The summit was organized by the
Education Technology Area of the institution and the local chapter.

---

Kind regards,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF's New Global South Strategy

2013-08-29 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Thanks Asaf,
I've updated WMAR website with the new presentation.

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2013/8/29 Asaf Bartov 

> On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 5:30 PM, MZMcBride  wrote:
>
> >
> > The first section was removed? I got excited to see the term "Global
> > South" with a line through it (in the agenda index), but I think I
> > initially misunderstood its meaning.
>
>
> No, the strikethrough was a visual cue that the _term_ "Global South" is
> emphatically not on the agenda.
>
>
> > The term "Global South" is pretty
> > awful and deserves a quick death.
>
>
> Agreed...
>
>
> > But based on the title of the
> > presentation and this e-mail thread... I'm not hopeful that it's dead
> yet.
> >
>
> ...but what do we replace it with?  This has been rehashed quite a bit, but
> no one has come up with a compelling alternative that's reasonably concise
> and is politically acceptable.  (Personally I am happy with "developing
> world" and "developing nations", but of course those terms are euphemistic
> as well, and apparently no longer acceptable in some circles.)
>
> I have stated before that the term, for us, is just shorthand for a list of
> countries, and we make no essentialist assumptions about some uniformity
> throughout all these countries.  It is my understanding that most of the
> consternation (kittens dying etc.) the term causes is due to the assumption
> that we _are_ making an essentialist assumption and treating all GS
> countries the same.  I hope it is by now evident we are not.
>
> Once again, I find no point to debating this.  All who _are_ interested are
> welcome to hash it out somewhere, and submit a consensual term (or a
> shortlist) to WMF for consideration.  If a superior term arises, I promise
> to make an effort to adopt it across WMF.  Until then, let's focus on the
> actual work rather than the nomenclature.
>
>
> > I'm a little confused about whether the ongoing programs in Brazil and
> > India will continue. There's a note that reads "No WMF contractors on the
> > ground any more", but it's unclear whether this means a discontinuation
> of
> > the current folks. And the final slides focus on future engagements. Does
> > the "no contractors on the ground" line mean only full-time staff will be
> > working with (engaging with, if you prefer) areas in the future?
> Full-time
> > staff and local chapter folks, I guess? And simply no Wikimedia
> Foundation
> > contractors?
> >
>
> There are no WMF employees outside the US, so "no contractors on the
> ground" (in the GS context -- we still have engineers around the world!)
> means that (once the Brazil transition is complete -- this is in progress),
> no program work in the GS will be done by WMF contractors, but only by
> local partners (movement affiliates -- chapters, thematic organizations,
> and user groups -- and unaffiliated partners), some of whom would be WMF
> grantees.
>
> Cheers,
>
>A.
> --
> Asaf Bartov
> Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
>
> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
> sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
> https://donate.wikimedia.org
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: The most controversial topics in Wikipedia: A multilingual and geographical analysis

2013-07-22 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

I was interviewed a few days ago from a Chilean newspaper because of this
paper. For those interested that can read Spanish here is the full article:
http://www.latercera.com/noticia/tendencias/2013/07/659-533645-9-estudio-dice-que-chile-es-el-articulo-de-wikipedia-mas-editado-en-espanol.shtml

I read the paper in full and I have to admit it has very interesting
approaches to remove the "vandalism" effect. Probably it won't be perfect,
especially for a platform where it is impossible to have an exact,
quantitative measure of quality or neutrality. Is there a measure of
controversiality? I will consider controversial those articles where I
usually edit and probably I will ignore several others that are more
controversial and so on...

But besides the particular issue of which is the most controversial
article, I'm more interested in the trends that each Wikipedia has. They
seem consistent and I think there is a lot of things that we can learn from
it.

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2013/7/22 Taha Yasseri 

> Thanks Tilman.
>
> Especially for your effort to resolve the misunderstandings, which most of
> them I suppose are due to a shallow reading: "I had a bit of free time last
> night waiting for trains and I skimmed  through the study and its
> findings."
>
> We had two strategies to get rid of vandalisms, as you mentioned,
> considering only mutual reverts and waiting editors by their maturity, I
> suppose a vandal could not have a large maturity score by definition.
>
> As for the data, this study has been carried out in 2011, and we worked on
> the latest available dump at the time. Someone experienced in academic
> research, especially at this scale well knows that it really takes time to
> get the analysis done, write the reports, get them reviewed, etc.
> Especially that we have published 7-8 other papers during the same period.
> I see no problem in this as long as the metadata and such information about
> the methods and the data under study are mentioned in the manuscript, which
> is clearly the case here. I have seen many Wikipedia studies without any
> mention of the dump they have used!
>
>  Back to your concern for the general impression that the news media give
> on wikipedia being a battlefield, I'd like to mention that I have
> emphasised the small number of controversial articles compare to the total
> number of articles in every single media response I had. Again as you
> mentioned, we had given the percentages explicitly in our previous work.
> But of course for obvious reasons journalists are not happy to highlight
> this. They like to report on controversies and wars! This is not our fault
> that what they report could be misleading, as long as we had tried our best
> to avoid it. An interview of mine with  BBC Radio Scotland: at 04:00 I
> clearly say that there are millions and thousands of articles in WIkipedia
> which are not controversial, is available here:
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/8whovkmipbqdzlv/bbc_radio_Scotland.mp3 . I have
> done the same in all the others.
>
> Finally, I wish that the public media coverage of our research which is
> clearly far from perfect, could also provide the members of the public a
> better understanding of how Wikipedia works and how fascinating it is!
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Taha
>
>
> On 22 Jul 2013 05:58, "Tilman Bayer"  wrote:
>
> > On Sun, Jul 21, 2013 at 2:32 PM, MZMcBride  wrote:
> > > Anders Wennersten wrote:
> > >>A most interesting study looking at findings from 10 different language
> > >>versions.
> > >>
> > >>Jesus and Middle east are the most controversial articles seen over the
> > >>world, but George Bush on en:wp and Chile on es:wp
> > >>
> > >>http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1305/1305.5566.pdf
> > >
> > FWIW, here is the review by Giovanni Luca Ciampaglia in last month's
> > Wikimedia Research Newsletter:
> >
> >
> https://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/06/28/wikimedia-research-newsletter-june-2013/#.22The_most_controversial_topics_in_Wikipedia:_a_multilingual_and_geographical_analysis.22
> > (also published in the Signpost, the weekly newsletter on the English
> > Wikipedia)
> >
> > > Thanks for sharing this.
> > >
> > > I had a bit of free time last night waiting for trains and I skimmed
> > > through the study and its findings. Two points stuck out at me: a
> > > seemingly fatally flawed methodology and the age of data used.
> > >
> > > The methodology used in this study seems to be pretty inherently
> flawed.
> > > According to the paper, controversiality was measured by full pa

[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Wikimedia Argentina report: June 2013

2013-07-09 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Dear Wikimedians,

Here is the monthly report of Wikimedia Argentina for June 2013.
You can read the full report (in Spanish and English) here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Argentina/Reportes/2013-06

1. Edit-a-thon in the Legislative Palace
2. Wikimemory in Rosario
3. Wiki Loves Monuments exhibition
4. GLAM Congress in La Rioja
5. Gender-gap in Córdoba
6. Wikipedia in General Belgrano

== Edit-a-thon in the Legislative Palace ===

On Saturday, June 29, we held the First Legislative Edit-a-thon, the second
editing marathon in Buenos Aires, organized jointly with the Buenos Aires
City Legislature. It focused on the history and architecture of the
Legislative Palace.

In this opportunity we welcomed people that were editing for the first
time; amongst them, Elizabeth Kries, who had taken part as a young
architect in the team that refurbished the palace in the 1970s. The
activity started at 4 pm with a tour through the Palace that described the
most important historic events, as well as its architectural features and
basic aspects of the legislative process. Two new articles were created,
one about the Esteban Echeverría Library and another one about the historic
Buenos Aires City Council. On top of that, the articles about the City
Legislature, its Palace and the City's coat of arms were substantially
modified.

The event, which brought together over 30 people, was developed as part of
the collaboration started with the City Legislature months ago, which also
included the donation of 85 images of the historic building that were
uploaded to Commons. In the mid-term, we hope that this framework brings
new projects to the local community, as well as new books and documents
with a Creative Commons licence, that are being digitalized by the staff in
the Esteban Echeverría Library.

=== Wikimemory in Rosario ===

On June 6 and 7 we organized, together with the Free Faculty of Rosario,
the event “Wikimemory”, where 30 high school students from the “Soldados
Argentinos” School in Rosario took part of the editing workshop. They where
unaware of the editing option in Wikipedia before the event.

During the first day, Osmar Valdebenito and Nicolás Georgetti made an
introduction to the students about Wikipedia, the Wikimedia projects, and
how the community works to improve the contents on the free encyclopedia.
Some tests were carried out in the classroom, and during the second day,
the students visited the Museum of Memory in Rosario. They decided together
the new articles to create and divided into groups to take pictures, gather
information and upload everything onto the web. On the whole, it was a very
successful experience.

In this opportuniy, we also worked with an audience that does not
frequently attend our events: Susana Correa made a presentation for old
people. It versed on the age group difficulties to access new technologies
and the use of Wikipedia. Ten people attended the event, who regularly take
part in the seminars of the Free Faculty. Meanwhile, Osmar and Nicolás gave
an interview for the TV show “Juntos a la par”, produced by the Argentinean
Work Union of Independent Teachers, and it was broadcasted in Rosario’s
regional channel.
La exhibición de Wiki Loves Monuments en la Casa de la Cultura de Buenos
Aires.
Wiki Loves Monuments exhibition

On June 4th we held the award ceremony of Wiki Loves Monuments 2012, the
first Argentinean edition of the biggest photo contest in the world. The
event took place at the Buenos Aires House of Culture, and it was also the
scene to officially announce the launching of the 2013 edition of the
competition. At the end of the 2012 contest, 6,001 images were uploaded to
Wikimedia Commons from 445 participants; of the 1.881 monuments listed, 793
of them were photographed for the contest, representing 42,2%, so there are
opportunities to grow for 2013.

Also, there was an exhibition in the same place until June 17 of the 10
winning photos from the Argentinean edition, together with the first prize
of the global edition. We expect to organize more exhibitions in the coming
months in other places in Argentina.

=== GLAM Congress in La Rioja ===

The IV Conference of Archives, Museums and Libraries in La Rioja was
organized by the National University of La Rioja (UNLaR). Osmar Valdebenito
made a presentation called “From shelves to Wikipedia: How to reach
millions of people from our libraries?”, that showed the impact Wikipedia
has as a source, being as it is the 5th most visited website in the world.

This time, Osmar highlighted the importance of encouraging local
communities in the provinces of Argentina to spread their patrimony. The
main objetctive is to break the current paradigm in which knowledge, in the
national sphere, is generated in Buenos Aires.

This event, which took place on May 13 and 14, was developed within
Wikimedia Argentina’s program to approach cultural institutions. It was our
first official activity in the Northwest of Arge

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Erik Zachte on bot-generated articles

2013-06-27 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

I've always been surprised how all the time this discussion re-appears,
most of the arguments are based about in-Wikipedia discussion and not about
the impact of our goal: spread free knowledge. "What about the number of
articles? And the ranking? And the 'Random articles'?" and so on... when
most of our users don't care about that. They care about Wikipedia having
an answer when they are looking for some info, probably via Google or
through a blue link. Do you really think they will notice or care if it was
made by human or a bot?

I don't think bots are the solution and they will always have some
particular issues, but please, focus the discussion if the content created
by bots are useful or not, just like any other kind of article, and not
about topics that only are important for those who love (like me)
statistics and are reeeally involved on Wikipedia.


*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2013/6/27 Jon Davies 

> I learnt yesterday that the Welsh Wicipedia does not have 'stubs'. It has
> 'Little Acorns' - so much nicer and more descriptive.
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Approval of Wikimedians of Nepal user group

2013-05-30 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Congratulations!!!

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2013/5/30 Arnau Duran 

> Congratulations guys! wish you all the success!
>
>
> *Arnau Duran Ferrero
> *arnaudu...@gmail.com | www.arnauduran.net
> Telèfon personal: (+34) 696475418
> [image: Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/arnauduran> [image:
> Twitter]<http://www.twitter.com/arnauduran> [image:
> LinkedIn] <http://www.linkedin.com/in/arnauduran> [image: Google
> Plus]<https://plus.google.com/111957640098898266818>
>
>
> 2013/5/30 Nurunnaby Chowdhury 
>
> > Congratulations Nepal team!
> >
> >
> > On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 11:37 PM, Ivan Martínez 
> wrote:
> >
> > > Welcome to board, friends.
> > > I know it has not been easy for Ganesh and to the Nepal team.
> > > Congrats!
> > >
> > >
> > > 2013/5/30 Tonmoy Khan 
> > >
> > > > Congratulations to Nepali Wikimedians!!
> > > >
> > > > Ali Haidar Khan (Tonmoy)
> > > > Wikimedia Bangladesh
> > > > On May 30, 2013 11:12 PM, "Deryck Chan" 
> > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Congratulations Ganesh and the Nepal team! Are there plans to move
> on
> > > and
> > > > > transition to an incorporated Wikimedia chapter?
> > > > > Deryck
> > > > >
> > > > > On 30 May 2013 17:32, Bence Damokos  wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Dear all,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I am happy to inform you that the Affiliations Committee has
> > approved
> > > > the
> > > > > > recognition of a Wikimedia User Group today:  Wikimedians of
> Nepal.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Please join me in welcoming this new group into the fold of
> > Wikimedia
> > > > > > entities, and let's celebrate their success and hard work as
> > > Wikipedia
> > > > > > turns eleven in Nepal!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > == Wikimedians of Nepal ==
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Wikimedians of Nepal <
> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Nepal
> > > >
> > > > > is a
> > > > > > group of enthusiastic Nepali Wikimedians working towards
> developing
> > > and
> > > > > > promoting Wikimedia projects in Nepal. They've been actively
> > working
> > > to
> > > > > > help expand the community, launch projects in more languages of
> > Nepal
> > > > and
> > > > > > promote and support the existing ones.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The group is working towards chapterhood, and have a good chance
> of
> > > > > > attaining that status this year. Granting them user group
> > recognition
> > > > > > allows the movement to express its appreciation for their hard
> work
> > > > even
> > > > > > while they are working on the bureaucratic aspects of meeting the
> > > > > > requirements of chapterhood. The timing is fortuitous  in that
> the
> > > > group
> > > > > is
> > > > > > going to mark the 11th anniversary of Wikipedia in a Nepali
> > language
> > > > on 3
> > > > > > June, next Monday.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Ganesh, the group's interim president has been invited to this
> > year's
> > > > > Milan
> > > > > > conference, where he gave a comprehensive overview of the group's
> > > > > history,
> > > > > > its projects (including a successful 'wikiwomen" programme) and
> its
> > > > > > ambitions. The slides are at:
> > > > > >
> > > >
> > http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/WMNepal_WMC_2013.pdf
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The Affiliations Committee's
> > > > > > recognition<
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Wikimedians_of_Nepal_-_May_2013
> > > > > > >is
> > > > > > valid until 28 May 2014, or until they are recognized as a
> chapter.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > == Wikimedia User Groups ==
&

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Spanish Wikipedia first million

2013-05-27 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Thanks for the announcement, Salvador.
It was a really hard work to coordinate the recordings in Buenos Aires,
Puebla, Jerusalem and La Paz, but I think we did a good job :)

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2013/5/26 Salvador A 

> Also, it's in Commons:
>
>
> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Un_mill%C3%B3n_de_gracias,_de_Wikipedia_en_espa%C3%B1ol.webm
>
>
> 2013/5/26 Salvador A 
>
> > To celebrate this milestone, Iberocoop chapters have made this video that
> > we share with you:
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SLw_Z8w604
> >
> > Enjoy it!
> >
> > Regards!
> >
> >
> > 2013/5/17 ENWP Pine 
> >
> >>Felicitaciones a la española Wikipedia!
> >> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fogos_artificiais.jpg
> >>
> >> Pine
> >>
> >> ___
> >> Wikimedia-l mailing list
> >> Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > *Salvador Alcántar*
> >
>
>
>
> --
> *Salvador Alcántar*
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Spanish Wikipedia first million

2013-05-17 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Congratulations to all of us who have worked all these years to make this
possible :D
The change in the count is very innapropiate (someone said on our Village
Pump it was like preparing for New Year's Eve and falling sleep in the
counting and waking up the other day), but it doesn't take the credit of
all the work that has been done.

By the way, can someone update our logo for the celebrations?
According to this poll [1], the logo should be
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia-logo-es-millon-vector.svgbetween
May 16th and June 16th.Also, the link should go to
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Anuncio_del_art%C3%ADculo_1_000_000

Thanks,

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
**
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina

[1]
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Votaciones/2013/Conmemoraci%C3%B3n_del_mill%C3%B3n_de_art%C3%ADculos_de_Wikipedia

2013/5/17 Shlomi Fish 

> Hi all,
>
> On Thu, 16 May 2013 19:19:45 -0500
> Salvador A  wrote:
>
> > Hi folks!
> >
> > Maybe many of you have it already noticed. Nevertheless, spanish speakers
> > wikimedians want to share with you our joy of that the spanish version of
> > Wikipedia has surpassed the million of articles.
> >
> > https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Especial:Estad%C3%ADsticas
> >
> > Thanks and congratulations to all volunteers that make it possible.
>
> That's great! Thanks to all volunteers/admins/etc. .
>
> Regards,
>
> Shlomi Fish
>
> --
> -
> Shlomi Fish   http://www.shlomifish.org/
> http://www.shlomifish.org/humour/Summerschool-at-the-NSA/
>
> Mothers used to tell their children stories about XSLT to scare them.
> — http://www.shlomifish.org/humour/bits/facts/XSLT/
>
> Please reply to list if it's a mailing list post - http://shlom.in/reply .
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Resignation announcement, and a parting remark to everyone

2013-04-30 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Probably a smoother transition would be much more appropiate. A part-time
or temporary employee that can take care of the belated reports and
paperwork that you, as volunteers, can't do and probably establish some
basis for a future growth.
WM-AR, WM-RS and WM-IL have professionalized in the latest years (correct
me if there is any other chapter too), which are medium-sized chapters,
probably similar to HK.You should take a look at their/our experience and
that can be helpful to imagine what you can do.

*Osmar Valdebenito G.*
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina


2013/4/30 Jeromy-Yu Maximilian Chan 

> I think Jan-Bart did point out an interesting point
> As I heard in Milan
> Long time staffing, must go trough FDC
> And we exactly know our weakness on transparency and management
> (I already tried hard to push my rest of team when I was on the chapter
> board
> But what do you expect if they have day time or/& studies?)
>
> And going trough these year of struggle for survival
> We are already very clear to improve the situation we need permanent staff
> to stabilize the structure, to free up volunteer to work out something more
> "meaningful".
>
> As we aware of problem, we are run out of way to improve, it is bottleneck
> we need to tackle. So the FDC decision  suggests chapter like us should
> never professionalize? Or never hire staff? Or never apply grant? As
> without staffing we dun think we can really have a change, as everyone had
> to spent at least 60 hours a week for work and studies.
>
> But the immediate effect of this (I-would-call-in-a-community-aspect)
> irresponsible decision is not just kill off the chance of development, the
> worse is liquidating the faith of volunteers.
>
> Also we understand the local environment can be how harsh to charity run by
> young people like us
> WMF is rather easy way to get funding, so I can understand why they have
> such strong feeling
> It is frankly a huge slam on the local communities faith on that WMF can be
> helpful all the time.
>
> we have plans and right connections, just need people to deal with the
> stuff in working hours
> and of course improve the area they accuse us
> That's it
>
> (also one note about the accusation of mismanagement previous fund
>
> we did have apply grant via projects, we finished the report, and we told
> them we have money left, nobody had tell us what to do clearly
> AND WMF STAFF CONTACTS JUST CHANGE ALL THE TIME
>
>
> Actually I do find this new grant system really disgusting
> I know there are always some good & helpful staff and people around
> Frankly I dun think the FdC related person are & will
>
> And now they force me to think of other harder local alternative (which
> again a hell lot volunteer time)
> Sorry frankly I dun have confidence on appeal or ombudsman after go through
> all these frankly
>
> On the other hands we need more (fxxxing) paperworks for appeal or
> ombudsman, which the team is super tired with, I just ponder why the things
> go so inhumane.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On 29 Apr, 2013, at 2:37, "Jeromy-Yu Chan (Jerry~Yuyu)" <
> jerry.tschan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> I am ACTUALLY PANIC when reading this.
>
> Normally I would say please don't go,
> but realizing myself I am not on the Local Chapter board already
> and even myself start to feel don't know what to do next
>
> And I am sorry to say, the decision had totally stir up the emotion of the
> whole Wikimania Local Team
> I frankly don't know whether if it will lead to a melt down of our
> volunteer power
> after frustrations of all these years as Deryck said, as I was on the Board
> and knew most of the stories.
>
> --
> Jeromy-Yu Chan, Jerry
> http://plasticnews.wf/
> http://about.me/jeromyu
> UID: Jeromyu
> (on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk & most sites)
>
> Tel (Mobile): +852 9279 1601
> Οὔτε τι τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἄξιον  ὂν μεγάλης σπουδῆς
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Comments on compliance and the FDC Round 2 decisions

2013-04-30 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

I think it is important to remember what is the main premise behind the
FDC: give resources to established chapter in some sort of "long term"
capacity. We are dealing with proposals of over 100k to more than 4m. I've
heard several times about how hard is to apply for the FDC, how terrible it
is... I know it is not an easy task applying nor reporting (we are doing
this right now) but it is not the hell that has been pictured. It is a much
easier, simple and transparent process than most of the ways any other
organization (for profit or not) does to get the level of money we are
requesting, or at least that has been my experience. Not because the
chapters have nice goals about disseminating free knowledge on local level,
we should be treated especially and not being requested to be as serious
and professional as possible. I think even the FDC is already taken in
consideration the level of professionality of each institution and probably
evaluates differently WMAR than WMDE,  but both should be able to at least
comply with the basics (like clearity in the proposals and goals of the
organization, a set of programs, etc.)

But, seriously, if we are not able to write a estructured long report or
reply answers about usage of funds, is it possible that we are able to hire
effectively and efficiently an Executive Director or run an office? The
problem of growth is not much about were to get funds but how this growth
is sustainable and makes sense. Although there is no clear path towards
professionalization (it would be great to have at least some sort of
recommendations and it is something that should be improved), most of the
successful cases happened through a smooth transition with some sort of
temporary hiring via GAC and then consolidation via FDC. And that makes
sense, because moving from a volunteer-driven association to a professional
NGO is not easy: it is not easy to find the right employee (probably all
the cases hired someone and to fire him/her a few months after), to
establish the balance between what should the Board do and what the staff,
to solve all the belated paperwork that nobody was able to do before, etc,
etc. After going through all of that, then you can think of a more
structured way to request funds like the FDC.

I think this is an interesting topic that would have been great to work
with in the past Wikimedia Conference, too bad the idea came too late.
Maybe a panel for Wikimania?

Osmar Valdebenito G.

2013/4/30 Craig Franklin 

> I wonder if it will be accepted to apply to GAC for temporary position
> > for the person responsible for preparation of FDC application :-)
>
>
> That's probably not as silly an idea as it sounds - having a local person
> on the ground with relevant expertise who can assist the chapter not just
> in preparing their application, but also help them set realistic goals on
> what could be achieved would no doubt increase the quality of FDC
> applications and also focus chapters on delivering useful programme work,
> without causing any bitterness about the Foundation at the same time.
>
> Cheers,
> Craig Franklin
>
>
> On 30 April 2013 20:42, Tomasz Ganicz  wrote:
>
> > 2013/4/30 Dariusz Jemielniak :
> >
> > > Many members of the community (as it was confirmed in the discussions
> on
> > > Milan conference) are e.g. uncertain about part-time employment
> > > possibilities through GAC, as well as about professionalization efforts
> > > being funded through GAC scheme (both possible to some extent). I
> believe
> > > that it is imperative that a clear guideline is prepared.
> > >
> >
> > Actually it is here:
> >
> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index/Eligibility_requirements
> >
> > "Grants through this program do not fund full-time permanent staff
> > salaries and other recurring operating expenses, such as the rent of
> > an office. In some cases, WMF Grants Program grants may fund part-time
> > positions or full-time temporary positions with a limited focus and
> > scope of work related specifically to the activities of the funded
> > project. Requests for part-time staff will be accompanied by an
> > assessment of the applicant's ability to effectively manage staff, and
> > may require necessary infrastructure to support staff (such as
> > policies around travel reimbursements, and hiring). Full-time staff
> > and recurring operating expenses will only be funded via the Funds
> > Dissemination Committee (FDC) process. Note that entities receiving
> > funds through the FDC process may not receive funds through the WMF
> > Grants Program during the same fiscal year."
> >
> >
> > although it is a bit misleading, as in several cases (WM AR, WM SR, WM
> > IN,

Re: [Wikimedia-l] New members for the Affiliations Committee

2013-02-13 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Congratulations to all of you, to the former members and the new ones!
Felicidades a Salvador y Carlos y también a Damián! Que lo hagan chévere,
wey :)

Osmar Valdebenito G.


2013/2/13 phoebe ayers 

> On Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 11:59 AM, Lodewijk 
> wrote:
> > Dear all,
> >
> > As you may have noticed, in December there was a call for new members for
> > the affiliations committee. The affiliations committee is entrusted to
> > advise the Board of Trustees on matters of recognition of new movement
> > affiliates, such as Chapters, Thematic Organizations and User Groups.
> >
> > I am happy to be able to say that this call resulted in 18 applications!
> > After a thorough discussion, the Committee members that were not part of
> > this selection procedure have passed a resolution, appointing 7 of these
> > applicants as member of the committee.[1]
> >
> > Therefore, I'm proud to announce that the following people have been
> > appointed as member of the Affiliations Committee until 31 December 2014:
> >
> >- Jeromy-Yu Chan (re-appointment)
> >- Carlos Colina
> >- Bence Damokos (re-appointment)
> >- Josh Lim
> >- Salvador Alcántar Morán
> >- Tanvir Rahman
> >- Greg Varnum
> >
> >
> > Congratulations to the new appointees! You can find a full overview of
> the
> > members on [2].
> >
> > I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing members who
> > spent valuable time in the past years on the affiliations committee:
> > Sebastian Moleski, Ray Saintonge and Damian Finol. Sebastian and Ray have
> > served the committee since 2010, and Damian was the longest serving
> member,
> > being appointed in 2007! Thanks a lot for your time and effort in the
> past
> > years.
>
> Congratulations to all, and many thanks to Sebastian, Ray and Damian!!
> And thanks to Lodewijk and all for running a smooth selection process.
> Affiliate!
>
> -- Phoebe
>
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[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Argentina Monthly Report, December 2012

2013-01-04 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

gentina this month with the aim
of using it as the main tool to disseminate Wikipedia in new audiences,
because of its simplicity. Thus Wikimedia Argentina expects to raise
awareness of how easy is to edit an article and thus increase the number of
volunteers in Wikipedia.

* File available here:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manual_de_Bolsillo_Wikipedia_-_Wikimedia_Argentina.pdf

== Future activities ==

Wikimedia Argentina is already planning activities for the upcoming months.
Among the most important projects is the design of a Master Plan for
Education that encompasses the various activities that the chapter has done
to date, which will be held in conjunction with experts in various
educational areas. A meeting to develop this project is intended for early
March.

During the month of February, the awards ceremony of the local version of
Wiki Loves Monuments is being planned. The ceremony, to be held in the San
Martín Cultural Center, will be accompanied by a photo exhibition with the
ten winners of the local contest, along with the winner of the
international edition of Wiki Loves Monuments.





Osmar Valdebenito G.
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikivoyage project launch/migration update

2013-01-03 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Great!

Osmar Valdebenito G.


2013/1/3 Patricio Lorente 

> 2013/1/3 Gerard Meijssen :
> > Hoi,
> > The Portuguese Wikivoyage has been created. :)
> > Thanks,
> >  GerardM
>
> And also the Spanish Wikivoyage!
> http://es.wikivoyage.org/wiki/P%C3%A1gina_principal
>
>  Patricio
>
>
> --
> Patricio Lorente
> Blog: http://www.patriciolorente.com.ar
> Identi.ca // Twitter: @patriciolorente
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] "Wikipedia in the classroom" in Guarani language

2012-12-17 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Hi Everton!
It will be amazing if you can use it in Brazil. We need all the possible
feedback to improve the booklet for following editions.
El 17/12/2012 11:58, "Everton Zanella Alvarenga" 
escribió:

> Caro Osmar,
>
> I would like to congratulate you and Wikimedia Argentina for this
> work. I've seen also Wikimedia Argentina booklet in Spanish about one
> month ago, and I liked your initiave
>
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_en_el_aula.pdf
>
> And as pointed out in the following discussion, this can be used in
> Brazil. Even in São Paulo, for instance, we have some indigeous who
> speak Guarani. Let's hope some volunteers from Wikimedia Brasil can
> use them in the classroom!
>
> Saludos!
>
> Tom
>
> On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 12:05 AM, Osmar Valdebenito
>  wrote:
> > This week, Wikimedia Argentina published the first edition of "Vikipetã
> > mbo'eha kotýpe" [1], "Wikipedia in the classroom" in Guarani, an
> indigenous
> > language spoken in Northern Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. It is the
> > first Wikipedia related publication made in an American indigenous
> language.
> >
> > The goal of “Wikipedia in the classroom”, made originally in Spanish, is
> to
> > help teachers to understand what is Wikipedia, how it works and how they
> > can use it in an useful way. Most students already use Wikipedia so it is
> > really important that teachers know what to do.
> >
> > “Wikipedia in the classroom” is an initiative launched in 2010 by
> Wikimedia
> > Argentina with the support of different institutions, including the
> > Education portal of the Argentine government, educ.ar. They released an
> > special website about the project.[2] Wikimedia Argentina will print 500
> > booklets of the Guarani edition to be distributed in schools and other
> > educational institutions, and we expect to publish new editions in other
> > indigenous languages in 2013.
> >
> > Kind regards,
> >
> > Osmar Valdebenito G.
> > Director Ejecutivo
> > A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
> >
> > [1]
> >
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vikipet%C3%A3_mbo%27eha_kot%C3%BDpe.jpg
> > [2] http://wikipediaenelaula.educ.ar/
> > ___
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> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
>
>
>
> --
> Everton Zanella Alvarenga (also Tom)
> "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more
> useful than a life spent doing nothing."
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] "Wikipedia in the classroom" in Guarani language

2012-12-17 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

I totally agree with you. That's why we also had activities with native
speakers of Guarani, Aymara and Mapudungun in Buenos Aires teaching them
about Wikipedia and now we are giving another step. We are not saying that
with "Wikipedia in the classroom" everything is done.

We, as Iberocoop members, have discussed the approach with indigenous
languages in different opportunities (especially in Iberoconf 2012 in
Santiago) and we know that chapters should help the communities to develop
their own projects, and not replace them, considering none of us are native
speakers. Of course, I have learnt (in my case) some Mapudungun and I can
help editing, but it is not our goal. Wikimedia Venezuela has been doing a
great job with Wayuunaki speakers and also Wikimedia Mexico with different
languages (I'm not sure and probably Iván can correct me, but I think the
Yucatec was one of them). Wikimedia Chile contacted several Mapuche
organizations for the development of the Mapudungun Wikipedia and Wikimedia
Argentina has been doing the same in the past years.

Osmar Valdebenito G.



2012/12/16 M. Williamson 

> I think an even better initiative would be to involve native speakers
> in writing articles and taking leadership positions at the Guarani
> Wikipedia. It is currently written exclusively by language
> learner-enthusiasts, although they do receive occasional help from
> Ateneo de Lengua y Cultura Guaraní. There are no native speaker admins
> either, as far as I am aware.
>
> This is a tragedy, considering Guaraní is the main language of
> Paraguay, it is official in two countries (Paraguay and Bolivia) and
> in some provinces in a third (Argentina) and widely used in Brazil as
> well.
>
> In fact, why do we never hear the fact that none of the Wikipedias in
> indigenous languages of the Americas are currently written or
> administered by actual native speakers of those languages (again, as
> far as I know, and with the exception of one native speaking former
> editor on the Navajo Wikipedia)? The one Wikipedia that has made
> promising progress towards breaking this unfortunate pattern is the
> Yucatec Wikipedia, which unfortunately has been kept ghettoized in the
> incubator by the overly restrictive policies enforced by a couple of
> members of Langcom, in spite of the community interest and
> participation in the project.
>
> Wikipedia will never take off in non-European minority languages if it
> is exclusively written and administered by outsiders.
>
> (I should add that many of the editors and administrators have done
> great work, and written lots of quality articles; in the case of the
> Navajo and Quechua Wikipedias, I know them to be competent,
> expert-level speakers of the languages, but unfortunately this is
> still not a viable replacement for the native speaker involvement - it
> is a good complement to it, but not a replacement)
>
> Can you imagine the Spanish Wikipedia written _only_ by people
> studying Spanish as a second language? Could it ever become a major
> reference work for native speakers, if that were the case?
>
> 2012/12/16, Osmar Valdebenito :
> > This week, Wikimedia Argentina published the first edition of "Vikipetã
> > mbo'eha kotýpe" [1], "Wikipedia in the classroom" in Guarani, an
> indigenous
> > language spoken in Northern Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. It is the
> > first Wikipedia related publication made in an American indigenous
> > language.
> >
> > The goal of “Wikipedia in the classroom”, made originally in Spanish, is
> to
> > help teachers to understand what is Wikipedia, how it works and how they
> > can use it in an useful way. Most students already use Wikipedia so it is
> > really important that teachers know what to do.
> >
> > “Wikipedia in the classroom” is an initiative launched in 2010 by
> Wikimedia
> > Argentina with the support of different institutions, including the
> > Education portal of the Argentine government, educ.ar. They released an
> > special website about the project.[2] Wikimedia Argentina will print 500
> > booklets of the Guarani edition to be distributed in schools and other
> > educational institutions, and we expect to publish new editions in other
> > indigenous languages in 2013.
> >
> > Kind regards,
> >
> > Osmar Valdebenito G.
> > Director Ejecutivo
> > A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
> >
> > [1]
> >
> https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vikipet%C3%A3_mbo%27eha_kot%C3%BDpe.jpg
> > [2] http://wikipediaenelaula.educ.ar/
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list
> > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.w

[Wikimedia-l] "Wikipedia in the classroom" in Guarani language

2012-12-16 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

This week, Wikimedia Argentina published the first edition of "Vikipetã
mbo'eha kotýpe" [1], "Wikipedia in the classroom" in Guarani, an indigenous
language spoken in Northern Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. It is the
first Wikipedia related publication made in an American indigenous language.

The goal of “Wikipedia in the classroom”, made originally in Spanish, is to
help teachers to understand what is Wikipedia, how it works and how they
can use it in an useful way. Most students already use Wikipedia so it is
really important that teachers know what to do.

“Wikipedia in the classroom” is an initiative launched in 2010 by Wikimedia
Argentina with the support of different institutions, including the
Education portal of the Argentine government, educ.ar. They released an
special website about the project.[2] Wikimedia Argentina will print 500
booklets of the Guarani edition to be distributed in schools and other
educational institutions, and we expect to publish new editions in other
indigenous languages in 2013.

Kind regards,

Osmar Valdebenito G.
Director Ejecutivo
A. C. Wikimedia Argentina

[1]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vikipet%C3%A3_mbo%27eha_kot%C3%BDpe.jpg
[2] http://wikipediaenelaula.educ.ar/
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] FDC recommendations on funds allocation, Round 1, 2012-13

2012-11-16 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Yes, I know ;)
But it certainly has a effect, larger or smaller.
Probably, you would be faster if you can write a report in Polish and you
discussed with others in Polish.


2012/11/16 Dariusz Jemielniak 

> lol, I didn't want it to sound this way. I only wanted to say that none of
> the non-native speakers of English within the FDC wants to use this as an
> excuse for the lack of long detailed recommendations for each of the
> entities.
>
> dariusz
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 2:47 PM, Osmar Valdebenito <
> os...@wikimediachile.cl> wrote:
>
>> I spent the last twenty minutes writing that mail in English and now you
>> say it is irrelevant? Boo...
>> (by the way, in my last mail I was talking more general about the
>> movement, not only about the FDC)
>>
>>
>> 2012/11/16 Dariusz Jemielniak 
>>
>>>
>>> Also, the fact that we're not native speakers is irrelevant - all of us
>>> have experience in writing longer pieces, most of us have experience with
>>> NGO evaluation, finance, or management, and handling documents related to
>>> it. What takes much more time that actual writing down is agreeing on the
>>> message to the letter.
>>>
>>> One thing that I'm really proud of is that we have been able to work
>>> relying on the consensus principle, and many varied perspectives and
>>> different angles of analysis (including e.g. areas where we sought
>>> alternatives to  the analyses provided by FDC staff and created our own
>>> models and simulations) came down to a recommendation we all agreed that
>>> we
>>> are fine with.
>>>
>>> I don't think it is realistic now to expect that we will be able to
>>> provide
>>> detailed feedback for each of the entities, also because of the fact that
>>> we treat reaching a consensus very seriously. We have been writing and
>>> rewriting the recommendation you have seen for quite a while, to make
>>> sure
>>> that it reflects our consensus fully, and it takes time.
>>>
>>> However, I hear your feedback and all of us at the FDC will think how to
>>> make sure that the whole process, and the amount of work and discussions,
>>> is more reflected in the final outcome of a recommendation. We definitely
>>> do not want to be a professional blackbox, and we've been really making
>>> efforts to make the application and project discussion transparent and
>>> collaborative (and we do hope it will be even more so, also from the
>>> chapters' side).
>>>
>>> best,
>>>
>>> Dariusz
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 2:06 PM, Osmar Valdebenito
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> > I agree that better and much more detailed reports would be great. I
>>> would
>>> > love to read what projects the FDC agrees with, which should change
>>> and so
>>> > on. But guys, the FDC is a group of volunteers with not enough time and
>>> > where few are native English speakers able to write long pages. I even
>>> > consider that the report is long enough, probably not about each
>>> chapter,
>>> > but about the process as a whole.
>>> >
>>> > Yes, it would be great to have a lot of details and I haven't seen any
>>> > problems by the FDC to provide them as long as you ask them but you
>>> can't
>>> > expect them to do all that extra work 'for free'.
>>> >
>>> > Osmar Valdebenito G.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > 2012/11/16 Thomas Dalton 
>>> >
>>> > > I was also expecting a much more detailed report. I remember having a
>>> > > discussion with Anasuya about the timetable and I pointed out that
>>> she
>>> > > hadn't scheduled enough time for writing up the report. If she was
>>> > > thinking of a report like this one, then I can see why we disagreed.
>>> I
>>> > > thought a lot more time was needed because I was expecting a much
>>> more
>>> > > detailed report (about one side of A4 per application, perhaps).
>>> > >
>>> > > Report writing is something we are, as a movement, very bad at. A
>>> well
>>> > > written report can be read in isolation (with references to other
>>> > > documents for more detail if it is desired, but essential details
>>> > > should be in the report itself). It takes longe

Re: [Wikimedia-l] FDC recommendations on funds allocation, Round 1, 2012-13

2012-11-16 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

I spent the last twenty minutes writing that mail in English and now you
say it is irrelevant? Boo...
(by the way, in my last mail I was talking more general about the movement,
not only about the FDC)

2012/11/16 Dariusz Jemielniak 

>
> Also, the fact that we're not native speakers is irrelevant - all of us
> have experience in writing longer pieces, most of us have experience with
> NGO evaluation, finance, or management, and handling documents related to
> it. What takes much more time that actual writing down is agreeing on the
> message to the letter.
>
> One thing that I'm really proud of is that we have been able to work
> relying on the consensus principle, and many varied perspectives and
> different angles of analysis (including e.g. areas where we sought
> alternatives to  the analyses provided by FDC staff and created our own
> models and simulations) came down to a recommendation we all agreed that we
> are fine with.
>
> I don't think it is realistic now to expect that we will be able to provide
> detailed feedback for each of the entities, also because of the fact that
> we treat reaching a consensus very seriously. We have been writing and
> rewriting the recommendation you have seen for quite a while, to make sure
> that it reflects our consensus fully, and it takes time.
>
> However, I hear your feedback and all of us at the FDC will think how to
> make sure that the whole process, and the amount of work and discussions,
> is more reflected in the final outcome of a recommendation. We definitely
> do not want to be a professional blackbox, and we've been really making
> efforts to make the application and project discussion transparent and
> collaborative (and we do hope it will be even more so, also from the
> chapters' side).
>
> best,
>
> Dariusz
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 2:06 PM, Osmar Valdebenito
> wrote:
>
> > I agree that better and much more detailed reports would be great. I
> would
> > love to read what projects the FDC agrees with, which should change and
> so
> > on. But guys, the FDC is a group of volunteers with not enough time and
> > where few are native English speakers able to write long pages. I even
> > consider that the report is long enough, probably not about each chapter,
> > but about the process as a whole.
> >
> > Yes, it would be great to have a lot of details and I haven't seen any
> > problems by the FDC to provide them as long as you ask them but you can't
> > expect them to do all that extra work 'for free'.
> >
> > Osmar Valdebenito G.
> >
> >
> > 2012/11/16 Thomas Dalton 
> >
> > > I was also expecting a much more detailed report. I remember having a
> > > discussion with Anasuya about the timetable and I pointed out that she
> > > hadn't scheduled enough time for writing up the report. If she was
> > > thinking of a report like this one, then I can see why we disagreed. I
> > > thought a lot more time was needed because I was expecting a much more
> > > detailed report (about one side of A4 per application, perhaps).
> > >
> > > Report writing is something we are, as a movement, very bad at. A well
> > > written report can be read in isolation (with references to other
> > > documents for more detail if it is desired, but essential details
> > > should be in the report itself). It takes longer to write, certainly,
> > > but it takes a lot less time to read and digest, so overall a lot of
> > > time is saved by writing good reports.
> > >
> > > It's something that comes up annually with regards to Wikimania - we
> > > never get a decent report from the organisers. I also see it on a
> > > regular basis with Wikimedia UK - someone brings a subject to a board
> > > meeting for discussion without having produced a proper report on it,
> > > so the discussion is uninformed, unstructured and nobody knows what it
> > > is actually meant to achieve.
> > >
> > > Perhaps we could organise some reporting writing training for people,
> > > although I think the real problem is convincing people that it is
> > > worth doing properly.
> > >
> > > ___
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] FDC recommendations on funds allocation, Round 1, 2012-13

2012-11-16 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

They did their job to evaluate more than 10 extensive applications, make
their recommendations and provide a long report. They have even answered
the questions and probably will be able to do if you have more questions.
That was they work as volunteer and they did it.
Probably everybody would like something different (as more details about
every chapters) but they are not our employees and they have their right to
say "We think that is enough".

And once again, I want to remember that not everybody here speaks or write
English as a native. Sometimes is really easy to demand people to write
long reports, speak and engage in discussions when you have the privilege
to be a speaker of the "global language", but it is not easy for all of us.
This is something that must be considered if we are talking about "global
movement", "inclusion of developing countries" and so on.

Osmar Valdebenito G.

2012/11/16 Thomas Dalton 

> On 16 November 2012 13:06, Osmar Valdebenito 
> wrote:
> > Yes, it would be great to have a lot of details and I haven't seen any
> > problems by the FDC to provide them as long as you ask them but you can't
> > expect them to do all that extra work 'for free'.
>
> Yes, you can. When you volunteer for a position like that, you are
> making a commitment to put in the necessary work. The "we're just
> volunteers" excuse gets rolled out far too often around here.
> Volunteers that have made commitments to do a job have an obligation
> to do it.
>
> I want to be clear, I'm not saying the FDC haven't done their job -
> they seem to have considered the issues very well and the report is,
> at least, satisfactory. I'm just saying that being a volunteer isn't
> an excuse. We should make certain allowances for volunteers that we
> wouldn't make for staff (particularly, we have to be flexible - staff
> can be expected to be at their desks between 9am and 5pm, volunteers
> do their work whenever then get a spare moment), but we should still
> require that jobs are done well. If it turns out to be impossible to
> find volunteers willing and able to do a particular job well, then we
> need to re-think it.
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] FDC recommendations on funds allocation, Round 1, 2012-13

2012-11-16 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

I agree that better and much more detailed reports would be great. I would
love to read what projects the FDC agrees with, which should change and so
on. But guys, the FDC is a group of volunteers with not enough time and
where few are native English speakers able to write long pages. I even
consider that the report is long enough, probably not about each chapter,
but about the process as a whole.

Yes, it would be great to have a lot of details and I haven't seen any
problems by the FDC to provide them as long as you ask them but you can't
expect them to do all that extra work 'for free'.

Osmar Valdebenito G.


2012/11/16 Thomas Dalton 

> I was also expecting a much more detailed report. I remember having a
> discussion with Anasuya about the timetable and I pointed out that she
> hadn't scheduled enough time for writing up the report. If she was
> thinking of a report like this one, then I can see why we disagreed. I
> thought a lot more time was needed because I was expecting a much more
> detailed report (about one side of A4 per application, perhaps).
>
> Report writing is something we are, as a movement, very bad at. A well
> written report can be read in isolation (with references to other
> documents for more detail if it is desired, but essential details
> should be in the report itself). It takes longer to write, certainly,
> but it takes a lot less time to read and digest, so overall a lot of
> time is saved by writing good reports.
>
> It's something that comes up annually with regards to Wikimania - we
> never get a decent report from the organisers. I also see it on a
> regular basis with Wikimedia UK - someone brings a subject to a board
> meeting for discussion without having produced a proper report on it,
> so the discussion is uninformed, unstructured and nobody knows what it
> is actually meant to achieve.
>
> Perhaps we could organise some reporting writing training for people,
> although I think the real problem is convincing people that it is
> worth doing properly.
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Indigenous Languages

2012-08-29 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Great idea!
In Iberocoop we have discussed a lot about the topic so it will be really
helpful a project like this.

I'll forward this to Iberocoop-l


2012/8/29 JP Béland 

> Good day,
>
> I'm pleased to announce you the creation of Wikimedia Indigenous Languages
> (WIL). WIL is the coordinating body for the promotion and development of
> indigenous on Wikimedia projects.
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Indigenous_Languages (or just
> search WIL on Meta)
>
> Wikimedia Indigenous Languages' vision is to see the sum of the knowledge
> available to everybody in their own languages and to share the knowledge of
> those languages themselves. It will achieve that by:
>
> - Reaching indigenous languages speakers for the development of Wikimedia
> projects in their language
> - Establishing working cooperation with outside organizations involved in
> the promotion of indigenous languages
> - Creating and expanding Wikimedia projects in all indigenous languages
>
> Wikimedia Indigenous Languages' role is to support and encourage the
> efforts of specific projects to develop Wikimedia projects in small and
> endangered languages. It will serve as an international body to collect and
> share best practices, lessons learned and methodology to develop small
> languages Wikimedia projects and preserve endangered languages. It will
> also offer support to people interested in developing initiatives and new
> projects. It will also become the point of contact to set up cooperation
> with other organizations working towards the same goals and will also
> actively seek such cooperation opportunities.
>
> Anybody or any group who is interested in this project or any projects with
> indigenous languages are welcome to join Wikimedia Indigenous Languages.
> For questions or further discussion, come on the talk page, and a dedicated
> mailing list to discuss languages-related issue and initiatives will soon
> be crated.
>
>
> Thanks,
> JP Béland
> (alias Amqui)
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[Wikimedia-l] Iberoconf 2012

2012-06-04 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

(sorry for cross-posting)

Hi,

In the past few days, representatives of different Wikimedia chapters and
working groups met in Santiago de Chile for the Second Ibero-American
Wikimedia Summit (also known as Iberoconf). This event took place between
June 1st and 3rd at the DUOC UC Institute – Campus Alonso Ovalle, with two
representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Italy,
Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela, and for the first time,
guests from Panama and Peru.

The event was an incredible opportunity for the different groups to share
their experiences from a local and regional perspective and articulate a
common framework for future projects in Ibero America. The use of the
native language of all the participants instead of a foreign language as it
happens in most of Wikimedia events was a

Here is a summary of the main topics of the summit:

- Recommendations for the creation and development of Wikimedia chapters.
- Experience of Brazilian and Mexican wikipedians at universities.
- Discussion on development of projects in indigenous languages.
- Best practices for grant making , accountability and GLAM projects.
- Workshop of external communication and social media.
- Workshop of “Wiki Loves Monument”

In the following days, we expect to release an extended summary of the
event in Meta, and records of the sessions and photos. Also, every chapter
and working group will upload the slides of their “State of the Chapter”;
some of them are already available at
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Presentaciones_en_el_Encuentro_Wikimedia_Iberoamericano_2012

I would like to thank to the Wikimedia Foundation for funding this project
and their representative at the meeting (Samuel Klein as part of the Board
and Matthew Roth as part of the Staff) because their valuable and really
helpful participation at the sessions. The same to Délphine Menard, who
came as a guest in representation of Wikimedia Deutschland. Thanks also for
all the participants, -some of them even flew for more than 24 hours, and
for those that voted our bid past March.

But, more important, I want to thank to all the members of Wikimedia Chile
that helped to organize this event. We bid in February mainly as a joke and
now we are finally resting after organizing such a big event. It was a
great opportunity to bring closer our members and learn about event
organization. To Juan David, Lily, Daniel, Dennis, Eduardo, Sarah, Rocío
and Marco, thank you!

I’m really happy with this Ibero-American Wikimedia Summit, which is
becoming one of our traditions as a movement and as an example for regional
cooperation activities. We expect anxiously next summit in 2013 and, as a
general recommendation, I public encourage our fellow chapters to start
ambitious projects like this one.

Kind regards,

Osmar Valdebenito Gaete

Presidente de Wikimedia Chile

http://www.wikimediachile.cl
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimania-l] Selection of winning bid for Wikimania 2013: Hong Kong

2012-05-02 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

Congratulations to Hong Kong!

El 02-05-2012 19:52, "James Forrester"  escribió:

On behalf of the Wikimania 2013[0] selection Jury[1], I can announce
that we have awarded the conference to Hong Kong. Congratulations to
the bidding team, and to the London team who also did a particularly
excellent job.

There were five official bids: Bristol, Naples and Surakarta, as well
as the two finalists of Hong Kong and London[2]. The Jury and the
bidding teams discussed them in three public IRC meetings in April. We
determined that Hong Kong and London were the strongest contenders,
and decided to focus on these two as the finalists. After further
e-mail enquiries, and considering evaluation by Wikimedia Foundation
staff, a final, private meeting was held to reach a final decision.

The Jury was pleased by the high quality in both the final bids, and
required over three hours' discussion to reach the final verdict. We
considered each bid according to the criteria[3], focussing on
following factors: Venue, Program, Geo-location & Logistics, Local
Opportunities, Accommodations, Team & Chapter, and Budget & Finances.
We found consensus that the Hong Kong bid was the stronger, especially
because of their strong advance planning; solid support by the local
Wikimedia Chapter, the community, local government, and a partner
organisation that is experienced in planning conferences; and their
good combination of venue and accommodation.

The Jury has confidence that the Hong Kong bidding team will pull off
a magnificent Wikimania, and we are pleased for our global community
to return to Asia once again. With a motivated group of volunteers who
have experience in organizing smaller Wikimedia activities, and a
partner with experience in organizing larger-scale events, they have
found a good mix to create a successful conference. The Jury did also
identify some weaker points in each the bids, and will be happy to
share those privately with the teams so that the Hong Kong team can
use that to their advantage in organizing Wikimania 2013, and the
other teams can use the feedback to improve their bids for a future
year.

We thank all candidate teams - the process is gruelling and requires a
very substantial time investment. They are all to be commended for
their submissions.

To use this soap-box for a moment, as Moderator I would like to remind
the community that we hope that this time was the last that we use
this ad-hoc process to decide on the Wikimania venue, and encourage
everyone to engage with the discussion on Meta[4] about how we might
select Wikimania 2014 and beyond in a more open, community-led way.
Please, do join in the discussions.

Yours,

James Forrester
Moderator, Wikimania 2013 Jury
For the Wikimania 2013 Jury

[0] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2013
[1] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2013_jury
[2] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2013_bids
[3] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2013_judging_criteria
[4] - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_Advisory_Group
--
James D. Forrester
jdforres...@wikimedia.org | jdforres...@gmail.com
[[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]]

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Translations of WMF documents [was: Re: Wikimedia Foundation Report, March 2012 [was: Re: Wikimedia-l Digest, Vol 97, Issue 43]]

2012-04-16 Thread Osmar Valdebenito

If increasing global reach and participation is part of our strategy, then
it is important to communicate in the principal languages and engage with
new people.
Certainly, communities can help to translate. But the Foundation can leave
that work only to the communities.
What if nobody in the Chinese, Spanish or Arabic communities of speakers is
able to do a decent work translating? Well, we leave billions of people
outside and our expansion in developing countries will be affected.
Also, it is important to have a coherent message across the world, without
misspellings or uncomplete translations that can hurt it. Volunteers do a
great job, but not the professional one we expect from the WMF.
Every respected international organization publishes in different
languages... when will the Wikimedia Foundation start doing it?


Osmar Valdebenito Gaete

Presidente de Wikimedia Chile

http://www.wikimediachile.cl

2012/4/16 Juergen Fenn 

> Am 14. April 2012 14:03 schrieb Martijn Hoekstra <
> martijnhoeks...@gmail.com>:
> > As a matter of principle, I wholeheartedly agree. But principles only
> > take you so far, and cost a great deal. I don't see much wrong with
> > the communities translating reports, rather than have the WMF spend my
> > donated money on translators.
>
> May I remind you that in German Wikipedia so many contributors are
> concerned by exclusion from discussions and annoucements in English
> that the German chapter had to start a newsletter last autumn that is
> compiled weekly as a joint effort by chapter staff and volunteers in
> order to inform about recent events. However, this does not replace
> translations. In publishing its announcements in English only, the
> Wikimedia Foundation does exclude the majority of Wikipedians from
> direct participation which is an unfair and undemocratic way. Any
> money spent on improving participation is well spent, if it costs
> anything more at all.
>
> Regards,
> Jürgen.
>
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