Hi SJ, James, and everyone, Just want to say I'm very happy to hear there's interest in formalizing the Boston / New England group! :)
For those that don't me, I'm a Wikipedian in Washington DC where we are working to form a chapter. http://wikimediadc.org We are in the discussion phase, busy at the moment with our Wikimania 2012 bid, but are moving forward soon with the process. I think we all want local/subnational chapters, but there may be areas where we / NYC / other US Wikimedians can coordinate, hence the idea for the US chapters council and the WALRUS :) committee which would be an informal, voluntary group. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_United_States_Chapters_Council#WALRUS_committee Cheers, Katie (@aude) On Wed, Mar 23, 2011 at 1:06 PM, Samuel Klein <[email protected]> wrote: > Great. Sunday the 10th it is. > > To formalize a chapter, you need > - interested people! > - a mission statement, aligned with other Wikimedia missions > - bylaws, generally indicating the geography represented, how people > can join, and what work is supported. > --> chapters tend to be membership orgs supporting aligned projects > within their geography > - incorporation as a legal entity > - a webpage (or wiki page) describing the group and its work > > You normally discuss the process with the Chapters Committee once the > first three steps are underway. > > Once all of these documents seem to be in order and aligned with the > goals of the movement, the ChapCom will vote on whether to recommend > the chapter to the Foundation for recognition (sometimes pending > incorporation). > > It is good practice to apply for non-profit status as well, but not > required to become a Chapter. > > James has been looking at bylaws recently, and may be able to offer > his own take on best practices. > > SJ > > On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 7:55 PM, Baruch Stone <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I would very much enjoy to attend a Sunday meeting. In fact Sunday is the > > only day I have free. I will forward this to the BU professor whom I am > > CAing for. > > > > What would be involved in formalizing a Wikimedia New England chapter? > > > > Baruch > > > > On 3/22/11 7:16 PM, Samuel Klein wrote: > >> > >> Let's invite the local Ambassadors to join us next meeting. We can > >> invite some of the profs involved as well. The Tufts profs outside of > >> public policy who were interested may also want to come. > >> > >> I think we're leaning towards Sunday April 10 -- Mr. Lees, correct me > >> if I'm wrong. We could reserve a classroom and bring food there, for > >> easier discussion. > >> > >> > >> On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 4:40 PM, Baruch Stone<[email protected]> > >> wrote: > >> > >>> As for me, I have been editing Wikipedia for *several* years. I have > two > >>> Good Articles to my credit and have experience in new page patrolling, > >>> anti-vandalism, copy editing and other areas. > >>> > >>> I would like to create a formal Boston/New England Wikimedia Chapter > and > >>> would be happy to do a bit of the legwork in getting it off the ground. > >>> Who > >>> is interested? > >> > >> This sounds like a good idea to me. I am happy to support the process > >> and can offer general feedback, as I am currently an observer on the > >> Chapters Committee. You might take a look at the bylaws and focus of > >> other chapters and pending chapters (NYC and Canada come to mind; > >> Brasil and Australia discussions may also be of interest) for > >> reference. > >> > >> Active meetup groups and chapters around the US have been talking > >> recently of forming a national council -- to help regional chapters > >> grow, and to address questions of whether to form a national group and > >> how to support work in sparser regions of the country without a > >> thriving metro or big universities to make organizing events easy. > >> We should discuss who's interested in participating at our next > >> meeting. > >> > >> > >> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_United_States_Chapters_Council#WALRUS_committee > >> > >> Sam. > > > > > > -- > Samuel Klein identi.ca:sj w:user:sj +1 617 529 > 4266 > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-boston mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-boston >
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