Effeietsanders, I don't think anyone ever answered the questions you implied in your earlier e-mail, so let me give it a shot based on what I see on Meta (although I did do some work on the topic last spring, I haven't actually touched any of the pages being used by the 'Steering Committee' so this is going to be just a group of links.)
The current situation for the Wikimedia Chapter is a self-selected 'steering committee'[1] has hammered out several documents including By-Laws[2] and Chapter Agreement[3]. At some point in October 2010 they applied to the Canadian Government, but so far I have been able to find these documents online. In addition, there was a fair amount of interest in and development for a Wikimédia Québec ([4] in French, [5] in English), including By-Laws [6], last Winter and Spring, and there is work continuing on that effort on Meta. There are very few estimates for active Wikimedia Chapter members, but a list of participants on Meta [7] has 155 names, none of which have been added since 2006. However, Canada Wikiprojects on FR and EN Wikipedias have nearly 200 listed members and show considerable activity, not counting members of the many more-specific Candian Wikiprojects, all of whom would be desirable chapter members. There are currently 85 members of this list. This list was effectively dead from August 7th until November 26th, and since that time there has still not been any discussion of the Chapter establishment but rather some waspish list trolling (started by myself, and which I regret) regarding the lack of consultation in the process. So I do not think there are *any* current discussions about any portion of getting Wikimedia Canada going. At least, not on this list or on Meta. Regards, Amgine [1] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/wiki/Wikimedia_Canada/Steering_Committee [2] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/wiki/Wikimedia_Canada/Proposed_by-laws [3] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/wiki/Wikimedia_Canada/Proposed_chapter_agreement [4] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/wiki/Wikim%C3%A9dia_Qu%C3%A9bec [5] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/w/index.php?title=Wikimédia_Québec/en [6] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/wiki/Wikim%C3%A9dia_Qu%C3%A9bec/Constitution [7] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/wiki/Wikimedia_Canada/Participants On 10-12-04 09:35 AM, L.Gelauff wrote: > Hi, > > it seems the list moderator never approved this message (sent twice), > so re-sending. > > Lodewijk Gelauff > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Lodewijk <lodew...@effeietsanders.org> > Date: 2010/11/28 > Subject: Wikimedia Canada > To: wikimedia-ca@lists.wikimedia.org > Cc: Chapters Committee list <chaptercommitte...@lists.wikimedia.org> > > > Dear all, > > (sending this to the mailing list, hoping to make sure that way to > reach all relevant people) > I understood from Barry Newstead that James Heilman have been in touch > with him about Wikimedia Canada. As chapcom, we have had some > communication with several people (on a few occasions) from Canada in > the past about creating a Canadian chapter, but somehow contact was > lost and the discussion went into nothing. > > To me, it is unclear what the current status is exactly. I would > appreciate it if you could give us an overview of the what the > situation is. The last thing I heard was that there was a discussion > whether to found under the old or new laws, both having advantages and > disadvantages. You will of course understand that chapcom will not > take a position in such discussion, and that that has to be resolved > internally. > > Most likely you are already aware of a lot of the following > information, but I will send it in any case, just to make sure all > information is put together. > > Wikimedia Chapters are local organizations striving for the same goals > as the Wikimedia Foundation - supporting creation and dissimination of > free knowledge and content. Generally speaking, a Wikimedia > organisation in any country should definitely involve members of the > local Wikimedia communities – the membership shouldn't be exclusive to > Wikimedians, yet the local Wikimedia communities should be able to > feel a sense of ownership towards the nascent chapter in their > country. > > As the people are the glue that hold together and propel a chapter to > sustainable activity, I would urge you to try to gather more local > supporters - especially Wikimedians among them - for the idea of the > local chapter and to set up a central planning page on Meta Wiki[1] > and list yourselves on the list of chapters in discussion[2]. This > meta planning page and setting up a mailing list could help you in > gathering the people - as well as organising local meetups or > seminars. Once the venues for discussion are set up, you could > probably have more luck soliciting input by approaching the active > editors on the various Wikipedias and motivating them towards taking a > more active local role in the Wikimedia mission. I see you have > already made a very good start with this, but to have a viable > chapter, you might want to try and gather more people to become active > members. > > You can find a lot of information about the approval process on > metawiki[3], where we tried to outline every step. Let me know if you > have any questions or need help finding the relevant venues to contact > local Wikipedians (e.g. the mentioned Village Pumps, sitenotices, > etc.). Please keep me updated on the progress you are making and how > things are going. We are especially interested in knowing who and how > many people are involved, and what your ideas are for forming a > chapter. If you would like to brainstorm, give or take suggestions or > be in contact for any other thing, please do email me. > > Good luck and please do stay in touch, > > Best regards, > > Lodewijk Gelauff > > chapters committee > > [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Countryname > [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters > [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Step-by-step_chapter_creation_guide > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-ca mailing list > Wikimedia-ca@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-ca _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-ca mailing list Wikimedia-ca@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-ca
