Ricordisamoa, I have no preference either way. I live in a geographically enormous country (Canada), which has a national chapter - centered so far away from me that I'll never be in a position to participate in person at a regular meetup. In Canada's case, regional chapters might have been better, and I wonder about other geographically large countries where this would also be more workable.
Risker On 28 June 2015 at 01:17, Ricordisamoa <[email protected]> wrote: > I infer that you would have preferred a single US chapter from the start, > wouldn't you? > > > Il 28/06/2015 06:08, Risker ha scritto: > >> Ironically, Ricordisamoa, the "decision" to not have a US chapter was made >> around 10 years ago at the strong urging of other chapters. The theory (as >> I understand it) was that the US was the home of the WMF itself, which in >> the view of the era, meant that the US didn't need the "protections" that >> came from a chapter; the WMF itself was perceived to speak for US >> Wikimedians. (Given the times, back when there were literally only enough >> employees to run the servers and sort of keep an eye on MediaWiki, this >> was >> perhaps an incorrect assessment.) Then US regions started to form >> chapters, >> first New York then DC; there are now a significant number of user groups. >> If there had been a US chapter formed back at that time, there would only >> be one US chapter; the rest would never be recognized at the chapter >> level. >> Instead, we now see the specter of what could come, since the US alone as >> a >> nation with a large number of Wikimedians does not have the opportunity >> for >> a single chapter: given a little bit more organization, and the ambition >> to do the paperwork to become a chapter, the US could have as many (or >> more) chapters than exist in all of Europe in a few years. One has to >> wonder if some other countries, especially those with a large number of >> Wikimedians or a massive geographic area, might wish they had gone with >> regional affiliates rather than a national one. >> >> Risker/Anne >> >> On 27 June 2015 at 23:26, Ricordisamoa <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> I know the confederated approach may surely make more sense for the local >>> communities, but I think an established regional subject would help >>> uproot >>> the Foundation from a single country it relies too much on. >>> >>> Il 28/06/2015 05:00, Pine W ha scritto: >>> >>> Hi Ricordisamoa, >>>> >>>> There are multiple chapters, user groups and thematic organizations that >>>> are active in the US and have a degree of separation from WMF. The US >>>> affiliates are cooperative with each other, and the affiliate leaders >>>> communicate with each other fairly frequently. May I ask what benefits >>>> you >>>> think would come from having a consolidated US chapter? We've talked >>>> about >>>> this casually among ourselves but so far we seem to be satisfied with a >>>> confederation of smaller affiliates instead of a single national >>>> affiliate. >>>> >>>> Thanks! >>>> >>>> Pine >>>> >>>> On Jun 27, 2015 7:20 PM, "Ricordisamoa" <[email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>> >>>> The WMF will become a truly global organization when a Wikimedia >>>> US chapter is founded ;-) >>>> >>>> Il 08/04/2015 06:58, Pine W ha scritto: >>>> >>>> Hi Garfield, >>>> >>>> I'm asking this on Wikimedia-l because a number of Wikimedians >>>> have noted >>>> the expensiveness of the San Francisco area including its high >>>> cost of >>>> living for staff, employer competition for engineering talent, >>>> and >>>> associated high salaries for WMF employees. >>>> >>>> I see on >>>> >>>> >>>> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/8/8a/RFP_for_Real_Estate_Services.pdf >>>> that WMF is considering relocating its offices when its >>>> current main office >>>> lease expires. >>>> >>>> Questions: >>>> >>>> What happens to the remodel expenses that WMF is paying for at >>>> its current >>>> location? If WMF vacates the premesis, will it be compensated >>>> for the >>>> remodel by the building owner? >>>> >>>> I hope that WMF is contemplating fully exiting the San >>>> Francisco market >>>> area in order to economize, get better value for our donors' >>>> funds, have >>>> less competition for talent, and lower costs of living for >>>> staff. Is this >>>> being considered? >>>> >>>> Thanks very much, >>>> >>>> Pine >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >>>> [email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected]> >>>> Unsubscribe: >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>> >>>>> ?subject=unsubscribe> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >>>> [email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected]> >>>> Unsubscribe: >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected] >>>> >?subject=unsubscribe> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >>> [email protected] >>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >> [email protected] >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
