Wikimedia New York City/2012August29

The 29 August 2012 8pm Wikimedia New York City conference call was held. There was no pre-announced agenda.

Participants edit

James joined as representative of Wikimedia DC.

Minutes edit

  1. Richard introduced the concept of a United States Federation of Wikimedia chapters.­­
    1. Ira asked why there is a need for another organization, and specifically asked if there was a need to separate funding.
    2. Richard answered that yes, this is about funding. The US Education, for example, needs its own funding, and perhaps also new chapters such as the Pacific Northwest chapter would also. GLAM people may also want to join. This could be an route by means of which a small organization could apply for grants without having charity status themselves; they could operate with oversight from the parent federation.
    3. James proposed that Wikimedia NYC and Wikimedia DC each contribute $100 and at least file for non-profit status and get a bank account as the beginning of an organization.
  2. Richard proposed the creation of a North American Wikipedia chapter which would have other Wikipedia organizations as members. The following board members of Wikimedia NYC vote approval of this.
    1. Richard
    2. David
    3. Karl
    4. Ira
    5. Joe
    6. Shane
    7. Moral support was given by Lane, who was not a board member.
  3. The question was raised that if there was an educational organization established then Canada should be included. Everyone agreed.
  4. David said that there was an opening on the committee discussing the future of the education program and that he had applied for the seat.
  5. David said that he is planning a project with the NYPL as their Wikipedian in Residence
  6. Someone asked about the Funds Dissemination Committee's criteria for issuing funding. The group summarized the requirements by saying that recipients must complete an application, make a request for funds, and on award, issue two annual activity reports.
  7. There was discussion about how much money we should propose to raise for an annual budget. The suggestion was to target 20,000 for 2013-­14.
  8. Richard brought up Wiki Loves Monuments. His proposal was to schedule it for September 15 on Free Software Day.
    1. Other organizations are planning events that day, and the proposal was to do a photo scavenger hunt then join the evening events of a software meetup.
    2. Richard stated that there is a database of New York City landmarks which ought to be formatted somehow.
  9. The start of the campus ambassador program for the 2012­-13 school year is upcoming.
  10. Lane proposed a tour of Consumer Reports and suggested that a weekday is best. David proposed that later in the day is better, and asked for 3­-7, and suggested that early October might be best. Lane committed to propose an agenda and possible dates.