Grants talk:PEG/WM PH/Philippine WikiCon 2012

I generally support this proposal. Just one question - can you explain what is a benefit of Josh Lim attenadance to conference. I mean - his travel costs in slightly more than 10% of overall costs of the conference - so it should be IMHO really well rationalized in terms of expected benefits to Wikimedia projects in Philippines? Polimerek (talk) 00:01, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

Josh Lim would play a vital role in discussing some topics in the conference. We recognize his contributions to the chapter and how he could greatly stir interest among potential members especially among students to identify with him, being a student himself.-- Namayan 02:06, 26 April 2012 (UTC)

I have updated the grant request to strike out that portion.-- Namayan 06:24, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Some suggestions

I support this grant request but here are some suggestion-

1. Venue cost can be decreased by conducting this seminar in any university however this is not so important factor
2. Laptop rental seems not so necesary as it may be managed by volunteers
3. Above two segment money can be transferred to Participation grant to invite more volunteers

Best Wishes, Regards--Mayur ^{(talk•Email)} 17:46, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestions Mayur. It has been observed though that not a lot of our members have laptops or are inclined to bring it in our meetings. This will be an opportunity to have new members especially those who don't have any editing experience to be exposed to how to navigate around the projects.

We've held our 1st Annual Meeting in a university, but they don't have smaller break-out rooms to allow simultaneous discussions.

As for the number of participants, most of our members are Manila based and most do not require for fare reimbursement as per our experience. -- Namayan 15:31, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Some thoughts

Thanks for the submission. It seems reasonable for me to support a national conference, especially in a country with such big potential. My only question is regarding the funding sources. Do you have any other funding sources omitted in this request or this $10,320 requested is the total cost for the conference? I also agree with the suggestions above that may decrease several costs. Best regards.--Kiril Simeonovski (talk) 22:00, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

We're actually faced with a dilemma in the Philippines. We can't just go about with raising our own funds, lest our donors be taxed. Sadly we are highly dependent on grants from WMF to operate, the only sources of funding are membership fees. The Annual general meeting that will follow WikiCon will pave the way for us to adopt the amendments to our Bylaws which will incorporate the required provisions to be a "certified" NGO, in a year's time that will allow us to become a "Donee Institution" that will exempt donations to our organization from Donor's Tax.

I'm glad you raised this matter. I've updated the Fit to strategy and Other benefits to reflect these. -- Namayan 02:32, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

GAC members who have read this request but had no comments

• Abbasjnr (talk) 14:15, 26 April 2012 (UTC)
• Geopoet (talk) 00:24, 30 April 2012 (UTC) not a GAC member
• Béria Lima ^msg 17:23, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

NO TO CORRUPTION

ATTN: Wikimedia Foundation is not a milking cow! --Filipinayzd (talk) 09:23, 16 June 2012 (UTC)