Peteforsyth

Photo by Ellis Christopher, licensed CC BY.

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en-N This user has a native understanding of English. fr-1 Cet utilisateur dispose de connaissances de base en français.
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I am Pete Forsyth. I have been a Wikipedian and Wikimedian since 2006 (and using wikis since about 2003). I keep a list of my writing about Wikipedia, as well as news and blog coverage of my work, on the English Wikipedia. Wikimedia is both a personal passion, and central to my professional career.

Some milestones in my Wikimedia/Wikipedia work:

• I served as Editor-in-Chief of the Signpost.
• Covered the Wikimedia Board of Trustees election on my blog, advocating for candidates who would prioritize a deeper understanding of the social dynamics that support Wikipedia and Wikimedia. Three of my top four endorsements were elected to the three open seats. Two departed within the first year amid extraordinary circumstances. (I also ran briefly myself, but withdrew before voting opened. I have kept an archive of my answers to the candidate questions.) (2015)
• Wrote Letter to Wikimedia Foundation: Superprotect and Media Viewer, that gathered more than 1,000 signatures -- one of the most engaging calls for participation in Wikimedia history. (2014)
• Designed Writing Wikipedia Articles, a free (and libre), 6 week online course; taught it four times. (2013-'14)
• Published an op-ed in USA Today, top-3 US newspaper by circulation, about Wikimedia leadership. (2014)
• Wikimedia General Counsel Geoff Brigham sought my advice in designing an open process to rewrite the Wikimedia sites' Terms of use document. I urged him to assign staff to impartially manage the complex discussion; he did, and I am proud of the results. I also later contributed to the substance of the document. (2011)
• Designed the pilot project that was the basis for the Education Program of the Wikimedia Foundation, and for the U.S./Canada-focused Wiki Education Foundation. (2010)
• Convinced numerous people and organizations to invest money and time into improving Wikipedia and other projects, both through my business (Wiki Strategies) and as a volunteer. (2009-present)

More on my English Wikipedia page.

The Wikimedia Foundation misunderstands the movement it was created to support, and consequently undermines it.

Activities on Meta Wiki

My projects on or relating to Meta Wiki have been:

• Wikimania 2013 jury member; we selected Hong Kong as that year's Wikimania host.
• Planned and facilitated GLAMcamp DC (February 2012) with Lori Phillips and Sarah Stierch.
• Organizing Meta Wiki: I have organized content on this wiki, including the Wikimania pages, the Places and Wikimedia by year category trees, and Chapters committee resolutions.
• I am an elected administrator on Meta; happy to help with administrative needs. (RFA)

Ongoing/back burner projects

• Gender gap: I'm concerned about the disparity between male and female contributors to our projects. I'm on the Gendergap email list, and often on the IRC chat channel. I do my best to put in effort when good ideas come up.
• WikiPods: Frank Schulenburg, my former boss at the Wikimedia Foundation, started this page to collect ideas for small, local outreach projects. I've done a lot of this sort of work, and will try to keep building this page as time permits.
• /Customer service: Trying to think through how our excellent customer service team presents itself to Wikimedians and readers. Your input welcome.
• I've done a fair amount of work on the Outreach wiki as well, which is closely related to my work here on Meta.

A Wikimedian at work: Asking permission to publish a photo of a highway worker on Wikipedia.

Past projects

• Worked on the FAQ about the English Wikipedia's 2012 blackout in protest of SOPA.
• Helped Sarah Stierch with Women & Wikimedia Survey 2011.

Interesting pages

• Planet Wikimedia: A great place to find blogs by Wikimedians and Wikipedians.
• Meta's "Public speakers" page: I have given many talks on Wikipedia and related talks. But I stay off this list -- in the absence of any meaningful guidelines about who can be listed there and how, I don't think it's useful, and would rather not be listed there.
• Foundation wiki feedback: This is a good page to monitor, and a good resource for offering feedback.
• IRC office hours: These IRC discussions can be fun, informative, and a good opportunity to connect with other Wikipedians and Metamedians.
• Foundation reports Monthly reports from WMF, as well as Board meeting minutes, etc.

Useful

• Directory of Wikimedia tools