Hey Everyone,<div><br></div><div>I am originally from Egypt, and I am involved in the ongoing effort to create a chapter in Alexandria, my home city.</div><div><br></div><div>One thing I found strange was that it was much easier to find an organized, active community in Alexandria,  than it was in Los Angeles where I moved some time ago. The situation may be a lot better up north owing to the presence of WMF and silicon valley in general. So, I support the idea of a Wikimedia chapter if it will mean more local events/projects/etc, I also find it hard to believe that the potential for funding opportunities in california has been fully explored by the foundation.</div>
<div><br></div><div>However, I have come to support the chapters committee idea about how a chapter should grow organically from an organized community and not vice versa, I dont know what the situation is up north with regards to the number of active members willing to organize more and commit to projects, etc, but for me in SoCal, the only sign of activity I could personally find was a couple of informal meetups that happened in 2005...<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div>-- <br>Best Regards,<br>Muhammad Yahia<br>
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