Dear fellow committed Wikimedians and Chapter enthusiasts, Last weekend a number of Wikimedia Chapters Association Council members, two trustees from the WMF board and some welcome guests, worked together to review in detail the current progress of the association and feedback given by the WMF board.[1][2] A total of nine Council members took part with several being able to join using video conferencing and etherpad. There were a number of firm recommendations, along with a series of immediate actions. The meeting minutes will be issued later this week and everyone can preview all the notes taken during the meeting.[3][4] The meeting was fully open and the Council will continue to use open public communication channels, in preference to closed lists or meetings, recognizing recent community feedback on how best to meet our shared values of openness and transparency. As the Council chair, I can summarize these points as follows, and will be happy to refine and discuss these with an open dialogue on meta[4]: 1) A small set of action teams have been agreed with a focus on external deliverables including chapter peer reviews, providing advice and analysing chapter practices. The time-frame is *three months* for key deliverables and all are expected to be part of the Milan conference in April.[3][6] 2) The recruitment of a Secretary General is parked until such a time as the council is confident of securing a budget and there is a strong consensus on the immediate necessity of such a role or its equivalent. Legally incorporating the Association will also be similarly parked, as the driving factor would have been the need to employ staff. 3) The previously planned elections for Wikimedia Chapters Association Council Chair will be brought forward one month, to starting this week. A separate note/email will explain the process of one week calling for nomination statements, questions and a similar time for the council vote. Thank you to those who have engaged already with feedback and those that were available to take part in the meeting last weekend. For those Council members and interested Wikimedians who were unable to take part, I welcome your feedback on this pragmatic way forward as early as possible, and I encourage you to lend a hand with the action teams, as they will benefit your chapter directly. A special thanks to Wikimedia UK for offering to host the London meeting, including Richard Nevell's support with practical logistics all weekend, including much needed coffee and sandwiches. I look forward to seeing many Chapters helping the action teams and future activities of the Association, with suggestions and practical offers of staff support. :-) Links 1. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Chapters_Association#WMF_Boar… 2. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Chapters_Association/Meetings/2013… 3. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Chapters_Association/Meetings/2013… 4. http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/ep/pad/view/WCA/latest 5. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Chapters_Association 6. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2013 Thank you, Fae -- Ashley Van Haeften (Fae) faewik(a)gmail.com Chapters Association Council Chair http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WCA Guide to email tags: http://j.mp/mfae _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l