Meeting Minutes-13 March 2017

Attendees:

Shannon Eichelberger (SE)

Eugene Eichelberger (EE)

Rebecca O’Neill (RO)

Kelly Fitzgerald (KF)

User Group

• Simple APG

• SE, EE, and RO met with the representative of the Foundation about the committee feedback. In short:

• There were some questions about growing the volunteer community and how we measure that (ie by population, by proportional view, ect). It was agreed that we need more volunteers but it would be better to show value to the wider Wikimedia Community through the types of events we hold.

• There were concerns by some of the committee that WLM/WLE were going to be run by paid staff. We assured them WLM will be run by volunteers.

• We expressed concerns that many of the concerns and recommendations were vague. We were told that they are vague on purpose, as to not to restrict us.

• We need to document the experience with the hiring process and dealing with staff as this will help us to address some of the concerns of the committee.

• They requested that we change the wording of the WLM contractor to remove any contact with government officials. And update budget to remove the WLE contractor.

• SE and EE met a week later with the representative of the Foundation to discuss the hiring process. There was a reiteration of the committee's recommendation that an open process be implemented for the requested positions. It was suggested that without an open process, future funding would be in jeopardy. Some specifics about the exact constitution of an open process was discussed and a fair amount of discretion was left to be defined by the User Group. With this understanding EE will create the job requirements and will decide where they will be posted. We will have a 2 week period for applications. Both the full time and WLM contractor positions will be advertised at the same time.

• As soon as the 2016 WLM grant report is accepted the Simple APG grant will be approved with funds to follow.

Edit-a-thon/Workshops

• 28 February-DCU Library-15 participants/12 editors. This event led directly to the organisation of the Vicipéid event on 22 March (below)

• 4 March-Art+Feminism Event Galway-This event was organised independently of the group. Sharon helped out for a few hours and RO gave a video presentation. There were about 5-7 participants.

• 8 March-NUI Maynooth-International Women’s Day workshop-10-15 participants. Mostly academic staff. There was at least 1 new article created and several edits.

• 9 March-NUI Galway-International Women’s Day-17 participants. At least 1 new article was created with several edits.

Upcoming Events:

• 15 March-Trinity College Library-8:30-1:30-workshop celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Berkeley Library. The event will be open to Trinity students and staff only. RO is assisting with organisation of this event.

• 22 March-DCU-5-7-Vicipéid event-This event rose directly from a contact made at the DCU event.   

• June 2017-possible UCC event

Conferences

Upcoming:

• Celtic Knot Conference-5-6 July 2017-10am-5pm-Edinburgh-RO scheduled to attend-The event will focus on Celtic Languages and Indigenous Languages, showcasing innovative approaches to open education, open knowledge and open data that support and grow language communities.

WLM

• The grant report has been submitted and is awaiting approval.