Further to Theo's suggestion (inline below)

On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 7:15 AM, Theo10011 <de10011@gmail.com> wrote:

Great suggestion Fae.

As Srikanth correctly pointed it out, such an ID would be under the content scope, which neither the chapter or the WMF India operations have any jurisdiction over.

I remember a couple of years ago, Wikinews tried this for their active editors, offering to print them 'official reporter' IDs. It was an idea at the time, and I'm not sure if they actually implemented it or not. 

For photographers, this would be the commons community. This shouldn't be too hard, I suggest someone mentioning the political situation and suggesting this for commons photographers in the VP. The great thing is since, it would be the community who would award it, there is little or no direct liability to an official body. There should however be a contribution record or an endorsement from someone to print these out.

One thing the chapter can do however, is offer a special member/photographers ID to the existing members. This could be at a surcharge so they don't undertake any expense- they can print out plastic IDs with photos, and membership detail of the existing members. This ID might be able to suffice for the purpose.

I don't think that the card should necessarily be printed at a centralised location. In fact, I don't even think this is desirable (from security and logistics viewpoints). It should be fairly simple to 'approve' a request for accreditation (framework discussed already), then lead to a web-based one-time card generator that the user can print and laminate herself. In case of problems printing, the user should have a fallback option to report the failure, in order to enable a second attempt for the card to be printed. 

 

Regards
Theo

On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 8:15 PM, CherianTinu Abraham <tinucherian@gmail.com> wrote:

The chapter can officially decide it only after a discussion within Board , SIG leadership and the members. 

But on a personal level, I agree with Anirudh's view on this.
Since it brings strong accountability for the chapter on the use of the ID by the recipients , this has to be done with caution and utmost care.
May be we can set up an empowered committee to review such requests and grant them.  ( just a suggestion)
Nevertheless, IMHO, such id cards should be issued to "only trusted Wikimedians" with a substantial amount of history with our projects and mission.

Regards
Tinu Cherian

On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 7:22 PM, Ashwin Baindur <ashwin.baindur@gmail.com> wrote:

We do need a Chapter EC Board member to respond to this.

Warm regards,

Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------

On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 6:56 PM, Anirudh Bhati <anirudhsbh@gmail.com> wrote:
> The question whether the Chapter will help someone if they get into some
> sort of trouble with the authorities is an important one and should be
> addressed.  Once a letter of authority is issued to a volunteer, the
> chapter's reputation and credibility is on the line.  Therefore, the chapter
> must endeavor to only approve those members who have a substantial amount of
> history with our projects and their mission.
>
> In such a scenario, I would expect the chapter to extend help to those it
> endorses.
>
> anirudh
> (personal opinion)
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 6:52 PM, Anirudh Bhati <anirudhsbh@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 6:42 PM, Srikanth Lakshmanan <srik.lak@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 18:24, <wheredevelsdare@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Will the chapter or India Programs provide assistance?
>>>
>>>
>>> IIRC both of them lie outside the "content" boundary and wouldn't be
>>> helping. I dont recollect reading anything like "protecting interests of
>>> wikipedians" on the chapter's mission / vision. Form a political party
>>> (since asking the current ones might not help!) and fight for it, else sit
>>> at home and edit non controversial stuff like "Brinjal" :P
>>
>>
>> Supporting Wikimedia volunteers in their mission to expand the scope and
>> variety of content on Wikimedia projects is an important part of our stated
>> goals.  I think this is a very good idea, and a little help to the
>> volunteers from the chapter would go a long way in giving their work some
>> credibility in the eyes of authorities, private and public both.
>>
>> anirudh
>> (personal opnion)
>>
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>>
>
>
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