Hi, everyone.
(I apologize for not responding sooner -- this has been stuck in my Drafts
folder for some reason.) :(
I'm glad to see there's interest in creating a user group in Kenya. I also
think it's a good idea to focus on one project for now, and to finish the
preparation of the Kenya-specific collection for offline Wikipedia
distribution.
The one other activity I would recommend is the development of a core
community of active editors. Almost all our activities depend on the
availability of _local, experienced editors_ to present and represent
Wikipedia. Many of you know the basics of wiki editing, but most (all?) of
you are not regularly active on Wikipedia or any other project. I would be
interested to hear your opinions on what is the greatest obstacle to your
editing more -- is it just lack of time? wiki-culture too hard to
understand? difficulty finding articles to work on? lack of motivation?
To your questions:
1. you can't use the name "Wikimedia Kenya" any more, but you can still use
this mailing list and the wiki (we should re-brand both).
2. the user group, once recognized, can be considered the owner of the
physical items, and they should be put to mission-aligned use by its
members.
3. the grant was indeed originally given to "Wikimedia Kenya" at the time,
but we have since tightened our terminology and procedures, and we now
consider it to have been a grant to an individual (Stephen) representing a
group (the then-future Wikimedia Kenya, which did not exist as an entity
that could receive a grant). That grant will be resolved at some point,
and the user group will be able to apply for and receive grants.
4. It's fine to go on using the social media channels you have created, but
in the content itself (and the page design), please rename "Wikimedia
Kenya" to an appropriate name ("Wikimedians in Kenya" or whatever you
agree
upon with AffCom)
Please don't hesitate to ask further questions, and I apologize for the
delay again.
P.S. Since Alex is in San Francisco for a while, I shall be inviting him to
visit the WMF office, and we'll talk a little about possibilities for
Wikimedia in Kenya. I trust he would update you all with the gist of our
conversation.
Cheers,
Asaf
On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 1:19 AM, Limoke Oscar <oslimoke(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Folks,
I just wanted to keep some of us up to speed with the latest developments
around the User Group Model:
- We had a very fruitful meeting with the to chat the course for the
user group .Summary
Here<http://etherpad.wikimedia.org/wik-meeting-04-2013>
- We created a meta page and have made a request to re-join the
Community through the User group Model. Page
here<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedians_in_Kenya> and
here <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_user_group>
- We also agreed to focus/work on a single project for the Offline
Wikipedia,Team Lead is Denis. Work around this has already kicked off.
- On Members and resources, we agreed to Open up membership based on
dedication and commitment to this course as opposed to last time when
anyone interested but unsure of what our course was would just join us.
- On Way forward on Wikimedia Chapter, we would like so clarification
on the use of IP, resources and properties previously held by Wikimedia
Kenya. Based on Sue's email, We were not to continue to
be referred/ inferred to as Wikimedia Kenya: Excerpt "Note that this
does mean that the name "Wikimedia Kenya" should no longer be used by you
or others to refer to your group, and specifically, that you are not to
incorporate under that name. (It is best if incorporation under any name
is postponed until there's a better idea of the group's interest, capacity,
and plans. Creating a formal entity prematurely could saddle you with
inconvenient responsibilities without any of the benefits.) Seeing the
startup grant that has incorrectly been inferred to have been allocated to
the Wikimedians in Kenya. Please correct or advise on the same since the
grant was issued to the Chapter and not the group.<
link<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Stephen_Wanjau_-_Wikimedians_…
- As such, we would like to know upto
what extent can we use this same
resources like Domain < wikimedia.or.ke >, Name, Wikimedia Logos and
Social Media and even the physical properties like Camara, WiFi
Dongle, Projectors etc..
We hope this is a step in the right direction and look forward to working
to achieve our objectives as we set out .We look forward to your continued
support.
Kind Regards,
On Sat, Mar 16, 2013 at 11:12 AM, dennis munene <deontemunene(a)hotmail.com>wrote;wrote:
I cannot think of a better name than Wikimedians
in Kenya.
Dennis.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:18:36 +0300
From: wanjaustev(a)gmail.com
To: wikimediake(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Kenya] From chapter to user group
Salute!
To align the Wikimedians in Kenya to it is current state, the social
media accounts should as well be renamed to the new name. What has been
settled on as the new name?
.S
On 03/12/2013 02:51 PM, Oliver Stegen wrote:
Thanks for this cautious and tentative initiative. I continue to be
active as a Wikimedian (cf.
http://toolserver.org/~purodha/sample/dbswithuser.php?usr=Baba_Tabita&g…)
and I am based in Kenya, so that presumably makes me a … Wikimedian in
Kenya J
Yours for making the sum of human knowledge available to everyone on this
planet (and in my case, especially to everyone in the Swahili-speaking
communities),
BT (aka Oliver)
------------------------------
*From:* dennis munene [mailto:deontemunene@hotmail.com<deontemunene@hotmail.com>]
*Sent:* 12 March 2013 12:13
*To:* Wikimedia Kenya
*Subject:* Re: [Wikimedia Kenya] From chapter to user group
hi,
I agree with Oscar, we were our own let down. Being a User Group should
not in any way dwindle our commitment. You can count me in as part of the
User Group [Wikimedians in Kenya?] :)
dennis.
------------------------------
From: oslimoke(a)gmail.com
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:38:04 +0300
To: wikimediake(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia Kenya] From chapter to user group
Hi All,
I know all of us have been absorbing and digesting this news over the
past couple of weeks. I think its time we now discussed and forged a way
forward. True we were our own let down in many ways. We failed in many ways
to steer ourselves to full registration 12 months after being
granted charter. We failed to get legal registration locally and we failed
to manage the 1st Start up grant for our Chapter. We failed
to resolve issues surrounding the embezzlement and we refused to
take responsibility I think Sue and Asaf are justified to deny
us further recognition.
So I guess its a User group we are. As such, we need to start to chat a
way forward along this line. Could we start taking a new call for this user
group? Remember, Officially Wikimedia Kenya Chapter is no more
If you would want to join and be apart of this user group, please let us
start a conversation Only if you are interested.
Look forward to this new course.
Best,
On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 2:37 AM, Asaf Bartov <abartov(a)wikimedia.org>
wrote:
Dear colleagues in Kenya,
I would like to let you know that (after consultation with the
Affiliations Committee) the Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director, Sue
Gardner, is not extending the Board of Trustees' provisional recognition of
your group as Wikimedia Kenya. We recommend you pursue recognition as
Wikimedia User Group instead.
The recognition was conditional upon incorporation within a year, and
that has not happened. In addition, the provisional board disintegrated
(with some people leaving the chapter entirely) and no replacement
announced, almost no activity took place this past year, casting doubt on
the group's sustainability as a chapter, and certain personal issues added
much confusion and demoralization, which no doubt contributed to the
inactivity.
In parallel, the Wikimedia movement has created new models of
affiliation, not available at the time your group was seeking recognition,
that we are confident would better serve your group at this stage, and
would be more appropriate, than the traditional incorporated chapter model.
Specifically, we encourage you to seek Wikimedia User Group recognition
(via AffCom -- e-mail affcom(a)lists.wikimedia.org) right now, which will
give you almost all the benefits of chapter recognition, with almost none
of the bureaucracy: trademark permission will be available to you, and as
you know, grants are always available, even to unincorporated groups (and
we will take steps to improve group oversight and governance to minimize
risk). Everything I know about this group and about AffCom suggests this
should be a smooth process.
Note that this does mean that the name "Wikimedia Kenya" should no longer
be used by you or others to refer to your group, and specifically, that you
are not to incorporate under that name. (It is best if incorporation under
any name is postponed until there's a better idea of the group's interest,
capacity, and plans. Creating a formal entity prematurely could saddle you
with inconvenient responsibilities without any of the benefits.)
"Wikimedians in Kenya", "Friends of Wikipedia in Kenya", and any
number
of other names you may feel comfortable with, are good possibilities for
the name of your group, and can be recognized by the WMF if you do choose
to pursue User Group recognition.
We'd like to stress this is neither a punishment nor a demotion of your
group; it is actually an adjustment of what we call the group to match
reality and to adhere to the original terms of the provisional recognition.
We recognize your dedicated and valuable contributions in the past, and
look forward to renewed energy and accomplishments on this new path, as a
user group, and will be happy to support you in this in every way we can.
On behalf of Sue Gardner and the Wikimedia Foundation,
Asaf Bartov
--
Asaf Bartov
Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org
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--
Limoke Oscar *
*GIS, Google Apps & Business Development
Pawa IT Solutions Limited
_______________________________________________ WikimediaKE mailing list
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_______________________________________________
WikimediaKE mailing
listWikimediaKE@lists.wikimedia.orghttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake
_______________________________________________ WikimediaKE mailing list
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_______________________________________________
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https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediake
--
*Limoke Oscar *
GIS, Google Apps & Business Development
Certfied Google Apps EDU Specialist
Pawa IT Solutions Limited
*www.pawait.co.ke*
http://www.packtpub.com/google-map-maker-starter/book
--
Asaf Bartov
Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!