[Wikimedia Chapters Reports] Wikimedia France Chapter Report, July-October (and some November) 2009

[Delphine Ménard]

This is an adapted translation of Wikimedia France's members newsletter.

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1. Photos and news accreditations
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* Wikimedians covered the Fête de la fraternité in Montpellier and The
"Festival de la chanson française" in Aix en Provence.

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2. Conferences, seminars and shows
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* Les étés TIC, Rennes, 1-3 July
Conference on « Collectes de mémoire, vivre ensemble: wiki de territoires,
expression multimédia et lien social »
http://blog.wikimedia.fr/les-etes-tic-de-rennes-2009-747

* RMLL (Les Rencontres mondiales du logiciel libre), Nantes, 7 - 11 July :
Several Wikimedians animated a booth to inform the public and answer questions.
Two presentations, by Schiste and Serein on Wikimedia Projects and
Wikipedia and expertise.

http://blog.wikimedia.fr/wikimedia-france-debarque-aux-rmll-2009-728
http://blog.wikimedia.fr/rmll-une-premiere-journee-de-liberte-764

* Wikimania 2009, Buenos Aires, 26-28 August : Schiste and Anthere
represented Wikimedia France there.

* Fête de l'Humanité 2009, La Courneuve, 11-13 September
Wikimedians animated a booth in the "Espace numérique".

*JDLL, journées du logiciel libre in Lyon (17 October 2009).
Otourly, Lorelei, Theoliane et Julien ont tenu un stand.
Julien a fait une conférence intitulée « Les différents projets Wikimédia ».
http://membres.wikimedia.fr/index.php/JDLL09

*Paris-Web, conference on the Web.
Participation of members of Wikimedia France and Wikipedians in a
workshop which topic was "An accessible Wikipedia? It is possible"

*Various presentations in schools and universities were led by
individual wikimedians.


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3. Multimedia Usability Initiative & Strategy
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In August 2009, Wikimedia France voted a budget of 45k€ for the
organisation of an international meeting focused on usability on
Commons, especially set on rewamping the interface, the upload process
and review community practices.
This meeting happened in Paris November 6th trhough 8th, gathered 30
people from different backgrounds, technical as well as users of
Commons, or people involved in partnerships with galleries, Libraries,
Museums and Archives (GLAM). The meeting, co-organised with the
Wikimedia Foundation was a success and yielded promising results.
Notes about the meeting can be found on meta, and notes taken and
conclusions reached during the meeting can be found on the usability
wiki.

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_Usability_Project_Meeting_France
http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Multimedia:Meeting_in_Paris

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4. Websites revamped
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The external websites of Wikimedia France have been revamped, in a
partnership with a professional webdevelopment company. They consist
of three core websites, an institutional website, a donation website
and a blog). The institutional website runs on Drupal, an open source
CMS. (The White House copied us and adopted it for their own website a
month after us!)
Wikimedia France still uses Mediawiki as collaborative tool for
members and board members discussions.

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5. Wikimédia France Calendar
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Under the lead of Adrienne Alix (User:Serein), French community
members put together a beautiful week-calendar with photos of Commons
and quotes from various Wikimedia Projects. It can be found here:

http://www.inlibroveritas.net/agenda-wikimedia.html

Part of the proceeds will go to support Wikimédia France's activites.

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6. Fundraising
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The Wikimedia Foundation driven fundraiser started at the beginning of
November and lasts for two months. It is Wikimédia France's main
financing source, so it is important to make it a success.

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7. Press
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Three press releases have been sent:
*About the 5 million files on Commons
*About the 1.5 millionth article on Wikitionary
*About launching the Calendar sale

http://blog.wikimedia.fr/commons-5-millions-de-fichiers-930
http://blog.wikimedia.fr/wiktionnaire-un-million-et-demi-dentrees-1025
http://blog.wikimedia.fr/une-premiere-en-france-lagenda-wikimedia-1129

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8. Hiring
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Wikimedia France's board has voted the hiring of a permanent staff
member for 2010.
Their first great project will be the organisation of a Wikipedia
Academy-like event, around Humanities, and they will be gradually
taking over administration, PR, Communication and Member Management of
the association.
The hiring process is underway and things are looking good so far.
Final interviews will happen in January.

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9. Figures
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Wikimédia France counts 132 members (membership fees up to date), as
of November 1st.

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The original version of this newsletter is a collaborative work of
Wikimedia France's members.