Hi Srikanth R,<br><br>Please allow me to share my view.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 11:39 PM, Srikanth Ramakrishnan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:parakara.ghoda@gmail.com">parakara.ghoda@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hisham, I don't understand why the Executive Committee offer to be<br>
informed 48 HOURS in advance of the community. Isn't Wikipedia a<br>
community based system? If the chapter or trust is everything then<br>
what is the community sitting here to do? I know I sound rude, but I<br>
fail to understand why some people get prior preference. Especially<br>
after I spend an entire day talking to newcomers telling them that<br>
everyone in Wiki is equal.<br></blockquote><div><br>I am some times puzzled by assumption that people have about Wikipedia policies for individuals related to editing a wiki page online apply equally to real world Wikimedia organisations with accountabilties to various stakeholders including Government. I am also concerned about the assumed separation between community and chapter based on some recent mails to the India list.<br>
<br>Let me elaborate my thoughts on this.<br>
<br>
<span><span class="il">Chapter</span></span> members including EC members are part of <span>community</span> <span class="il">and</span> serve <span>Community</span> <span class="il">and</span> the movement. <span></span> It is just the level <span class="il">and</span> structure of engagement of a person that determines whether he/she is part of <span></span> <span><span class="il">Chapter</span></span>. If a person reads Wikipedia, he/she is member of <span>community</span>. If a person contributes to Wikipedia, he/she is part of smaller subset of <span>community</span> called editors. If a person would like to promote Wikipedia in real world, he could do as an individual or become a member of <span><span class="il">chapter</span></span>, leverage the benefits of the legal entity called "Wikimedia <span><span class="il">chapter</span></span>", get affiliated with SIGs <span class="il">and</span> contribute.<br>
<br>
<span><span class="il">Chapter</span></span>
IRC is open for everyone. Even membership is open for every Indian aged
above 18. So I would request everyone to treat <span class="il">Chapter</span> as a subset of
community with more focus on growing the movement in real world. <br>
<br>
<div>Coming to your specific question about the plan for sharing public communications in advance, here is my view. As I understand, Trust is an independent legal entity contributing
to Wikimedia movement in India. So the coordination calls are a
mechanism to share plans <span class="il">and</span> issues so that the overall effectiveness can
be improved. Advance notice for any public communication was agreed so
that each entity could provide the other feedback if any, if such
communication were to attribute some things to the other or lead to
confusion in the stakeholders. It is mutual. I am sorry the minutes did not reflect the same, though it was discussed <span class="il">and</span> agreed.<br>
<br>Hope the above helps. I request Hisham to share his view as well.<br><br></div>
<br>
Cheers<br>
<br>Arjuna Rao Chavala<br>President, Wikimedia India<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
On 06/12/2011, Hisham <<a href="mailto:hisham@wikimedia.org">hisham@wikimedia.org</a>> wrote:<br>
> Dear All<br>
><br>
> As you might be aware, we've been have a monthly call between the India<br>
> Chapter and India Programs team. Since we last updated you, we have had 2<br>
> calls and also a face-to-face meeting after WikiConference. Here's an<br>
> update on these meetings.<br>
><br>
> I must beforehand apologize for being so late on updating you on these calls<br>
> / meetings. Shall endeavor to be more on schedule going forward.<br>
><br>
> Do share your feedback and comments. Do let us know if there are any<br>
> clarifications we can provide.<br>
><br>
> Thursday November 9th (Voice Conference) [Arjun, Arun, Naveen, Sudhanwa,<br>
> Tinu, Asaf & Hisham]<br>
><br>
> India Programs Update<br>
><br>
> India Trust has been set up and a formal announcement will be made shortly<br>
> on this matter.<br>
> India Education Program has encountered significant problems with regard to<br>
> copy-pasted material. While efforts have been made (including asking for<br>
> help from Online Ambassadors), in-class sessions from Campus Ambassadors (in<br>
> almost every single class of the program), asking for intervention from<br>
> faculty, asking students only to work on sandboxes, etc., the situation<br>
> remained particularly serious at College of Engineering, Pune. As a result,<br>
> the program was suspended at this college. It currently runs at 1 class at<br>
> Symbiosis School of Economics (while the other classes there have concluded<br>
> their assignments) and at 1 class at SNDT Women's University.<br>
> Specifically, the lessons learnt on the pilot were discussed. These<br>
> included scale, choice of faculty, choice of classes, inadequate engagement<br>
> and communication with en-wp community, modifications to Campus Ambassador<br>
> training going forward, modifications to student training going forward,<br>
> etc. It was pointed out that a comprehensive and honest learnings exercise<br>
> would be undertaken.<br>
> Recruitment of additional team members (for Communications and for Team<br>
> Support) have been delayed because the right candidate was not available.<br>
> The initial work on the Indic Languages initiatives would start off with<br>
> preliminary discussions and data analysis of the various language projects.<br>
> This will help to build a picture with both experience and data of the<br>
> current state, challenges, opportunities and potential of the various<br>
> projects. Eventually, the objective will be to identify potential pilots<br>
> and language communities that might be interested in these pilots.<br>
> Chapter Update<br>
><br>
> Arjun said that as Wikipedia is always evolving with contributions of<br>
> community, any project needs to be carefully planned and executed to<br>
> minimize the load on community. We had some experiences with Google<br>
> Translate project, which received adverse reaction from wikipedian<br>
> community. Even if Foundation undertakes an initiative, there is a<br>
> possibility of similar adverse response. He hoped that we can use this<br>
> experience to improve future project planning.<br>
><br>
> Sunday November 20th (Face to Face Meeting) [Arjun, Arun, Naveen, Sudhanwa,<br>
> Tinu, Barry & Hisham]<br>
><br>
> India Programs Update<br>
><br>
> Point of View was shared about the nature of communication and co-operation<br>
> between the Chapter and India Programs. It was pointed out that all the<br>
> activities of India Programs have been in line with the publicly available<br>
> page at<br>
> <a href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs" target="_blank">http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs</a>. The<br>
> monthly co-ordination calls that the Chapter EC had initaited and that are<br>
> now being regularly undertaken is useful and must be continued. Chapter EC<br>
> requested prior information on activities and it was suggested by India<br>
> Programs (and agreed by Chapter EC) that all important announcements would<br>
> be sent to the Chapter EC 48 hours before being shared publicly.<br>
> The nature of the work that was happening on Indic Languages initiatives was<br>
> shared (including the kinds of discussions and how these discussions were<br>
> being conducted) and that Shiju will shortly start sharing the updates of<br>
> language discussions with the community.<br>
> The learnings process of the India Education Program was shared - including<br>
> the fact that data gathering was going to be commenced and that the<br>
> learnings would inform the next steps of the project. Nitika will shortly<br>
> update the community about how these learnings were going to be gathered.<br>
> It was reiterated that the plans going forward would be finalized only after<br>
> a thorough review of the program was conducted.<br>
> It was proposed to identify potential areas where the Chapter EC and India<br>
> Programs would work collaboratively.<br>
><br>
> Chapter Update<br>
><br>
> Arjun said that it is essential to have clarity on the focus areas of WMF<br>
> and identify projects where WMF and WMIN could work together. Arun suggested<br>
> the need for a governance framework for the various activities in India.<br>
> Arjun summarized the focus of Wikimedia India on Wiki academies and<br>
> Strengthening City/Language SIGs. Preliminary discussions around Regional<br>
> Conferences, GLAM, Wiki loves monuments and Knowledge Kiosks are in<br>
> progress.<br>
> He explained how Knowledge Kiosks pilot, where visitors to public libraries<br>
> can access Wikipedia through tablet computers in the language of their<br>
> choice can be a great help for reaching out to the population, who can't<br>
> afford computers and Internet. He suggested that it can be a good<br>
> collaborative project and requested India programs support. India programs<br>
> could take care of program management and dealing with Library organizations<br>
> and vendors. Chapter would help in training library personnel and users in<br>
> the various pilot locations. Hisham suggested inviting fellowships for such<br>
> a project. Arjun opined that organizational help is really needed to do<br>
> such projects. It is agreed to have further discussions on this topic after<br>
> sharing additional information.<br>
> Wednesday November 23rd (Voice Conference) [Arjun, Arun, Naveen, Sudhanwa &<br>
> Hisham]<br>
><br>
> India Programs Update<br>
> Ambiguity around the two entities "India Programs" and "India Trust" were<br>
> clarified. India Programs is the team of consultants (currently, Hisham,<br>
> Shiju & Nitika) who are working as consultants to WMF. Once the funding for<br>
> the Wikimedia India Program Trust is sorted out (after the appropriate<br>
> funding has the necessary approvals), these consultants will transition to<br>
> the Trust. Until then, the Trust is an organisation that has been<br>
> registered by has no funds available and therefore will not undertake any<br>
> activities<br>
> An update was shared the the Trust was going to be filing for the necessary<br>
> taxation related applications (Sections 12A and 80G) as well as FCRA<br>
> Prior-Permission in the next few days. An update will be shared after these<br>
> have been done.<br>
> A discussion was made on the Chapter EC proposal for Chapter & India<br>
> Programs to work together on the Knowledge Kiosks initiative of the Chapter.<br>
> India Programs indicated their preference not to work on projects that<br>
> require such intensive effort in infrastructure building (both hardware and<br>
> connectivity.) It was also recommended that the Chapter carefully consider<br>
> their involvement in such initiatives especially given the kind of effort<br>
> that will be required in stuff like procurement.<br>
> It was proposed that the Chapter EC and India Programs work collaboratively<br>
> on at least 2 broad areas: supporting community outreach & community<br>
> building (especially volunteer mobilization) as well PR & social media with<br>
> Chapter EC. Both areas are aspects where India Programs can bring<br>
> capability to the table and are areas of interest to members of the Chapter<br>
> EC.<br>
> An update was shared on the meeting with the Ministry of HRD regarding<br>
> potential collaboration with Aakash tablet. The meeting was extremely<br>
> positive and holds potential. Hisham will be sharing an update to the<br>
> community on the next steps on this after some additional discussions.<br>
> It was proposed that a discussion commence that will collaboratively arrive<br>
> at a draft document that provide clarity to how Chapter EC and the India<br>
> Trust can work together. This will be in the nature of definition of roles.<br>
><br>
> Chapter Update<br>
> Arjun said that with the kind of resources that the India Programs Trust<br>
> will have access, it can take up challenging projects like Knowledge Kiosks<br>
> as it can certainly outsource stuff that can not done by Trust. It is agreed<br>
> to continue the discussion on this topic.<br>
> Best<br>
><br>
> hisham<br>
><br>
><br>
<br>
</div></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">--<br>
Sent from my mobile device<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Srikanth Ramakrishnan.<br>
Wikipedia Coimbatore Meetup on December 10th.<br>
<a href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Coimbatore" target="_blank">http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Coimbatore</a><br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
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