Hello all,
Tonight we had a very successful IRC meeting in the ComProj IRC channel and I think that several decisions were reached that should help the future of the group. I will detail these below. Because not all members were present, please feel free to give your comments on the list here, and if you disagree with the conclusions we drew, please say so.
The first item was ComProj's current membership roster. I pointed out that the private spreadsheet containing the information provided when people join ComProj was a bit pointless as it remained private and so we agreed it should be put on meta. However, it does contain some confidential information, namely e-mail addresses, real names and some brief real life bios. Since we do not want to offend anyone, I intend to filter these out until I get confirmation from individuals that they are happy with their information being listed. I will keep you informed about how I get along with this.
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that - people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
We now hope to have projects being assigned leaders (the idea is that co-ordinators (me, Sandy, Cary) will do this) and then work can begin. I aim to do some restructuring of our pages on meta tomorrow so that this can be slotted in. Hopefully, this will mean that people will get chance to work at something they really want to do and projects can be completed in a more timely manner.
As chair I will still be trying to pull stuff together by arranging and organanising meetings and attempting to liaise between project leaders etc. which I think is working reasonably well. It should be made clear that even though we now have three layers of co-ordinators, project leaders and members, everyone within ComProj is most definately equal - it's just that we are doing different jobs. Managing a project, for example, is a skill in the same way graphics designing or writing is.
Again, please feel free to offer comments. I will be updating you as I work on our pages on meta, which I would hope we start to use more.
[[m:User:Sean Whitton]] ComProj chair
Hi Sean, Hi Sandy, Hi everyone,
Sorry to miss the meeting last night... I read the logs. Were you all happy with the background for the Yoruba press release I wrote? Should I paste the list of education journals that Sandy needed somewhere?
I've fallen behind a little bit because my Dad was rushed into hospital very suddenly and he had a very big operation and we learned that it is cancer. I rushed to Wales earlier this month, spent some time in the Intensive Care Unit with him and now, thank goodness, he is recovering well and he is out of hospital. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but then I read the logs of the meeting last night, and I realised I had been missed. Well folks, if I havent replied to an email, that's why. Sorry about that.
Now you all know that I am good at getting things done - the press release, the education journals - if there is another task I can help with, please just shout. I will get my thinking cap on [er.. British expression for I will think carefully] about the Wiki Love Meme.
I want to make things happen. Here's an idea: I would like to organise a 1-day conference in the UK on Wikis, Academia and Public engagement. It would be hosted in my department and we have lovely open spaces in our building.
I will be asking a contact at a research council to support it financially, but they usually only do it if it is co-funded and would be attended by some big names. What are the chances of that, do you think???
If Sandy thinks this is a good idea, I'd love to know who would like to come and we could brainstorm to shape the idea up a little.
Sorry to miss the meeting once again.
best wishes
Jen/Open Research
--On 29 August 2007 22:28 +0100 Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Hello all,
Tonight we had a very successful IRC meeting in the ComProj IRC channel and I think that several decisions were reached that should help the future of the group. I will detail these below. Because not all members were present, please feel free to give your comments on the list here, and if you disagree with the conclusions we drew, please say so.
The first item was ComProj's current membership roster. I pointed out that the private spreadsheet containing the information provided when people join ComProj was a bit pointless as it remained private and so we agreed it should be put on meta. However, it does contain some confidential information, namely e-mail addresses, real names and some brief real life bios. Since we do not want to offend anyone, I intend to filter these out until I get confirmation from individuals that they are happy with their information being listed. I will keep you informed about how I get along with this.
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that - people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
We now hope to have projects being assigned leaders (the idea is that co-ordinators (me, Sandy, Cary) will do this) and then work can begin. I aim to do some restructuring of our pages on meta tomorrow so that this can be slotted in. Hopefully, this will mean that people will get chance to work at something they really want to do and projects can be completed in a more timely manner.
As chair I will still be trying to pull stuff together by arranging and organanising meetings and attempting to liaise between project leaders etc. which I think is working reasonably well. It should be made clear that even though we now have three layers of co-ordinators, project leaders and members, everyone within ComProj is most definately equal - it's just that we are doing different jobs. Managing a project, for example, is a skill in the same way graphics designing or writing is.
Again, please feel free to offer comments. I will be updating you as I work on our pages on meta, which I would hope we start to use more.
[[m:User:Sean Whitton]] ComProj chair
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
Sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope he is recovering well.
How much financial support do you think is needed for the event? When you say it would be hosted by your department, does that mean the department needs to be paid for that? Wiki Wednesday's in London are having a difficult time finding sponsors or venues, so it might not be easy, though there are at least a couple of Wikimania sponsors with people in the UK, so they might be companies to consider asking for support. The Foundation, Wikimedia UK, or possibly even another chapter in Europe, might also be able to provide some support.
If by big names, they mean speakers, then you should contact Jimmy and see when he is free and in Europe and set the date for when he can attend. Perhaps they'd count people like Alison Wheeler (chair of Wikimedia UK) as a big name as well?
I also suggest you get Cormac Lawler involved. I think he's based in Ireland. He's a researcher and has been involved with Wikimania and would be a good fit for this, both as a speaker and organizer.
Angela
IMPORTANT! This message has been blind-carbon-copied to you. Do not reply-to-all or forward it without the author's permission.
Hi Angela, Hello to the list
Thanks for your input!
The idea is that as an academic, I would like to hold a conference on "Using Wikis in Research and Public Engagement" in Brighton, UK. I'm pretty sure I can convince my academic department to waive the fees they usually charge for the venue, give us IT support, etc. So no, we dont need money for the venue.
But conferences have other costs: invitations, publicity, handouts, coffee, lunches, speaker travel, and the time spent organising them. A small conference would not take much organising, but I want a bigger one, and I want to invite the top UK research funding people and raise awareness of the usefulness of Wikis, so that the funders see how useful Wikis are. My vision is a world where research funders allow Wikimedia people to co-apply with academics for research and teaching grants to get funding for Wiki activity, to allow research results to be brought to the world. Instead of locking new knowledge away in a private-access journal, it would be available for all.
I want to approach one of the Research Councils to get some funding for the conference. I also believe that if I do this, they may well be interested in funding a *project* as well. This project would need to be co-designed by us, so that it is useful to Wikimedia and Wikimedia UK.
Support for a conference would also help our chances of succeeding with the £2million Beacons for Public Engagement proposal (UK), which involves Wikimedia. We have been asked by the funders: "What commitments are your partner Wikimedia offering?", and it would be great to have an exciting answer to that.
The stream of funding I have identified is only open if Wikimedia can commit to co-funding, or 'benefit in kind'.
The funders who are interested. But I need to work with someone in Wikimedia who has the authority to offer backing to a funding proposal, and other people in Wikimedia who can tell me the kinds of academic-related activities they would really be interested in getting funded. Then we can talk and identify some common ground. This has to be collaborative.
Speakers, yes, definitely Jimmy. I'll drop him a line. Yes, Cormac too. Cormac and I have been discussing about Wikis, as we have much in common in our research. He is using similar theoretical framework in his PhD to the one I used when I did my doctorate. He's definitely my first contact as soon as someone from the Wikimedia Foundation says, 'Yes, this is a good idea. We'll support it. We can offer *X* co-funding or *X* benefit in kind'.
I keep trying David Gerard at Wikimedia UK, but no reply as yet.
Where would be a good place to start a note on this topic??
best wishes
Jenny/Open Research
--On 30 August 2007 11:34 +0200 Angela beesley@gmail.com wrote:
How much financial support do you think is needed for the event? When you say it would be hosted by your department, does that mean the department needs to be paid for that? Wiki Wednesday's in London are having a difficult time finding sponsors or venues, so it might not be easy, though there are at least a couple of Wikimania sponsors with people in the UK, so they might be companies to consider asking for support. The Foundation, Wikimedia UK, or possibly even another chapter in Europe, might also be able to provide some support.
If by big names, they mean speakers, then you should contact Jimmy and see when he is free and in Europe and set the date for when he can attend. Perhaps they'd count people like Alison Wheeler (chair of Wikimedia UK) as a big name as well?
I also suggest you get Cormac Lawler involved. I think he's based in Ireland. He's a researcher and has been involved with Wikimania and would be a good fit for this, both as a speaker and organizer.
Angela
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
iirc Cormac is in Manchester.
You can organize a "one day Wikipedia Academy". As it's a more structured thing, where you can organize discussions and pannels, I do believe you should find some sponsors, as you won't need that much money.
Perhaps this would be a good idea to be the first Wikimedia UK public event ;)
On 30/08/2007, Angela beesley@gmail.com wrote:
Sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope he is recovering well.
How much financial support do you think is needed for the event? When you say it would be hosted by your department, does that mean the department needs to be paid for that? Wiki Wednesday's in London are having a difficult time finding sponsors or venues, so it might not be easy, though there are at least a couple of Wikimania sponsors with people in the UK, so they might be companies to consider asking for support. The Foundation, Wikimedia UK, or possibly even another chapter in Europe, might also be able to provide some support.
If by big names, they mean speakers, then you should contact Jimmy and see when he is free and in Europe and set the date for when he can attend. Perhaps they'd count people like Alison Wheeler (chair of Wikimedia UK) as a big name as well?
I also suggest you get Cormac Lawler involved. I think he's based in Ireland. He's a researcher and has been involved with Wikimania and would be a good fit for this, both as a speaker and organizer.
Angela
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
This whole letter was music to my ears, but yes I think the conference is a phenomenal idea...and if you want, I can def. get you in touch with a few people, and I think that you should reach out to UK wikimedia people to get their input as well, but I' am ALL FOR THIS.
And yes, I really need hlep with wikilove meme.....you guys need to start the momentum for others to follow :)
sandy
Jennifer Gristock wrote:
Hi Sean, Hi Sandy, Hi everyone,
Sorry to miss the meeting last night... I read the logs. Were you all happy with the background for the Yoruba press release I wrote? Should I paste the list of education journals that Sandy needed somewhere?
I've fallen behind a little bit because my Dad was rushed into hospital very suddenly and he had a very big operation and we learned that it is cancer. I rushed to Wales earlier this month, spent some time in the Intensive Care Unit with him and now, thank goodness, he is recovering well and he is out of hospital. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but then I read the logs of the meeting last night, and I realised I had been missed. Well folks, if I havent replied to an email, that's why. Sorry about that.
Now you all know that I am good at getting things done - the press release, the education journals - if there is another task I can help with, please just shout. I will get my thinking cap on [er.. British expression for I will think carefully] about the Wiki Love Meme.
I want to make things happen. Here's an idea: I would like to organise a 1-day conference in the UK on Wikis, Academia and Public engagement. It would be hosted in my department and we have lovely open spaces in our building.
I will be asking a contact at a research council to support it financially, but they usually only do it if it is co-funded and would be attended by some big names. What are the chances of that, do you think???
If Sandy thinks this is a good idea, I'd love to know who would like to come and we could brainstorm to shape the idea up a little.
Sorry to miss the meeting once again.
best wishes
Jen/Open Research
--On 29 August 2007 22:28 +0100 Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Hello all,
Tonight we had a very successful IRC meeting in the ComProj IRC channel and I think that several decisions were reached that should help the future of the group. I will detail these below. Because not all members were present, please feel free to give your comments on the list here, and if you disagree with the conclusions we drew, please say so.
The first item was ComProj's current membership roster. I pointed out that the private spreadsheet containing the information provided when people join ComProj was a bit pointless as it remained private and so we agreed it should be put on meta. However, it does contain some confidential information, namely e-mail addresses, real names and some brief real life bios. Since we do not want to offend anyone, I intend to filter these out until I get confirmation from individuals that they are happy with their information being listed. I will keep you informed about how I get along with this.
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that - people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
We now hope to have projects being assigned leaders (the idea is that co-ordinators (me, Sandy, Cary) will do this) and then work can begin. I aim to do some restructuring of our pages on meta tomorrow so that this can be slotted in. Hopefully, this will mean that people will get chance to work at something they really want to do and projects can be completed in a more timely manner.
As chair I will still be trying to pull stuff together by arranging and organanising meetings and attempting to liaise between project leaders etc. which I think is working reasonably well. It should be made clear that even though we now have three layers of co-ordinators, project leaders and members, everyone within ComProj is most definately equal - it's just that we are doing different jobs. Managing a project, for example, is a skill in the same way graphics designing or writing is.
Again, please feel free to offer comments. I will be updating you as I work on our pages on meta, which I would hope we start to use more.
[[m:User:Sean Whitton]] ComProj chair
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
Jenny - you might want to join Wikimedia UK's mailing list - http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/WikimediaUK-l
On 30/08/2007, Sandy Ordonez sordonez@wikimedia.org wrote:
This whole letter was music to my ears, but yes I think the conference is a phenomenal idea...and if you want, I can def. get you in touch with a few people, and I think that you should reach out to UK wikimedia people to get their input as well, but I' am ALL FOR THIS.
And yes, I really need hlep with wikilove meme.....you guys need to start the momentum for others to follow :)
sandy
Jennifer Gristock wrote:
Hi Sean, Hi Sandy, Hi everyone,
Sorry to miss the meeting last night... I read the logs. Were you all happy with the background for the Yoruba press release I wrote? Should I paste the list of education journals that Sandy needed somewhere?
I've fallen behind a little bit because my Dad was rushed into hospital very suddenly and he had a very big operation and we learned that it is cancer. I rushed to Wales earlier this month, spent some time in the Intensive Care Unit with him and now, thank goodness, he is recovering well and he is out of hospital. I wasn't going to say anything about it, but then I read the logs of the meeting last night, and I realised I had been missed. Well folks, if I havent replied to an email, that's why. Sorry about that.
Now you all know that I am good at getting things done - the press release, the education journals - if there is another task I can help with, please just shout. I will get my thinking cap on [er.. British expression for I will think carefully] about the Wiki Love Meme.
I want to make things happen. Here's an idea: I would like to organise a 1-day conference in the UK on Wikis, Academia and Public engagement. It would be hosted in my department and we have lovely open spaces in our building.
I will be asking a contact at a research council to support it financially, but they usually only do it if it is co-funded and would be attended by some big names. What are the chances of that, do you think???
If Sandy thinks this is a good idea, I'd love to know who would like to come and we could brainstorm to shape the idea up a little.
Sorry to miss the meeting once again.
best wishes
Jen/Open Research
--On 29 August 2007 22:28 +0100 Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Hello all,
Tonight we had a very successful IRC meeting in the ComProj IRC channel and I think that several decisions were reached that should help the future of the group. I will detail these below. Because not all members were present, please feel free to give your comments on the list here, and if you disagree with the conclusions we drew, please say so.
The first item was ComProj's current membership roster. I pointed out that the private spreadsheet containing the information provided when people join ComProj was a bit pointless as it remained private and so we agreed it should be put on meta. However, it does contain some confidential information, namely e-mail addresses, real names and some brief real life bios. Since we do not want to offend anyone, I intend to filter these out until I get confirmation from individuals that they are happy with their information being listed. I will keep you informed about how I get along with this.
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that - people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
We now hope to have projects being assigned leaders (the idea is that co-ordinators (me, Sandy, Cary) will do this) and then work can begin. I aim to do some restructuring of our pages on meta tomorrow so that this can be slotted in. Hopefully, this will mean that people will get chance to work at something they really want to do and projects can be completed in a more timely manner.
As chair I will still be trying to pull stuff together by arranging and organanising meetings and attempting to liaise between project leaders etc. which I think is working reasonably well. It should be made clear that even though we now have three layers of co-ordinators, project leaders and members, everyone within ComProj is most definately equal - it's just that we are doing different jobs. Managing a project, for example, is a skill in the same way graphics designing or writing is.
Again, please feel free to offer comments. I will be updating you as I work on our pages on meta, which I would hope we start to use more.
[[m:User:Sean Whitton]] ComProj chair
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
--
Sandy Ordonez Communications Manager Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Phone: 727.231.0101 Fax: 727.258.0207S E-Mail: sordonez@wikimedia.org
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
Yeah, it's very useful if you need some help from people who live there! :-)
On 8/30/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Jenny - you might want to join Wikimedia UK's mailing list - http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/WikimediaUK-l
On 30/08/2007, Sandy Ordonez sordonez@wikimedia.org wrote:
This whole letter was music to my ears, but yes I think the conference is a phenomenal idea...and if you want, I can def. get you in touch with a few people, and I think that you should reach out to UK wikimedia people to get their input as well, but I' am ALL FOR THIS.
And yes, I really need hlep with wikilove meme.....you guys need to start the momentum for others to follow :)
sandy
Jennifer Gristock wrote:
Hi Sean, Hi Sandy, Hi everyone,
Sorry to miss the meeting last night... I read the logs. Were you all
happy
with the background for the Yoruba press release I wrote? Should I
paste
the list of education journals that Sandy needed somewhere?
I've fallen behind a little bit because my Dad was rushed into
hospital
very suddenly and he had a very big operation and we learned that it
is
cancer. I rushed to Wales earlier this month, spent some time in the Intensive Care Unit with him and now, thank goodness, he is recovering
well
and he is out of hospital. I wasn't going to say anything about it,
but
then I read the logs of the meeting last night, and I realised I had
been
missed. Well folks, if I havent replied to an email, that's why. Sorry about that.
Now you all know that I am good at getting things done - the press
release,
the education journals - if there is another task I can help with,
please
just shout. I will get my thinking cap on [er.. British expression for
I
will think carefully] about the Wiki Love Meme.
I want to make things happen. Here's an idea: I would like to organise
a
1-day conference in the UK on Wikis, Academia and Public engagement.
It
would be hosted in my department and we have lovely open spaces in our building.
I will be asking a contact at a research council to support it
financially,
but they usually only do it if it is co-funded and would be attended
by
some big names. What are the chances of that, do you think???
If Sandy thinks this is a good idea, I'd love to know who would like
to
come and we could brainstorm to shape the idea up a little.
Sorry to miss the meeting once again.
best wishes
Jen/Open Research
--On 29 August 2007 22:28 +0100 Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com
wrote:
Hello all,
Tonight we had a very successful IRC meeting in the ComProj IRC channel and I think that several decisions were reached that should help the future of the group. I will detail these below. Because not all members were present, please feel free to give your comments on the list here, and if you disagree with the conclusions we drew, please say so.
The first item was ComProj's current membership roster. I pointed out that the private spreadsheet containing the information provided when people join ComProj was a bit pointless as it remained private and so we agreed it should be put on meta. However, it does contain some confidential information, namely e-mail addresses, real names and
some
brief real life bios. Since we do not want to offend anyone, I intend to filter these out until I get confirmation from individuals that they are happy with their information being listed. I will keep you informed about how I get along with this.
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that
people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
We now hope to have projects being assigned leaders (the idea is that co-ordinators (me, Sandy, Cary) will do this) and then work can
begin.
I aim to do some restructuring of our pages on meta tomorrow so that this can be slotted in. Hopefully, this will mean that people will
get
chance to work at something they really want to do and projects can
be
completed in a more timely manner.
As chair I will still be trying to pull stuff together by arranging and organanising meetings and attempting to liaise between project leaders etc. which I think is working reasonably well. It should be made clear that even though we now have three layers of
co-ordinators,
project leaders and members, everyone within ComProj is most definately equal - it's just that we are doing different jobs. Managing a project, for example, is a skill in the same way graphics designing or writing is.
Again, please feel free to offer comments. I will be updating you as
I
work on our pages on meta, which I would hope we start to use more.
[[m:User:Sean Whitton]] ComProj chair
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
--
Sandy Ordonez Communications Manager Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Phone: 727.231.0101 Fax: 727.258.0207S E-Mail: sordonez@wikimedia.org
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
Also, people in wiki-research-l may be interested ;) http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l
Sean Whitton wrote:
Jenny - you might want to join Wikimedia UK's mailing list - http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/WikimediaUK-l
On 8/30/07, Jennifer Gristock J.J.Gristock@sussex.ac.uk wrote:
Hi Sean, Hi Sandy, Hi everyone,
Hi Jennifer :-) I'm sorry to hear about your father - I hope he makes a full recovery soon.
[snip]
I want to make things happen. Here's an idea: I would like to organise a 1-day conference in the UK on Wikis, Academia and Public engagement. It would be hosted in my department and we have lovely open spaces in our building.
I will be asking a contact at a research council to support it financially, but they usually only do it if it is co-funded and would be attended by some big names. What are the chances of that, do you think???
I'm very interested in getting such a conference together - thanks to Angela for thinking of me - I've just joined this list. :-) Christophe's suggestion of a Wikipedia Academy is something I've been dreaming about for a while now. ;-) I suggest we contact Frank Schulenburg (I can do this), and others who have been active in previous Wikipedia Academies.
By "big names", are you referring to people in the Wikimedia world, well-known academics in a given field (free culture, open education, etc), both, or other? By "co-funded" - do you mean by Wikimedia, or by any other organisation?
I would like to brainstorm what Wikimedia could give to and gain from such an event in terms of resources, and opportunities for further work.I would also like to brainstorm what the likely "draws" of such an event would be - what angle are people in the academic world likely to be interested in? For example, there are plenty of academics interested in the world of wikis and other collaborative tools in education and research - are we pitching to an already-aware audience, trying to get more people interested in such work, or pitching it somewhere in the middle?
I'd also like to know where this bid has gone, and where it is going. Specifically, who are the potential funders you have applied to? FWIW, I think bodies like JISC and ESRC would be prime candidates for bigger bids in the future, though I'm not sure if they would fund a one-off conference.
If Sandy thinks this is a good idea, I'd love to know who would like to come and we could brainstorm to shape the idea up a little.
Is it better for us to stick to email for the moment, or should we organise/discuss this on Meta? In any case, count me in!
Cheers,
Cormac
PS: Yes, I'm studying in Manchester - though briefly located in Reading. :-)
On 8/29/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Hello all,
Tonight we had a very successful IRC meeting in the ComProj IRC channel and I think that several decisions were reached that should help the future of the group.
I'm very sorry I missed this - I was transfixed for the whole evening by a Spike Lee epic about Hurricane Katrina.
Since we do not want to offend anyone, I intend to filter these out until I get confirmation from individuals that they are happy with their information being listed.
I'm happy to have any details that I have given (except for phone, if I did so) to be public on Meta.
Cormac
Hello again all,
I have spent considerable time today trying to reorganise our pages on meta to make them more useful, and I believe I have implemented many of the suggestions made at last night's meeting. All of this is not set in stone of course, this is a wiki and improvements on my attempts are welcome.
=== Membership of ComProj === The membership page has been redesigned and wiped, reducing the only current members of ComProj to Sandy, Cary and me. This is an attempt to remove inactive members from the list - while I have no problem with people lurking on the mailing list list, there is no point in being on the list on meta if you cannot accept work. So, I invite everyone to list themselves back on the list, filling in the information across the table (feel free to omit fields for privacy) and putting yourself in the right category of member.
The other change to this is that new membership is 'self-service' - people can add themselves without my intervention, because it is pointless now the document is public.
=== Project management === I have prepared a new system for organising projects with templates, listing and archiving. Projects can be listed by anyone and will move through stages of assignment until they are ready to work. Please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communication_Projects_Group/Projects for further details on this.
What needs to happen now is that all existing projects need to be placed on this new system. This means adding the template to the top (try creating a new project using the input box, without pressing save, to see this) with the active status and listing on the projects page under active. I am requesting ComProj's help with doing this, so please look at your projects and move them to the right place.
=== ComProj meta pages organisation === I have created a navigation bar which links all of our pages together. Feel free to use it.
As always feedback and outright refusal welcome!
Sean
On 29/08/2007, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Hello all,
Tonight we had a very successful IRC meeting in the ComProj IRC channel and I think that several decisions were reached that should help the future of the group. I will detail these below. Because not all members were present, please feel free to give your comments on the list here, and if you disagree with the conclusions we drew, please say so.
The first item was ComProj's current membership roster. I pointed out that the private spreadsheet containing the information provided when people join ComProj was a bit pointless as it remained private and so we agreed it should be put on meta. However, it does contain some confidential information, namely e-mail addresses, real names and some brief real life bios. Since we do not want to offend anyone, I intend to filter these out until I get confirmation from individuals that they are happy with their information being listed. I will keep you informed about how I get along with this.
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that - people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
We now hope to have projects being assigned leaders (the idea is that co-ordinators (me, Sandy, Cary) will do this) and then work can begin. I aim to do some restructuring of our pages on meta tomorrow so that this can be slotted in. Hopefully, this will mean that people will get chance to work at something they really want to do and projects can be completed in a more timely manner.
As chair I will still be trying to pull stuff together by arranging and organanising meetings and attempting to liaise between project leaders etc. which I think is working reasonably well. It should be made clear that even though we now have three layers of co-ordinators, project leaders and members, everyone within ComProj is most definately equal - it's just that we are doing different jobs. Managing a project, for example, is a skill in the same way graphics designing or writing is.
Again, please feel free to offer comments. I will be updating you as I work on our pages on meta, which I would hope we start to use more.
[[m:User:Sean Whitton]] ComProj chair
Thanks Sean,
I am still figuring out how this group works, so please bear with me while I ask some questions.
On 8/30/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
there is no point in being on the list on meta if you cannot accept work.
What do you mean by "accept work"? Does this mean that you are simply prepared to work? Or does it suggest that work is delegated to whoever has said they will accept (any) work?
So, I invite everyone to list themselves back on the list, filling in the information across the table (feel free to omit fields for privacy) and putting yourself in the right category of member.
What is the "right category of member"?
The other change to this is that new membership is 'self-service' - people can add themselves without my intervention, because it is pointless now the document is public.
[rest of email snipped]
So, anyone can join at any time? Is there (or should there be) any way to veto anyone's membership? (Just putting it out there.)
I asked some other pretty general clarifying questions at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:ComProj Calendar Guidelines and http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Communication Projects Group/Projects/How it works
Also, on projects - are *all* current projects listed at the 'Calendar' and 'Ongoing projects' pages?
Thanks,
Cormac
Hello, I will endeavour to answer your questions - I think this will help for other people too who may have similar concerns etc.
On 30/08/2007, Cormac Lawler cormaggio@gmail.com wrote: [snip]
What do you mean by "accept work"? Does this mean that you are simply prepared to work? Or does it suggest that work is delegated to whoever has said they will accept (any) work?
Right now it just means able to accept work because there is no direct assignment at group level. I envisage that within projects, our new project managers will be getting involved in assignment, but at group level everyone volunteers for projects. They are generally announced to the list.
What is the "right category of member"?
This just means co-ordinator, project manager, or member. I have seperate them on the table to easily track down what you want. Basically, you are choosing between project manager and member when you list yourself.
So, anyone can join at any time? Is there (or should there be) any way to veto anyone's membership? (Just putting it out there.)
Anyone can join, yes. If we ended up with a troublemaker, it would be the case that myself as the list administrator (or Cary or Sandy who also have access) may well ban them from the list. Their activities on meta are then a case for meta admins, basically (which I am too).
Right now there is no ComProj-specific procedure for removal.
I asked some other pretty general clarifying questions at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:ComProj Calendar Guidelines and http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Communication Projects Group/Projects/How it works
I will go in and answer these.
Also, on projects - are *all* current projects listed at the 'Calendar' and 'Ongoing projects' pages?
I am not sure, to be honest. We were never good at keeping thsoe up to date.
Using a search on Special:Allpages seems to me to be the best way to track down projects for templating and listing under the new system.
Thanks,
Sean
On 8/30/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Hello, I will endeavour to answer your questions - I think this will help for other people too who may have similar concerns etc.
Thanks. I'm still not sure about needing to differentiate between project managers and members, or about how work is managed, but I suppose I'll just get involved and observe. (No taking advantage of the newbie, mind!)
Cormac
lolol. we promise, we promise,
....and encourage suggestions :) ie, we are still trying to test best way for projects :)
Cormac Lawler wrote:
On 8/30/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
Hello, I will endeavour to answer your questions - I think this will help for other people too who may have similar concerns etc.
Thanks. I'm still not sure about needing to differentiate between project managers and members, or about how work is managed, but I suppose I'll just get involved and observe. (No taking advantage of the newbie, mind!)
Cormac
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
Hey,
My two cents: It would be cool if people could list themselves under a specific area. This allow projects to find people for a specific job. This does not mean you have to accept every job offered, it just means that you are identifying what area you would like to work in. Here are some areas, of the top of head:
- copy editor - writing text for pieces - researcher (facts, info, pics, for brochures, video, etc) - graphic design - creating brochures, fliers, - film production - translating check (making sure a translated brochure, etc, reads well in your language) - project management - providing organizational support for projects - website design - creating with graphic elements on webpages - General Assistance - Press - helping with press list and other press specific tasks
These are only some areas, however, you may list your own.
In terms of organization, we were kicking the idea of starting to assign project managers to each project. this does not mean that project managers are in charge, they are simply providing organizational support, providing deadlines, making sure people are on track etc....Ie, we are experimenting, to find the most efficient solution to executing projects.
sandy
Cormac Lawler wrote:
Thanks Sean,
I am still figuring out how this group works, so please bear with me while I ask some questions.
On 8/30/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
there is no point in being on the list on meta if you cannot accept work.
What do you mean by "accept work"? Does this mean that you are simply prepared to work? Or does it suggest that work is delegated to whoever has said they will accept (any) work?
So, I invite everyone to list themselves back on the list, filling in the information across the table (feel free to omit fields for privacy) and putting yourself in the right category of member.
What is the "right category of member"?
The other change to this is that new membership is 'self-service' - people can add themselves without my intervention, because it is pointless now the document is public.
[rest of email snipped]
So, anyone can join at any time? Is there (or should there be) any way to veto anyone's membership? (Just putting it out there.)
I asked some other pretty general clarifying questions at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:ComProj Calendar Guidelines and http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Communication Projects Group/Projects/How it works
Also, on projects - are *all* current projects listed at the 'Calendar' and 'Ongoing projects' pages?
Thanks,
Cormac _______________________________________________ ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
Hello,
Sandy, this should already be there under "areas of interest in communications". I would request that people list this information there - unless you think another column is needed?
Also, project management is an area. Any current members who would like to try this out, please just move yourself up to the project management section if you think you can do it.
Sean
On 30/08/2007, Sandy Ordonez sordonez@wikimedia.org wrote:
Hey,
My two cents: It would be cool if people could list themselves under a specific area. This allow projects to find people for a specific job. This does not mean you have to accept every job offered, it just means that you are identifying what area you would like to work in. Here are some areas, of the top of head:
- copy editor - writing text for pieces
- researcher (facts, info, pics, for brochures, video, etc)
- graphic design - creating brochures, fliers,
- film production
- translating check (making sure a translated brochure, etc, reads well
in your language)
- project management - providing organizational support for projects
- website design - creating with graphic elements on webpages
- General Assistance
- Press - helping with press list and other press specific tasks
These are only some areas, however, you may list your own.
In terms of organization, we were kicking the idea of starting to assign project managers to each project. this does not mean that project managers are in charge, they are simply providing organizational support, providing deadlines, making sure people are on track etc....Ie, we are experimenting, to find the most efficient solution to executing projects.
sandy
Cormac Lawler wrote:
Thanks Sean,
I am still figuring out how this group works, so please bear with me while I ask some questions.
On 8/30/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
there is no point in being on the list on meta if you cannot accept work.
What do you mean by "accept work"? Does this mean that you are simply prepared to work? Or does it suggest that work is delegated to whoever has said they will accept (any) work?
So, I invite everyone to list themselves back on the list, filling in the information across the table (feel free to omit fields for privacy) and putting yourself in the right category of member.
What is the "right category of member"?
The other change to this is that new membership is 'self-service' - people can add themselves without my intervention, because it is pointless now the document is public.
[rest of email snipped]
So, anyone can join at any time? Is there (or should there be) any way to veto anyone's membership? (Just putting it out there.)
I asked some other pretty general clarifying questions at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:ComProj Calendar Guidelines and http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Communication Projects Group/Projects/How it works
Also, on projects - are *all* current projects listed at the 'Calendar' and 'Ongoing projects' pages?
Thanks,
Cormac _______________________________________________ ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
--
Sandy Ordonez Communications Manager Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Phone: 727.231.0101 Fax: 727.258.0207S E-Mail: sordonez@wikimedia.org
ComProj mailing list ComProj@lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/comproj
Hi. Catching up.
On 8/29/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that - people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
I think this is probably one of the best suggestions made in a long time. The difficulty I find in organisazing in the 'wiki world" is that no-one ever really feels they are "in charge". And in charge, in that context does not mean that you can bully people to do the job they've said they would do, but rather that you are able to keep an overview on things and reassign to someone who has more time for example. I think it is a good way of working and in any case, it makes comproj's role a little clearer to me.
Delphine
Agreed, Delphine.
All we need now are PMs! Two ComProj members have presently volunteered for this role.
Sean
On 31/08/07, Delphine Ménard notafishz@gmail.com wrote:
Hi. Catching up.
On 8/29/07, Sean Whitton sean@silentflame.com wrote:
The next item was ComProj's organisation. schiste suggested that we get people involved with the group as project managers and just that - people who may not really be appropriate for doing projects themselves. He said that lots of people who do communications work do not like project management, so this would allow them to just get on with their specialisation. schiste volunteered to try to find a pool of project leaders from across Wikimedia. Please let him know if you are interested.
I think this is probably one of the best suggestions made in a long time. The difficulty I find in organisazing in the 'wiki world" is that no-one ever really feels they are "in charge". And in charge, in that context does not mean that you can bully people to do the job they've said they would do, but rather that you are able to keep an overview on things and reassign to someone who has more time for example. I think it is a good way of working and in any case, it makes comproj's role a little clearer to me.
Delphine
~notafish
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