Hi all,

I wanted to make a proposal for the list: let's rename the Advocacy Advisory Group (advocacy_advisors@lists.wikimedia.org) to publicpolicy@lists.wikimedia.org. It's not a big change, but I think that it's more accurate since the list includes expert discussions of public policy that are not always limited to advocacy actions.

The proposal will only affect the name -- we will continue to keep the same focus and great discussions. We set up this mailing list nearly three years ago to provide an open venue for Wikimedians and others supporting the Wikimedia mission to discuss public policy and legislative developments around the world that could affect our movement's work. The Wikimedia Foundation also sends proposals to this list to get feedback on particular policy issues, following the Wikimedia Foundation Policy and Political Association Guideline (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal/Foundation_Policy_and_Political_Association_Guideline). I've enjoyed all of the great discussions with the Wikimedia community, and particularly appreciate the great updates from the EU prepared by Dimi and others. 

If there are no concerns about changing the name, we can set it up next Friday (August 14). We will update the Policy and Political Association Guideline to continue to refer to this list.

As Yana, Geoff, and I presented at Wikimania (https://wikimania2015.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Amplify_Free_Knowledge_with_Public_Policy), we are also working on a site communicating significant public policy positions. That site will also invite people to sign up to this list to discuss public policy issues that affect the Wikimedia projects.