I must admit 'where have you been' did not come across as rude to me. It's something you say to an old friend when you're pleased to see them.

However, this conversation does show that the phrase carries different connotations in different countries. As the English-language banner can't be changed for just the UK, perhaps a different wording should be sought.

I think changing the central notice is worthwhile to motivate people to take part. Keeping things the same might numb the effect of the banner, so I would encourage people to put forward their suggestions.

On 19 September 2013 17:39, Katie Chan <katie.chan@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:

"Where have you been" as in "what lovely places have you visited?",
not "why haven't you uploaded anything?".

On 19 September 2013 17:16, Matthew Roth Wikimedia <mroth@wikimedia.org> wrote:
> I read it as being pushy, if not rude. Maybe a British humor thing we don't
> all get?
>
> Matthew
>
> Sent from a mobile communication device.
>
> On Sep 19, 2013, at 9:10 AM, Michael Maggs <Michael@maggs.name> wrote:
>
> It's not rude: it has a double meaning in English. Maybe this would not work
> in other languages.
>
> Michael
>
> On 19 Sep 2013, at 16:59, Osmar Valdebenito wrote:
>
> To me, it sounds very rude.
> I would say something reminding that we are on the last days of the
> competition and that you can still help Wikipedia and win...
>
> Osmar Valdebenito G.
> Director Ejecutivo
> A. C. Wikimedia Argentina
>
>
> 2013/9/19 Richard Symonds <richard.symonds@wikimedia.org.uk>
>>
>> This sounds very sensible.
>>
>> Richard Symonds
>> Wikimedia UK
>> 0207 065 0992
>> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
>> Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
>> Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
>> United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
>> movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
>> operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
>> Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
>> over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
>>
>>
>> On 19 September 2013 16:34, Michael Maggs <Michael@maggs.name> wrote:
>>>
>>> As there seems to be little international discussion about updating the
>>> CentralNotice text, I'm proposing in the next day or two to change the the
>>> text for the UK (only) to
>>>
>>> Where have you been?   Send us some photos!
>>>
>>> If anyone objects, please let me know.
>>>
>>> Michael
>>>
>>>
>>> On 12 Sep 2013, at 05:10, Karthik Nadar wrote:
>>>
>>> On Thu, Sep 12, 2013 at 1:21 AM, Romaine Wiki <romaine_wiki@yahoo.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps the best place for talking about the banners of the
>>>> CentralNotice is at:
>>>>
>>>> https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons_talk:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2013/CentralNotice
>>>
>>>
>>> Discussion kicks off there!
>>>
>>> -- Karthik.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Romaine
>>>>
>>>> --------------------------------------------
>>>> On Wed, 9/11/13, Lodewijk <lodewijk@effeietsanders.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  Subject: Re: [Wiki Loves Monuments] drop off in submissions, banner
>>>>  To: "Wiki Loves Monuments Photograph Competition"
>>>> <wikilovesmonuments@lists.wikimedia.org>
>>>>  Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2013, 7:45 PM
>>>>
>>>>  (oh, and ps: probably native
>>>>  countries like the US and GB work very differently than
>>>>  non-native English countries. Here participate would
>>>>  definitely resonate much better, and 'snap' would
>>>>  only be confusing. But that is probably stating the
>>>>  obvious)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  2013/9/11 Lodewijk
>>>>  <lodewijk@effeietsanders.org>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  I think there are two major factors in our
>>>>  image count:
>>>>  1) new participants, people who never edited
>>>>  before. 2) super uploaders, people with more
>>>>  than 100 images
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  The highest contribution to the number of images
>>>>  is 2) by a leap. This is mostly people with a reservoir of
>>>>  images - primarily in Spain, Poland and Germany.
>>>>  The banner has primarily an influence on 1),
>>>>  which is also important. I definitely wouldn't mind a
>>>>  change in the banner, but I would suggest to let that
>>>>  coincide with the drop of Privacy Policy (which was poorly
>>>>  situated - the original plan was to run it in August). In
>>>>  some other countries, there are more banners competing even
>>>>  (like in NL, a conference banner with call for
>>>>  speakers).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Another way than the wording, is the
>>>>  design.
>>>>  I would suggest we continue this 'what is the
>>>>  best banner' discussion on a talkpage somewhere, to keep
>>>>  it consistent. Romaine, what would be a good location for
>>>>  that?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Lodewijk
>>>>
>>>>  2013/9/11 Michael
>>>>  Maggs <Michael@maggs.name>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Both
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  "Snap a snapshot for
>>>>  Wikipedia" and "It's a snap, Wiki Loves
>>>>  Monuments"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  are the best I
>>>>  have heard so far, and they would work in the UK as well as
>>>>  the US. Maybe have them both running at 50%
>>>>  ?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  Michael
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  On 11 Sep 2013, at 17:41,
>>>>  Peter Ekman wrote:
>>>>  I too have noticed a drop off in photos submitted
>>>>  in the last few days.  It's fairly important to
>>>>  determine what caused the drop off if we can.  It might be
>>>>  something totally outside of our control, e.g. the situation
>>>>  in Syria, but might be something like a change in banner
>>>>  display, which we do have some control over. Did the drop
>>>>  happen in most countries? We don't have full control
>>>>  over all Wikimedia banners - we do have to share the space
>>>>  with others, but perhaps they might be willing to delay some
>>>>  of their displays if we ask nicely.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  I do agree that changing the banner from
>>>>  time-to-time can help. I don't agree that a banner of
>>>>  ""Participate
>>>>  in the world's largest photo-contest and
>>>>  help Wikipedia,"
>>>>  would help any.  The imperative verb
>>>>  "Participate" is very weak, and is not natural to
>>>>  American English speakers.  It suggests a high school home
>>>>  economics teacher telling us that we have to bring cookies
>>>>  to the annual bake-off.  Something more active is
>>>>  definitely needed, something along the line (but not
>>>>  exactly) of a high school football coach saying "Go out
>>>>  there and kick some butt!"  That would definitely get
>>>>  some attention as a banner, but not the exact type of
>>>>  attention we want.  A teaser ad might work however, e.g.
>>>>  "About your photos on Wikipedia .... (smaller type)
>>>>  upload them to Wiki Loves Monuments"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  "Snap"
>>>>  might be a verb we want to use.  It gives an idea of the
>>>>  action that we want people to take (snap a snapshot), unlike
>>>>  "participate."  So perhaps "Snap a historic
>>>>  site, Wiki Loves Monuments" It could wake people up. Or
>>>>  maybe "Snap a snapshot for Wikipedia".  As a noun
>>>>  "It's a snap, Wiki Loves
>>>>  Monuments"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  I don't
>>>>  think these ideas are good enough yet for an actual banner,
>>>>  but I think that folks should brain-storm this and come up
>>>>  with new ideas.  Straight informative banners can sound
>>>>  bureaucratic or just boring.  Different languages or
>>>>  dialects should be considered separately, as translations
>>>>  are really tricky, e.g. "It's a snap" might
>>>>  mean something entirely different in British
>>>>  English
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  PeteUser:Smallbones
>>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
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>
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Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
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Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).

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