Hello Fellow Wikimedians,
 
It is the pleasure of both Maia and I to announce that the New England Wikimedians have been approved to become an official Wikimedia User Group. Below is the official resolution stating this:
Whereas:
  1. Recognizing Wikimedia User Groups is the responsibility of the Affiliations Committee;
  2. The application of New England Wikimedians has been reviewed by the Affiliations Committee and was discussed on their Meta Page;
  3. The scope of the group can be found on Meta-Wiki;
  4. It is the opinion of the Affiliations Committee that the group meets the requirements for Wikimedia User Group status;
  5. A user group may later be recognized as a chapter or a thematic organization if it meets the additional requirements.
Therefore be it
resolved that New England Wikimedians is recognized as a Wikimedia User Group for a one-year period ending 31 December 2014.
At the end of the recognition period, the group may apply for the renewal of recognition.
References
Votes
Resolution passed with 8 votes in favour, 0 against, 0 abstentions. -- 18:44, 30 December 2013 (UTC)
Now that we have been approved, we can begin our next steps to becoming an official chapter, which shall be discussed on the 18th. More of that information can be found on this page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Step-by-step_chapter_creation_guide
 
Additionally, we would also like to invite everyone to come to the meeting on the 18th, which will be held at 3, with a dinner following somewhere in Cambridge. If anyone has any ideas about where they want the chapter to go and what they want to do in the future, that is the time to do it. If you cannot come, we will work hard on making sure that people will be able to remotely access the meeting, as we would like everyone to participate if they can.
 
Thank you to everyone who has made this possible, as we look forward to a successful 2014, and the many opportunities that come with being a User Group!
 
Your Signatories,
Maia Weinstock and Kevin Rutherford