We also need $ for banners and stuff like that.
As for general assembly or board meetings, I do have some good news. As a student of UT at Scarborough campus, I can book a room for free as long as it's not in use for lecture or tutorial at that time. I'm pretty sure that other universities have a similiar policy as UT. But that's not the point of not having membership fees.
Andrew (OhanaUnited)
> Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 17:04:24 +0100
> From: mbimmler@gmail.com
> To: wikimedia-ca@lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-Canada] Membership fees
>
> [pre-note, I'm always talking from experience in CH, the situation
> might be different in Canda¨]
>
> On Feb 5, 2008 4:57 PM, Nicholas Moreau <nicholasmoreau@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Who are we sending things to by mail? >Other than the government, to
> > register, what, are we sending out newsletters and membership cards?
>
> You will probably have to answer external correspondence by mail if it
> arrives per mail. You might have, somewhen, members without email (we
> do...) You will have to deal with all government authorities (e.g. tax
> authorities) by mail.
>
> > And who are we handing business cards to?
> >
>
> To people/orgs you cooperate with. Universities. Libraries. Companies.
> Government agencies. Other corporations. Whomever... Especially more
> 'formal environments' are very keen on business cards.
>
> > Yes, running a website costs money, but we've got permission from
> > Wikimedia to have ca.wikimedia.org as ours for the taking.
> >
>
> Okay. But you might want to set up a wikimedia.ca to serve as redirect somewhen
>
> > How does it cost to meet? It costs for personal transportation and
> > food, but I'm sure there's some cafe in Canada that allows people to
> > meet for an hour or two.
> >
>
> Okay. But I am yet to find a place that allows us to host a General
> Assembly of 2 hours without any cost. Good luck in finding one, I
> couldn't.
> Same goes for board meetings (the latter can be done in private
> homes, but not always).
>
> > And membership fees for 20-50 people AREN'T going to cover any amount
> > of Wikimania's cost. As far as I know, Wikimania's costs are covered
> > entirely by grants, sponsors, Wikimedia, and entry fees.
> >
> Yes. I'm actually talking about Canadian internal events. "Wikipedia
> Day Canada". "Colloque Wikipédia Canada" Whatever...
>
> I'm not suggesting that you need loads of money at the very day of
> establishment. But if you think that you can have a *visible*
> association (that is not only a piece of paper) without any money
> (resp. with everything covered ad hoc by individuals), I can nearly
> guarantee you that this won't work.
>
> Michael
>
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