Or, if you want to start any topics of discussion for the meetup at the
WikiConference, see:
Jason
On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 9:45 AM, Jason Moore <anotherbelieverwp(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:
Glad to see interest in formal organization. Perhaps
we can continue this
conversation at Meta?
I, too, think we could have a successful application to obtain user group
status. This would mean official recognition from the Wikimedia Foundation,
provides funding opportunities, and is a step towards chapter status.
Before we worry about bylaws, etc., I think we should focus on user group
recognition.
Pine, Mako, would you two be interested in being co-contacts for the
Wikimedia Cascadia user group? I can be one, too, which makes three
already. I had hoped to get some people together for an in-person Cascadia
meetup at the upcoming WikiConference USA, perhaps for the purpose of
putting together a user group plan. Perhaps this is easier to do remotely
since there is already interest.
Jason
On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 5:25 PM, ENWP Pine <deyntestiss(a)hotmail.com>wrote;wrote:
I may have some time in the next few weeks to
get us more organized on
Meta. Becoming a user group looks relatively lightweight and I think we
would qualify if we put in an application. Of course, anyone else who wants
to curate the Meta pages and submit a user group application can do so!
If we start to do regular business, especially with people outside the
immediate Wikimedia volunteer community or if we start to accept grant
money, I think we should incorporate for liability protection and tax
reporting reasons. Being an unincorporated nonprofit association that gets
sued, such as because someone in our group made a copyright violation,
would be bad. Also, incorporation may provide us more ability to get grants
and in-kind contributions especially if we qualify for 501(c)(3).
Incorporation is not difficult but it involves some time for applications
to be created and processed. What gets tricky is selecting board members,
drafting bylaws, and doing other necessary administrative work beyond the
capacity of volunteers, so we'll need to think about that when the time
comes. We are small enough now that all active participants could be board
members, but if we scale to 30 members we will likely need an elected
board. That is a good problem to have, and the Affiliations Committee can
provide guidance for us throughout the organizing process.
http://nonprofit.about.com/od/faqsthebasics/f/unincorporationassociation.htm
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affcom
Pine
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-Cascadia mailing list
Wikimedia-Cascadia(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-cascadia