Thanks for the links!
It looks like on-wiki someone is interested in hosting an edit-a-thon in Seattle so I'll try to set up a time for that.
Today, Wikimedia had some excellent announcements about use of Wikipedia in national education programs. Here in Cascadia we could set up some training for people who would like to be Education Program ambassadors at universities in our region. The Regional Ambassador is Kevin Gorman in California, and I'm sure he'd be supportive if we offered to host training or offer other resources and support to ambassadors and instructors here in Cascadia. I also think that the tech companies in the Seattle area might be very interested in supporting this kind of education at all levels if we can show that it improves students' digital literacy and encourages them to consider careers in high-tech fields, and the Gates Foundation might take an interest in the program.
We could also think about how to connect Gates and some of the other health research organizations in Cascadia like university hospitals and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center with the Wiki Med Foundation's global health work.
I dream big, I know. (:
Even if we can't meet in person, I'd enjoy Skyping with you sometime to discuss ideas, AnotherBeliever. Please let me know off-list if you have some time Friday or this weekend. (:
Pine
On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 7:58 AM, Jason Moore anotherbelieverwp@gmail.com wrote:
Pine,
I will have to go find your Commons for Photographers proposal. I've always thought it would be great to get quality cameras in the hands of prolific photographers, especially those who are willing to travel a bit, participate in photo campaigns, and attend local events. I, too, have wondered about the possibilities of having "press access" via official capacity (Wikimedia Cascadia). I would support the group hosting these programs, so long as we had the capacity to do so.
In Portland, I have hosted events at Multnohmah County Library's Central Library and the Portland Art Museum's Crumpacker Family Library. I recently received an email from someone at OHSU who would like more information about Wikimedia Cascadia and the Wiki Project Med Foundation. We will see if anything comes to fruition from that lead. In Vancouver, WA, I hosted a Wiki Loves Libraries event at the Vancouver Community Library. That might be the extent of GLAM relations, unless I am forgetting one or two, but I believe other partnerships are possible and that organizing as Cascadia will provide more leverage (i.e., an official group and not me being a random Wikipedian knocking on doors).
Potential organizational partners (thinking mostly of Portland at the moment): Portland State University, Reed College, University of Portland, OMSI, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Jewish Museum, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Oregon Rail Heritage Museum, PICA, World Forestry Center, etc.
Actually, this link is very helpful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Oregon
Jason
On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 11:44 PM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Cool, thanks for the info! Field trips are definitely good ideas. I'm also hoping that we can convince the OpenStreetMap volunteers around Seattle to take photographs as they work and upload the photos to Commons.
Pine
On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 8:50 AM, Dennis Bratland < dennis.bratland@gmail.com> wrote:
That was actually the press/VIP tour of the Ballard Locks that they do in the fall and spring when they drain the water tunnels for cleaning. The Underground Tour is open to the public; you just buy a ticket. I think you’d have to get a press credential and then get on the Army Corps of Engineers press contacts list with ample lead time so that you’d get an invite whenever they drain the locks.
With other press events, it’s the same: got to get your name on the list so they invite you.
Dennis Bratland Dennis.Bratland@gmail.com
On Jun 8, 2014, at 12:56 AM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi all,
One thing I have been thinking about is if it would make sense to base
a number of programs that we have in various stages of development in Wikimedia Cascadia instead of developing and running them as an individual.
For example, personally I am involved with Cameras for Commons
Photographers, which is currently in development as a grants program in IdeaLab. Someone needs someone to run it if WMF funds it. Other chapters apparently have similar programs. Would people be open to the idea of running this as a local, or global, program out of Wikimedia Cascadia?
Another project that I have in mind is transforming the presentation
that I have been drafting into a series of well-polished instructional videos about Wikipedia that could be posted on Commons for use by professors or researchers. I am currently thinking about requesting a WMF grant to make this happen, but I think it would be great to develop and run the program through Wikimedia Cascadia so there are more people involved. For example, I think it would be great to have a diversity of presenters for different modules, and we have some good diversity of highly skilled Wikimedians here in Cascadia who I hope would be interested in participating.
Another Seattle Wikimedian, and I forget exactly who proposed this,
suggested that we could use our Wikimedia affiliation to get a greater level of access to areas that are interesting to photograph for Commons, for example underground tours of Seattle where we might be able to get press-level access.
Last but not least, I hear that we have some existing GLAM and
cultural outreach projects in the Portland area, and I think it would be great to see if affiliating those projects more directly with Cascadia and the Wikimedia brand would be beneficial. For example, we might be able to get support for micro-grants for bus fares to enable more people to attend our events.
Thoughts about programs? Obviously we are very early in our
development as an organization but I would love to hear ideas for projects or feedback about the ones mentioned already.
Thanks,
Pine