Hi DC folks! Two things.
1) The Wikipedia Ambassador Program is looking for someone to be the Regional Ambassador for DC... essentially, coordinating the expansion of the ambassador program in the DC metro area. It doesn't require previous ambassador experience. Here's the basic description:
------------- "Regional Ambassadors are crucial leaders in the Wikipedia Ambassador program, and represent a huge step in efforts to transition more and more of the central leadership roles in the program from Wikimedia Foundation staff to Ambassadors. We have divided the U.S. into different "regions" based on expected Ambassador activity levels in different parts of the country (with focus on balancing the activity levels across all the regions as much as possible), and each region will be coordinated by one or two Regional Ambassadors responsible for that area. In a nutshell, Regional Ambassadors will be in charge of coordinating professor recruitment and check-in, coordinating Campus Ambassador recruitment and performance, and facilitating communication among different stakeholders (professors, Campus Ambassadors, Online Ambassadors, Wikimedia staff, etc.).
This is a leadership role with great opportunities for developing team management, community organizing, and public outreach skills. It also provides participants with significant professional-networking opportunities, especially in the education community and the open-source community.
The time commitment for this role is approximately 5 hours a week. -------------
If that sounds appealing, please let me know. There's a ton of potential for expanding the ambassador program in DC, and getting new ambassadors and instructors involved... especially from outside the current community... will be a great way to strengthen the DC community, and maybe feed into the GLAM work and other activities you've got going on.
2) I'm in DC right now, through Sunday morning, staying at the Washington Hilton. I'm here for the Association for Psychological Science convention; they are actively promoting Wikipedia editing to their ~25,000 members, and I'm here -- along with Piotr Konieczny (User:Piotrus) -- to connect people up with the ambassador program.
We have a cool Wikipedia booth: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragesoss/5762453080
If anyone wants to meet up, especially some evening, let me know. We are also tentatively planning to visit the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum on Sunday morning, around 10am, in case anyone wants to join us. (I'm hoping to make it to the board meeting on Saturday, but may not be able to.)
-Sage Ross User:Ragesoss Online Facilitator, Public Policy Initiative Wikimedia Foundation