Hello everyone,
Looking at the various discussions surrounding the Berlin Agreement -- and particularly in anticipation of the first meetings of the Wikimedia Chapters Association, where future plans for chapters in the US might become a point of contention -- I think it may be beneficial for us to more formally adopt and promulgate a shared vision for the future of US-based chapters at our in-person meeting at Wikimania.
Having said that, I think that trying to come up with something as detailed as the Berlin Agreement -- establishing a formal organization, adopting a detailed charter, and so forth -- would be premature for us; most of our regional groups haven't gone down the path of formally incorporating and becoming official chapters, and there's little value to creating a formal infrastructure until that happens.
Instead, I'd like to propose that we put together an agreement in principle to outline a shared vision for the development of US chapters. The agreement would essentially outline three key goals:
(1) Creating a network of regional Wikimedia chapters across the United States;
(2) Building collaboration among the regional Wikimedia chapters in the US; and
(3) At some point in the future, forming an association of Wikimedia chapters in the US.
By signing the agreement, the signatories would simply indicate their support of these goals. The agreement could therefore be signed on an individual basis -- i.e. each of the attendees at our July meeting could sign on their own behalf -- rather than only by chapters or other regional groups (which would sharply limit the number of potential signatures, and significantly increase the complexity of the entire exercise).
Would something along these lines be of interest to the participants here?
Cheers,
Kirill
-- Kirill Lokshin Secretary | Wikimedia District of Columbia http://wikimediadc.org | @wikimediadc
2012/4/20 Kirill Lokshin kirill.lokshin@wikidc.org
Hello everyone,
Looking at the various discussions surrounding the Berlin Agreement -- and particularly in anticipation of the first meetings of the Wikimedia Chapters Association, where future plans for chapters in the US might become a point of contention -- I think it may be beneficial for us to more formally adopt and promulgate a shared vision for the future of US-based chapters at our in-person meeting at Wikimania.
Having said that, I think that trying to come up with something as detailed as the Berlin Agreement -- establishing a formal organization, adopting a detailed charter, and so forth -- would be premature for us; most of our regional groups haven't gone down the path of formally incorporating and becoming official chapters, and there's little value to creating a formal infrastructure until that happens.
Instead, I'd like to propose that we put together an agreement in principle to outline a shared vision for the development of US chapters. The agreement would essentially outline three key goals:
(1) Creating a network of regional Wikimedia chapters across the United States;
(2) Building collaboration among the regional Wikimedia chapters in the US; and
(3) At some point in the future, forming an association of Wikimedia chapters in the US.
By signing the agreement, the signatories would simply indicate their support of these goals. The agreement could therefore be signed on an individual basis -- i.e. each of the attendees at our July meeting could sign on their own behalf -- rather than only by chapters or other regional groups (which would sharply limit the number of potential signatures, and significantly increase the complexity of the entire exercise).
Would something along these lines be of interest to the participants here?
Cheers,
Kirill
--
I'd like to see a workgroup for US chapters; since a lot of the incorporation rules involve federal tax issues and relatively similar state rules, it would be useful I think to provide resources and support on a national level for pre-chapter groups and others looking into affiliating with the WMF in some more formal way. Doing it as a workgroup might also avoid some of the issues of who is signing on whose behalf etc.
I don't think US residents and groups are necessarily going to find their interests represented in the Chapters Association; payment processing and related issues aren't as much of a factor for us.
(Not a DC member, bit too far from Vermont, hope you don't mind the comment)
Did we have some discussions about a US Chapter Council in Jan-Mar 2011? --Bob Platt
Quoting Nathan nawrich@gmail.com:
2012/4/20 Kirill Lokshin kirill.lokshin@wikidc.org
Hello everyone,
Looking at the various discussions surrounding the Berlin Agreement -- and particularly in anticipation of the first meetings of the Wikimedia Chapters Association, where future plans for chapters in the US might become a point of contention -- I think it may be beneficial for us to more formally adopt and promulgate a shared vision for the future of US-based chapters at our in-person meeting at Wikimania.
Having said that, I think that trying to come up with something as detailed as the Berlin Agreement -- establishing a formal organization, adopting a detailed charter, and so forth -- would be premature for us; most of our regional groups haven't gone down the path of formally incorporating and becoming official chapters, and there's little value to creating a formal infrastructure until that happens.
Instead, I'd like to propose that we put together an agreement in principle to outline a shared vision for the development of US chapters. The agreement would essentially outline three key goals:
(1) Creating a network of regional Wikimedia chapters across the United States;
(2) Building collaboration among the regional Wikimedia chapters in the US; and
(3) At some point in the future, forming an association of Wikimedia chapters in the US.
By signing the agreement, the signatories would simply indicate their support of these goals. The agreement could therefore be signed on an individual basis -- i.e. each of the attendees at our July meeting could sign on their own behalf -- rather than only by chapters or other regional groups (which would sharply limit the number of potential signatures, and significantly increase the complexity of the entire exercise).
Would something along these lines be of interest to the participants here?
Cheers,
Kirill
--
I'd like to see a workgroup for US chapters; since a lot of the incorporation rules involve federal tax issues and relatively similar state rules, it would be useful I think to provide resources and support on a national level for pre-chapter groups and others looking into affiliating with the WMF in some more formal way. Doing it as a workgroup might also avoid some of the issues of who is signing on whose behalf etc.
I don't think US residents and groups are necessarily going to find their interests represented in the Chapters Association; payment processing and related issues aren't as much of a factor for us.
(Not a DC member, bit too far from Vermont, hope you don't mind the comment)
It was good that Kirill CCed this list, but we should probably keep any replies to this thread on wikimediaus-l so we don't fragment it. Your replies are relevant to everyone, not just the DC folks.
Also,
On 4/20/12 9:15 AM, Nathan wrote:
(Not a DC member, bit too far from Vermont, hope you don't mind the comment)
Great! You should come to the tomorrow (well, today) in Boston if you are interested in this stuff. :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/New_England
Dominic
While I really don't want to know or study the details, in general, the less (danged German) bureaucraZy the better... I will NOT register my Toaster with the government, EVER, I don't care if the Germans do... (Per conversation at last wikidc meetup.)
On 4/20/2012 12:17 AM, Kirill Lokshin wrote:
Hello everyone,
Looking at the various discussions surrounding the Berlin Agreement -- and particularly in anticipation of the first meetings of the Wikimedia Chapters Association, where future plans for chapters in the US might become a point of contention -- I think it may be beneficial for us to more formally adopt and promulgate a shared vision for the future of US-based chapters at our in-person meeting at Wikimania.
Having said that, I think that trying to come up with something as detailed as the Berlin Agreement -- establishing a formal organization, adopting a detailed charter, and so forth -- would be premature for us; most of our regional groups haven't gone down the path of formally incorporating and becoming official chapters, and there's little value to creating a formal infrastructure until that happens.
Instead, I'd like to propose that we put together an agreement in principle to outline a shared vision for the development of US chapters. The agreement would essentially outline three key goals:
(1) Creating a network of regional Wikimedia chapters across the United States;
(2) Building collaboration among the regional Wikimedia chapters in the US; and
(3) At some point in the future, forming an association of Wikimedia chapters in the US.
By signing the agreement, the signatories would simply indicate their support of these goals. The agreement could therefore be signed on an individual basis -- i.e. each of the attendees at our July meeting could sign on their own behalf -- rather than only by chapters or other regional groups (which would sharply limit the number of potential signatures, and significantly increase the complexity of the entire exercise).
Would something along these lines be of interest to the participants here?
Cheers,
Kirill
-- Kirill Lokshin Secretary |Wikimedia District of Columbia http://wikimediadc.org http://wikimediadc.org/| @wikimediadc
wikimedia-dc@lists.wikimedia.org