On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 9:18 AM, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
I dislike the idea of making it ultra-accessible for basically anyone to stick "Part of the Wikimedia Movement" on their website - it serves little purpose (per se) and you are going to get the vast majority of people slapping it on as a neat badge (or to take advantage of the brand) without actually subscribing or forwarding our aims. Wikimedia has broad aims, but a reasonably narrow focus, and that makes the movement hard for some to digest.
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Yes to everything about this email,
I should absolutely clarify that when I have been using the phrase "Part of the Wikimedia Movement", that is entirely so people will say "Hey, we shouldn't use that name in that way!". I concur wholeheartedly. Such use would be a major brand experimentation for no good reason.
I just say "Wikimedia Movement" because that's the name I have in my head that explains the concept to this audience-- but actual name MUST change before it's put in use by third-party-projects.
Alternate brand with gradual membership, as you suggest, is the clear winner.
As for the name-- this looks like a job for.... experts.
Alec