It is extraordinarily difficult to found a US chapter, because we are in essence a federation of 50 little nations. Every state has their own unique characteristics and their own unique laws. Also, we do not have interest for a national chapter. By empowering these state/city chapters, we provide the willing with an outreach organization while leaving it open for other regions.
________________________________ From: Ziko van Dijk zvandijk@googlemail.com To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 7:44:55 AM Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Board resolutions (chapters)
Thanks again for your explanations (I don't want to open a new mail for every bit).
Some points: * Of the organizations Lars mentioned, only ISOC has "chapters". I still find it not clear about whether the national organizations are independent or merely national agencies of the center (as it is the case with Greenpeace). * In this discussion, it is irrelevant how many people live in a sub national area, or how large the country is (there are chapters in small and in large countries already). * It is also irrelevant whether individuals choose to be member in a chapter that does not belong to the nation state they live in, like nationals of France living abroad (as Florence has explained well), or Belgians who go to the Dutch chapter as long as they don't have own of their own. * It is irrelevant whether the New Yorkers do a good job (I never doubted that). The Wikimedians of Cologne do a good job aswell, but they are no chapter. * If the Wikimedians in the USA did not manage to create a national chapter, it is not my fault. Why can't there be a Wikimedia US? I don't know the reason: Large and ethnically diverse countries have WM chapters, other movements have US chapters... * Hongkong and Taiwan are special cases; not "nations" or "countries" different to PR China, but different "states" or "systems". * "Sub national chapters" in the US states make WMF the default Wikimedia US, dealing with American institutions and personalities in a way usually a chapter would. American Wikimedians have no reason to take effort for a WMUS if they see this and that they can have US states chapters. * The world is divided into countries, like it or not, and this has consequences for us.
Ziko