In a message dated 8/12/2006 4:53:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, beesley@gmail.com writes:
On 8/12/06, daniwo59@aol.com daniwo59@aol.com wrote:
This conversation had jumped back and forth from single-instance expenses (eg. babysitting costs) to much larger issues such as speakers fees. With
the
number of speaking requests pouring in to the Foundation (and they come in
at
an ever increasing rate), I want to suggest the following guidelines for
board
members and others giving talks about the Foundation.
What about the requests that don't come in via an official Foundation address? If individuals are approached, are you expecting them to follow these guidelines, or would those not count as official Foundation talks? Do we have any way of knowing which events are expecting an official representative of the Foundation? All speaking requests in which people go out and represent the Foundation should be under the auspicies and supervision of the Foundation. The Foundation should know who is going out speaking on its behalf, what they are saying, and to whom--especially when registered trademarks and logos are concerned. We are wary of people misusing our logo and trademark on websites--why should we not be equally wary of people misusing our logo and trademark in the real world? Finally, when people contact the Foundation asking for a speaker, it is safe to assume that they expect an "official representative."
- The Speaker Subcommittee will also request an honorarium
, to be paid to the Foundation, for providing a speaker.
Are you suggesting that this Subcommittee would only send people if an honorarium was to be received? Or would you just be requesting it on the slim chance there is one? Considering I've only ever once been offered one, it doesn't seem very likely most speakers are going to get this, unless you want to start turning down the opportunity to promote the projects except in the very rare cases where money will be involved. No, I am suggesting that the Subcommittee request an honorarium as well as expenses. It is possible that none will be available. The Subcommittee will then decide whether or not to send someone. Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, not every request for a speaker must be met. It is also okay to say no for any number of reasons.
An additional point to consider is whether this subcommittee will be the ones booking the transport.
That would depend on who is paying for teh transportation.
Danny
Angela.
All speaking requests in which people go out and represent the Foundation should be under the auspicies and supervision of the Foundation.
Perhaps, but it isn't currently clear when people are representing the Foundation. Personally, as I'm moving to focusing more on Wikia than Wikimedia, how would I know which organisation I'm representing, or whether I'm not representing either, but just attending as someone who knows something about wikis? Most people attending these events will have multiple affiliations, and as far as I can tell, most invitations go directly to the speaker, not via the Foundation (though that could be because there's never been a central point of contact for this sort of thing within the Foundation). Also, people do talk about Wikipedia without having any affiliation - http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2586 is one of a few examples of Mitch Kapor giving a talk about Wikipedia.
As an example of a talk I couldn't attend, I asked the organisers whether they wanted me to find someone else from the Foundation, and they said no because they specifically wanted a British female Board member, so it's likely some of these events do want specific people, or at least specific types of people, regardless of any official affiliation with the Foundation. Other talks I've been invited to have said they asked me not because of Wikimedia, but because of other affiliations I have (ourmedia in one case), or because I was female (perhaps as a result of me being listed on Socialtext's speakers' wiki).
Finally, when people contact the Foundation asking for a speaker, it is safe to assume that they expect an "official representative."
That might be true, but most of the events I've been to, I've been contacted personally. I don't think that necessarily means they weren't expecting an official representative.
What would it mean for a speaker to attend something *not* as an official representative? Perhaps guidelines on what people can do if they are/are not attending in that capacity are needed. It needs to be something more than just not keeping the money since there generally isn't any offered anyway.
Angela.
On 8/12/06, Angela beesley@gmail.com wrote:
What would it mean for a speaker to attend something *not* as an official representative? Perhaps guidelines on what people can do if they are/are not attending in that capacity are needed. It needs to be something more than just not keeping the money since there generally isn't any offered anyway.
I believe it is very simple, the signature on the speaker's presentation would state:
"Mr Schmoll, ZabadumWiki" and not "Mr Schmoll, Wikimedia Foundation". More over, advertisement about Mr Schmoll participating in the conference would not mention their affiliation with the Wikimedia Foundation other than in their bio, and Wikimedia would not be the point of focus of their talk. This is in the case of someone like you who has more than one affiliation about wikis, for example.
In the case you state about Mitch Kapor, he was surely invited as Mitch Kapor talking about Wikipedia, and not a random wikipedian who happened to be Mitch Kapor.
Delphine
On 8/13/06, Delphine Ménard notafishz@gmail.com wrote:
"Mr Schmoll, ZabadumWiki" and not "Mr Schmoll, Wikimedia Foundation".
That makes sense, but what if "ZabadumWiki" is "Wikipedia" (or any other Wikimedia project)? There could still be trademark issues.
I wish I could go to a conference where they would correctly write "Wikimedia Foundation" on my badge, and not the random collection of things they put instead. I was apparently from "Wikipedia, Wikia Foundation" at one event this year.
Angela.
daniwo59@aol.com wrote:
What about the requests that don't come in via an official Foundation address? If individuals are approached, are you expecting them to follow these guidelines, or would those not count as official Foundation talks? Do we have any way of knowing which events are expecting an official representative of the Foundation? All speaking requests in which people go out and represent the Foundation should be under the auspicies and supervision of the Foundation. The Foundation should know who is going out speaking on its behalf, what they are saying, and to whom--especially when registered trademarks and logos are concerned. We are wary of people misusing our logo and trademark on websites--why should we not be equally wary of people misusing our logo and trademark in the real world? Finally, when people contact the Foundation asking for a speaker, it is safe to assume that they expect an "official representative."
A further distinction needs to be made. How does one distinguish between representing the Foundation, and representing a project like en-wikipedia? Since the organization would quite rightly limit its involvement with the operations of a project it follows that those who are asked to speak about how to use Wikipedia would be just as likely to represent their respective community.
Ec
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