While I have no doubt that Cary can do this, and would in fact do very well at it... Don't we have a Chapters Coordinator on staff to...you know, coordinate chapters? I might be missing something, but this would fall under that job description, I think. (Also, might remove some misconceptions that US chapters are getting special treatment by having a "US Coordinator") -Chad On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Chad wrote: /me vaguely tries figuring Sue learning from the list that the job description and title of one of her staff member has changed overnight...

On Sat, May 3, 2008 at 9:24 AM, Milos Rancic <millosh(a)gmail.com> wrote: Seconded. -- KIZU Naoko http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Britty (in Japanese) Quote of the Day (English): http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/WQ:QOTD

I humbly suggests Russians may have a different view of differences between Russia and Europe, specially when they are of Europe Russia, but besides this corner-picking, you make a good point. On Sat, May 3, 2008 at 9:08 PM, effe iets anders <effeietsanders(a)gmail.com> wrote: -- KIZU Naoko http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Britty (in Japanese) Quote of the Day (English): http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/WQ:QOTD

On Sat, May 3, 2008 at 8:08 AM, effe iets anders <effeietsanders(a)gmail.com> wrote: The WMF is effectively legally managing the role of a "US chapter" already, by administering all of the trademarks in this country, etc. I believe it would be appropriate to them to manage a "virtual chapter" also, under the person of a "Wikimedia US Affiliates Coordinator", which would represent the various Wikimedians active on-the-ground. Possibly in the very long term "Wikimedia US" might be incorporated separately, but it would seem like a great waste of energies to establish a whole separate organization at this point. Thanks, Pharos

effe iets anders wrote: Effe's correct. Delphine is the point person for chapters, so if volunteers in the United States want to formally organize, she would be their contact for that. The fact that she's not in the United States doesn't/shouldn't matter - she's the chapters' global representative (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Argentina, Israel) and is used to working with people who are far from her geographically. There's no need for the United States to get any special treatment. People who don't want to organize formally into chapters or chapter-like entities can continue to work with Cary, who is the point person for individual volunteers. So Pharos working with Cary for Wikipedia Takes Manhattan makes perfect sense :-) -- Sue Gardner Executive Director Wikimedia Foundation Your donations keep Wikipedia running! Support the Wikimedia Foundation today: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 1:07 PM, Nathan <nawrich(a)gmail.com> wrote: Two links which filled me in on a lot of the background for this thread are: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_New_York_City/Chapters_Committee http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_New_York_City/Letter_to_Chapters_C…

On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 8:24 PM, Milos Rancic <millosh(a)gmail.com> wrote: Cary Bass is effectively already serving in this capacity. When we held "Wikipedia Takes Manhattan", I went to him for approval and advice, because well, there is noone else in the WMF who has this job. Being "Wikimedia US Affiliates Coordinator" would just formalize this position, and this formalization should not require too much extra energies to be expended in the near term, when the US Affiliates are currently in an embryonic stage of development. In 1-2 years time, I would fully expect the situation to be reassessed, and the position possibly fall to another staff member or qualified volunteer who could devote more time to it. If Sue or the Board know of another person for this role, that would be fine, but Cary would certainly seem the most obviously qualified candidate. Thanks, Pharos

On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 12:43 PM, Cary Bass <cbass(a)wikimedia.org> wrote: I suggested to Pharos that you wouldn't mind the increase in job responsibilities if it came with a comparable increase in salary :) --Andrew Whitworth

On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 7:33 PM, Pharos <pharosofalexandria(a)gmail.com> wrote: To clarify a bit, you'd still have to qualify for exemption under 501(c)(3), just not required to get an advance determination letter. You'd also be required to file a 990-N each year (don't worry though, the IRS calls that an e-postcard and estimates that it takes 15 minutes to fill out). And you'd have to pass the public support test. Private foundations are not eligible for this provision. Also, the WMF might not approve any chapters which haven't received a determination letter. Although, if this is the only sticking point hopefully they'd at least be willing to pay for obtaining it. I can talk to you privately with more information, I've probably already said too much for a public mailing list. So let me add that ***Nothing in this email (or any of my previous ones) is intended or written to be used, and it cannot be used, by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer.*** If you want top-down, get me 10-15 people or more who will all agree to work together under my direction, and I'll give you an incorporated entity with bylaws and a 501(c)(3) determination letter. Getting the Foundation to approve this entity as a chapter is then up to someone else. Or, if you think having my name on it will jinx the whole thing, name someone else the leader and let me use him/her as my sockpuppet. Alternatively, wait until Wikimedia Pennsylvania gets finished and then follow their lead. I'm guessing that'll be relatively soon, but maybe I'm wrong.