Anthere wrote:

I propose a real-life case to all Foundation Board candidates. I expect that all candidates are on this mailing list naturally.

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Say, you are on the board of Wikimedia Foundation.

A user from a rather minor wikipedia contact the foundation mailing list, to ask for help on setting a local association. This user is currently working on the status of the future association with her peers, and naturally should set status that are in coherence with the Foundation principles themselves.

Now, it so happens that when you were a candidate a while ago, and while candidating, you indicated as PART of your platform, that indeed helping smaller wikipedias were an issue to you, and that you would HELP set local chapters.

Indeed, the user of the minor wikipedia is VERY encouraged by the fact you put local chapter considerations in your plateform, so that she knows it is IMPORTANT to you, so of course, she is confident you will answer and bring help.

So, here she is, bringing the issue on the mailing list, and asking help...

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Question : what do you do ?

I apologize for not responding more quickly, and for resurrecting the topic so late, but since Anthere addressed the question to me among others, I feel I should respond. I have family visiting this weekend, so I haven't been able to devote much time to the discussion here. The penalty I pay is that everyone has said much of what I would say already.

First of all, having some information on Meta is definitely needed, and I'm glad to see that Yann started a stub at the page Angela suggested.

Also, I would ask this person some additional questions, to determine what kind of help they need. For instance, right now I don't necessarily know what kind of association this person has in mind. Are they looking to do some fundraising at a local level, and do they need non-profit and tax-exempt status for this? Are they trying to create an organization that will be able to interact with other institutions, such as media organizations? Are they trying to form a body to have some sort of governing role in this "minor" Wikipedia? Or are they thinking of an association primarily in terms of a group that meets together on a social basis? Also, do they know of anyone else that is interested and wants to participate in the proposed association? Would the association be related to a location (e.g., a Moscow chapter for the Russian Wikipedia), or would it be universal for that particular Wikipedia?

Part of the purpose of these questions is to evaluate whether this needs to be an official chapter of the Foundation, or whether they could do just as well as an unofficial body. A social networking group probably doesn't need official status (which is not to say that I wouldn't be willing to assist them in getting started). But if the association wants to raise funds for a particular project, or represent the Foundation in an official capacity, it should have a more direct connection. We can have different models for official chapters, depending on which of these functions are needed. Naturally, the guidelines for creating official chapters should allow the community on that Wikipedia to make as many organizational decisions as possible, as long as basic principles and the relationship to the Foundation are clearly established.

It may not be quite fair to answer a question with a bunch more questions, but I don't have a glib answer to give this hypothetical person. I would rather find out more about the situation, so that I know what guidance the person needs, and how I can best help out.

--Michael Snow