I wonder to what extent we could have meetings online? I started a meetup groups a while back and the biggest problem, as here, was always where and when to meet. That uses up a lot of our energy that could possibly be put to better use. Plus problems with the meeting place and time and just getting there added to the general inefficiency. There are two online ways to meet that come to mind: we could use something like gotomeeting where everyone signs on to a site and has the ability to talk or type, and become the presenter, showing anything they want on the screen (examples, articles, etc.) then turn the presenter role over to someone else.
An interesting way to meet on a topic, and that is more visual, is to try to use Prezi. Its like a big sheet of paper on a table in front of us and we all type stuff, load vids, picts, pdfs, and then draw arrows between them that can be typed on too. If we are also on a conference call, we have voice channel too.
Finally, there is a tool that stresses getting the meaning documented on what we are discussing and is a personal favorite of mine: CMAP from the Florida Institute for Man Machine Interface, or something like that. (easy to find with Google). Its free and goes sooo well with Wikimedia thinking. After all, we are all about documenting meaning.
Any interest in trying these a couple of times? I could help set up a trial. Most of these are limited to 12 or 15 people at a time, so there is that. But all are free.
Mike Kelly
GigaMarketing/GigaCommunication
From: wikimedia-sf-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikimedia-sf-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Shreyas Patankar
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2013 11:03 AM
To: Karen Coyle; San Francisco Bay Area Wikimedians
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-SF] Berkeley Wikipedians
Hi Karen,
Sorry I did not get back to you earlier. I can think of a couple of options so far:
1) Campus libraries: It seems it is easy for registered campus organizations to get access to meeting rooms. The problem is, although Berkeley Wikipedia club is a registered group, room reservation can only be done by a "signatory" for the group. The group mailing list itself is inactive - I wonder if anyone on this list (Kevin Gorman?) is a signatory.
2) The Berkeley Public Library: They seem to have a public room for community events (free, with free wifi) if you book it well in advance. http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/community/book_a_meeting_room.php
3) I've written to my friend who works with the Compass Project, a student support group in the physical sciences, to see if they have any space that we can use - but I've yet to hear back from them.
Among these, the Berkeley Public Library looks like the safest bet. I'll let you know if I can think of anything else..
-Shreyas
On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 7:17 AM, Karen Coyle <kcoyle@kcoyle.net> wrote:
Hello, all.
I've taken up the organizer role for the Berkeley Wikipedia meet-up group. I'll do some figuring out on how to use Meetup. Would the person who volunteered to find a space on UC campus please contact me?
I presume that we are aiming at a September first meeting, given how summer seems to disrupt schedules.
If we can't find other meet-up places, my home has wifi, various computers and screens, networked printing, and a fridge. We can try a meeting here, if it's not a large one.
kc
--
Karen Coyle
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet
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