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Geoffrey Plourde wrote:

San Francisco Wikipedians (Sanfranpedians?);

I am looking into starting Wikimedia California. Would anyone here be interested?

I think we have yet to figure out firmly what the mission or legal structure for chapters in the US would be... :)

For other countries, a big part of it is to establish a local legal structure that can accept tax-free donations -- something the Wikimedia Foundation itself handles here the US.

But that structure can also be a useful way to organize local activities, outreach, conferences and meetups as well as other online and offline activity by Wikipedians other Wikimedians. Since the Wikimedia Foundation decided not to become a membership-based organization, concentrating on the high-level hosting and PR, there's a bit of a vacuum still on how individuals can get involved and organized.

Rather than starting by saying "let's start a chapter", I might suggest picking some particular event to organize, such as a California or west coast-based Wikimedia user conference, and then we can see what kind of organization can and should grow up around the community that builds it.

I should also stress that such an event should be a community-organized, community-oriented affair. Make the Wikimedia Foundation a guest, not an organizer or a funder... :)

- -- brion vibber (brion @ wikimedia.org)