Please note that the *last date of nominations* for Executive Committee Elections 2011 of Wikimedia India chapter is *Aug 29, 2011* With less than 3 days to go for the last date of nominations, there were just 2 nominations for the 3 vacant posts. This is very disappointing and concerning for the future of Wikimedia Chapter India. I sincerely appeal to the veteran Wikipedians / Wikimedians of India to come forward and help grow the chapter. Regards Tinu Cherian On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Gautam John <gautam(a)prathambooks.org>wrote;wrote: > Dear All: > > We have instituted a monthly call between the India Chapter and the > Wikimedia Foundation. Members of the Chapter EC, Hisham and Asaf Bartov > (who heads up Global South Relationships at the Foundation) will participate > in this call. The objective of the call is to share information and improve > collaboration between the Chapter and the Foundation on various Wikimedia > projects of relevance to India. We had the first one on Aug 24, 2011, and > here's a quick update. > > *Chapter Update* > > - 30 persons attended the workshop on Copyright and Open Licensing > conducted on 30th July 2011 in Bangalore, which was well received. > http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Events/Copyright_and_Open_Licensing_SeminarPlan > - Plan to conduct 1st WikiAcademy with the Department of Public > Libraries, Karnataka for their senior Library professionals on 12 Sep 2011. > - Membership currently stands at ~80 > - Participation from community on some projects but the response is > below expectations. Chapter hopes that the response will improve as more > activities are taken up by Chapter in the near future. > - AGM will be conducted on September 24 2011. Elections process > for EC vacancies has been initiated. > - Process for applying for FCRA prior permission has been actioned > with necessary steps being taken with local banks, consultants and the WMF. > The bank account required for FCRA is ready. The draft of letter from WMF > will be finalized in a week by Chapter Accountant and Advisor (another > prerequisite) and then FCRA application will be submitted. 3-4 months are > required for approval by Home Ministry, Government of India. > > *Foundation Update* > > - Education Program is doing well from a numbers perspective - with > more than 1000 students involved. However, there is a great deal of effort > required to continue to support and enable and motivate these students. > Additional Campus Ambassadors are being selected from the participating > institutions. Hisham requested that everyone reach out and be encouraging > to the Campus Ambassadors, students and teachers. > - 2 new staff members selected; Nitika has joined & Shiju will be > joining by October > - Initial conversations were being sought with leading mobile > companies to explore Wikipedia on mobile > - Independent public trust to be set up hopefully by next week, > followed by FCRA prior permission and other approvals required for tax > exemption, etc. > > *Collaboration on future projects* > > Some requests from colleges to participate in campus ambassador > like program were received by the chapter and Hisham. Hisham said that till > the ongoing program is stable, he will not be able to roll it to other > cities. He suggested that colleges can get started by forming student > clubs and Foundation staff are providing necessary information and > assistance for the same. He also requested Chapter EC to extend their > support for the same. > > Chapter seeks active involvement in the elections and looks to grow its > membership base and expand it's reach in encouraging the use > and contributions to the Wikimedia movement in India. > > Thank you. > > Best, > > Gautam > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l > > _______________________________________________ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l