Hi, everyone.

I'd like to make more progress with planning my visit.  Many of you have not yet participated in this conversation.  I realize you may be busy; it would be great if those of you with some time on their hands could participate in the discussion, here and on the wiki at:
http://wikimedia.or.ke/Visit_of_Asaf_Bartov_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation

My comments are inline, below:

On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 12:18 PM, Limoke Oscar <oslimoke@gmail.com> wrote:
> 1. public speaking opportunities
The ihub (www.co.ke) is a good open space for such a talk.Its the open
space for techies and developers.Problem is such a talk would have to
be scheduled between 1800hrs and upwards since you will be around on
working days. Ting had a talk there too while he was around and its
the main venue where we hold our meet-ups.

The iHub sounds great, and a post-1800 time for public speaking is not a problem for me!  Can WMKE set it up?  If there's a fee to use the iHub, the Foundation will pay it.
 
> 2. meetings I could have to open door for and help WMKE
As at the moment,we are caught(my opinion) in a tough corner due to
the legal aspects.Most organizations and even Government
Bodies(ICT,TSLG,MoE) are keen to explore ties.We had a talk with
Google EA while Ting was around and they were very interested in
helpiing us get off the ground.They even told us to present "numbers
and figures" and they would be glad and ready to support us.Problem is
we are not a legal entity and as such we decided to push to sort with
Chap-Com and then register as a legal entity.I believe once we are
one,such a meetup would be most appropriate.(I hope we will be one at
the Wikimania though...:-) )

However I would suggest we visit Google Offices in Nairobi.This should
show our interest and the Foundation Commitment and appreciation in
extending ties between WMKE and Google EA.
Since we would be still organizing the Wikipedia Takes Nairobi,a
meeting with the ICT board could also foster our existing ties.From
what Alex informed me,we are still in search for a sponsor for the
same and we haven't yet found one.Perhaps this meeting could help
proove how "serious" the foundation is attaching to the WTN and maybe
a sponsor would come out..:-)

This sounds good to me.  I have already contacted the Google Nairobi office, and they would be happy for me to visit.  I'd like some of you to join me.  I know some of you have already had contact with the Google Nairobi office, so perhaps we can use this opportunity to introduce some other WMKE members to the Google team?  I think 3 or 4 WMKE members would be great to join me in that meeting.  Securing Google as a sponsor for WTN would definitely be one goal of that meeting.  What else do you think we could ask from Google?  They wanted "numbers and figures", not your NGO registration papers; this means that if we can come up with concrete plans (with a budget, a realistic timeline, and a list of people committed to doing the work), we can move forward with securing support from Google (as well as the Foundation).

 
We also visited KU (www.ku.ac.ke) with Ting and we had a greta and
fruitful discussions with the Top Management of the Universities about
future areas of collaboration in advancing our aims.We were supposed
to get back to them and deliver an Outreach sort of talk to there
students about Wikipedia and Wikimedia Projects.I would suggest we pay
a visit to them too.This would be tow-fold:

We would re-pay the "debt" we owe them and we would also explore and
discuss on what and how WMKE and KU can collaborate to advance their
agendas and the common objective of "making knowledge universally
available"

Excellent!  Perhaps we can deliver a double talk as I proposed elsewhere -- a general "introduction to Wikipedia" delivered by a WMKE member, and a talk on Wikimedia as a global movement (or on the Foundation and its strategy and plans?) by me.  Is one of you willing to make this happen?

> 3. preferred topic of workshop for WMKE members
I would personally Vouch for :Motivating Volunteers: how to attract,
care for, feed, and keep volunteers; how to handle crises
We have had our own fair share of crisis about volunteer management
and this talk to all the WMKE would really come in handy...:-)

Gladly.  If more people voice an opinion on this, I'll be able to prepare an appropriate workshop.

Cheers!

   Asaf
--
    Asaf Bartov
    Wikimedia Foundation