Thanks, Abbas – meeting at iHub will
be to my liking.
Also, I agree that there cannot be a veil
between board and community. As Abbas wrote, board mtgs are open to all, i.e. all
members are welcome (albeit not forced to attend J). (Btw, that’s not
only Wikimedian culture but I know other societies who’re doing it like
that too.)
Finally, 10 out of 50 in chapter mtgs is a
great turnout – in virtual communities, anything above 10% for
face-to-face is actually quite extraordinary!!!
Haya, tusonge mbele!
Oliver (aka BT)
From: Abbas Mahmood
[mailto:abbasjnr@hotmail.com]
Sent: 06 April 2011 21:15
To: Oliver Stegen; Wikimedia Kenya
Subject: RE: [Wikimedia
OK, I'll tell Alex to arrange a possible meetup this
weekend at iHub.
On another note, I know this is slightly off-topic but I'll
echo it here:
I have been experiencing some problems accessing the
etherpad today, presumably because of my internet sucks, so I'll put my comment
here today:
In the etherpad, oscar raised an issue regarding the adding
more member(s) to the board so that the voice of the community is heard.
My response:
I do not agree with this statement simply because you
are implying that the board is not part of the community and therefore it needs
an extra person from the community to represent them. The board will comprise
of people who come from the community, so I don't see why there is a need
"of a voice from the community".
Oscar also mentioned the factor of typical Kenyan
boardrooms with a person/seat representing the members/community.
My response:
In my opinion, I don't find it logical to compare us
with a typical Kenyan organization which has meetings in closed doors and
therefore necessitating a seat to voice the community. On the other hand,
Wikimedia is open. The meetings are open to all. It is only the decision-makers
that are the board. This is not an organisation whose board will be made up of
consultants who don't have a clue about what is happening in the
community: the board is the community! I
do not believe in a Wikimedia where there is a veil between the board and the
community.
And Oscar, you've been complaining about the low turnover
of responses on the etherpad. I have received some reports claiming that people
can't access the etherpad from their mobile phones, hence the low rate of
replies. (Remember that we are in the Global South and mobile internet is
ubiquitous :P)
You also mentioned that 10 out of 50 people attend our
meetups. I agree with you that that is not an impressive number. But we should
remember that there are some members who are not interested in meeting up. (I
think it was also mentioned in berlin that a number of editors as well were not
interested in having face-to-face meetups)-- So don't worry about this: it's
typical Wikipedian nature. Others are not interested in knowing who's the
Chairperson of the Chapter. Others don't care about voting or selecting members
of the Board. Others might be interested only in going to Nyeri. Or others
might not have the fare to make it to the venue. It is important to realise
that different people have different needs. So don't expect every Tom, Dick
& Harry to be interested in the bylaws. Maybe it's just their character not
to be interested in the actual paperwork but rather, they are concerned with
fieldwork.
Sincerely,
-------------------------------------
Abbas Mahmood
t | +254722215101
f | www.facebook.com/abbasjnr
s | abbasjnr
Wikimedia
"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given
free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's our commitment."
Please donate: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/Now/en
From: oliver_stegen@sil.org
To: wikimediake@lists.wikimedia.org
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2011 13:14:34 +0300
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia
Guys,
Please stay civil – it’s hard
enough to agree when talking face to face, let alone electronically.
I also had problems entering the pad when
I tried for the first few times. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea to
discuss things online – we may need more regular meetings at iHub or
suchlike.
On the whole though, I agree that we need
to concentrate on the bylaws and registration as trust or limited company. How
shall we go about coming to a consensus which type of registration to follow?
Best,
Oliver (aka BT)
From:
wikimediake-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org
[mailto:wikimediake-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Limoke Oscar
Sent: 05 April 2011 11:11
To: Wikimedia Kenya .
Subject: [Wikimedia
On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 10:59 AM, Isaac K. Kosgei <kips8505izo@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Oscar,
About the Etherpad issue you should have explained everything clearly,
thanks to stave am getting the password today.
Kosgei,
I don't mean to be rude but I shared the password long time ago.Maybe
you don't read your emails carefully.We already have existing bylaws and am not
sure you have looked at them.We are doing something "simple and stupid"...why
don't you come to the pad and air the pros and cons of your thought?
My point to you is Why don't register it as a company limited by
Guarantee? ---NOT FOR PROFIT MAKING:::look at it along those lines and
if you are OK with that Obadiah and I can assist in drafting the
constitution (MOA and AOA). at least we have managed to go through the
process and successful registered one of that Kind
On 05/04/2011, Limoke Oscar <oslimoke@gmail.com> wrote:
> Guys,
> I am not so happy with this empty talk of you guys.We need to forge ahead
> and focus on the Chapter.
> I shared the etherpad for discusiion of the By-lwas only a fistful of the
> "usual susspects" loged in and contributed to the same.So shame on you if
> you did not log into the same and you have your mouth wide open
> chanting-----well my apologies
>
> We need to focus on the bylwas and work on timelines.for instance we need to
> say like after 14days after sharing the etherpad,the final discussions and
> contributions will be deemed binding to the whole Chapter.So lets show oour
> commitement and discuss the bylaws.its a shame that some of us have never
> even read the existing bylaws so it would be very difficult to make a good
> contribution....also read from other Chapters and make wise and learned
> contributions.....
>
> see
>> 1. Wikimedia Chapters-
> 2. The Etherpad(password-wikimediakenya)----
> 3. WikimediaKE Bylaws--
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Kenya/bylaws
>
> Regards,
> and see u at the pad.....
>
> On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 8:53 AM, Abbas Mahmood <abbasjnr@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> let me repeat what I said earlier: we do NOT need TSLG to wire
money into
>> a personal account. They could pay the expenses directly to the
concerned
>> parties.
>>
>> And, to answer your question, when we receive a grant, whether it's
from
>> the government or an institution, the grant is not tax-deductible so
long
>> as
>> it is being utilised to fulfill a non-profit mission. For instance, if
you
>> receive a grant to open up an M-Pesa shop, you are supposed to pay tax
out
>> of it. But in our case, we are non-profit, so we are tax-exempt.
>>
>> -------------------------------------
>> Abbas Mahmood
>> t | +254722215101
>> f | www.facebook.com/abbasjnr
>> s | abbasjnr
>> Wikimedia Kenya Member
>>
>> "*Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is
given free
>> access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's our
commitment."*
>> **
>> Please donate: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/Now/en
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 22:37:11 -0700
>> From: bruceobwari@gmail.com
>>
>> To: wikimediake@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia
>>
>> First let me say the case of TSL &G offers us opportunity to learn
, i do
>> echo Abbas sentiments regarding the need to focus on by-laws,having
>> listened
>> to the guy ,it did make lots of sense that if we think of engaging
others
>> we
>> need to have a formalized engagement ,his being a corporate body it
was
>> crucial . point of correction ,the issue of money being deposited on
>> individual account and having people posing as wikimedians was
extensively
>> used as an example to issue how we can run into serious legal issues
if we
>> don't address the issue of formality,
>> On a lighter note, somebody please educate
me on this ,whats our tax
>> obligations when money is deposited in our accounts ,VAT , income tax,
pay
>> as you earn /deposit ,zero rated tax, have a tax -free day ,won't you!
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 10:42 AM, stephen wanjau
>> <wanjaustev@gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>> personally,I think we should focus on the bylaws then form some legal
>> framework.It was part of the plan anyway.
>>
<snip>
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