As I recall, the "successful membership drive" consisted in offering donors to convert some of their donation into a chapter sub. I doubt anyone knows who most of them are, and I doubt a high proportion know much about the movement or the chapter, beyond the experience of a reader. Some of course will be experienced Wikipedians.
The effect will probably be that so long as things appear to run smoothly, those who bother to vote will do whatever the board ask, but if things get choppy, with flash adverse media coverage, there may be a sudden rejection of anything the board says, in favour of any alternative offered.
All in all, the yawning gap between the chapter and the community has been widened.
John/Johnbod
On 10 April 2018 at 13:00 wikimediauk-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org wrote:
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Today's Topics:
1. UK chapter membership numbers (Fæ) 2. Re: UK chapter membership numbers (Richard Nevell) 3. Re: UK chapter membership numbers (Fæ)
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2018 21:33:46 +0100
From: Fæ
To: UK Wikimedia mailing list
Subject: [Wikimediauk-l] UK chapter membership numbers
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
During the last UK Chapter AGM, it was asked why the membership
numbers had radically changed, there was no specific answer to the
question. Was any analysis done on this afterwards? When reviewing
membership it seems likely that the charity's trustees would have been
concerned at these figures so shortly before the AGM, due to the
potential risk of entryism.
Membership jumped from a total of 147 (a five year low) in May 2017,
to the all time record high the following month of 498, i.e. new
sign-ups that month more than *tripled* the total membership.
A second question - the report of membership numbers has been updated
every month for the past five years.[1] It has not been updated since
October 2017. Could anyone confirm what the most recent membership
numbers are so the report can be updated?
P.S. the links in the FAQ about the register of members are out of
date, the companylawclub link is a 404 error and the companieshouse
link advises to go to their new website.
Links:
- https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Membership/Numbers
- https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteers_-_Frequently_Asked_Questions#Why_do_you_keep_a_register_of_members.3F
Thanks,
Fae
--
faewik@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2018 21:01:20 +0000
From: Richard Nevell
To: UK Wikimedia mailing list
Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] UK chapter membership numbers
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Dear Fae,
As was explained at the AGM the increase in the number of members was the
result of a successful membership drive.
Regards,
Richard Nevell
On 9 Apr 2018 21:34, "Fæ" wrote:
During the last UK Chapter AGM, it was asked why the membership
numbers had radically changed, there was no specific answer to the
question. Was any analysis done on this afterwards? When reviewing
membership it seems likely that the charity's trustees would have been
concerned at these figures so shortly before the AGM, due to the
potential risk of entryism.
Membership jumped from a total of 147 (a five year low) in May 2017,
to the all time record high the following month of 498, i.e. new
sign-ups that month more than *tripled* the total membership.
A second question - the report of membership numbers has been updated
every month for the past five years.[1] It has not been updated since
October 2017. Could anyone confirm what the most recent membership
numbers are so the report can be updated?
P.S. the links in the FAQ about the register of members are out of
date, the companylawclub link is a 404 error and the companieshouse
link advises to go to their new website.
Links:
2.
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteers_-_Frequently_Asked_Questions#Why_do_you_keep_a_register_of_members.3F
Thanks,
Fae
--
faewik@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 11:41:29 +0100
From: Fæ
To: UK Wikimedia mailing list
Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] UK chapter membership numbers
Message-ID:
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Yes, at the AGM the tripling of membership numbers was explained as
being due to an increase in members joining. No meaningful facts were
presented to the members, but the impression given by the Chair and
the CEO was that there would be more information publicly available.
My question was "why". Sharing information about any discussion the
trustees have had on improving protection against entryism, would be
healthy for transparency, as would sharing exactly what happened that
caused this massive, overnight, leap in membership totals. Currently,
there is zero information on the nature of who joined, which may have
been down to how they joined. As an example, if 351 people joined at
an academic conference in London, then the people joining would be
academics who go to events in London and if the 351 new members were
found due to appeals by the CEO on Facebook, then the new members
would be limited to people who follow or network with the CEO on
Facebook.
It appears that the jump in numbers was a one-off event, there has
been no continued growth since whatever happened. Should the chapter
start maintaining the published membership report again, then it will
be possible for people apart from chapter employees to have access to
the latest facts.
Thanks,
Fae
On 9 April 2018 at 22:01, Richard Nevell wrote:Dear Fae,
As was explained at the AGM the increase in the number of members was the
result of a successful membership drive.
Regards,
Richard Nevell
On 9 Apr 2018 21:34, "Fæ" wrote:
During the last UK Chapter AGM, it was asked why the membership
numbers had radically changed, there was no specific answer to the
question. Was any analysis done on this afterwards? When reviewing
membership it seems likely that the charity's trustees would have been
concerned at these figures so shortly before the AGM, due to the
potential risk of entryism.
Membership jumped from a total of 147 (a five year low) in May 2017,
to the all time record high the following month of 498, i.e. new
sign-ups that month more than *tripled* the total membership.
A second question - the report of membership numbers has been updated
every month for the past five years.[1] It has not been updated since
October 2017. Could anyone confirm what the most recent membership
numbers are so the report can be updated?
P.S. the links in the FAQ about the register of members are out of
date, the companylawclub link is a 404 error and the companieshouse
link advises to go to their new website.
Links:
2.
https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Volunteers_-_Frequently_Asked_Questions#Why_do_you_keep_a_register_of_members.3F
Thanks,
Fae
--
faewik@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
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wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK: https://wikimedia.org.uk
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