Hello everyone,
Please find below Wikimedia UK's monthly report for October 2012. As well as the usual updates on GLAM, outreach, communications, fundraising and other activities, it also includes the results of our membership survey.
You can find the report online at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports/2012/October but plain text is below for those who prefer to read the report in an email.
Thanks and regards,
Stevie
GLAM activities
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*14* - Andy Mabbett addressed the *Central and Eastern Europe Wikimedia conference* http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Meeting_2012 about recent developments in UK and international GLAM collaboration. -
*19* - Andy Mabbett spoke to the *CityCamp Coventry*http://citycampcov.org.uk/ event, about Wikimedia and GLAM. -
*22* - Andy Mabbett delivered a training session on Wikipedia editing to history students at the University of Birmingham, as part of the *International Dunhuang Project* http://en.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM/BL/IDP.
Expert outreach
The London School of Economics' *Impact of Social Sciences blog* ran a guest post by Martin Poulter, *"Writing for Wikipedia has forced me into good scholarly habits and accessible writing"*http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/10/04/poulter-writing-wikipeda-scholarly-habits/. This asks academics to view Wikipedia as an opportunity to write about their own fields and as an opportunity for educational assignments.
Martin Poulter, Charles Matthews, Tom Morris and Edward Harding delivered a *day workshop at for the JISC Digital Infrastructure team*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/JISC_DI_team_training_workshop at the JISC headquarters in London. Many of the trainees had managerial or leadership roles in elearning, research infrastructure or digital humanities. As well as basic editing, the workshop looked at different kinds of effort to improve Wikipedia, and how the different Wikimedia Projects work together to provide a "digital infrastructure" for each other and the wider web.
Other activities
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*13* - Fæ addressed the *Central and Eastern Europe Wikimedia conference*http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Meeting_2012, about the Chapters Association. -
*WereSpielChequers* http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:WereSpielChequers and *Leutha* http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Leutha ran a categorisation workshop for donors who were also willing to donate some time to Wikimedia. -
The second "train the trainers" session took place in London
Microgrants
Two microgrants have been approved this month.
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*Microgrants/Birthday 2012http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Birthday_2012 *is for supplies for WMUK's birthday party celebrating the 4th anniversary of the chapter and the 1st anniversary of us achieving charity status - the party will take place at the *London wikimeet on 11 November * http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/63, to which all are welcome. The application was submitted by WMUK's intern, Hasina Khatun. -
*Microgrants/32GB usb stick for Commons dump*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/32GB_usb_stick_for_Commons_dump is for a 32GB memory stick to support the operations of *Commons:User:Faebothttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Faebot *without wearing out the operator's computer. The bot is currently working on categorising the Geograph images on Commons, as well as doing other similar tasks. The application was submitted by Fæ.
A number of microgrants were marked as completed this month, including:
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*Microgrants/Cambridge University Wikipedia Society*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Cambridge_University_Wikipedia_Society provided funding to get the Cambridge University Wikipedia Society started via a stall at their fresher's fair, with freebies to give away. The report for the microgrant, which was submitted by*User:Deryck Chan*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Deryck_Chan, said "We now have a mailing list, with 237 members on it, a huge jump from only 10 wiki-page members and volunteers prior to the fair. Volunteers at the stall included Charles Matthews, Daniel Thomas, and myself. We've also received great support from SRCF. Almost all freebies were given out; the T-shirts and pens for volunteers of our stall created a particularly professional image by making everything in the stall Wikimedia-branded. Additionally, the nearby stalls, all science and technology related, were also predominantly using Wikipedia pens for their sign-up sheets!" -
*Microgrants/Imperial College Wikipedia Society*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Imperial_College_Wikipedia_Society
Information about microgrants that are currently running, and how to submit a microgrant application of your own, are at *Microgrants/Applications*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Applications . UK press coverage (and coverage of UK projects & activities)
*A list of recent press coverage can be seen here*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Media_coverage_summary_August_-_October_2012.pdf .
Upcoming activities in November
For events in December and onwards, please see *Events*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events .
- *01* - *Ethical Properties Wikipedia Workshop/November eventhttp://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ethical_Properties_Wikipedia_Workshop/November_event * - *03* - *Robin Owain addresses The Welsh Academy Writers' Fair, Cardiffhttp://www.llenyddiaethcymru.org/newyddion/i/141841/ * - *04* - *RBSA Backstage Pass*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/RBSA_Backstage_Pass in Birmingham - *04* - *Oxford meetup* http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Oxford/1 1st ever Oxford meetup - *04* - *Royal Birmingham Society of Artists editathonhttp://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/RBSA_Backstage_Pass * - *06* - Training at De Montfort University - *06* - Workshop at the National Library of Scotland - *07* - Workshop at the National Library of Scotland - *08* - Workshop at Edinburgh University - *09* - Workshop at EDINA, Edinburgh - *11* - *London meetup http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/63 * - *17–18* - Board meeting (TBC) - in person - *18* - *Reading meetup*http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Reading/2 2nd Reading meetup - *20* - Training at De Montfort University - *24* - *Liverpool meetuphttp://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Liverpool/6 * - *25* - *Manchester Girl Geeks editing dayhttp://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Girl_Geek_Dinner/Manchester_November_2012 * - *25* - *Cambridge University Wikipedia Society gathering and editing workshop*http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Wikipedia:Cambridge_University_Wikipedia_Society/November_2012_gathering
Administrative activities Finances
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The current state of each of our budgets is *outlined in a Google Spreadsheet*https://docs.google.com/a/wikimedia.org.uk/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkP38YPQ7Tg3dEQyQnRTMUhDMnV1RHdHekhqSXZvZHc#gid=0. This details spend to date, and a rough estimate of future spending. This spreadsheet is too complex to be placed directly on a wiki. Our yearly spend is heavily 'end-loaded', partially due to the rapid growth of Wikimedia UK. -
Q3's Management Accounts (covering August, September, October) are at *File:Wikimedia UK Management Accounts Q3 2012.pdf*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_UK_Management_Accounts_Q3_2012.pdf. These are also available in spreadsheet format for those interested - contact richard.symondswikimedia.org.uk
Board activities
The Board's main activity during October was the appointment (jointly with the Wikimedia Foundation) of Mike Hudson and Compass Partnership to conduct an independent review of our governance arrangements. This was the principal topic of discussion at our Board phone call on 9 October (*minutes * http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes_9Oct12), and by the end of October the review was under way.
On 10 October we received the conclusions from a financial review from Garfield Byrd, the Wikimedia Foundation's Chief of Finance and Administration. These have now been *published*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Governance/2012_Financial_review_by_Garfield_Byrd,_WMF_CFO along with a *plan* http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Finance_Action_Plan_2012/13 setting out our plans to address the issues raised in both Garfield's report and that of our auditors. News from the Chief Exec *For information on Jon's activities this month, see **News from the Office*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/News_from_the_Office/Posts *.* The updates about the Wikimedia UK Interns can be found there too, together with *here* http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/09/intern/. Communications
October was a month for repositioning our communications. The discussions around governance continued, culminating in the appointment of Compass Partnership to conduct the WMUK / WMF commissioned independent governance review. The biggest communications success this month was *Ada Lovelace Day*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace_Day_2012. This was the result of much excellent work by Daria and the team at the Royal Society. The event gained widespread media coverage and received an excellent reception on social media. You can see a comprehensive list of coverage on the event's page. October's press coverage is *recorded in the attached document*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Media_coverage_summary_August_-_October_2012.pdf, along with coverage from September. In other news, discussions have begun on how we can improve the monthly reports. Suggestions include developing a Signpost-style newsletter, featuring content created by WMUK members, volunteers and UK-based editors. *Get involved in the discussion here*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/What_would_a_WMUK_Signpost-style_newsletter_look_like%3F. Blog posts in October:
- 9 October - *One year on: 12 months working with the Herbert Art Gallery and Museumhttp://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/one-year-on-12-months-working-with-the-herbert-art-gallery-and-museum/ * - 13 October - *A message form the Wikimedia UK Boardhttp://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/a-message-from-the-wikimedia-uk-board/ * - 19 October - *Bringing evidence based medicine to the worldhttp://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/bringing-evidence-based-medicine-to-the-world/ * - 24 October - *Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia Foundation appoint independent reviewerhttp://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/wikimedia-uk-and-wikimedia-foundation-appoint-independent-reviewer/ * - 25 October - *Hasina says goodbye to Wikimedia UKhttp://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/goodbye-wikimedia-uk/ * - 26 October - *The story of Ada Lovelace, the Royal Society and Wikimedia UK*http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/the-story-of-ada-lovelace-the-royal-society-and-wikimedia-uk/
Fundraising and Membership *Fundraising*
This month, we received £443.26 in one-off donations, with 13 individual donations. The average donation amount was £34.09 - 62% of these donors have had Gift Aid Declarations made and matched with their records. If anyone would like a full (but anonymised) csv file with more information, please get in touch with katherine.bavagewikimedia.org.uk and let her know your requirements.
As for direct debit donations, there were 5349 successful direct debits this month, bringing in a total of £20,917.12. *Membership*
Up to 31st October 2012:
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198 new (membership commenced in preceding three months) and current members -
51 'grace' members (membership within six months after date membership should be renewed)
This adds up to 249 members who are eligible to vote
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155 Expired members
A membership survey was distributed on 30th October 2012 , the results were made public as part of the reports to the Board meeting of 17th November 2012. You can view them *here*http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMUKMemSurveySummaryNov12.pdf (pdf)