In-Reply-To: fbad4e140807180238m74a1b49bwb38441631ca0c690@mail.gmail.com
Yeah. I pointed out that WMUK sometimes has the image of being a black monolith that remains silent. Whereas, like most volunteer enterprises, it doesn't really exist except as a virtual construct made of what people do.
It does have one important asset: the trademark licence from WMF.
James F. spoke at length of the hair-tearing nightmare of even getting a goddamn bank account for an intended charity in the UK, given the marvellous new banking regulations designed to make sure we're not money-laundering.
In essence, WMUK is most useful at present as an idea that opens doors. Alison certainly finds that "Chair, Wikimedia UK" gets her in a lot more places than "Alison Wheeler, random volunteer editor."
So the question is: what doors would being able to say "from Wikimedia UK" open for Wikimania hopefuls?
As a relative late arriver, I did pick up some negative vibes about what people thought of Wikimedia UK's pace of achieving things. My instinct which I put to the other two editors left at the end is that it would be better if we continued to meet as a social group on a regular basis, began to form friendships and then as a group of mates could then meet separately to get things organised towards a WIkimania for 2010 or 2011.
I have, in the past, been on the committees of two science fiction conventions, though fatigue means that I don't want to do more than consult for this. Wikimania looks to be of the scale of a medium-size British con. It also attracts a similar demographic (though obviously more international) and is, like them, volunteer-run. http://conrunner.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page is a wiki that I've just discovered on running cons. http://www.smof.com/conrunner/index2.htm is the archive of a conrunning fanzine that existed into the mid-90s and shouldn't be entirely dated.
Peter
Without wanting to hack on about this forever: This bank account business is somewhat of a mystery to me. What exactly needs to be done? Yes, it is difficult / annoyingly complicated due to the regulation - but it is popular. I myself have gone through the process myself with special circumstances that made it more difficult, I have watched companies open accounts as well as charities. Where lies the problem?
Secondly: The trademark rights seem to be the only thing the UK chapter seems to have against their name, without attacking the efforts of the people involved personally. I am talking from the perspective of a volunteer editor who never really hears anything "official", I wonder what the average politician, business people or even the general public know about "us".
Ian
On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 12:35 PM, Peter Cohen peterc@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:
In-Reply-To: fbad4e140807180238m74a1b49bwb38441631ca0c690@mail.gmail.com
Yeah. I pointed out that WMUK sometimes has the image of being a black monolith that remains silent. Whereas, like most volunteer enterprises, it doesn't really exist except as a virtual construct made of what people do.
It does have one important asset: the trademark licence from WMF.
James F. spoke at length of the hair-tearing nightmare of even getting a goddamn bank account for an intended charity in the UK, given the marvellous new banking regulations designed to make sure we're not money-laundering.
In essence, WMUK is most useful at present as an idea that opens doors. Alison certainly finds that "Chair, Wikimedia UK" gets her in a lot more places than "Alison Wheeler, random volunteer editor."
So the question is: what doors would being able to say "from Wikimedia UK" open for Wikimania hopefuls?
As a relative late arriver, I did pick up some negative vibes about what people thought of Wikimedia UK's pace of achieving things. My instinct which I put to the other two editors left at the end is that it would be better if we continued to meet as a social group on a regular basis, began to form friendships and then as a group of mates could then meet separately to get things organised towards a WIkimania for 2010 or 2011.
I have, in the past, been on the committees of two science fiction conventions, though fatigue means that I don't want to do more than consult for this. Wikimania looks to be of the scale of a medium-size British con. It also attracts a similar demographic (though obviously more international) and is, like them, volunteer-run. http://conrunner.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page is a wiki that I've just discovered on running cons. http://www.smof.com/conrunner/index2.htm is the archive of a conrunning fanzine that existed into the mid-90s and shouldn't be entirely dated.
Peter
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org