Dear Wikimedia community,
We are proud and honoured to announce that a plan is in the works to found a new UK chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation. A lot of discussion has already taken place on IRC and we are ready to begin gathering support from the community. If you are interesting in being part of a new UK chapter, in whatever capacity (from sitting on the board, to cheering us on from the sidelines), please head over to http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK_v2.0 and let us know. Over the next few days we will gather names and put some finishing touches to the plans. An election will be held for the initial board, who will then oversee the process of founding the company and accepting application to membership. They will then organise an AGM to formally elect a new board to take the chapter forward to begin fundraising and supporting the Wikimedia community in the UK in whatever way we can.
This is an exciting time for the UK community and I hope you will all support us in it.
Kind regards,
Thomas "Tango" Dalton Tom "Cfp" Holden River Tarnell Alex Newman Paul Williams Geni
<enter stage>
Le roi est mort
Vive le roi !
<run offstage>
Thomas Dalton wrote:
Dear Wikimedia community,
We are proud and honoured to announce that a plan is in the works to found a new UK chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation. A lot of discussion has already taken place on IRC and we are ready to begin gathering support from the community. If you are interesting in being part of a new UK chapter, in whatever capacity (from sitting on the board, to cheering us on from the sidelines), please head over to http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK_v2.0 and let us know. Over the next few days we will gather names and put some finishing touches to the plans. An election will be held for the initial board, who will then oversee the process of founding the company and accepting application to membership. They will then organise an AGM to formally elect a new board to take the chapter forward to begin fundraising and supporting the Wikimedia community in the UK in whatever way we can.
This is an exciting time for the UK community and I hope you will all support us in it.
Kind regards,
Thomas "Tango" Dalton Tom "Cfp" Holden River Tarnell Alex Newman Paul Williams Geni
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
2008/8/28 Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com
Dear Wikimedia community,
We are proud and honoured to announce that a plan is in the works to found a new UK chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation. A lot of discussion has already taken place on IRC and we are ready to begin gathering support from the community. If you are interesting in being part of a new UK chapter, in whatever capacity (from sitting on the board, to cheering us on from the sidelines), please head over to http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK_v2.0 and let us know. Over the next few days we will gather names and put some finishing touches to the plans. An election will be held for the initial board, who will then oversee the process of founding the company and accepting application to membership. They will then organise an AGM to formally elect a new board to take the chapter forward to begin fundraising and supporting the Wikimedia community in the UK in whatever way we can.
This is an exciting time for the UK community and I hope you will all support us in it.
Kind regards,
Thomas "Tango" Dalton Tom "Cfp" Holden River Tarnell Alex Newman Paul Williams Geni
Can we learn from our mistakes now? Doubtful, WMUK aint gonna get a single penny from my contributions, its gonna run into the same difficulties re directors or is gonna become some London wiki-hack based organisation. Perhaps, it should call itself the Wikipedia London chapter? cobble a draft constitution and and get a credit union as its banker.
At the moment I think we all need to discuss what has gone wrong before we start with the whole process for the last two years. Its just become a joke.
Mike
Can we learn from our mistakes now? Doubtful, WMUK aint gonna get a single penny from my contributions, its gonna run into the same difficulties re directors or is gonna become some London wiki-hack based organisation. Perhaps, it should call itself the Wikipedia London chapter? cobble a draft constitution and and get a credit union as its banker.
At the moment I think we all need to discuss what has gone wrong before we start with the whole process for the last two years. Its just become a joke.
Thank you for your comments, they are duly noted.
2008/8/29 michael west michawest@gmail.com
Perhaps, it should call itself the Wikipedia London chapter?
Not one person who signed that email lives in London...
2008/8/29 michael west michawest@gmail.com:
Can we learn from our mistakes now? Doubtful, WMUK aint gonna get a single penny from my contributions,
Not asking at this time. May be asking in six months but by then it should have got the basics in place or should have been folded.
its gonna run into the same difficulties re directors or is gonna become some London wiki-hack based organisation.
I doubt it. There is a reason why we are planning for much wider advertising this time. Population distributions being what they are London is obviously going to have an impact but that is not directly a cause for concern.
Perhaps, it should call itself the Wikipedia London chapter? cobble a draft constitution and and get a credit union as its banker.
Not sure a credit union would be ideal.
At the moment I think we all need to discuss what has gone wrong before we start with the whole process for the last two years. Its just become a joke.
Mike
That at least can't happen. We are building in a 6 months kill switch. If we have not got the basics done within 6 months of the board election then the company doesn't get the trademarks and the like and we start again. Currently putting together a list of milestones so we should know if there is a problem will before that.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the Wikimedia Foundation and its staff, I would like to thank those who put their efforts into organising a local chapter for the United Kingdom. It's unfortunate that this initial effort is not working out as hoped. In addition to Alison, I know that a number of other people, both in and outside the board of Wiki Educational Resources, have tried to tackle the various obstacles that have come up. We appreciate their patience and their diligence.
It is good to see that people are still interested and enthusiastic about creating a UK chapter, and I wish them the best in this endeavour. I hope those who experienced the first attempt will share their knowledge and consider staying involved to support the new team. In addition, Mike Godwin has mentioned that he will look into having some legal research done in this area, in the hopes that we can better understand the regulatory context and deal with any obstacles. If there is anything else the foundation can do to help the process along, we would love to hear about it.
Michael Snow Chair, Wikimedia Foundation
On behalf of the UK community I would like to thank the support and patience from the board and foundation with regards to the UK community being successful in forming a working chapter. I believe that the chapter's member base is stronger now than it has ever been before. We all hope to learn from the mistakes and challenges from the previous incarnation, and that we can build upon the successes they had.
The UK is one of the largest contributors to the Wikimedia projects and we hope that the chapter can better that in its accomplishments in representing the Foundation with in the United Kingdom. We will ensure that we work closely and communicate with the the Chapters committee, the Foundation office and board and also our sibling chapters across the globe.
We will hopefully receive pro bono legal advice from within the UK and we will ensure that the board is in the best position possible, but if the foundation has any advice to offer, we would welcome it. Milestones have been set in place to ensure that the momentum we have to kept going. It is hoped that incorporation, a bank account, and tax exemption could be achieved within 6 months if all goes well. We look forward to working with you in the near future, and even more so to our success.
Many thanks again from the UK
User:Seddon @ en-wiki
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:42:14 -0700> From: wikipedia@verizon.net> To: foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org> CC: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: [Wikimediauk-l] UK chapter - thanks and good luck> > On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the Wikimedia Foundation and its > staff, I would like to thank those who put their efforts into organising > a local chapter for the United Kingdom. It's unfortunate that this > initial effort is not working out as hoped. In addition to Alison, I > know that a number of other people, both in and outside the board of > Wiki Educational Resources, have tried to tackle the various obstacles > that have come up. We appreciate their patience and their diligence.> > It is good to see that people are still interested and enthusiastic > about creating a UK chapter, and I wish them the best in this endeavour. > I hope those who experienced the first attempt will share their > knowledge and consider staying involved to support the new team. In > addition, Mike Godwin has mentioned that he will look into having some > legal research done in this area, in the hopes that we can better > understand the regulatory context and deal with any obstacles. If there > is anything else the foundation can do to help the process along, we > would love to hear about it.> > Michael Snow> Chair, Wikimedia Foundation> > > _______________________________________________> Wikimedia UK mailing list> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK%3E http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
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Michael Snow wrote:
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the Wikimedia Foundation and its staff, I would like to thank those who put their efforts into organising a local chapter for the United Kingdom. It's unfortunate that this initial effort is not working out as hoped. In addition to Alison, I know that a number of other people, both in and outside the board of Wiki Educational Resources, have tried to tackle the various obstacles that have come up. We appreciate their patience and their diligence.
It is good to see that people are still interested and enthusiastic about creating a UK chapter, and I wish them the best in this endeavour. I hope those who experienced the first attempt will share their knowledge and consider staying involved to support the new team. In addition, Mike Godwin has mentioned that he will look into having some legal research done in this area, in the hopes that we can better understand the regulatory context and deal with any obstacles. If there is anything else the foundation can do to help the process along, we would love to hear about it.
Michael Snow Chair, Wikimedia Foundation
I'd like to add my thanks to Michael's.
I'm sorry the chapter feels it needs to dissolve, but I'd like to say a strong thanks to the people who I know put so much time & energy into it over the years: Alison Wheeler, David Gerard, James Forrester and Arkady Rose. (I am sure there are others who were active, and I don't mean to ignore anyone's contributions; those are just the people I personally am most aware of.) We at the Foundation appreciate your patience and your hard work, and we hope you'll want to stay involved and help the folks who're picking up the torch now.
Please get in touch with me offlist if there's anything I can do to ease the closure of the former chapter, or help the new one grow. I know you've been talking a lot with Delphine, obviously, and Mike is indeed starting to get some legal research underway, as well :-)
Thanks, Sue
2008/8/30 Michael Snow wikipedia@verizon.net:
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the Wikimedia Foundation and its staff, I would like to thank those who put their efforts into organising a local chapter for the United Kingdom. It's unfortunate that this initial effort is not working out as hoped. In addition to Alison, I know that a number of other people, both in and outside the board of Wiki Educational Resources, have tried to tackle the various obstacles that have come up. We appreciate their patience and their diligence.
WER just turned out to be the wrong vehicle for the goal, i.e. a registered UK charity that can accept tax-deductible donations.
This coincided with massive burnout amongst all involved, but we'll live :-)
- d.
WER just turned out to be the wrong vehicle for the goal, i.e. a registered UK charity that can accept tax-deductible donations.
So we're not doomed to repeat your mistakes, could you elaborate? In what way was WER the wrong vehicle? It was a Company Limited by Guarantee with pretty standard Mem and Arts, like 100s of other charities, and they all manage just fine.
So we're not doomed to repeat your mistakes, could you elaborate?
Burnout was the other major problem: the infastructure was in place, but the motivation to "get it working" on behalf of those who had the power to implement our goals was, sadly, and for whatever reason(s), lacking.
Try, try, and try again. We're on the correct path.
2008/9/5 Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com
WER just turned out to be the wrong vehicle for the goal, i.e. a registered UK charity that can accept tax-deductible donations.
So we're not doomed to repeat your mistakes, could you elaborate? In what way was WER the wrong vehicle? It was a Company Limited by Guarantee with pretty standard Mem and Arts, like 100s of other charities, and they all manage just fine.
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
Burnout was the other major problem: the infastructure was in place, but the motivation to "get it working" on behalf of those who had the power to implement our goals was, sadly, and for whatever reason(s), lacking.
Burnout is a simple problem to resolve - you stand down and let someone else take over.
Burnout is a simple problem to resolve - you stand down and let someone else take over.
Which is what's happening!
On a general note, I think the chapter's plans are being implemented quite well. I do hope this progress continues at at least the current rate. Maintaining the current level of healthy participation and discussion (especially on-mailing list) will be key in working towards WER's short- and medium-term goals.
2008/9/5 Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com
Burnout was the other major problem: the infastructure was in place, but
the
motivation to "get it working" on behalf of those who had the power to implement our goals was, sadly, and for whatever reason(s), lacking.
Burnout is a simple problem to resolve - you stand down and let someone else take over.
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