Hi Lewis,
We also have meetups, in London particularly we have a monthly one. They are good for a range of informal collaborations including showing people some gadgets they might not have tried yet (and there is usually one end of the table reserved for copyright afficionados). If London isn't convenient for you maybe there is another city near by? It would be good to try out a meetup in areas of the country we haven't yet run them in.
WereSpielChequers
On 27 April 2011 17:46, Lewis Cawte lewiscawte@googlemail.com wrote:
Hi,
I'm not a member of Wikimedia UK (because I can never find the money when I think about joining), but I've noticed a lot of the events are university things or museum stuff, I was wondering, are there any other types of events, for example, I know the Dutch/German chapters run or host the occasional Hack-a-Thon or meetups at other coding related events. Do we do anything other than the GLAM or whatever it is?
-- Lewis Cawte 14 year old Wikimedia, LAMP server owner and follower of MediaWiki development.
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
I don't know, I'm 14, (15 in September), I live in Brighton, so it wouldn't be too hard to get there, but the idea of getting lost in London by myself scares me, and going unaccompanied into the pub (the regular venue I believe)... I guess I like the hackathon because theres a fair amount of time for talks and bugsmashing as well, and there are lots of techy people in one room...
-- Lewis Cawte On 16/05/11 18:48, WereSpielChequers wrote:
Hi Lewis,
We also have meetups, in London particularly we have a monthly one. They are good for a range of informal collaborations including showing people some gadgets they might not have tried yet (and there is usually one end of the table reserved for copyright afficionados). If London isn't convenient for you maybe there is another city near by? It would be good to try out a meetup in areas of the country we haven't yet run them in.
WereSpielChequers
On 27 April 2011 17:46, Lewis Cawte lewiscawte@googlemail.com wrote:
Hi,
I'm not a member of Wikimedia UK (because I can never find the money when I think about joining), but I've noticed a lot of the events are university things or museum stuff, I was wondering, are there any other types of events, for example, I know the Dutch/German chapters run or host the occasional Hack-a-Thon or meetups at other coding related events. Do we do anything other than the GLAM or whatever it is?
-- Lewis Cawte 14 year old Wikimedia, LAMP server owner and follower of MediaWiki development.
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On 16 May 2011 21:51, Lewis Cawte lewiscawte@googlemail.com wrote:
I don't know, I'm 14, (15 in September), I live in Brighton, so it wouldn't be too hard to get there, but the idea of getting lost in London by myself scares me, and going unaccompanied into the pub (the regular venue I believe)... I guess I like the hackathon because theres a fair amount of time for talks and bugsmashing as well, and there are lots of techy people in one room...
As the organiser of the London meetups, I should throw in here that I've been mindful of the lack of variation in venues and a worry that as a pub, the location discourages some of our community - I'd be happy to move it to another spot if that would work better for people (Lewis and others). :-)
J.
The current arrangements suit me, but I'm conscious that under 18s and moslems are unlikely to come to a pub. Having a loo that weelchair users can't use doesn't help either. The advantage of a pub is that provided you have a few drinkers such as myself the venue is free, but with the current state of Wikimedia UK funds I think we might be able to get some grant money to sometimes hire a different venue.
I'd like to try moving round a bit and maybe theming a few events - a joint Wikimedia UK/Bangla Wikipedia meetup at the http://www.eastlondonmosque.org.uk/facilities would be interesting. If the chapter were willing to fund it we could use this for some really interesting outreach work.
WSC
On 16 May 2011 22:45, James Forrester james@jdforrester.org wrote:
On 16 May 2011 21:51, Lewis Cawte lewiscawte@googlemail.com wrote:
I don't know, I'm 14, (15 in September), I live in Brighton, so it wouldn't be too hard to get there, but the idea of getting lost in London by myself scares me, and going unaccompanied into the pub (the regular venue I believe)... I guess I like the hackathon because theres a fair amount of time for talks and bugsmashing as well, and there are lots of techy people in one room...
As the organiser of the London meetups, I should throw in here that I've been mindful of the lack of variation in venues and a worry that as a pub, the location discourages some of our community - I'd be happy to move it to another spot if that would work better for people (Lewis and others). :-)
J.
James D. Forrester jdforrester@wikimedia.org | jdforrester@gmail.com [[Wikipedia:User:Jdforrester|James F.]]
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 2:37 PM, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
The current arrangements suit me, but I'm conscious that under 18s and moslems are unlikely to come to a pub. Having a loo that weelchair users can't use doesn't help either. The advantage of a pub is that provided you have a few drinkers such as myself the venue is free, but with the current state of Wikimedia UK funds I think we might be able to get some grant money to sometimes hire a different venue.
Have you ever tried contacting town councils to get a room for free? Or maybe schools / colleges / university whose spaces are tipically less used on weekends? Normally, it's mostly a question of finding the right person to talk to. Marco
On 17 May 2011, at 13:58, Marco Chiesa wrote:
On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 2:37 PM, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
The current arrangements suit me, but I'm conscious that under 18s and moslems are unlikely to come to a pub. Having a loo that weelchair users can't use doesn't help either. The advantage of a pub is that provided you have a few drinkers such as myself the venue is free, but with the current state of Wikimedia UK funds I think we might be able to get some grant money to sometimes hire a different venue.
Have you ever tried contacting town councils to get a room for free? Or maybe schools / colleges / university whose spaces are tipically less used on weekends? Normally, it's mostly a question of finding the right person to talk to. Marco
In general, trying to get a room for free is a very good approach - but if it doesn't work out, then I can't see a reason why WMUK couldn't provide funds to hire the venue, particularly if there is an obvious benefit such as the "joint Wikimedia UK/Bangla Wikipedia meetup" that WereSpielChequers suggested.
BTW, I've previously tried to get a free room at the university I work at on a weekend for the WMUK AGM in 2009, but failed to get it for free because they would have to charge to open up the building on a Saturday (we had a lack of money at the time of this AGM). We ended up in a good room in a nearby pub that we hired for free - but again, it was not disabled-friendly and had several other flaws as a meeting place. Moral of the story: there are many obstacles that can present themselves when trying to get a room for free, and sometimes the best way to get around them in this business-orientated world is with some amount of money....
Thanks, Mike
On 17/05/11 23:20, Michael Peel wrote:
On 17 May 2011, at 13:58, Marco Chiesa wrote:
On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 2:37 PM, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
The current arrangements suit me, but I'm conscious that under 18s and moslems are unlikely to come to a pub. Having a loo that weelchair users can't use doesn't help either. The advantage of a pub is that provided you have a few drinkers such as myself the venue is free, but with the current state of Wikimedia UK funds I think we might be able to get some grant money to sometimes hire a different venue.
Have you ever tried contacting town councils to get a room for free? Or maybe schools / colleges / university whose spaces are tipically less used on weekends? Normally, it's mostly a question of finding the right person to talk to. Marco
In general, trying to get a room for free is a very good approach - but if it doesn't work out, then I can't see a reason why WMUK couldn't provide funds to hire the venue, particularly if there is an obvious benefit such as the "joint Wikimedia UK/Bangla Wikipedia meetup" that WereSpielChequers suggested.
BTW, I've previously tried to get a free room at the university I work at on a weekend for the WMUK AGM in 2009, but failed to get it for free because they would have to charge to open up the building on a Saturday (we had a lack of money at the time of this AGM). We ended up in a good room in a nearby pub that we hired for free - but again, it was not disabled-friendly and had several other flaws as a meeting place. Moral of the story: there are many obstacles that can present themselves when trying to get a room for free, and sometimes the best way to get around them in this business-orientated world is with some amount of money....
Thanks, Mike
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Hmm, maybe we should start drafting some ideas on the chapter site, even if its under my user: namespace or something, like links to venues and whatever... then someone could present it at the AGM if they needed to/wanted to..
On 18 May 2011, at 07:04, Lewis Cawte wrote:
Hmm, maybe we should start drafting some ideas on the chapter site, even if its under my user: namespace or something, like links to venues and whatever... then someone could present it at the AGM if they needed to/wanted to..
If you think such a page would be useful, then please go ahead and create it - the WMUK wiki is open for everyone to edit for a reason. ;-) I'd encourage more of a direct approach, though - try organising a meetup, and record what the outcomes and lessons learnt are afterwards...
Thanks, Mike
I made an approach to the Bangla pedia people about running an event in London, but not had any interest. I may try another tack, if I find a language where they are interested in a London event I'll post something on the UK wiki.
Starting the London meetup in the British Library Cafe and adjourning to a pub sounds worth testing - lets discuss it at the meetup on Sunday week.
WSC
On 29 May 2011 12:49, Michael Peel michael.peel@wikimedia.org.uk wrote:
On 18 May 2011, at 07:04, Lewis Cawte wrote:
Hmm, maybe we should start drafting some ideas on the chapter site, even if its under my user: namespace or something, like links to venues and whatever... then someone could present it at the AGM if they needed to/wanted to..
If you think such a page would be useful, then please go ahead and create it - the WMUK wiki is open for everyone to edit for a reason. ;-) I'd encourage more of a direct approach, though - try organising a meetup, and record what the outcomes and lessons learnt are afterwards...
Thanks, Mike
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On 29/05/2011 23:56, WereSpielChequers wrote:
Starting the London meetup in the British Library Cafe and adjourning to a pub sounds worth testing - lets discuss it at the meetup on Sunday week.
WSC
Yes, good idea, but a two venue setup will confuse latecomers? So cafe at 1pm, pub at 5pm?
London Wiki Wednesday organizers (ducks) got a lot of flack recently when newcomers could not find the group!
Gordo
The BL cafe can be ridiculously busy and probably would be tricky for anyone to work out where a small group of Wikimedians are. The Business and IP centre has a very nice lounge area but I don't think they would want us to reserve tables, though I can ask the staff during our editathon on Saturday about alternatives. BTW, there are up to 10 places left if anyone wants to register for the event. * http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Editathon,_British_Library
I suggest that we investigate some of the other quieter public libraries that are easy to travel to around London, many have rooms free for public events, are near other facilities or house interesting archives and many Librarians would be keen to be seen to be involved. For example http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk near Liverpool Street train station is open on Saturdays, has a research room, interesting archives, free wifi and is normally a quiet library. * http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/content.aspx?CategoryID=968
Cheers, Fae -- http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae Guide to email tags: http://j.mp/faetags
On 30/05/2011 11:17, Fae wrote:
The BL cafe can be ridiculously busy and probably would be tricky for anyone to work out where a small group of Wikimedians are. The Business and IP centre has a very nice lounge area but I don't think they would want us to reserve tables, though I can ask the staff during our editathon on Saturday about alternatives. BTW, there are up to 10 places left if anyone wants to register for the event. *http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Editathon,_British_Library
****
# Is remote participation viable?
Yes, articles being improved (or needing peer review) will be added to our teamwork page at WP:GLAM/BL and you can help with any of the outstanding tasks. The IRC channel for the event will be #wikipedia-glam which can be used to discuss changes or ask for help in real time from anywhere.
****
Probably will not get down in person (busy weekend for me!).... but would try to spend some time online....
Gordo
I have been in pubs with Muslims - neither they nor I drinking alcohol. So I'm not sure how much of a barrier that is. From the publican's point of view, the margins on almost anything other than alcoholic drinks certainly used to be better, whether this is still the case I don't know.
On 17/05/2011 13:37, WereSpielChequers wrote:
The current arrangements suit me, but I'm conscious that under 18s and moslems are unlikely to come to a pub. Having a loo that weelchair users can't use doesn't help either. The advantage of a pub is that provided you have a few drinkers such as myself the venue is free, but with the current state of Wikimedia UK funds I think we might be able to get some grant money to sometimes hire a different venue.
I'd like to try moving round a bit and maybe theming a few events - a joint Wikimedia UK/Bangla Wikipedia meetup at the http://www.eastlondonmosque.org.uk/facilities would be interesting. If the chapter were willing to fund it we could use this for some really interesting outreach work.
WSC _______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On 19/05/2011 12:29, Richard Farmbrough wrote:
I have been in pubs with Muslims - neither they nor I drinking alcohol. So I'm not sure how much of a barrier that is. From the publican's point of view, the margins on almost anything other than alcoholic drinks certainly used to be better, whether this is still the case I don't know.
On the other hand, a (strict) Muslim friend would not attend my birthday party in a pub.
If people are absent, they may not be counted. I recall somebody saying how rich a country was. Everybody is driving round in fancy new cars. But the people who are poor are not seen, since they are not driving cars of any sort, and living in away from the richer areas.
Gordo
On 19/05/2011 12:34, Gordon Joly wrote:
On 19/05/2011 12:29, Richard Farmbrough wrote:
I have been in pubs with Muslims - neither they nor I drinking alcohol. So I'm not sure how much of a barrier that is. From the publican's point of view, the margins on almost anything other than alcoholic drinks certainly used to be better, whether this is still the case I don't know.
On the other hand, a (strict) Muslim friend would not attend my birthday party in a pub.
If people are absent, they may not be counted. I recall somebody saying how rich a country was. Everybody is driving round in fancy new cars. But the people who are poor are not seen, since they are not driving cars of any sort, and living in away from the richer areas.
Gordo
Very much the problem of WP inclusionism writ small (the pub thing). We know that various groups are under-represented as editors, but not whether (or to be more accurate to what extent) this is due to particular causes.
On 19/05/2011 20:43, Richard Farmbrough wrote:
Very much the problem of WP inclusionism writ small (the pub thing). We know that various groups are under-represented as editors, but not whether (or to be more accurate to what extent) this is due to particular causes.
Let's be honest. And realistic.
The demographic profile of editors is well understood by anybody on this list. Knowledge of diversity make sure that disabled people (access), Muslims (pub meets) and other groups are not (further) excluded.
Gordo
On 16 May 2011 22:45, James Forrester james@jdforrester.org wrote:
On 16 May 2011 21:51, Lewis Cawte lewiscawte@googlemail.com wrote:
I don't know, I'm 14, (15 in September), I live in Brighton, so it wouldn't be too hard to get there, but the idea of getting lost in London by myself scares me, and going unaccompanied into the pub (the regular venue I believe)... I guess I like the hackathon because theres a fair amount of time for talks and bugsmashing as well, and there are lots of techy people in one room...
As the organiser of the London meetups, I should throw in here that I've been mindful of the lack of variation in venues and a worry that as a pub, the location discourages some of our community - I'd be happy to move it to another spot if that would work better for people (Lewis and others). :-)
The British Library might be a good choice. There are lots of tables we can sit at, wifi, a cafe and, should people want to make use of them, reading rooms with access to lots of books. The opening hours aren't as good as a pub, though - I think we would get thrown out at 5pm (at which point we can relocate to a pub) and lots of things aren't open at all on Sundays, so we would probably need to move the meetup to a Saturday (which might be good - I'm sure there are some people that can't make Sundays).
wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org