Yes it did get very messy. As I remember it, cards were actually printed for some volunteers before it had been approved by the board, and then "recalled". The cost seemed very high, and Wikipediocracy (or was it WR then) took a keen interest. But I think it remains a useful idea, so long as: the people getting them and "job titles" used are clear and agreed, perhaps there is a light agreement of the type Stevie mentioned to limit WMUK liability, and the cost is reasonable (even if it means square corners). I think there should be a page on the WMUK site clarifying the status of those using them, for outsiders to see and verify who they've been talking to etc.

John

Date: Thu, 15 May 2014 16:36:21 +0100 From: Fæ faewik@gmail.com To: UK Wikimedia mailing list wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Tools for identifying Wikimedians at press events, etc Message-ID: CAH7nnD0gYgiA9obzvb+EQYWPPuuFWvCdLHUS7cg-S+GDw3pdPg@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 On 15 May 2014 12:29, Michael Maggs Michael@maggs.name wrote: ...

...

a year. Although I’m aware there were some discussions before then, which I believe may have been somewhat contentious (I’m not sure, as it was before my time), I can certainly see that there could be benefits in allowing... From someone old enough to have lived through these times, the issues included:

1. The creation of special titles for business cards which could

mislead other institutions about whether the person they were talking to officially represented the charity, and whether an agreement they made was a commitment by the charity. For example, job titles like 'Coordinator' or 'Project Manager' ought to be reserved for people employed or under contract to the Charity so that stuff like professional liability insurance is in place. I would prefer titles for volunteers to be avoided, however something with 'volunteer' in it, like 'volunteer team', would be smarter.

2. When providing business cards for *one person* costs £100

(I think past actual costs have been quite a bit higher), this looks like an expensive way to invest the donor's money in open knowledge. In the past Harry printed out his own versions, this may be a suitable thing to do so that if a volunteer just needs some cards for one event, they don't end up with a box of 1,000 business cards, 90% of which will end up in paper recycling. One past solution has been standard charity business cards with no specific name, that may still be the most economic and least contentious option. If a volunteer uses up their first 200 cards, it might be worth getting their own named set printed. This policy could equally apply to trustees... always good to set responsive procedures for efficiency.

It is all in the page archives, both from the old version of the Water cooler and in board minutes talk pages, along with some posts to this email list, I think. It has also been a topic of discussion on Wikipediocracy several times - something that you may want to safely ignore, but considering that apparently the new WMF CEO's parter is active there right now, many might be following it. I'm sure someone can track this stuff down if you wished to review it.

Fae

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