I'm very pleased to announce two new developments at Wikimedia DC.
First, we'd like to welcome our first staff member, Lisa Marrs, who will be
assisting us as an Outreach & Program Coordination Intern over the next
several months. Lisa's duties will include coordinating our outreach
efforts and acting as a primary point of contact for cultural and
educational institutions; preparing our external communications, including
blog posts, press releases, and social media postings; and supporting the
organizing teams of Wikimania 2012 and Wiki Loves Monuments USA 2012.
Second, we've moved into our new office space, which is located at 1875 K
Street NW in Washington, DC. We'll be using this space through at least
the end of September; it will be both a work area for Lisa (and perhaps
another intern later in the summer) as well as a location for internal and
external meetings over the next few months. We're currently busy getting
settled in and setting up the office, and will be ready to welcome visitors
in late June; if you're interested in visiting us, please let us know, and
we'll arrange access for you.
As always, any comments or suggestions are very welcome. We look forward
to hosting everyone here in Washington for Wikimania next month!
Cheers,
Kirill
--
Kirill Lokshin
Secretary | Wikimedia District of Columbia
http://wikimediadc.org | @wikimediadc
Hi fellow US/Canada Education Working Group members (and friends),
Our first-ever Education Working Group online meeting will be this
Saturday June 2, at 4pm Eastern Time / 1pm Pacific Time.
The venue will be the #wikimedia-us channel on IRC, and if you're not
familiar with IRC, please just use this easy web client:
http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikimedia-us
This will be an open meeting, and we have invited voices from the
broader Wikimedia volunteer community to also participate in this
conversation.
Please add your ideas to the agenda here, which has been started by
Mike Chistie, with some recent additions from User:Pine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_Working_Group/Online_Meeti…
Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)
Our third-ever monthly Wikimedia US / WALRUS meeting will be next
week, Wednesday May 9, at 9pm Eastern Time / 6pm Pacific Time.
The venue will be the #wikimedia-us channel on IRC, and if you're not
familiar with IRC, please just use this easy web client:
http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikimedia-us
This is a venue for all Wiki-Americans to share our many diverse
experiences in local outreach and coordination, so please add your
ideas to the agenda:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WALRUS/May_2012
And please add your city's pages for the Great American Wiknic coming
up in June (NYC and St Louis are up so far!):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiknic#2012_Wiknic
Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)
Hello everyone,
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been working on a draft for an
"agreement in principle" regarding an overall strategy for Wikimedia
chapters/groups in the US, with the intent to have a document that
individual Wikimedians can sign at Wikimania this summer.
My working draft of the agreement is located at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kirill_Lokshin/Sandbox. The current
text has recently been revised based on a number of suggestions I received
yesterday at the US Wikimedians' IRC meeting.
As always, any comments or suggestions would be very appreciated!
Cheers,
Kirill
--
Kirill Lokshin
Secretary | Wikimedia District of Columbia
http://wikimediadc.org | @wikimediadc
Hello everyone,
At our meeting today, the Wikimedia DC Board of Directors heard a report
from James Hare regarding the Wikimedia New England organizing
meeting/meetup that was held on April 22. In light of the report, the
Board has adopted the following resolution in support of Wikimedia New
England:
1. Wikimedia District of Columbia hereby expresses its support for the
establishment of a new Wikimedia chapter in the New England region, to be
called Wikimedia New England.

2. The President is instructed to provide, to the extent feasible, such
funding, staff, or other assistance as the establishment of Wikimedia New
England may require.
3. The Treasurer is authorized to act as a fiscal agent on behalf of the
group of individuals seeking to establish Wikimedia New England during the
period prior to the incorporation of Wikimedia New England as a legal
entity. The Treasurer is instructed to create and maintain separate records
for all revenues and expenditures associated with this activity.
We look forward to building a strong collaborative relationship with our
New England colleagues!
Cheers,
Kirill
--
Kirill Lokshin
Secretary | Wikimedia District of Columbia
http://wikimediadc.org | @wikimediadc
Our second-ever monthly Wikimedia US / WALRUS meeting will be this
week, Wednesday April 11, at 9pm Eastern Time / 6pm Pacific Time.
The venue will be the #wikimedia-us channel on IRC, and if you're not
familiar with IRC, please just use this easy web client:
http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikimedia-us
This is a venue for all Wiki-Americans to share our many diverse
experiences in local outreach and coordination, so please add your
ideas to the agenda:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WALRUS/April_2012
Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)
Hello everyone,
Looking at the various discussions surrounding the Berlin Agreement -- and
particularly in anticipation of the first meetings of the Wikimedia
Chapters Association, where future plans for chapters in the US might
become a point of contention -- I think it may be beneficial for us to more
formally adopt and promulgate a shared vision for the future of US-based
chapters at our in-person meeting at Wikimania.
Having said that, I think that trying to come up with something as detailed
as the Berlin Agreement -- establishing a formal organization, adopting a
detailed charter, and so forth -- would be premature for us; most of our
regional groups haven't gone down the path of formally incorporating and
becoming official chapters, and there's little value to creating a formal
infrastructure until that happens.
Instead, I'd like to propose that we put together an agreement in principle
to outline a shared vision for the development of US chapters. The
agreement would essentially outline three key goals:
(1) Creating a network of regional Wikimedia chapters across the United
States;
(2) Building collaboration among the regional Wikimedia chapters in the US;
and
(3) At some point in the future, forming an association of Wikimedia
chapters in the US.
By signing the agreement, the signatories would simply indicate their
support of these goals. The agreement could therefore be signed on an
individual basis -- i.e. each of the attendees at our July meeting could
sign on their own behalf -- rather than only by chapters or other regional
groups (which would sharply limit the number of potential signatures, and
significantly increase the complexity of the entire exercise).
Would something along these lines be of interest to the participants here?
Cheers,
Kirill
--
Kirill Lokshin
Secretary | Wikimedia District of Columbia
http://wikimediadc.org | @wikimediadc
Hello everyone,
In case you haven't already heard, Wikimedia DC is looking to hire an
Outreach and Program Coordination Intern for the summer months. The
position would primarily entail assisting us with our outreach towards
local cultural and educational institutions, as well as helping out with
some of the related work for Wikimania 2012.
More details about the position can be found at
http://wikimediadc.org/wiki/Job_openings#Outreach_and_Program_Coordination_….
If you or anyone you know is interested, please contact us by April 30.
Cheers,
Kirill
--
Kirill Lokshin
Secretary | Wikimedia District of Columbia
http://wikimediadc.org | @wikimediadc
On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 9:53 AM, Lane Rasberry <lane(a)bluerasberry.com> wrote:
> Pharos proposed Thursday 5 April for the next US WALRUS meeting. I cannot
> meet on that day, and in general, the first and last weeks of months are
> always bad for me because many groups schedule things on the first or last
> "xday" of the month.
>
> I would prefer a consistent day of the week in either the second or third
> week of every month. I propose Wednesdays, so for next month either second
> Wednesday the 11th or third Wednesday the 18th. Whatever the day, I propose
> that day of the week happen consistently in that same week every month. I am
> open to proposals of other days. I would prefer to keep the evening time as
> it is.
>
> To put something up right now - how would others feel about Wednesday April
> 11, 9pm EST / 6pm PST, #wikimedia-us channel on IRC?
>
> http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikimedia-us
>
> How does this compare to Pharos' proposal of Thursday 5 April?
April 11 would work just as well for me, actually.
Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)
> On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 4:00 AM, <wikimediaus-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> wrote:
>>
>> Send Wikimediaus-l mailing list submissions to
>> wikimediaus-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>
>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaus-l
>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>> wikimediaus-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>
>> You can reach the person managing the list at
>> wikimediaus-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>> than "Re: Contents of Wikimediaus-l digest..."
>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. Re: Wiki-Americans Monthly IRC Meetings (Pharos)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2012 16:25:39 -0500
>> From: Pharos <pharosofalexandria(a)gmail.com>
>> To: "Wikimedia U.S. Chapter" <wikimediaus-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Wikimediaus-l] Wiki-Americans Monthly IRC Meetings
>> Message-ID:
>>
>> <CAJcrdm7h9hrG4x4waQGxgoQ+_NWiRg4Y8yC9GvBdmYUGXwox4Q(a)mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> My fellow Wiki-Americans,
>>
>> For the next monthly online Wikimedia US / WALRUS meeting, I would like to
>> propose the evening of Thursday April 5.
>>
>> ( April 1 would be rather inconvenient this time, as it conflicts with
>> Wikimedia Conference 2012, which several of us will be occupied with:
>>
>> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2012 )
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Richard
>> (User:Pharos)
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 8:54 PM, Pharos <pharosofalexandria(a)gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > My fellow Wiki-Americans,
>> >
>> > Thanks to every one of the 22 Wiki-Americans who joined in for our
>> > inaugural meeting :)
>> >
>> > Please, everyone, have a look at the meeting summary, and add your
>> > thoughts to it:
>> >
>> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WALRUS/March_2012
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Richard
>> > (User:Pharos)
>> >
>> > On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 2:52 PM, phoebe ayers <phoebe.wiki(a)gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> > > Thanks for the reminder! I will try to make it.
>> > >
>> > > Phoebe
>> > >
>> > > On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 9:41 AM, Pharos <pharosofalexandria(a)gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> > >> Reminder:
>> > >>
>> > >> Our first Wikimedia US / WALRUS meeting will be tomorrow, Thursday
>> > >> March 1, at 9pm Eastern Time / 6pm Pacific Time.
>> > >>
>> > >> The venue will be the #wikimedia-us channel on IRC, and if you're not
>> > >> familiar with IRC, please just use this easy web client:
>> > >>
>> > >> http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=wikimedia-us
>> > >>
>> > >> Thanks,
>> > >> Richard
>> > >> (User:Pharos)
>> > >>
>> > >> On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 3:31 PM, Samuel Klein <meta.sj(a)gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> > >>> On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 3:19 PM, Aude <aude.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>> > >>>
>> > >>>> There's also the #wikimedia-us IRC channel on freenode, if anyone
>> > prefers
>> > >>>> that.
>> > >>>
>> > >>> It would be nice to start using it again.
>> > >>>
>> > >>> SJ
>> > >>>
>> > >>> _______________________________________________
>> > >>> Wikimediaus-l mailing list
>> > >>> Wikimediaus-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> > >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaus-l
>> > >>
>> > >> _______________________________________________
>> > >> Wikimediaus-l mailing list
>> > >> Wikimediaus-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> > >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaus-l
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers
>> > > <at> gmail.com *
>> >
>>
My fellow Wiki-Americans,
We're scheduling a special meeting at Wikimania to bring together
Wikimedians Active in Local Regions of the United States (WALRUS), to
form a strong family of local chapters throughout the country:
http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/WALRUS_Congress
We'll be very glad to have you join in, and represent your bit of the old USA!
Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)