WikimediaZA January 2013

wikimediaza@lists.wikimedia.org

8 participants
7 discussions

Special General Meeting announcement
by David Richfield 31 Jan '13

31 Jan '13

Dear members, This email serves as the announcement of a General Meeting of Wikimedia South Africa. See also http://wikimedia.org.za/wiki/23-02-13-GeneralMeeting-Agenda for a web announcement, and http://wikimedia.org.za/index.php?title=23-02-13-GeneralMeeting-Agenda&prin… for a printable version. Place The meeting will be held in two locations: Western Cape: The offices of the CCID: 10th floor, Terraces, 34 Bree Street, Cape Town (Skype: douglas0scott) Gauteng: The offices of ITOCA: Block 12, Lords Office Park, 276 West Avenue, Centurion (skype: daverichfield) Skype login to either location will be officially allowed, and the two venues will be connected via Skype. Date and Time 23 February 2013 11:00 to 12:00 Agenda Review and approve proxy attendees Review nominations of directors to fill board vacancies. Voting (open ballot) on new directors Kind regards, -- David Richfield, General Secretary of Wikimedia South Africa [[:en:User:Slashme]] +27718539985

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Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimania 2013 scholarship now accepting application
by David Richfield 24 Jan '13

24 Jan '13

To those of you who want to apply for scholarships to Wikimania in Hong Kong, here is the announcement. I will definitely be applying. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Simon Shek <simon.shek(a)wikimedia.hk> Date: Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 7:03 AM Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimania 2013 scholarship now accepting application To: wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Hi all, Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2013 in Hong Kong are being accept. The application window is one month (through 22 February). Wikimania 2013 scholarship is an award given to an individual to enable them to attend Wikimania in Hong Kong from 7-11 August, 2013. Both types of scholarships will be available this year. Partial scholarships will cover travel expenses to Wikimania, capped at 50% of the estimated air fare from your nearest international airport according to [[wm2013:Getting to Hong Kong]]. Full scholarships will cover round-trip travel, dorms accommodations as arranged by the Wikimania Team, and registration for Wikimania 2013. Applicants will be rated on the following four dimensions: 1. Activity within Wikimedia (on-wiki and off-wiki) - 50% 2. Activity outside of Wikimedia and other free knowledge/software projects - 15% 3. Interest in Wikimania and the Wikimedia movement - 25% 4. Fluency of English language - 10% To learn more about Wikimania 2013 scholarships, please visit https://wikimania2013.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships To apply for a scholarship, you can fill out the application form here: https://scholarship.wikimedia.hk If you have any question, email us at wikimania-shcolarship(a)wikimedia.org . Good luck! Simon Shek Community coordinator - Wikimania 2013 / Wikimedia Hong Kong wikimedia.hk _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- David Richfield [[:en:User:Slashme]] +27718539985

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Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] [PRESS RELEASE] Wikimedia Foundation named Knight News Challenge winner
by David Richfield 20 Jan '13

20 Jan '13

Interesting development in Wikimedia Zero. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Matthew Roth <mroth(a)wikimedia.org> Date: Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 6:20 PM Subject: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] [PRESS RELEASE] Wikimedia Foundation named Knight News Challenge winner To: press-release(a)lists.wikimedia.org (This press release is also available online at: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_Kn…) Wikimedia Foundation named winner of Knight News Challenge $600,000 in Knight Foundation funding supports innovation across Wikimedia mobile initiatives SAN FRANCISCO, CA - January 17, 2013 - The Wikimedia Foundation was named a winner in the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's Knight News Challenge for its efforts to expand and improve Wikimedia's mobile projects. The Wikimedia Foundation is enhancing the Wikipedia mobile experience and making it easier to access Wikipedia, particularly for readers in developing countries. As mobile technology is increasingly the primary opportunity for billions of people around the world to access the Internet, the Wikimedia Foundation is working to remove the two biggest hurdles to access free knowledge: cost and accessibility. The News Challenge grant will be utilized in four areas: *Improving the way that users experience our mobile platform on feature phones; *Expanding Wikipedia Zero, which gives mobile users free access to Wikipedia on their phones; *Developing features to improve the mobile experience regardless of how feature-rich the device is, including new ways to access Wikipedia via texting; *Increasing the number of languages that can access Wikipedia on mobile. The Wikimedia Foundation is one of eight mobile projects to receive a total of $2.4 million today through the Knight News Challenge, which accelerates projects with funding and advice from Knight's network of media innovators. A full list is at knightfoundation.org. "Knight Foundation's funding will support us making the mobile version of Wikipedia easier to use, as well as enabling us to expand Wikipedia Zero, our project with mobile operators that lets their customers access Wikipedia for free," said Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. "I'm very happy Knight has chosen to support us; it's an important affirmation of our mobile work." Knight Foundation, the nation’s leading funder of journalism and media innovation, is committed to promoting democracy by supporting informed and engaged communities. Founded by newsmen John S. and James L. Knight, the foundation launched the Knight News Challenge in 2007 to find the next generation of innovations that help communities get the information they need. "Wikipedia has helped define the way that people collaboratively create content. Making the site available to more people across the world will help foster and spread that culture," said John Bracken, director for journalism and media innovation at Knight Foundation. The $600,000 News Challenge grant is for two years and follows a general support grant of $250,000 that Knight Foundation awarded to the Wikimedia Foundation in December 2012. The Wikimedia Foundation and the other winners of the challenge will present their projects via live Web stream at 12:30 p.m. ET/ 10:30 a.m. MT Friday, January 18 at knightfoundation.org/live, from a gathering on the future of mobile at Arizona State University. (Follow #newschallenge on Twitter.) About the Wikimedia Foundation http://wikimediafoundation.org http://blog.wikimedia.org The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation receive more than 483 million unique visitors per month, making them the fifth-most popular web property world-wide (comScore, November 2012). Available in 285 languages, Wikipedia contains more than 24 million articles contributed by a global volunteer community of roughly 80,000 people. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants. Press contact Jay Walsh Senior Director, Communications Wikimedia Foundation Tel. +1 415-860-8166 jwalsh(a)wikimedia.org About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit knightfoundation.org or newschallenge.org Press contact Andrew Sherry VP for Communications, Knight Foundation Tel. 305-908-2677 sherry(a)knightfoundation.org (To unsubscribe from Wikimedia Foundation press releases, reply with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.) _______________________________________________ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l _______________________________________________ WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list WikimediaAnnounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- David Richfield [[:en:User:Slashme]] +27718539985

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Fwd: [Wikimedia-l] 2013 Stewards Election - candidate submission closes in a week
by David Richfield 20 Jan '13

20 Jan '13

FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Benjamin Chen <bencmqwiki(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Jan 19, 2013 at 9:08 PM Subject: [Wikimedia-l] 2013 Stewards Election - candidate submission closes in a week To: "wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org" <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Cc: wikizh-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Dear all, I'd like to inform everyone that Steward Election 2013 [1] has now begun. Self-nominations from eligible candidates is open since 15 January. Interested candidates can check their eligibility and procedure to submit the nomination on the guidelines page [2]. We are open to accept candidate submissions till January 28, 2013, 23:59 (UTC). Questions to the candidates can also be posted. Confirmation of existing stewards [3] is scheduled to run concurrently with the election. Please remember, the voting and confirmation discussion have not yet begun and will be not until February 8, 2013, 00:00 (UTC). Voters eligibility is outlined at the guideline page as well. For those who want to help us out with translation, please see our translation portal [4]. Your contribution is really appreciated. If you have any questions or comments about the election and confirmation, feel free to post on the talk page, or the IRC channel #wikimedia-stewards-elections. Lastly, do feel free to forward this email and inform your local community. There is only slightly more than 1 week before candidate submission closes. [1] Election main page: - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/Elections_2013 [2] Guidelines and information: - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/Elections_2013/Guidelines [3] Confirmation: - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/confirm/2013 [4] Translation portal: - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Stewards/Elections_2013/Translation Regards, Benjamin Chen / [[User:Bencmq]] Regards, Benjamin Chen / [[User:Bencmq]] _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- David Richfield [[:en:User:Slashme]] +27718539985

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Decision to postpone the Cape Town Wikimania 2014 bid to 2015
by Douglas Scott 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

Hello everyone, The Wikimedia ZA board has decided to postpone our bid for Cape Town to host Wikimania 2014. After much discussion and deliberation we came to the conclusion that it would be best for us to give ourselves, as a chapter, an extra year to fully prepare for the enormous task of hosting a Wikimania. We particularly want to focus on building and expanding our GLAM, outreach and organisational capabilities. Additionally some chapter members who are eager to actively support in the organisation of the bid feel that they will be better placed to help organise the event (should we get it) in 2015. We wish to thank everyone who have supported our bid so far and ask that you support our bid in 2015 when the bidding round opens after Wikimania 2013 in Hong Kong. We would also like to wish who ever the winning bid team is all the best in preparing for and hosting what will no doubt be a fantastic Wikimania 2014. Many thanks and all the best, Douglas Scott Wikimedia ZA board member -- Douglas Ian Scott 司道格 Skype: douglas0scott South African mobile number: +27 (0)79 515 872

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Resignation of Lourie Pieterse
by Lourie Pieterse 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

Hello everyone, This is a message that I do not find pleasant writing. Yesterday we had a board meeting, looking back at what we did last year and what the plans for the future are. Today I kept myself busy with writing the Wiki Loves Monuments report of last year, only realizing once again how much potential this chapter has and what we have already achieved. Unfortunately, sometimes in life difficult decisions must be made. Attached you will find my resignation letter from the Wikimedia ZA board of directors. Not only am I resigning from the board, but I am also withdrawing myself from all other chapter activities for due course of time. Academically this year is going to be more challenging for me and I want to spend more time on other academic activities such as peer-reviewing and open-access lobbying for journals. You will not see or hear from me for at least a year, but I will stay updated through the mailing list and the wonderful friendships made while being involved with the chapter. I wish everyone the best of times ahead! :) Kindest regards Lourie

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Nomination of Council Member to represent WMZA in Wikimedia Chapters Association (WCA)
by Thuvack N 16 Jan '13

16 Jan '13

Following a Board meeting dated 12 Jan 2013. I would like to nominate David Richfield to represent Wikimedia South Africa for the next two years (2013 - 2015) and as per WCA recommendations. Mr Richfield has been acting as representative for WMZA in the past year

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WikimediaZA January 2013