[Foundation-l] Chapter-selected Board seats - brainstorming

[Dan Rosenthal]

Part of the brainstorming process is for people to determine that.  
However, I'd suggest it for multiple purposes. It'd be a membership  
voice for DC area Wikimedians, especially as far as the board  
restructuring is concerned. It can assist the WMF in both donations  
and content release, especially within the DC metro area (which has a  
lot of room for both) by adding local contact, as well as taking some  
of the burden off of the WMF. It could also be a source of donations  
from people who have issues donating to the WMF as a whole, but want  
to support Wikimedia in other ways. It can organize events for its  
membership, as well as providing a representative voice for this  
subsection of the population, one that is pretty highly active in  
Wikimedia. Finally, it's a first step towards getting any sort of  
representation for the US in a chapter structure.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

-Dan


On May 1, 2008, at 1:36 PM, daniwo59 at aol.com wrote:

>
> In a message dated 5/1/2008 1:14:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> swatjester at gmail.com writes:
>
> I see.  Well on that note, can I announce the start of a working group
> for  the development of a DC/Baltimore metropolitan area chapter. Both
> Wikimedians from the DC area as well as those with chapters   
> experience
> are invited to help out.
>
>
>
> What is the objective of this chapter? Is it to solicit tax-free  
> donations
> in the US? The WMF is already doing that with a professional,  
> dedicated staff.
> Is it to negotiate with local institutions over the release of  
> content?
> Again,  the WMF is in the same country and is better equipped to do  
> this. Is it to
> provide a membership organization that will assume responsibility for
> content? I  doubt it. Is it to organize meetups and other social  
> events? If so, then
> why go  to the trouble of incorporating just to have a realtime beer  
> with your
> online  friends? Is it just to have a say in determining the chapter  
> seats?
> Seems like a  lot of trouble for that.
>
> While I do not oppose a US chapter or even a series of local  
> chapters, it
> would seem prudent to determine first what the purpose of the  
> chapter is.
>
> Danny
>
>
>
> **************Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S.  
> used car
> listings at AOL Autos.
> (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l