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

[Birgitte SB]

--- On Sun, 5/4/08, Birgitte SB <birgitte_sb at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Birgitte SB <birgitte_sb at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Chapter-selected Board seats - brainstorming
> To: foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Date: Sunday, May 4, 2008, 9:45 AM
> --- On Sun, 5/4/08, effe iets anders
> <effeietsanders at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > From: effe iets anders
> <effeietsanders at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Chapter-selected Board
> seats - brainstorming
> > To: birgitte_sb at yahoo.com, "Wikimedia Foundation
> Mailing List" <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
> > Date: Sunday, May 4, 2008, 9:02 AM
> > 2008/5/4, Birgitte SB <birgitte_sb at yahoo.com>:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >  --- On Sun, 5/4/08, Henning Schlottmann
> > <h.schlottmann at gmx.net> wrote:
> > >
> > >  > From: Henning Schlottmann
> > <h.schlottmann at gmx.net>
> > >  > Subject: Re: [Foundation-l]
> Chapter-selected
> > Board seats - brainstorming
> > >  > To: foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > >  > Date: Sunday, May 4, 2008, 2:24 AM
> > >
> > >
> > >  > Chapters can handle donations, press
> contacts,
> > organize
> > >  > larger events
> > >  > and so on. Some of that needs a core team
> at a
> > certain
> > >  > place, most of
> > >  > the jobs are not connected with the
> geographic
> > placements
> > >  > of active
> > >  > members.
> > >
> > >
> > > Since all of this is handled in the US, why do
> people
> > expect us to waste our time on bureaucracy of setting
> up a
> > chapter?
> > >
> > >
> > >  Birgitte SB
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > If you don't see a need for a chapter, then you
> should
> > not bother to
> > set one up of course :) Otherwise the chapter would be
> kind
> > of useless
> > indeed. If the members don't beleive in it, the
> chapter
> > will not work.
> > I do not think that anyone would want to suggest that
> one
> > *should* set
> > up a chapter, but people can of course point out what
> the
> > possible
> > advantages are. It's then up to you (anyone who
> could
> > set up a
> > chapter) to find out whether the pro's outweight
> the
> > con's
> > The board suggested in the restructuring FAQ said:

"We acknowledge that giving the chapters an official voice in the governance of the Foundation makes it more important than before, that chapters -as much as possible- reflect the full range of Wikimedia supporters. Therefore, we now want to encourage the creation of sub-national chapters in the United States." [1]


This is where my interest in the US chapter information stems from.  So please don't patronize me that the US is asking for attention or making an issue out of something that should simply be neglected if the need is not felt. The only reason there is an issue at all is that people from outside of the US are insisting there should not be sub-national chapters without a national one.  Perhaps I should have ignored them rather than started this attempt I have been making to see those concerns addressed.

Birgitte SB
[1]http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees/Restructure_Announcement_Q%26A



      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and 
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ