[Foundation-l] Board resolutions (chapters)

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
So the only reason why chapters cannot overlap is possible commercial
nastiness ???? Does the NYC have a license to negotiate as much as another
USA (sub)-chapter have. What is left for the Wikimedia Foundation itself ?
How do you make commercial organisations split along "our" lines ?

As I learn more about chapters, I come to my conclusion that they are a
confused hodgepodge of conflicting ideas. The notion what the essence of a
chapter is is no longer clear at all.  I would really LOVE some clear
structured text that explains the notion of the chapter and explains what
its responsibilities are.
Thanks,
      GerardM

2009/1/20 Ting Chen <wing.philopp at gmx.de>

> Gerard Meijssen wrote:
> > Hoi,
> > The territofy for the Dutch chapter ends officially at the border between
> > Belgium and the Netherlands.
> I don't see it necessary to be must so. As you have said, it is unlikely
> that there would be a Belgium chapter. So if the community support the
> idea, I don't see any reason why the Dutch chapter cannot be active in
> Belgium. By establishing a branch there the Dutch chapter can also
> provide the same services it can provide for its dutch members like tax
> exempt status or organize meetings and other activities. If this is a
> good thing, and has support from the community, why not?
>
> > There is no Belgium chapter and given their
> > politics it is unlikely that there will be one. The projects in the Dutch
> > language include many Belgians and they are welcome to become a member of
> > the Dutch "vereniging".
> >
> And as far as I know none of our chapters has defined that only people
> from a certain region can be their membership. Delphine for example is
> member of the french and the italian chapter and not of the german
> chapter, although she lives in Frankfurt, Germany.
>
> And the example of Belgium is another good example for allow subnational
> chapters.
> > Ting, it is nice that you do not see what countries have to do with
> > chapters. One of the main points of chapters is that they represent the
> > Wikimedia Foundation in a limited fashion and, that they take care of
> issues
> > that need to be taken care off on a local level. They are things like
> > fundraising and looking for a tax exempt status for gifts etc.  When a
> > chapter is nothing but a society, there is less need for an official
> > connection with the WMF. The people in New York can have their own
> society,
> > there is no need for them being a chapter and take care by necessity of
> > these needs.
> >
> Sure. Suppose the Foundation is not located in the USA, and there is no
> USA chapter. The NYC chapter can get for its members tax exemption, so
> this is a good thing, why not? The NYC can organize activities in their
> area and this is also a good thing, why not?
>
> And the chapters are by NO MEANs a sub-organization of the WMF. They are
> in principle independent and of their own. There are links between the
> WMF and the chapters, yes. But as I said, we would also support all
> other voluntier activities (or societies) as far as they are affordable.
> > If you say that a chapter is only a society and that this is all that
> > counts, I do not understand why it is not permitted to have chapters
> > covering the same space. Why not have an Amsterdam chapter if the people
> > from Amsterdam think it a good idea ??
> >
> The chapters has agreement with the WMF that they may in their area
> negotiate with third parties on use of wikimedia project logos and
> names. The cretiria for a not overlapping in geographical regions is
> mainly to prevent a third party to try to play one chapter against another.
>
> Greetings
> Ting
>
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