No subject

Wikimedia meet-ups and supporting the GLAM-Wiki event in Canberra
(http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/GLAM-WIKI ). At the event, she
presented a keynote speech introducing the Wikimedia Foundation and
drawing out the shared educational missions of cultural institutions
and Wikimedia projects. The support of this event and its resulting
recommendations for the Wikimedia community was a part of overarching
efforts to expand Wikimedia groups', chapters' and individuals'
capacity to conduct public outreach and build local institutional
relationships.

Frank Schulenburg recruited a best practices documentation team to
invigorate the Best Practices series on Meta-wiki. The Volunteer
Project Lead, Kathrin Jansen has led the team in conducting IRC
meetings, creating a work plan and in producing high quality
documentation of best practices ranging from developing content
partnerships to using WikiBooks in the classroom.

In August, Frank, Jennifer and Jay conducted interviews for the
Bookshelf Project Manager position. The Bookshelf is a one-year
project to develop an essential set of educational Wikimedia
Foundation public outreach materials. Most materials will be aimed at
a general audience, with the goal of persuading people to participate
in the projects, and teaching them how to do it. The purpose is to
develop a core set of English-language =E2=80=9CBookshelf=E2=80=9D resource=
s, which
will then be made available to the international Wikimedia community
and to partner groups, to be adapted, customized, translated and
disseminated as part of Wikimedia outreach and other activities.

In preparation for the 2009-10 annual giving campaign and a
comprehensive communications strategy, Jay Walsh led the search for a
communications consulting firm. The successful firm is Fenton
Communications, working in a custom-built collaboration with Sea
Change Strategies and Creative Director Jelly Helm. Fenton
Communications has two decades of experience offering a full range of
communications services supporting initiatives in the public interest,
including clients such as MoveOn.org, The National Geographic Society,
Human Rights Watch, the Save Darfur Coalition, the Open Society
Institute, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Jelly Helm
attended Wikimania in Buenos Aires, to soak up the Wikimedia culture
and support Jay in documenting the event via video and still
photography.

Cary Bass worked to enhance Wikimedia's customer service through
initiatives to support volunteers working with the OTRS email response
system and biographies of living persons (BLPs). Cary led volunteer
statisticians in evaluating the current OTRS system and identifying
technical issues that may present barriers to increasing participation
in the system. He is currently working with the WMF Tech Team to begin
addressing these technical challenges.

COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Major coverage during August revolved around the following stories:

1. Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) report on 'slowing' of Wikipedia
editing garners attention (August 5)- New Scientist magazine reported
on research by Ed Chi, a scientist at PARC, saying it =E2=80=9Cshows that t=
he
website's explosive growth is tailing off and also suggests the
community-created encyclopaedia has become less welcoming to new
contributors.=E2=80=9D Ed Chi took data showing that new article creation a=
nd
casual editor participation on the English Wikipedia has been slowing
since 2006, and interpreted it to suggest that the Wikipedia community
is becoming resistant to new content and new editors, which could lead
over time to a degradation in quality. The story was picked up by
Slashdot, as well as newspapers around the world including the Taipei
Times, the Guardian, and Australian newspaper The Age, bloggers, and
other media. Also
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17554-after-the-boom-is-wikipedia-hea=
ding-for-bust.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/aug/12/wikipedia-deletionist-incl=
usionist

2. Wikipedia launches iPhone mobile browser (August 20) - twitter and
blogs quickly converged on the news that the Wikimedia Foundation had
released the first official Wikipedia application on the Apple iTunes
store in August. The app received mixed reviews, but many noted that
it's open-source and will likely see considerable improvements as more
developers became involved.
http://mashable.com/2009/08/18/wikipedia-iphone-app/
http://www.itpro.co.uk/614161/official-wikipedia-app-heads-to-the-iphone
http://cybernetnews.com/free-wikipedia-iphone-app-launches/

3. Flagged Revisions tops the media charts (August 25)- In August, the
New York Times published a story about the upcoming implementation of
Flagged Revisions on the English Wikipedia, saying it =E2=80=9Cwould mark a
significant change in the anything-goes, anyone-can-edit-at-any-time
ethos of Wikipedia.=E2=80=9D This story was picked up by multiple media,
including the Wall Street Journal, PC Magazine, CNET, Salon magazine,
CNN and BBC News, as well as micro blogging and blogging traffic that
implied significant changes might be afoot or already active. Many
media blended the Flagged Revs and PARC stories, and interpreted both
negatively, predicting increased control in the hands of a dwindling
number of editors, and declaring =E2=80=9Cthe Wikipedia philosophy=E2=80=9D=
 dead. Many
media also lauded Wikipedia for acknowledging its increased influence,
and acting responsibly to tighten up its editorial processes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/technology/internet/25wikipedia.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8220220.stm

4. Wikimania 2009 in Argentina / Omidyar Grant (August 28-30)- This
year's Wikimania in Buenos Aires garnered considerable coverage in
Spanish, South American (predominantly Argentine) press. Richard
Stallman and Jimmy Wales made headlines, and stories tended to
highlight the importance of open-source culture in the region. English
press primarily focussed on the news of the Foundation's receipt of
the $2 million Omidyar grant as the primary thrust for coverage of
Wikimania, with several linked mentions of flagged revisions or
participation decline.
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3D8412179
http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/08/25/wikipedia-gets-2m-from-omidyar-ne=
twork/
http://www.wikimedia.org.ar/wiki/Prensa (right hand side of the page)
http://www.criticadigital.com/impresa/index.php?secc=3Dnota&nid=3D2977

During August, the Wikimedia Foundation participated in interviews
with BBC Newsnight (London, UK); Philadelphia Business Journal
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA); Byline Magazine (New York, New
York, USA); Herald Democrat (Sherman, Texas, USA); Wall Street Journal
(New York, New York, USA); Agence France Presse (San Francisco,
California, USA); La Voz de Galicia (A Coru=C3=B1a, Spain); GLZ Radio
(Jaffa, Israel); Time Magazine (Los Angeles, California, USA); Pagina
12 (Buenos Aires, Argentina); Print Magazine (Buenos Aires,
Argentina); La Nacion (Buenos Aires, Argentina); Sky News (London,
UK); Wall Street Journal (New York, New York, USA); New York Times
(New York, New York, USA); Terra TV (Buenos Aires, Argentina);
National Public Radio (Los Angeles, California & Washington DC, USA);
BBC News (London, UK); Associated Press (New York, New York, USA);
Financial Times (San Francisco, California, USA); CBC TV (Toronto,
Canada); Agence France Presse (San Francisco, California, USA);
CNN.com (Atlanta, Georgia, USA); Wired Magazine Italy; CNN TV
(Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

During August, the Wikimedia Foundation released 4 press releases.

=E2=80=9CWikimedia Foundation receives $500,000 in operational support form
Hewlett Foundation=E2=80=9D
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Hewlwett_Fdn_grant_Augus=
t_2009

=E2=80=9CWikimania 2009 kicks off in Buenos Aires=E2=80=9D
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimania_2009_media_adv=
isory

=E2=80=9COmidyar Network Commits $2 Million Grant to Wikimedia Foundation=
=E2=80=9D
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Omidyar_Network_Grant_Au=
gust_2009

=E2=80=9CWikimedia Foundation Announces New Appointments to Board of Truste=
es=E2=80=9D
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Board_Announcements_Augu=
st_2009

FUNDRAISING, GRANTS, & PARTNERSHIPS

The Wikimedia Foundation received 972 donations in August totaling
approximately USD 313,165. This included 2 major gifts which total USD
268,817. Year-to-date, the Foundation has raised USD 413,179 in
fundraising related revenuer, 6% of the annual goal of USD 7,500,00.

Rand Montoya and Anya Shyrokova have continued with preparations for
the annual fundraiser, and are working on a new mobile giving platform
and a variety of upgrades to CiviCRM (the open source customer
relationship management database used by the Foundation's fundraising
team to manage donor information).

In August, Wikimedia finalized two large grant commitments. The first,
a grant in the amount of USD 500,000 from the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation's Open Educational Resources program, supports
Wikimedia's general operations for the fiscal year 2009-2010. The
Hewlett Foundation's support acknowledges the important role Wikipedia
and the other Wikimedia Foundation projects play in making educational
information freely accessible to the world. The second grant, from
Omidyar Network, is a commitment of up to USD 2,000,000 over two years
in unrestricted funding to support the general operations and mission
of Wikimedia. A philanthropic investment firm, Omidyar Network
supports both for- and non-profits that achieve a positive social
impact. In addition to direct financial support, Omidyar Network will
dedicate internal resources and engage its network to support
Wikimedia's strategic planning process, communications work, and
recruiting. Thanks to Sara Crouse for developing these two grants.

In August the Foundation hired Mark Oppenheim of m/Oppenheim &
Associates to assist in the recruitment process for a Chief
Development Officer. m/Oppenheim & Associates is an executive
recruiting firm which specializes in the nonprofit and government
sectors. It has conducted searches for, for example, the Hewlett
Foundation, the X Prize Foundation, the University of Alberta, the
Science Fiction Museum, and the Daniel Pearl Foundation. Mark has been
asked to focus on finding the Wikimedia Foundation an innovative
development professional with a strong understanding of both internet
and traditional fundraising methods, with the goal of growing and
diversifying the Foundation's fundraising capacity. Mark's team will
conduct interviews with Wikimedia Foundation staff, Board members,
Advisory Board members and funders, in order to flesh out the
requirements for the job. It will then reach out to potential
candidates, and develop a shortlist of screened, interested people.
The search is expected to conclude by the end of December.

WIKIMANIA SCHOLARSHIPS

In August, Sara and Cary Bass, working with a team of volunteers,
finalized scholarship arrangements for Wikimania 2009. A total of USD
100,000 in scholarship funding was given out to 57 Wikimedians for
Wikimania 2009, with scholarship recipients attending Wikimania from
Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa, Australia,
South America, Europe, and North America. This year's scholarships
program was funded by The Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Wikimedia
Germany, Open Society Institute and the Wikimedia Foundation. By
comparison, in 2008, one funder supported the attendance of nine
individuals from Arab and Latin American regions at Wikimania
Alexandria, with a grant of about USD 10,000.

The increase in scope and scale of this year's program is, in part,
enabled by Wikimedia's new capacity to raise and manage funds, and to
coordinate the program with staff and administrative support.
Moreover, this year's program was facilitated by the dedicated work of
a volunteer committee and combined, organized volunteer effort that
has not existed in prior years. We believe it was the most rigorous,
transparent and equitable scholarships process in Wikimedia history.

Scholarship recipients were chosen through an application and
selection process run by an international committee of nine (seven
longtime volunteers, Cary Bass, and Sara Crouse), who met regularly on
IRC and worked together over the course of six months. The committee
determined the selection criteria for applicants, provided technical
support for development and execution of the applications and review
processes, and communications support on-wiki and via OTRS. The
committee reviewed 1200 applications against volunteer-defined
selection criteria.

This year's scholarships program was both a learning process and a
pilot for future years and programs to come. The Foundation is very
grateful to the committee for working productively together as the
process evolved. Now that Wikimania is over, Sara will survey
scholarship recipients, and then assess and document what we have
learned from the process to apply to future years. Questions to be
considered will likely include:

In 2009, several funders restricted their contribution (e.g.,
supporting only applications from a specified geographic region). This
was administratively burdensome, and also presents the risk that
funders' goals will conflict with Wikimedia's goals. In future years,
perhaps solely unrestricted scholarships funding should be sought and
accepted.

The current selection criteria privileges experienced Wikimedians. In
future years, perhaps a number of scholarships should be reserved for
promising new Wikimedians.

Questions about roles and responsibilities. We learned a lot this year
about who was suited to what type of work. In future years, do we want
to refine and finetune who does what, to better support the process.

When the assessment document is completed, Sara will post it publicly
for review and discussion.

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

In August, Veronique and Bill prepared for the annual audit which will
be conducted by the auditing firm KPMG.

Also in August, Veronique prepared for a meeting of the Audit
Committee, which took place on August 12. The audit committee members
for 2009-10 are: Ad Huikeshoven, Alan Bauer, Anders Wennersten, Matt
Bisanz, Renata Stasaityte, Sandy Gallanter, Stu West (Chair of the
Audit Committee and Treasurer of the Board of Trustees), and, as
observers, Michael Snow and Sue Gardner. This was the first meeting of
the 2009-10 audit committee: the agenda included a walkthough of the
2007-08 audited financial statements, presentation of the audit plan
for 2008-09, a general discussion around risk, and a discussion of
investment strategy.

LEGAL

During August, Mike and Erik worked on the Wikimedia Foundation's
response to legal issues raised by the National Portrait Gallery in
the United Kingdom. This involved seeking and obtaining independent
legal representation for a volunteer editor involved in the case, and
also working directly with the NPG to find an amicable resolution to
the dispute.

Also, pursuant to the Board's April resolution regarding trademark
policy, Mike completed a draft of a revised Wikimedia trademark
policy, and circulated it among other staff members for review and
feedback. The draft policy aims, among other things, to make clearer
how chapters may use Wikimedia trademarks non-commercially, and that
to some degree they may do so without seeking prior approval.

TRAVEL AND CONFERENCES

In August, Sue Gardner participated in the Aspen Institute forum =E2=80=9CO=
f
the Press: Models for Preserving American Journalism,=E2=80=9D which conven=
ed
leaders and experts to respond to the crumbling of traditional media
business models, by exploring potential new models for sustaining the
journalistic functions of the press that are essential to democratic
governance. Other participants included former U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright, Google's Marissa Mayer, Craig Newmark from
Craigslist, and Vivian Schiller, President and CEO of National Public
Radio. The proceedings were live-streamed, and occasioned media
coverage and micro-blogging.

Also in August, Veronique attended a professional development
conference offered by the Center for Creative Leadership in
Greensboro, North Carolina.





--=20
=EF=BB=BFSue Gardner
Executive Director
Wikimedia Foundation

415 839 6885 office
415 816 9967 cell

Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate