[Wikimedia-l] First user groups approved

[Bence Damokos]

Hi all,

I am happy to inform you that the Affiliations Committee has approved the
formation of two Wikimedia User Groups this week: MediaWiki Group San
Francisco and MediaWiki Group Promotion.

These are the first of the new types of affiliates recognized under the new
framework approved last year.

A little bit of background:

== MediaWiki Group San Francisco ==
MediaWiki Group San
Francisco<http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Groups/Proposals/San_Francisco>is
a local group of MediaWiki developers and other interested people,
focused on outreach and coordination of ad-hoc activities in the San
Francisco Bay Area of the United States.

It is currently being led by Quim Gil, a WMF employee tasked with
encouraging the formation of MediaWiki groups and a further eight
Wikimedians have signed up. If you are in the area and are interested in
participating, sign up on the linked page or get in contact with the group
on their talk page.

The Affiliations Committee's initial recognition is valid until 31 December
2013.

== MediaWiki Group Promotion ==
MediaWiki Group
Promotion<http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Groups/Proposals/Promotion>is
a MediaWiki Group with a thematic focus on promoting MediaWiki both
through offline events, designing merchandise and collaborative online work
improving outreach materials.

The group is co-led by Quim Gil and User:Varnent, a US-based volunteer
developer, with seven further members signed up (from different parts of
the world). If you are interested in their work, feel free to join them, by
signing up on the page and engaging on the talk page.

The Affiliations Committee's initial recognition is valid until 31 December
2013.

== Wikimedia User Groups ==

Wikimedia User Groups are one of the three new types of affiliations
created last year to empower volunteers wanting to conduct offline work.

User group status is meant to be an easy form of affiliation, where the
main requirements are an agreed goal, plans for offline work, at least
three people participating and a public wiki page with all the relevant
information).
User groups are by default non-incorporated, although they may choose to
incorporate (this is not the case with these two groups).
One of the requirements of the status, and especially of its renewal is to
publish a short report of activities at least once a year.

Under the movement roles
recommendations<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_affiliation_models/User_Groups>,
user groups are to be recognized in a quick and easy process directly by
the Affiliations Committee, for a fixed, renewable time-period and they are
to enjoy limited trademark use and simplified access to grants.

== MediaWiki Groups ==
Both groups belong to the specialized subgroup of  MediaWiki
Groups<http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Groups> proposed
by the Engineering department of WMF – under the coordination of Quim Gil –
as a way to encourage the development of the volunteer developer
communities, in a way similar to other user groups in the open source
movement. Upon consultation with the community the model was harmonized
with the existing Wikimedia User Group model.

Thus MediaWiki Groups  form a subset of Wikimedia User Groups in a way,
where the group agrees to fulfill a number of additional criteria listed at
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Groups (most importantly, a clear local or
thematic focus, and a consultation with the developer community in addition
to the criteria<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requirements_for_future_user_groups>of
becoming a Wikimedia User Group).

MediaWiki Groups are recognized if they meet these additional requirements
as well as the requirements of regular user groups. Quim Gil has been
invited to the Affiliations Committee to advise the Committee on meeting
the former requirements and to relay any relevant information arising out
of the consultations in the developer community.
(In the current cases, the Committee has in addition reviewed the relevant
discussions directly, due to the involvement of Quim as the initial
promoters of the groups.)

Best regards,
Bence Damokos
Chair, Affiliatons Committee