[Wikimedia-l] Wikivoyage logo

[Maggie Dennis]

Hello, all.

I'm delighted to issue an update here. :)

Even though Michelle Paulson is out until Thursday because she was
subpoenaed as a witness in a trial (unrelated to WMF), she has continued
talking to WTO about the possibility of extending the end of July deadline
they had already granted us. We now have until the end of August.
Obviously, this gives us considerably more time to work out the best
process for choosing the logo and getting things in place. I'm so grateful
that Michelle has continued working on this and that WTO is being so
reasonable about timing. And I really appreciate those people who are
discussing the procedure at Meta. :)

If you want to join on that discussion, again, it's here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Logo_selection_procedure

Maggie



On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 12:47 PM, Maggie Dennis <mdennis at wikimedia.org>wrote:

> Hello, all.
>
> I've just posted an announcement by legal on Meta (
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikivoyage/Logo_announcement) about the
> Wikivoyage logo - unfortunately, we are going to have to choose a new one.
> To save you all from having to click on the link, I'll reproduce the
> announcement at the bottom of my email.
>
> Sometime in the next couple of weeks, we will need to launch a contest for
> the new Wikivoyage logo, but first I'm hoping to get feedback and
> assistance in making the best process for that possible. We had been
> considering ways to optimize logo selection by the community, with the idea
> that we would have plenty of time to talk about the process before needing
> it. Unfortunately, we now need something quite quickly. Accordingly, I'd be
> really grateful for feedback on the process, which has been posted here:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Logo_contest_procedure
>
> You can read a little more about it here:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Logo_contest_procedure
>
> I hope you will share your questions, comments and suggestions there.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Maggie
>
> ****
>
> As many of you know, the community held a contest to design and decide
> upon the new logo that would come to represent Wikivoyage, the latest open
> and collaborative project to be hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. After
> review of quite a few fantastic entries and much debate, the logo below was
> decided upon by community consensus: [omitted; see linked discussion]
>
> Unfortunately, both the Foundation and several members of the community
> discovered that the eventually chosen logo bore a striking resemblance to
> the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) logo: [omitted; see linked discussion]
>
> At that time, the Foundation reviewed the two logos and believed that,
> while some risk existed, there were significant enough differences between
> the designs and the markets the two organizations occupied for both logos
> to co-exist.
>
> Since then, the Foundation has received a cease-and-desist letter from the
> WTO, requesting that we change the logo. While we wish that the WTO agreed
> with our assessment that the two logos contain substantial differences and
> could co-exist, we understand their concern. We still believe that there
> are some significant differences between the Wikivoyage logo and the WTO,
> however, such arguments are not guaranteed to win if we were to legally
> oppose this request because there are also some substantial similarities.
> With this in mind, as well as the fact that the Wikivoyage logo is still
> relatively new and has not had a chance to build significant brand
> recognition yet, we believe the better solution is to hold a new community
> contest for a new logo.
>
> We believe that the community is the best body to decide what logo should
> represent their hard work and hope that interested community members will
> take this opportunity to once again showcase their creativity and talent by
> submitting designs. The WTO has been very understanding of the Wikimedia
> movement’s values and need for community consensus and has agreed to grant
> us ample time to develop a new logo through community processes. (Please
> see the proposed Logo contest procedure<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Logo_contest_procedure>.)
> That said, we hope to begin the process of community consultation and input
> in the next few days so that the new logo can be in place by the end of
> July. With that, we look forward to seeing new designs!
>
>
> Michelle Paulson <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mpaulson_(WMF)>
> Legal and Community Advocacy
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
>
>
> --
> Maggie Dennis
> Senior Community Advocate
> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
>



-- 
Maggie Dennis
Senior Community Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.