Hi Wikimedians,
The "chapter system" in the US and North America is a work in progress.
In addition to the two full regional chapters (New York City - where I am,
and Washington, DC), there are also usergroups for the New England,
Cascadia/Northwest, and North Carolina Triangle regions, with other groups
still in the process of formation.
There is a historical difference from the large-budget Western European
chapters and the US situation, which has been more grassroots and never
participated in things like fundraiser payment-sharing, and the funding for
WMF HQ in San Francisco indeed shouldn't be conflated with funding of US
volunteer-based activities.
If anyone else is interested in organizing regionally in any part of the US
/ North America, feel free to get in touch; Wikimedia NYC and others would
be very glad to help you :)
Thanks,
Pharos
On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 11:15 AM, Robert Fernandez <wikigamaliel(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
The US may be too geographically spread out to develop
a robust chapter
system. We have vibrant chapters in a few dense population areas.
Wikimedia District of Columbia is particularly awesome. But for most US
editors there isn't a critical mass of editors in some areas. Often we
work with with chapters that are geographically distant. There's at least
two of us on the Board of Directors of WMDC who don't live particularly
close to DC.
On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 11:00 AM, Jane Darnell <jane023(a)gmail.com> wrote:
"We also do not have a strong chapter
system"
This has always puzzled me, because I am a firm believer in the chapter
system, despite its faults and limitations. Isn't it time to address this
for the more active areas of the USA?
On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 10:43 AM, Andrew Lih <andrew.lih(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
GerardM,
As much as I agree with you on many things related to Wikimania, your
statement about en.wp and USA being “over subsidized” is off base.
For the last few years I’ve held my tongue as American applicants get a
fraction of 10% of all the funding for Wikimania scholarships. That’s
because 10% is allocated to all of North America, so US based folks
compete
with Canadians for that small slice of the pie.
Indeed, key community
members from the US could not afford to go to Wikimania, and did not,
because of the limited funding. We also do not have a strong chapter
system
> to make up for that shortcoming, where European chapters can, and do,
> underwrite their local members with other funds.
>
> I am not against the bulk of the scholarship money going to
> underrepresented developing markets and giving new voices a chance to
> attend. But I wanted to dispel the myth that Americans are always
gorging
https://wikimania2013.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships#Scholarship_selection…
>
https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships#Selection_process
>
>
> > -Andrew
>
> > On Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at
6:49 AM, Gerard Meijssen <
> > gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > > Hoi,
> > > Pine with all due respect, the USA is not the problem and English
> > Wikipedia
> > > has been overly subsidised, given way too much attention. Indeed
having
> > > more people from the USA attend Wikimania is not a good value
> > proposition.
> > > The USA and Britain is overrepresented as it is.
> > > Thanks,
> > > GerardM
>
>
> > > On 10 February
2016 at 10:13, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> > > > From a US
perspective, even here in the global north we have plenty
> of
> > > > students and middle-class participants for whom $1500 in travel,
food
> > and
> > > > lodging plus 5 days away from work, family, or school amounts to a
> > > > significant or impossible sacrifice.
> >
>
> > > > Perhaps
someone could tell us the statistics for how many people
have
> > > attended Wikimania each year who
were not WMF employees, FDC or WMF
> Board
> > > members, scholarship recipients, or financially sponsored by WMF
> > affiliates
> > > or WEF. Of those people who pay 100% of their own costs plus the
cost
> > of
> > > > admission tickets, my guess is that many live within a day's
travel
> > time
> > > by
> > > > train, car, or bus.
> >
>
> > > > I would
hypothesize that thematic conferences also have a low
> > percentage
> > > of
> > > > people who pay 100% of their own costs, but that regional
conferences
> > > which
> > > > have lower travel costs for the average attendee receive modestly
> > higher
> > > > percentages of unsubsidized attendance.
> >
>
> > > > It
seems to me that WMF finacial support for conferences, including
> > > > regional and thematic conferences, will continue to be the norm.
> >
>
> > > > Whether
$1 million is appropriate for Wikimania and whether a more
> > modest
> > > > budget would be appropriate and feasable are different questions
that
> > > merit
> > > > careful reflection.
> >
>
> > > > Pine
> > > > _______________________________________________
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