On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 4:58 PM, Pete Forsyth <peteforsyth(a)gmail.com> wrote:
* The general solution is not so much to adapt the Chapter model to fit
other cases, as to establish that other cases are fine *without* carrying
the name "chapter".
The Wikimedia movement has a new approach to funds dissemination; being a
chapter is not the only way to get grants or put the name "Wikipedia" (or
"Wikimedia" etc.) to good use.
Specifically: Wikimedia is recognizing 'new models of affiliation', which
means that various kinds of groups, including those organized around a
common interest that isn't geographically bounded (librarians!) or those
which span some kind of non-legal geography (Cascadia). I can also +1 what
SJ just said.
I would love to see the WM-US group explore really innovative ideas about
what such a geographically broad organization might do and what themes it
might encompass; how it might help local meetup groups and local
Wikimedians, and what activities a group might take on. Like Pete, I
personally tend to gravitate more towards planning events and outreach than
planning new organizations. I doubt we're alone in this; however, despite
that it's been historically difficult to keep meetup groups going in the
proposed Cascadia geography, despite high numbers of wiki-interested people
in many areas (Seattle, Portland, BC, SF all have strong collaborative tech
communities). So I wonder how a new organization might work with or help
that.
Lastly, since this is the San Francisco area list and we haven't seen a
whole lot of local activities recently: I want to remind everyone that
organizing a meetup or other activity is as simple as posting a notice
here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/San_Francisco
and then letting us all know about it on the list!
Feel free to use the talk page or the list to discuss logistics and ideas,
too. I would personally love to see more activities, or just social
get-togethers, and more stuff in our greater region (the South Bay,
Sacramento!) would be cool too.
There are a lot of possibilities that *don't* require a formal organization
to pull off, and a lot of people in this group (we have a couple hundred
subscribers) who are game to do something!
cheers,
Phoebe