[Wikimediaau-l] Sydney meetup write up

[Nick Jenkins]

> I thought some might be interested to hear a little news of the Sydney meetup last night in the esteemed environs of The Paragon
Hotel at Circular Quay....

Yeah, I had been meaning to send out a quick summary, and wrote this before reading Peter's a few mins ago, so apologies for the
overlap:

Quick summary of Sydney meetup:
* We wanted to pay our $40 membership fees to someone, anyone. Waiting on announcement of Wikimedia Australia bank details & payment
instructions so that we can transfer membership fees to correct account.
* Silly party hats worn to mark the 0th birthday of Wikimedia Australia. Pic:
http://files.nickj.org/images/wikimeetup/Sydney%20Wikimeetup%20Aug%202008%20with%20party%20hats.jpg
* Nominated/badgered Liam into being/running for some kind of Sydney/NSW representative as part of Wikimedia Australia.
* Heard about Wikimania in Egypt from Tim/Angela/Liam. Summary: "Hot, but not as hot an Cairo. No safety issues. Food was safe,
apart from a dodgy salad place in Cairo".
* Got freebie bookmarks and paper pads from the dictionaryofsydney.org
* Found out that Private Musing's mastermind/Einstein factor topic of expertise would be: "wikidrama as it relates to bannings,
blockings, admins, and general misdeeds & political machinations on the English Wikipedia".
* Next meetup may be run jointly with Wiki Wednesdays, perhaps in October. Private Musings to send a proposal to Liam that he can
then take to City of Sydney asking about using a meeting room after hours for this purpose.
* 4 of the 5 people would travel to Melbourne for a national wikicamp on a weekend in January, if such an event were held.
* From the silliness department: Things your laptop can reveal about you:
http://files.nickj.org/images/wikimeetup/Tim-googles-himself-busted.jpg ;-) Confession: Liam inserted the " is hot" part, so it's a
partial fake.

-- All the best,
Nick.

-----Original Message-----
From: wikimediaau-l-bounces at lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikimediaau-l-bounces at lists.wikimedia.org]On Behalf Of private musings
Sent: Thursday, 14 August 2008 11:46 AM
To: Wikimedia-au
Subject: [Wikimediaau-l] Sydney meetup write up


G'day folks....

I thought some might be interested to hear a little news of the Sydney meetup last night in the esteemed environs of The Paragon
Hotel at Circular Quay....

Witty Lama waxed lyrical about the successes of Wikimania (whilst Angela bemoaned the water quality at Cairo Novotels...)
Tim spoke of some of the million things on his to-do list (including updating the Bomis archive - and can anyone lay their hands on
a Bomis T-Shirt?)
Nick brought party hats. (we didn't ask why.. just smiled, nodded, and had a pointy head for a while.....)
...and I gave everyone full details about the riddle wrapped in an enigma which is my professional endeavor (I could tell you, but
quite literally, I'd have to kill you.....)

I thoroughly enjoyed the gathering, and we did in fact cover (as ever) a wide range of chit chat, gossip (which worryingly seems to
be my department) and discussion of many things Wikimedia. We also came up with some ideas for things that could happen in the not
too distant future;

We're going to try and encourage a Wiki Wednesday on the first Wednesday in October, perhaps at the City of Sydney's 'Custom House'
building in Circular Quay (fantastic venue, good for perhaps up to 30?) - we'd like to begin rattling the cages of those involved in
the wider wiki world, and starting the 'form ralationships' part of the chapter mission. All ideas for presentations (and especially
those interested in presenting) should feel free to use this list to put their hand up, or share an idea...

We also felt that it would fantastic if the AGM could have happened by then - keeping momentum would be really good, following the
great news of the official incorporation! Obviously enthusiasm was high last night, and I don't want to speak out of turn too much -
but on a personal note, I also hope that Witty Lama (Liam Wyatt for those who haven't 'met' him yet) can still be persuaded to stand
for the executive committee of the chapter - I think he'd make a fantastic addition, and it was good to hear a wide range of
interesting ideas and possibilities across various levels...

If the Wiki Wednesday idea has legs then I guess we may do another informal meet sometime in Sep. - if anyone out there is
considered coming out of the woodwork, and saying 'Hi' - I'd thoroughly recommend it!

best,

Peter
PM.