[Wikimediaau-l] Sydney Wiki wednesday

[Liam Wyatt]

Dear all,
At the recent Sydney meetup one thing that was discussed was the possibility
of beginning a regular wiki-wednesday meeting at some official venue whereby
the chapter could create a "presence" in the city's cultural scene and host
discussion and networking with likeminded individuals and organisations.

One of the venues raised as a goal was Customs House. Now, I happen to work
at the Sydney Town Hall and am in the same office as the people who make
approvals for community hiring of these venues. So, today I asked the
relevant person (see forwarded email below) about this possibility.

This is definitely possible but it does require some proper paperwork.
Attached is a copy of the "reduced rates" application form as well as
guidelines. Also linked in the email below are the various venues available.
The one we were talking about is the "Barnet long room" on the first floor
of customs house. You can see it in the first link - "business venues".
Snazzy!

The thing that was emphasised to me was that we would need to make a case
for how this event caters to a *demonstrable* community and benefits the
greater community of the City of Sydney. This would be especially good if we
can show interest from a wide range of sectors - non-profit, education,
government, commercial. If we can't show appeal to a diverse audience then
we have greatly reduced chances. Furthermore, we would need to show that we
have looked in to private sponsorship/support for the events. For example,
if we were to invite IBM to the events (as they do use wikis in their
internal projects) then that would show a good range of interested
stakeholders but it would also raise the question of asking them to support
the event. I presume we would need to charge an entry fee of some sorts and
therefore we also have to show some form of a business case and costings.

As you can see in the email below the process takes several weeks once the
forms are filled out which themselves require some effort. So, this will not
happen next month if we want to do this. Perhaps it is too soon to be
thinking along these lines but I pass the information on nevertheless. I of
course have no 'sway' in the matter here. I can submit the application by
hand but it is by no means my 'department' to sign for this (just to make
that clear).

So, if anyone wants to take this up and start putting something together I
am more than happy to assist. Furthermore, Kate (who's email is below) is
happy to be contacted if we need assistance. I would love to see this get
off the ground but it would require a fair amount of work and forward
planning if we were to make it a regular gig. I believe user:PrivateMusings
sort-of volunteered to look into this, so.... Over to you!

Best,
*Liam Wyatt a.k.a. [[Witty Lama]]
*
*Multimedia Coordinator*
*Dictionary of Sydney*
**
(02) 9265 9828
GPO Box 1591, Sydney NSW, 2001
www.dictionaryofsydney.org
william.wyatt at dictionaryofsydney.org


 ------------------------------
*From:* Kate Murray
*Sent:* Monday, 18 August 2008 1:20 PM
*To:* William Wyatt
*Subject:* Reduced Rates Application From

 Hi Liam,

As discussed, see attached the Reduced Rates Application Form.

Process is:
Check availability & book venue (with venue management), all specs/contact
details on website:
- Major Venues
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Business/VenuesForHire/Default.asp
- Community Venues
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Community/CommunityVenues/Default.asp

Complete and return the form to me (will take several weeks to process), I
make a recommendation which goes through our Director then onto the CEO for
approval, and you are notified by mail.

Best,


Kate Murray

Cultural Development Manager

City Of Sydney

Tel:   02 9265 9480

Mob: 0404 884 830

www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

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