Meeting: 2017 AGM/Secretary Report

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''Secretary 2017 - Tom Hogarth <tom.hogarth@wikimedia.org.au>''
''Secretary 2017 - Tom Hogarth <tom.hogarth@wikimedia.org.au>''
[[Category:2017 AGM]]

Revision as of 08:44, 7 October 2017

Whereas annual reports are locations of identifying people well for what they have done and what they have contributed to the organization in the last year, I would like to start with a few organizational comments.

Administratively, the 2016-2017 year has been interesting, in that eficiencies in transition practices between succeeding committees in relation to governance and administration show a definite developing organizational improvement.

Relationships with external bodies such as CAV, ATO and others have also improved, and a number of long standing issues have become successfully resolved.

As with any aspirational perspective for such an exercise as an Australia wide group, things cannot be done in isolation. I would like to thank the 2016-2017 committee members, Caddie, Robert, Pru and Gideon for their support, and their tolerant understanding of some of the more strenuous aspects of skype oriented committee meetings.

Also within the organization, Kerry, Sam, in particular have been of very important support and help. Also Australian non members of WMAU - but nevertheless important members of the wikipedian editing community have also been of great help.

Administratively I have been involved as the co-ordinator of the Wikimedia Australia Western Australian branch - now more aptly identified as Wiki Club West. I would like to thank the active members of the West Australian group, of which retiring president Gideon Digby is the other continual member since 2007 - for their involvement and enthusiasm to keep going with vital support for the projects that the WA group is involved. I would like to identify Mitch Ames of Perth as worthy of the joint Wiki Club West contributor of the year for his work on content improvement along with Darren Hughes of Albany as the most consistent content contributor.

Two events that took up effort and time of the WA branch were the WWW conference meetup in April, and the State Library residency in May to August. Both of these events will be explored further in a later more detailed report.

At a personal level - the Melbourne event mentioned in the Presidents report, attended by the WMF CEO Katherine Maher was a pivotal event in the Australian involvement in the wider Wikimedia movement activities. We had had a WMF employee specifically in Australia who was introducing to a widely spread group of editors - the whole perspective upon the WMF Strategy process - being explained and offered to a group of Australian editors.

Subsequently, as the Australian Strategy Co-ordinator, and also as a member of the WMAU committee, I proceeded to visit all other capital cities except Hobart and Canberra - to seek out and meet with editors, and former editors and also people in libraries and archives to gain an in person engagement on strategy issues. I was fortunate that the State Library of WA space was available as a base for this activity, and very grateful for the people who were able to contribute to the strategy process.

As if the WA branch, and strategy process were not enough, I then was very fortunate to be the WMAU full scholarship recipient to the Montreal Wikimania. Being the third Wikimania to which I was able to attend, I am very grateful to the WMAU committee for the opportunity, and also was very pleased that for the first time since London (intervening Wikimanias being Mexico City and Italy) that four Australians were present at the Wikimania event - three from Western Australia, probably a first time.

None of this at all would have been possible without the support of my wife, Anne - a non wikipedian. I much appreciate her understanding.

A considerable amount of delayed reporting and housekeeping on the Wikimedia wiki, and other locations is still due, I do hope the new committee will be able to support continued efforts in this area with understanding and tolerance.

October 2017

Secretary 2017 - Tom Hogarth <tom.hogarth@wikimedia.org.au>

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