Meeting:Committee (2024-02-19)
This meeting has two pages: one restricted-access page (only for members of the current Board) and one public-access page (which may have sensitive information redacted).
- Present: Amanda, Jeremy, Kelly, Emily, Bunty, (Belinda executive officer)
- Apologies: Peter, Tom, Elliot
Meeting opened: Date: Monday 19 February 2024 Time / time zone: 4pm AWDT / 6.30pm ACDT / 7pm AEDT
Acknowledgement of Country
Previous meeting
Minutes of previous meeting:
- Monday 15 January 2024 Meeting:Committee_(2024-01-15)
2024-01-15-Wikimedia Australia Board meeting
Matters for Noting
Reports
Executive Officer report
Know My Name events at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery (10 Feb) and NGA (16 Mar)
Alice and Pru held a very successful Know My Name editathon at MPRG on Saturday 9 February. Many thanks to Linda Pascal, volunteer at the NGA for help with preparing lists and researching references. Twelve participants attended and it was very positive. Some participants are interested in editing in areas including women’s literature and Queerfilm. The Dashboard of what was achieved is here: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Mornington_Peninsula_Regional_Gallery,_Wikimedia_Australia,/Know_My_Name_Edit-a-thon_Mornington_Peninsula_(2024-02-10)/home
Partner Projects
The four projects each have a project page in the Partnerships section of our website with links to Dashboards, blogs, and other useful information. WMAU staff are holding monthly catchups with each Project, as well as bringing all Residents together to share their experiences and learn from each other. Key achievements or significant outcomes will be posted here and also in the WMAU members newsletter.
ESEAP Preparatory Council
Most of the members met in Kuala Lumpur for a planning workshop. Belinda was unable to attend in-person but connected via Google-meet. Preparation for the ESEAP conference in Kota Kinabalu, the elections for the ESEAP Council, and strategic planning for ESEAP region was workshopped. Will continue meeting online on a fortnightly basis.
First Nations and Wikipedia Report
Thank you for providing comments on Professor Bronwyn Carlson's draft report “I really like Wikipedia, but I don’t trust it: Understanding First Nations peoples’ experiences using Wikipedia as readers and/or editors.”
Belinda provided our feedback to Professor Carlson. Professor Carlson has suggested that we organise a cover design and Belinda will be in contact with a First Nations Graphic Designer who may have capacity.
AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning online foundation course
AIATSIS Core Cultural foundation course was delayed due to AIATSIS staff unavailability from opening a new office in Alice Springs. However everyone should now have access - details emailed out on 13 February. Let Belinda know if there are any issues.
Australian Citizen Science Association (ACSA)
Belinda, Ali and Alice met with Jessie Oliver (EO of ACSA) and discussed options for various ways of partnering with events, social media sharing, projects, etc. Jessie is discussing with her Management Board and will respond by late February.
DGR status
No update. Belinda has advised Daniel that our 2022-2023 reports are now on ACNC website.
James Gaunt update on Wiki Learn course development
James having regular meetings with various WMF staff. He has developed scripts and Melissa from WikiLearn is setting up a test version of the course for development. James (and WMF) have requested that when the course is published that links are available on WMAU website and promoted by us.
Franklin Women wiki workshops July 2024
Belinda and Alison met with Melina Georgousakis from Franklin Women, who has advised they have been successful in gaining financial support from Abbvie (previous funding partner) for two Wikipedia editathon/workshop events in Sydney & Canberra around 25 July 2024 (week commencing 22 July). Due to previous associations they have approached Caddie to be the lead facilitator at both events. However they are developing a budget which will cover travel and accommodation costs for WMAU staff to be there in support, and will also make a donation to WMAU. Franklin Women will consult with us on format, align to our strategic priorities, and will provide a plan for consideration at March Board meeting for approval. WMAU previously gave in principle support so Melina is seeking assurance that we can still commit to these events.
Events planning 2024
Upcoming events
- NT Environment Wikipedia edit-a-thon — Saturday 24 February 2024
- Introducing Wikipedia - March 2024 — Wednesday 6 March 2024
- Drop in and Wiki - March 2024 — Wednesday 6 March 2024
- Art + Feminism Wiki Edit-a-thon — Saturday 9 March 2024
- Online Community Meeting - March 2024 — Wednesday 13 March 2024
- Know My Name NGA Wikipedia edit-a-thon — Saturday 16 March 2024
- Introducing Wikipedia - April 2024 — Wednesday 3 April 2024
- Drop in and Wiki - April 2024 — Wednesday 3 April 2024
- ESEAP conference 2024, Kota Kinabalu, Borneo - 10-12 May 2024
- Wikimedia Hackathon 2024 — Friday 3 May 2024, Tallinn, Estonia, 3rd to 5th May 2024
- Wikihistories 2024: Wikipedia and/as Data — Wednesday 19 June 2024
- Wikimania 2024 — Wednesday 7– Saturday 10 August 2024 in Katowice, Poland.
All events can be [on wesbite].
Social media report
January Statistics
- Total followers as of 31 January, 2024
- Twitter: 3546 (up by 64)
- Facebook: 1886 (up by 7)
- Instagram: 501 (up by 10)
- Linkedin: 238 (up by 16)
- Mastodon: 163 (up by 19)
- YouTube: 110 (up by 15)
- Eventbrite: 53
- Announce monthly newsletter: 477 (up by 1)
On our WMAU website we published 7 news stories:
- Wikimedia Australia January 2024 Update
- Wikipedia and/as Data 2024
- Call Out for WikiCon Australia 2024 Planning Subcommittee
- Making your Wiki beautiful with the WMAU MediaWiki skin
- EPA Victoria WiR January 2024 Update
- 2024 Partner Projects Announced
- Public Domain Day 2024
President's Report
Online Safety Bill consultation - WMAU and WMF joint submission
Australia Government announcement
Australia Public consultation (due Feb 16, 2024)
WMF submission to BOSE (November 2021)
WMG deep dive on BOSE blog post (June 2022)
Amanda, Bunty, Elliott, Belinda and WMF staff contributed to a joint submission to the Federal Department of Communications regarding the Online Safety (Basic Online Safety Expectations) Amendment Determination 2023. WMF contributors included Rachel Arinii Judhistari, Jan Gerlach, Ellen Magallanes, Ziski Putz, Kat Gatewood and Lucy Compton-Reid (WMUK).
This was a very productive collaboration and there may be further opportunities to work with the WMF advocacy team on public interest projects and open knowledge advocacy. No further action required at this stage, but will remain aware the Department for Communication may request follow-up information or a meeting.
Secretary's Report
Membership Report
January
- 0 new membership applications
- 1 lapsed member removed
Treasurer's Report
Overview of the grant budget at 7 months:
- Strategy 1: Engagement - utilised 66%
- Strategy 2: Equity & Inclusion - utilised 76%
- Strategy 3: Capacity Building (set costs for Staffing and Admin removed) - utilised 58%
Interest bearing account - term deposit or savings account
Peter has wording from the bank. Now need motion approved, then signed minutes and an in person meeting with the bank (only Amanda and Peter required). Please see the Matters for Decision section of the minutes.
Matters for decision
New Business Cash Reserves account
Wikimedia Australia would like to set up a new Business Cash Reserves account and/or a term deposit account for the purpose of earning interest. Any accounts set up for this purpose will have the following signatories:
- Peter Neish (Treasurer)
- Amanda Lawrence (President)
The following account rules will operate: 2 to sign for transactions and for updating any account rules. There are no changes to the current online administrator access.
Note: Signatures refer to transactions that occur in a branch. Online access is managed separately and can be configured by WMAU authorised online bank administrators.
Motion: That the setting up of an account or accounts for earning interest be endorsed and approved. (MOVED BY EMAIL on 20 February)
Matters for Discussion
Year 3 Budget
Belinda is working on a draft Year 3 budget with Peter and Exec team to review what has changed (context, assumptions, new programs) and our priorities. Amanda requested an extension by a few days so our next Board meeting can approve the budget, and we can submit it to Jacqueline Chen by 19 March 2024.
AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning online foundation course
AIATSIS Core Cultural foundation course was delayed due to AIATSIS staff unavailability from opening a new office in Alice Springs. However everyone should now have access - details emailed out on 13 February. Let Belinda know if there are any issues.
Q. How are we going to work through this? Board members to review a module each month in time for the board meeting. Brief discussion will happen at each board meeting as well as via slack channel.
Membership strategy
Research on association of new members in mature affiliates by Wiki Movimento Brasil. This report provides interesting information on affiliate membership and provides a prompt to think about what role our members have for us as we grow. Provides some comparative data to consider. Although Germany has over 70,000 members others are more like 200-300. This will support our strategy
Meeting Close
8:30pm
Next meeting
Monday 18 March 2024