Meeting:Committee (2011-08-21)

Start: 15:00 hours [Log: 15:05] AEST on #wmau-comm (irc://irc.freenode.net/wmau-comm)

Attendance

  • Attendance: John (Chair), Adam [Log 15:44], Andrew [15:48], Anne (Minutes), Charles, Craig, Brian (Observer)
  • Apologies: Nil
  • Absences: Nil

Minutes

Motion: That the committee accepts the previous meetings from April through to July.

  • Moved: John
  • Seconded: Charles
  • Support: Anne, Craig
  • Motion carried without dissent [Log: 15:08]

Reports

August public meeting - 7th August

A very good meeting, with an attendance of nineteen Wikimedians all contributing to the discussion about the upcoming AGM and the Chapter's strategic planning; as well the proposals - camera equipment program; Wikipedia loves...my town; affiliated organisations; and AustWiki Conference 2012.

Membership report

Currently membership is steady however we continue to face a significant number of non-renewals at end of financial year. Procedures can be developed for following up on a quicker renewal turnaround.

John produced a chart of membership size vs year of establishment which shows the membership size grows as the chapter ages. WMAu is not leading the 2008 Chapters, and are half way. Chapters of similar maturity are also addressing the question of membership retention and may find the logarithmic chart useful.

Improving statistical analysis was discussed taking the membership-fundraising nexus into consideration and introducing categories of membership such as friends of Wikimedia - 'supporters' as free non-voting members; open the wiki to non-member editors.

commons:File:Chapter_membership_size_by_year_approved.png

Finance Report

The Chapter's fundraising has been the main consideration at this time, involving ongoing negotiations with Wikimedia Foundation, and the draft copy of the grant agreement proposed to replace the fundraising agreement has been circulated to the committee. Discussions include the inclusion of WMAU-specific clauses into the draft agreement; future opportunities to return to the method of the 2010 fundraising; the importance of WMAu retaining approval or veto over messages as is the case in our current agreement; and the need to insert a clause into the grants agreement stipulating WMF comply with all relevant Australian legislation when fundraising in Australia. It is anticipated the grant will be in the vicinity of $100,000.

The comm wiki fundraiser overview to be completed, in all columns.

Financial statements are awaiting completion dependent on clarification of PayPal balances reports.

Discussion on the choice of auditor better suited if Brisbane-based. To be agreed on after completion of the Public Officer's next reports regarding the NSW fundraising agreement.

Brian to follow up on the BAS paperwork and Craig to look into the GST ramifications of getting a grant from WMF.

Social Media update

Charles reported that the catalyst for locking in our social media requirements stemmed from the WMAu username on twitter being taken and the need to look at alternatives. Investigation of the matter revealed that both 'WikimediaAu' and 'Wikimedia_Au' were taken, although unused. As to who has secured these usernames there is no information available other than assurance that it is not previous committee members. 'Twitter' have now released the 'wikimediaau' to us, and 'wikimedia_au' will soon be ours. Also 'wm_au' has been registered to stop it being used by anyone else.

'wikimediaau' has been registered under the email 'cgregory@wikimedia.org.au' to prevent a similar issue in the future, and 'wikimedia_au' (registered under another name) is in progress thereby bringing all our social media usernames under a single handling procedure. Finally, a facebook page has been registered, entitled 'Wikimedia Australia' and not as yet made public. A number of items still warrant discussion by the committee in lieu of the recent strategic planning 'communication' decisions and Charles proposed that although he will maintain the accounts further discussion could be taken onto the mailing list, and in the interim he to make inquiries with other Chapters. John affirmed that the committee does need to finalise the social media policy.

Annual General Meeting

Time

Having discussed various preferences, the committee settled on 4.00pm AEDT. Australia's separate time zones, including daylight saving time, mean the time for the AGM will vary across States and Territories as follows:

4.00pm AEDT (Vic, NSW, Tas, ACT); 3.30pm ACDT (SA); 3.00pm AEST (Qld); 2.30pm ACST ( NT). 1.00pm AWST (WA);

Voting methods

Adam is to send his report for election options (including paper ballots) to the committee on Wednesday, to be discussed on the mailing list, and ultimately a resolution on the comm wiki.

A question was raised about whether or not the voting be conducted online or by paper ballot. It was noted that meet-ups are too small for paper ballots; and also preference was expressed for keeping physical records of the votes but that there are issues concerning the checking of paper ballots.

Venues

Brian to secure Computerbank for the AGM in Victoria.

Adam confirmed Adelaide's venue is being chosen.

Craig to secure SLQ and considering hosting a meet-up prior to commencement of AGM.

Andrew advised that anyone attending the AGM from Perth will most likely participate from home.

http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Meeting:2011_AGM

Strategic Planning

Craig's excellent report on the strategic planning process has been posted to his blog and the committee took the opportunity to view the document that outlines the work of the sub-committee leading to the recent Sydney workshop. John requested of Craig that the link be added to the minutes. Andrew complimented Craig on the quality of the product and the usefulness of the report for anyone embarking on a similar course. In particular its value during the recent WMF negotiations.

http://lankiveil.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/strategic-planning-the-wikimedia-way/

Correspondence report

Two particular items of interest

Inquiry about Copyright

Received from Masa Ise, MIM & Production Pty.Ltd. John returned an advice as to the whereabouts of the images sought, and guided him to the NLA and State Library of Tasmania for more images of interest. A reply was received from Masa Ise (15 August) expressing his delight and thanks for the additional link to other images.

Media Inquiry, ABC National Radio

The committee thanked Adam for responding to the journalist's request for an interview about the changing demographics of Wikipedia. A good deal of time was taken arranging the hook-up, followed by a ten minute interview, with a second interviewee, and played on The World Today, ABC National radio. Adam's considered response focused on the available statistical analysis of the demographics surveys.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2011/s3293266.htm

Proposals

Proposal: Content relicense

John advised that all the signatures except one, and ex-committee members, are in hand. There is a South Australian who Pru is contacting, as well as an Indian gent who uploaded a photo of himself. One ex-committee member seems to be ok with CC-BY-SA but not yet made the edit. No objections from committee in ultimately having to finally deal with these last few.

Proposal: Non-member participation

The committee's position on this proposal was sought and the general feeling was positive with acceptance from all, except for the user interface 'crat' which could be improved upon; one suggestion proffered is 'designated user'. The role is primarily verification of identity and approval of accounts, in order to allow non-members to edit.

Motion: That Wikimedia Australia approves the non-member participation proposal.

  • Moved: John
  • Seconded: Anne
  • Support: Adam, Andrew, Charles, Craig,
  • Motion carried without dissent [Log: 16:31]

Proposal: Camera Equipment Program

The meeting was asked if there was a consensus within the membership that the requirements in the proposal are realistic. The suggestion was to adopt it with any minor changes and review it in six months, by incorporating another round of community recommendations. The proposal allows the committee to waive any requirement; also if someone is 90% meeting the technical requirements, the committee can look beyond them and agree that the applicant warrants new equipment. Acceptance of the program to be deferred until Thursday by which time Adam will have an opportunity to summarise the technical discussion, held in the recent public meeting, to maxamise feedback.

There are two alterations to the proposal: Change "depict a subject within Australian territorial waters" to read "depict a subject within Australia, or in Australian territorial waters". And, change "use on Wikipedia" to read "use on a Wikimedia project".

http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Camera_equipment_program

Proposal: Pemberton WA

The Pemberton, WA, proposal has been passed by resolution; Gnangarra advised in writing to that effect; and a report requested.

Motion: Wikimedia Australia makes a grant of $350 to [Gnangarra] for the purposes of piloting his [redacted] project in Pemberton, to be paid upon presentation of receipts.

  • Moved: Craig
  • Seconded: Andrew
  • Support: John, Adam, Anne, Charles

J J Harrison's Grant Request

The thread is: "[wmau:members] Grant Request."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_picture_candidates/August-2011#Azure_Kingfisher

Motion: That Wikimedia Australia approves the grant request for $1000 to J.J. Harrison for expenses related to his photography trip to North Queensland'

  • Moved: John
  • Seconded: Adam
  • Support: Andrew, Anne, Charles, Craig
  • Motion carried without dissent [Log: 16:59]

Fundraising

Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA)

The committee agreed in principle to look into becoming a member of FIA, recognising that we may at times be seeking grants or conducting fundraising within Australia, independently of WMF.

Meeting closed

17:00 hours AEST [Log 17:01]

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