Meeting:Committee (2013-03-17)
The March 2013 committee meeting of Wikimedia Australia, Inc. was held on Sunday 17 March 2013 and opened at 3:25 pm AEDST on that date.
Attendance
- Attendance: John, Graham (Minutes), Craig, Charles, Kerry, Steven
- Apologies: None
- Absent: None
Graham could not talk at the hangout, so he communicated via IRC; he could hear the meeting, however.
Reports
- Treasurers report tabled
- CoI report
- Steven to merge with CAV template version
WWI WiR proposal
John says he's reasonably assured of having ten Wikipedians in residence matched to ten institutions. Kerry noted that we said we would advertise it more widely, but questioned when we would find out about the money for the grants process. John responded that it depends on the quality of the application and the timeline of the committee. Steven said a month would be reasonable.
John moved a resolution that $160,000 be submitted as a grant request for the program, but it was not voted on. After John moved the resolution, Steven asked about the situation with Wikimedia's cash reserves. Craig said the situation wasn't dire. Kerry asked about the forward commitments, and Craig said they don't amount to much (a couple of thousand dollars at most), excluding the ARC research grants ... but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it.
John pointed out that the Wikipedian in Residence program wouldn't go ahead if it wasn't approved by the GAC. Kerry expressed concerns that the $10,000 overhead would be too low.
There was discussion about whether we could wait for the FDC to fund this project, and the answer was no, because we need the money in time for the centenary of the start of World War I.
The resolution was changed to not specify the exact amount of overhead that was required, and state the reason for it.
- Resolution
- That Wikimedia Australia will submit a Grant Request for AUD150,000 for the WiR, and an additional amount for overheads (including travel for non-WiR and Contracting as required) to be determined and outlined in the budget submitted as part of the GAC request.
- Moved
- John
- Seconded
- Craig
Carried without dissent
WM Symposium 2013
Kerry noted that she had created a draft public page about the education program. She said there was one definite travel request from Kerry Kilner and a possible request from Leigh Blackall.
There was discussion about whether people could see the watchlist notice, and it turns out it had expired. There was also discussion about adding a notice of the education program to the Signpost; it was concluded that it wouldn't reach the right audience.
Meetups
Kerry noted that she had found a possible insurance company for public liability insurance for the meetups.
For Kerry to chase up that company.
Quarterly board meetings
Everyone was happy with the board meeting budget, and it was cleared up that the location of each board meeting would depend on which events were on.
No-one objected to the Sydney board meeting's timetable being analogous to that of the Melbourne one.
- Resolution
- To accept the budget of both the Sydney meeting and other meetings in genral.
- Moved
- John
- Seconded
- Craig
Carried without dissent
WMAU meetups
Steven noted that he had recently made an amendment to the proposal.
- Resolution
- that the proposal be accepted.
- Moved
- John
- Seconded
- Kerry
Carried without dissent
for Steven: To clean up Melbourne meetup page (Done by Steve 20:56, 24 March 2013 (EST))
Discussion about next public meeting
There was a discussion about a conflict between the proposed WA public meeting at 8:00 PM AEST and the Sydney board meeting. It was agreed that the late public meeting should be delayed to May.
New South Wales training
There was discussion about the Wollongong workshop and Steven coming up from Melbourne.
Kerry noted her concerns that the committee is tied up in these training programs, which the committee generally agreed with.
Committee reshuffle
There was discussion about whether the reshuffle should be done one vacancy at a time or all in one hit. Everyone agreed with the latter course of action.
There was discussion about who would be chair in the event of the president's absence after that the vice-president position is vacated. It was concluded that the committee would make a decision about this when the situation arises (in line with rule 14(2)).
There was discussion about who should write the resolution, and Steven agreed to do it. Kerry said she and Steven should be involved in moving and seconding because the other committee members are involved in the reshuffle.
- Resolution
- "Charles Gregory's resignation from his role of secretary has created a casual vacancy. Pursuant to rule 21, section 4, the Committee is reshuffled to the following structure:
- President: Craig Franklin
- Treasurer: John Vandenberg
- Secretary: Graham Pearce
- Ordinary Members: Steven Zhang & Kerry Raymond
- Observer: Charles Gregory
- Moved
- Steven
- Seconded
- Kerry
Carried without dissent.
- Resolution
- That Ross is invited as an assistant treasurer and observer.
- Moved
- Craig
- Seconded
- John
Carried without dissent.
Graham agreed to notify CAV of the changes to the committee
Craig agreed to notify the community
Steven agreed to write up a formal re-shuffle motion, as per the email.
Milan conference
Charles, who is Australia's representative for the Wikimedia Chapters Association, said he could not attend; Craig suggested that there was nothing on the agenda which warrants the attendance of any Wikimedia Australia Committee member.
Merchandise
Steven said he finally "stumbled together" a draft page about the merchandise policy. There was discussion about selling the merchandise, but it was concluded that this was impossible due to the Wikimedia Foundation's objections. It was decided to skip this proposal due to lack of time.
Computer Bank
- Resolution
- that the committee approves the Volunteer Support Programme request from Brian Salter-Duke for $180, which is to be paid to ComputerBank for the venue they have provided to Wikimedia Australia during 2012.
- Moved
- Craig
- Seconded
- Steven
Carried without dissent
Wikipedia Research proposal
Craig noted that the original USB key containing the research data dump was broken, and he's downloading another database dump.
Kerry noted that we had not attracted much academic interest in the research proposal. The proposal was deferred because it was not a high enough priority.
AGM minutes
- Resolution
- that the 2012 AGM minutes be published.
- Moved
- Craig
- Seconded
- Graham
Carried without dissent
Contracting proposal
John wondered whether it was worth moving the contract proposal. It was agreed that it be discussed at the board/public meeting.
Meeting closed
Craig closed the meeting at 5:05PM AEDST, and thanked everyone for their participation.