Dear All:
Apologies for cross-post to Mumbai list, this is of special relevance to
people in Mumbai.
It has been one week since the 13th Monthly Meetup in Mumbai. It's a
good time to review the decisions taken last week, and how they have
been followed up on the ground.
See my replies in-line below.
On 09/17/2011 11:13 PM, Pradeep Mohandas wrote:
> The thirteenth meeting of Wikipedia Mumbai community was held at the
> Center for Education and Documentation, Colaba. The meeting was
> scheduled to be held between 4 pm and 6 pm but went on till 7 pm. We
> would like to thank the Center for Education and Documentation for
> providing the venue and being patient despite us crossing the time limit.
>
> The meeting had two agenda items:
> 1. Introductions
> 2. Update on WikiConference India 2011
>
> There were 15 people present at the meeting.
>
> 1. After a round of introductions, Pranav presented an update on
> WikiConference India 2011.
> 2. Prof. Nagarjuna proposed and offered the facilities of the hostel at
> the Homi Bhaba Center for Science Education (HBCSE) for a few
> Wikipedians. The conference working group has been requested to get back
> to him with number of people and has offered the place even a few days
> before the conference.
Nobody has followed up with Dr Nagarjuna at HBCSE on this to date. He
made an offer of 20-30 rooms at a rate which is so nominal as to be
nearly free accomodation.
> 3. The discussion turned to the backing out of Pune from the
> organisation of the conference. It was resolved by members in the Mumbai
> community to put out this statement: "We regret the withdrawal of Pune
> community from the organisation of the conference and sincerely hope
> that this will not affect their continuing participation in the
> conference itself."
With the resignation of Mandar Kulkarni, the crucial functionary office
of Secretary remains vacant. We discussed elections or nominations for
this role, but there has been no discussion since (at least on-list).
We all agreed that a new Secretary was needed, as the existing
functionaries are overburdened and have been unable or unwilling to
effectively delegate work to teams. Selecting and empowering PoCs was
one step towards effective delegation of responsibilities.
> 4. a. It was suggested to have weekly meetings of the Points of Contacts
> of the various teams in the Working Group of the Conference along with
> the Functionaries. It was suggested that the meeting be held on a
> platform such as Jabber with Sabse Bolo conference as backup.
There was no follow-up on-list about who the official PoCs will be for
each team, particularly those which have inconsistent or uneven
membership such as Speakers, Venue/Logistics, Party/Fun, Volunteer
Coordination.
A meeting was arranged off-list by the functionaries, who selected or
designated PoCs without informing the list, or consulting or inviting
other enthusiastic volunteers who attended the Monthly Meetup, either as
official PoCs or "backups" (see below).
When one volunteer asked on what basis PoCs had been selected, it was
blamed on decisions taken by functionaries who have since resigned.
> 4. b. It was suggested that each team also have a back up Point of
> Contact, in case the Point of Contact could not attend the meeting.
> Missing the meeting twice in a row would mean that the person would be out.
Several of the PoCs identified by the functionaries failed to suggest
back up names. The functionaries apparently did not feel obliged to seek
out others who have offered their help and advice across different teams.
> 4. c. It has been suggested that the first Point of Contacts and
> Functionaries meeting be held next Saturday at 5 pm subject to approval
> by the Points of Contact and their backups.
In no case were backups either selected by PoCs and functionaries, or
were they informed about when the crucial weekly conference call would
take place. It did not happen on Saturday at 5pm as discussed. It was
decided by this ad-hoc group to hold it on Monday at 9pm. To date this
has still not been communicated to the list.
> 5. There was an open question left unanswered on the gender imbalance in
> the Working Group.
It was discussed that the vacant post of Secretary could help rectify
this imbalance.
> 6. We wanted to increase the volunteer base in the working group and it
> was felt that there should be recruitment of more Wikipedians and there
> should be increased publicity of the Conference in Mumbai and across India.
Nothing has been acted on in this regard. Nor was a suggestion made and
decided by the two Functionaries in the weekly meetup held two weeks
earlier acted on. This was to design a simple poster asking volunteers
to join the mailing list and attend weekly/monthly meetups. These were
to be given as PDFs for students teachers to print and post on their
college notice-boards.
> 7. There will be two WikiAcademies held in North and South Mumbai very
> soon. The date for the first one will be October 1, 2011 at the Center
> for Education and Documentation, Colaba. Thatzit has offered its
> premises in Goregaon for the organisation of the second WikiAcademy. The
> date for this WikiAcademy is to be finalized.
It required me to remind and prod one of the functionaries to actually
confirm the second WikiAcademy event. This was only made possible
through the generous offer of a new volunteer who came to the Meetup and
and said her office could sponsor a WikiAcademy in the suburbs for those
who cannot come to town on 1 October.
This same volunteer, who offered to help canvas fellow Wikipedians who
still aren't aware of the conference, wanted to be involved more
broadly, offered to help with the Volunteer Coord team, and wanted to be
on the PoC call, but was kept most in the dark about how to help out.
I fear this conference will be a nightmare with the existing top-heavy
structure where most important decisions are all made centrally (and
often privately and off-list). Without a structure for delegating duties
or holding functionaries accountable, and strong PoCs and backups with
enough volunteers on every team, things will go haywire.
Let me give one last example. On Friday the "venue and logistics team"
was to visit Mumbai University, Maharashtra Chamber, and Radio Club to
review infrastructural requirements, wireless networking of the entire
campus and hackathon venues, crowd control and guidance, etc. This is a
mammoth task which is impossible to undertake without a large team.
The PoC for venue and logistics did not come for this inspection visit.
Instead myself and the functionaries, along with the PoC for
scholarships went with one other volunteer. No report about our half-day
visit was sent to the list, and today morning I received a personal
email from the PoC for venue/logistics asking what happened.
I did not know whether to laugh or cry, because I do not know how this
conference will take off if we don't have better teamwork, more
openness, and a big drive for more volunteers, especially in Mumbai.
Best,
Shekhar
--
Shekhar Krishnan
58/58A, Anand Bhavan
201, T.H. Kataria Marg (Lady Hardinge Road)
Mahim, Mumbai 400016, India
http://heptanesia.nethttp://web.mit.edu/shekhar
hi,
At the last Mumbai meetup held on September 17, it was decided to have two
WikiAcademies.
The proposed date for the second WikiAcademy to be held at Thatzit Digital
Academy, Goregaon on October 15.
Please note that this will be in addition to the first WikiAcademy to be
held on October 1, 2011 at Center for Education and Development, Colaba.
warm regards,
Pradeep Mohandas
--
Pradeep Mohandas
How Pradeep uses email - http://goo.gl/6v1I9
***Cross Posting on Various Lists - Kindly Forward to your city list if not included in this email***
Hiya Indian Wikipedians!!
This is to announce that Registrations for WikiConference India 2011 are now open! WCI 2011 will take place on 18, 19, 20 November 2011 in Mumbai (Venue: Mumbai University, Fort Campus). We have been receiving unprecedented amount of attention and thank everyone for their attention and patience to wait for registration to open.
Fee Patern:
Registration entitles you to entry for all three days of the conference[1], attendee party, lunch on all days and evening snacks on the first and second day.
Early Bird Individual [2][3] = 750 (+ 25 Processing Fee)Individual = 1500 (+ 50 Processing Fee)Institutional = 5000 (+ 170 Processing Fee)[1]: there may be some programs open only to certain audience such as Wikimedia Chapter members.[2]: denotes limited by number.[3]: additional 10% discount for Wikimedia Chapter members.
This discount is only applicable on Registration Fee and not on
Processing Fee.
Registration Link:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_India_2011/Registration
All Wikipedians are requested to register ASAP to take advantage of Early Bird Registration.
Hope to see all of you @ WCI 2011!!!
Kind Regards,
Hiya,
The 1st WikiAcademy in Mumbai will take place on 1st October 2011 from 11am to 6pm at CED, Colaba (Behind Regal Cinema). Entry Free.
This particular WikiAcademy is aimed at familiarising people with the grassroots of Wikipedia.
For more information, see the sign up page on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Academy/Mumbai1
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WikimediaMumbai
Kind Regards,
Hi !
We regret the withdrawal of Pune community from the organisation of the
conference and sincerely hope that this will not affect their
continuing participation in the conference itself.
Best Regards.
Kundan Amitabh
Managing Director,
Ang India Technologies,
www.angindia.co
======================
9768884444 / 9869478444
======================
-----------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:42:54 +0100 (BST)
From: Mandar Kulkarni <mvkulkarni23(a)yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: [Wikimediaindia-l] Pune community
To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>,
"wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org"
<wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
<1316184174.35491.YahooMailNeo(a)web24004.mail.ird.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Dear All,
This to formally communicate to all that Pune wikipedians are withdrawing
from the co-hosting of the Conference due to the differences came in?Mumbai
and Pune communities and many other unresolved?issues.
For your information pls.
With Regards,
Mandar V. Kulkarni
-----------------------------------------------------
Hiya,
Further information about each of the following will be given at a later date, this is just to give advance notice to all concerned so that you can block your diaries.
17 September - Mumbai Monthly Meetup, Venue: CED Colaba
Sign up for this event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Mumbai/Mumbai13
1 October, WikiAcademy, Venue: CED Colaba Topic covered: How to edit Wikipedia, at the grassroots
Sign up for this event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Academy/Mumbai1
8 October - OpenMaps Workshop - On ground, University of Mumbai - Fort Campus neighbourhood (venue of WikiConference India 2011)
Sign up for this event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workshop/Mumbai_Workshop_2
We hope to see good levels of participation for all these events.
Kind Regards,
The thirteenth meeting of Wikipedia Mumbai community was held at the Center
for Education and Documentation, Colaba. The meeting was scheduled to be
held between 4 pm and 6 pm but went on till 7 pm. We would like to thank the
Center for Education and Documentation for providing the venue and being
patient despite us crossing the time limit.
The meeting had two agenda items:
1. Introductions
2. Update on WikiConference India 2011
There were 15 people present at the meeting.
1. After a round of introductions, Pranav presented an update on
WikiConference India 2011.
2. Prof. Nagarjuna proposed and offered the facilities of the hostel at the
Homi Bhaba Center for Science Education (HBCSE) for a few Wikipedians. The
conference working group has been requested to get back to him with number
of people and has offered the place even a few days before the conference.
3. The discussion turned to the backing out of Pune from the organisation of
the conference. It was resolved by members in the Mumbai community to put
out this statement: "We regret the withdrawal of Pune community from the
organisation of the conference and sincerely hope that this will not affect
their continuing participation in the conference itself."
4. a. It was suggested to have weekly meetings of the Points of Contacts of
the various teams in the Working Group of the Conference along with the
Functionaries. It was suggested that the meeting be held on a platform such
as Jabber with Sabse Bolo conference as backup.
4. b. It was suggested that each team also have a back up Point of Contact,
in case the Point of Contact could not attend the meeting. Missing the
meeting twice in a row would mean that the person would be out.
4. c. It has been suggested that the first Point of Contacts and
Functionaries meeting be held next Saturday at 5 pm subject to approval by
the Points of Contact and their backups.
5. There was an open question left unanswered on the gender imbalance in the
Working Group.
6. We wanted to increase the volunteer base in the working group and it was
felt that there should be recruitment of more Wikipedians and there should
be increased publicity of the Conference in Mumbai and across India.
7. There will be two WikiAcademies held in North and South Mumbai very soon.
The date for the first one will be October 1, 2011 at the Center for
Education and Documentation, Colaba. Thatzit has offered its premises in
Goregaon for the organisation of the second WikiAcademy. The date for this
WikiAcademy is to be finalized.
The meeting ended at 7 pm as the Center had to close its premises.
--
Pradeep Mohandas
How Pradeep uses email - http://goo.gl/6v1I9
Hiya,
Just a reminder that Mumbai Meetup XIII is scheduled for 17 September 2011 (Saturday).
Venue: Centre for Education and Documentation (CED), Colaba. This is behind Regal Cinema, opposite Hotel Suba Palace.
Time: 4pm to 6pm
Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Mumbai/Mumbai13 (Do sign up if your coming, if you dont sign up you can still come but signing up gives us an idea on the number of people to expect)
Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WikimediaMumbai
Getting there: By rail, This is about 15 mins walking from Churchgate on
the Western Line as well as CST on the Central and Harbour Lines. By
BEST bus, route 1A13 Exp, A74 Exp, A75 Exp, A76 Exp, C-2, 1, 2L, 3, 4L,
6L, 9, 11L, 14,
17L, 19L, 21L, 22L, 28, 44, 51, 68, 69, 70, 74, 83, 86, 101, 103, 106,
108, 111, 112, 122, 123, 124, 125, 130, 131, 133, 137, 139, 803L, 806L
will stop at Regal Cinema/Prince of Wales Museum/Dr. S.P. Mukherjee
Chowk.
Look forward to seeing you there.
Kind Regards,
cross-posting to reach pan-India; apologies if you have got it from other mailing lists.
hisham
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Hisham Mundol <hmundol(a)wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Press Coverage: Request for Voices & Faces!
> Date: September 12, 2011 3:38:04 PM GMT+05:30
> To: Wikimedia India Community list <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Cc: CherianTinu Abraham <tinucherian(a)gmail.com>, Moka Pantages <mpantages(a)wikimedia.org>
>
> Hi Folks
>
> In the last couple of days, we've had a couple of really insightful, well-written articles on Wikipedia and you, the community.
> http://www.timescrest.com/life/you-cant-copypaste-this-homework-6226
>
> http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110911/jsp/7days/story_14492284.jsp
>
> I want to acknowledge the behind-the-scenes work of Tinu and Moka. (Most of you know Tinu - who's a community member based out of Bangalore. For those of you who don't know, Moka handles Global Communications for the Wikimedia Foundation.) They have worked on making sure that we convey the right messages as well as making the articles as inclusive of as many community members as possible - by covering the stories of as wide a range of editors as possible. The result of their work is the high-quality articles I've referenced above.
>
> We will continue to get requests from the press and I'd love to have them tell the tales of an even larger and more varied group of community members. It'll help to convey the diversity and magic of the community. Can I request you let Tinu and I know (offlist please) if you are willing to be interviewed by journalists in future? Every one of your stories will add emotion to an article - no matter how simple or otherwise your story is.
>
> Also, a practical issue that we are facing is that we don't have enough print-quality images of community meet ups. Can you please add as many high-resolution images of as many community meet ups, outreach events, etc. as you can to Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) so that the press can access it more easily - and they can celebrate the human face of Wikipedia in newspapers and magazines?
>
> Many thanks.
>
> Warm Regards,
>
> hisham
>
Hiya,
With the deadline for submitting LOGO designs for WikiConference lapsing today, we now request everyone to vote for the design they would like to see as the logo of WikiConference India from the eight designs submitted. Deadline for voting is 2.30PM on 29 June 2011 (48 hours from now).
You see all the designs and vote here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WikiConference_India_2011#Logo
Kind Regards,
User:AroundTheGlobe