Wikipedia talk:Meetup/ArtAndFeminism/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

Fall 2014 Art+Feminism IEG & PEG Grants Notification

Hello All, the Art+Feminism Edit-a-thon organizers have prepared an IEG grant, and a PEG grant this week for the fall Wikimedia Foundation grant scholarships. These grants will fund several NYC training sessions, another major international Edit-a-thon, and the creation of infrastructure to support this year, and years going forward. The project is seeking community comment / discussion and endorsement signatures (section at the bottom of the page) to help complete the grant process. We encourage you to take a look at these grants, and offer your feedback and/or your endorsement signature if you feel the project worthy. On behalf of the other organizers. --Theredproject (talk) 01:10, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

• Like Will read these in detail later, but happy to see the proposals up. ----Another Believer _(Talk) 01:41, 1 October 2014 (UTC)
• Like Wonderful news. Looking forward to hearing more about these A+F initiatives. Will have a look at the grants soon. Netherzone (talk) 02:22, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Events

I've been working hard to update the list of upcoming events as well as the ArtAndFeminism|navigation box. Do organizers know of any other events that are missing from the main project page? ---Another Believer _(Talk) 02:11, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

ArtAndFeminism & BLPRequestdelete

I've been really impressed with the quality work produced at Wikipedia talk:Meetup/Toronto/ArtAndFeminism 2015. I was sad to notice, however, that of the 20 or so articles created, two have had the subject request deletion. Erin Shirreff has already been deleted, and Shirley Wiitasalo will likely be deleted soon.

I certainly have no problem with the policy of deleting articles if the subject of the article isn't especially famous and wants the article deleted, but it must be discouraging for the editors who spend time creating a new article only to have it deleted within a couple days. I was curious if this is an issue for other ArtAndFeminism participants as well. I wonder if something could be done differently to avoid the deletions. Perhaps someone from ArtAndFeminism could contact the subject requesting the deletion and explain the nature of the project, which might encourage them to leave the bio online? Or maybe this is just a coincidence with the articles created at the Toronto event, and not a larger issue in need of solving? Thoughts? Thanks. - TheMightyQuill (talk) 10:48, 14 March 2015 (UTC)

We are working on reviewing the articles created at this year's events, but we would appreciate more volunteers to help with this as we don't have the capacity to review all the edits made during the Art+Feminism events, and also, engaging in the Articles for Deletion discussions, and working through article / editing disputes is a good way to learn about editing Wikipedia and how to communicate with other editors. OR drohowa (talk) 17:29, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

The Shirley Wiitasalo AfD closed as keep and Erin Shirreff appears to have been removed per the artist request, but I'd had !voted keep if it were at AfD. It may be useful to suggest that event organisers consider editing activities which generate lists of likely notable candidates prior to events. By this I mean things like lists of fellowships and award winners; officeholders; and similar. It's very easy to accumulate links about each individual on the list then have a more experienced editor confirm from the links that notability is met. Stuartyeates (talk) 19:52, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Nelda Ramos

Work on this, too? Bearian (talk) 00:44, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks to User:Jooojay and User:WordSeventeen, it looks like a clear keep. Stuartyeates (talk) 23:15, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

Community discussion on harassment reporting

There are many current proposals as part of the 2015 Inspire Campaign related to harassment management. I’ve created a page, Meta:Grants:IdeaLab/Community discussion on harassment reporting meant to serve as a central space where the various stakeholders in these proposals and other community members can discuss which methods might serve our community best so that we can unify our ideas into collective action. I encourage you to join the conversation and contribute your ideas! OR drohowa (talk) 02:46, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

Does simple criticism or disagreement fall under the definition of 'harassment'?

Global Feminist Art class analyzing content gaps

Just thought I'd share this interesting class project: Education Program:University of Washington/Global Feminist Art (Spring 2015)

From the course page:

"Each student will identify a gap in Wikipedia coverage for a course-related topic — such an artist, topic, concept, or movement. The student will then post an entry to the course project page to describe the gap, propose text to fill the gap, and list sources that could be used to fill it."

Student work is being collected here: Education Program talk:University of Washington/Global Feminist Art (Spring 2015)/gap analysis. --Ryan (Wiki Ed) (talk) 16:08, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

RFC: 2015 Art+Feminism Grant

Art+Feminism has prepared a combined renewal of our IEG grant and PEG grant. If awarded, these grants will fund: childcare and refreshments for the 2016 international Art+Feminism Edit-a-thons; in-person training sessions for New York-city based volunteers and online training sessions national and international node organizers; the expansion of our outreach to post-secondary institutions and international Wikimedia chapters; building sustainable infrastructure for node organizers; and making our materials more intersectional. We seek community comment to help complete the grant process: here -- Theredproject (talk) 23:55, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

WikiProject X and Art and Feminism

During WikiConference USA, Theredproject and I discussed WikiProject X's role in organizing the online components of Art+Feminism. The idea is that with a worldwide series of productive events, it is important to have as efficient a system for coordination as possible. As such, I have proposed in my grant renewal proposal to spend some time focusing on re-designing the Art+Feminism page to make it easier to find things and make it easier for people around the world to coordinate events and curate a to-do list. You are welcome to comment on the proposal, and I would like to hear from you all on what can be done to improve the online coordination of Art+Feminism. Harej (talk) 20:57, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

March 5, 2016 Edit-a-thon: meetups list

I'd like to "claim our page" for the 2016 global edit-a-thon and link it to the main page. We've been getting an amazing response from our outreach efforts so far, and this would help us point our funders and partners to the right place. I noticed there is no 2016 listing yet on this page. Should I add it? Should I wait? What are others doing? Thanks! Pittsburgh 2016 Edit-a-thon organizer, Aolivex (talk) 20:50, 3 December 2015 (UTC)

A+F Userbox and talk page banner

This user participated in the 2016 ArtAndFeminism edit-a-thon.

This user participated in the 2015 ArtAndFeminism edit-a-thon.

For anyone interested, a userbox for this year's event is now up at Template:User ArtAndFeminism 2016.

For those who participated last year and are so inclined, a userbox for 2015 is at Template:User ArtAndFeminism 2015. (I made this one a while back, but neglected to move it into the template space or link to it from anywhere until now). The colors are approximations of those in this logo. — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 21:05, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Like ---Another Believer _(Talk) 21:06, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

On the subject of A+F templates, it's also worth bringing up Template:ArtAndFeminism2016 article, an updated version of 2015's A+F talk page banner for use on articles and drafts created or improved as part of A+F. Last year it was added retroactively for the vast majority of articles (fun fact: 876 total).

I'm not sure what plans there are for tracking outcomes this year, but as this template adds articles to Category:Articles created or improved during ArtAndFeminism 2016, it may simplify campaign-wide tracking. Is it worth encouraging event organizers (or participants) to add it? — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 21:38, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Philadelphia

Are there three events in Philly the same weekend? ---Another Believer _(Talk) 00:48, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Order?

Resolved

I like that the list is separated by date, but would it make sense to list alphabetically by city within each section? That way people can easily find their city, instead of search by venue. (Some entries list the venue first, others the city.) ---Another Believer _(Talk) 00:18, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

 Done I went ahead and simplified the list by removing redundant date information (no need to list "March 5" for all entries under March 5) and sorted by city. Venue details follow city, but this should make it easier for people to find their city. Feel free to revert or edit if you disagree. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 00:40, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Seems like a good idea to me. Thanks. — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 05:58, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Pride

You are invited to participate in Wiki Loves Pride!

• What? Wiki Loves Pride, a campaign to document and photograph LGBT culture and history, including pride events
• When? June 2015
• How can you help?

  1.) Create or improve LGBT-related articles and showcase the results of your work here

  2.) Upload photographs or other media related to LGBT culture and history, including pride events, and add images to relevant Wikipedia articles; feel free to create a subpage with a gallery of your images (see examples from last year)

  3.) Contribute to an LGBT-related task force at another Wikimedia project (Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, Wikivoyage, etc.)

Or, view or update the current list of Tasks. This campaign is supported by the Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group, an officially recognized affiliate of the Wikimedia Foundation. Visit the group's page at Meta-Wiki for more information, or follow Wikimedia LGBT+ on Facebook. Remember, Wiki Loves Pride is about creating and improving LGBT-related content at Wikimedia projects, and content should have a neutral point of view. One does not need to identify as LGBT or any other gender or sexual minority to participate. This campaign is about adding accurate, reliable information to Wikipedia, plain and simple, and all are welcome!

If you have any questions, please leave a message on the campaign's main talk page.

Thanks, and happy editing!

User:Another Believer and User:OR drohowa

Adding a timestamp for automatic archiving purposes. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 16:07, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Account Creator

Also will someone be verifying that each location has someone with the Account Creator userright? Or how is this being handled? czar 07:10, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

@Czar: Good question. I am an Account Creator, could be on standby -- especially for the heavy days in March -- if this is something that could be done remotely.... -- Erika aka BrillLyle (talk) 16:55, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

User talk page template

Is there a user talk page template we'll be using to direct related editors to the event page? Or is each location making its own? czar 07:09, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

• Here's mine: {{ArtAndFeminism Madison invite}} czar 23:52, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

I'm unwatching this page, but please ping me or leave a talk page message if there is a response  czar 16:39, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk Page template?

I was hoping to add to the Talk Pages of all of the A+F events, but wanted to get guidance and feedback before doing so.
Wanted to add something like this to the Talk Pages:

• {{WikiProject Feminism}}
  
• {{WikiProject Women}}
  
• {{WikiProject Women artists}}
  
• {{WikiProject Women's History}}
  

I tried it out here, for what it looks like implemented: A+F 2016 @ MoMA (Talk)
Is this a helpful thing? - Erika aka BrillLyle (talk) 00:33, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

Re: Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/FIT

Unresolved

Is this an Art+Feminism event? It is listed on the page, but I don't want to add the link to the navbox and A+F category unless applicable. Thanks. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 00:09, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

Hiya @Another Believer: -- I'm pretty sure it is an A+F event, but it's combined with other programming at FIT.... I was a bit hesitant to add some of the boilerplate info to the page but I am still sweeping through and adding, so I definitely will. -- Erika aka BrillLyle (talk) 01:47, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Re: Wikipedia:Meetup/NCL/ArtAndFeminism 2016/Newcastle Upon Tyne City Library

This link is used in the Europe section twice, once for a February event and once for a March event. Is this correct? ---Another Believer _(Talk) 19:16, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Hiya @Another Believer: -- Yeah, I was going to see if maybe they need to peel off two different event pages after they have the first event. It's definitely 2 events. They seem to be using the same page, which is non-ideal. They participated last year so.... But yes, this is correct. -- Erika aka BrillLyle (talk) 01:49, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Nebraska

I don't want to step on toes, but there may be value in transferring the Lincoln, Nebraska meetup info to a separate meetup page. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 00:39, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

@Another Believer: Hey, is the current link still needing to be transferred to a separate meetup page? Please let me know -- I'm from Nebraska and have been helping them with the organization of their namespace. It's similar to what WM NYC and Black Lunch Table are doing, with the permalink redirected to the main page. -- Erika aka BrillLyle (talk) 09:34, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

I would recommend creating a meetup page specific to the event, rather than recycling the main Nebraska meetup page. Not required, just a suggestion. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 15:51, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

Hey @Another Believer: -- All event pages I work on have their own permanent URL (For this one see: 2016 WikiWarrior). In practice with what we do at WM NYC we set up a redirect to the main page so it is easier for people to find the event. But the link on this A+F event on the main page is the permalink, not the main space link. We do this all the time at WM NYC, so I'm pretty confident this works okay. -- Erika aka BrillLyle (talk) 17:41, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

The MoMA event will probably be like this too -- it will be its own permanent URL but it may be redirected to the WM NYC page during the event so it is easier to find. Just to let you know. That's what happened last year. -- Erika aka BrillLyle (talk) 17:43, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

Nashville Meetup March 3 at Vanderbilt University, Jean and Alexander Heard Library

Added Nashville event. CatonMA (talk) 15:27, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

Hong Kong?

The Hong Kong entry has details related to the Savannah, Georgia event. Is there a connection here, or should this entry be removed? ---Another Believer _(Talk) 20:00, 1 March 2016 (UTC)

2016 press

Is there a place for storing press related to A+F? 2016 articles:

• http://www.wweek.com/2016/03/02/ladypedia/
• http://www.dailyemerald.com/2016/03/03/rewriting-wikipedias-gender-gap-uo-feminists-converge-for-edit-a-thon/

---Another Believer _(Talk) 21:48, 4 March 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia Requests system

Hello everyone! Pleased to announce that the new Wikipedia Requests system is live. Wikipedia Requests is a central database of requests for creating and improving Wikipedia articles. Here is a listing of requests pertaining to women artists, based on the Art+Feminism task list. I plan on adding the rest of the entries from that task list later. You can also submit your own requests! My goal is to centralize all of the to-do lists throughout Wikipedia; this way, people working on overlapping projects can work together.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Let's close the gender gap in content together! Harej (talk) 10:19, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

Tasks- red links for existing articles

The lists under Tasks are red linked and lead to a draft page, but some of these have existing articles. Is there any reason to not reformat the links? Would hate for anyone to create a duplicate article. aj (talk) 21:23, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

Tina Charlie up for deletion

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tina charlie - The article was created today by new editor E.caza. The subject of the article is a Paiute basket maker. I don't have resources to expand the article, or oppose the deletion, but am hoping someone here can join in on the deletion discussion and save this article. — Maile (talk) 22:41, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

Jac Leirner

I would like to bring the article Jac Leirner to your attention. I ran across this on new page patrol, and found additional sources. I think the article could really do with your collective expertise. Apologies if I am not placing this in the correct area. All the best, 78.26 _{(spin me / revolutions)} 05:58, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

Categorizing A+F pages by country / U.S. state

I have categorized all 2014, 2015, and 2016 events in Category:ArtAndFeminism 2014, Category:ArtAndFeminism 2015, and Category:ArtAndFeminism 2016 by country or U.S. state. Each country / U.S. state category has been made a subcategory of their respective "Wikipedia meetups" category. For example, Category:ArtAndFeminism in New York is a subcategory of Category:ArtAndFeminism in the United States and Category:Wikipedia meetups in New York. This will group like pages together and allow users to easily identify meetup pages for past and present events in their geographic region. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 23:41, 8 March 2016 (UTC)

Checking open tasks entries for notability

Is anyone checking the list of suggested articles against the general notability guideline? I'm preparing to answer questions on how best to contribute this week, but looking at the list, most of the entries have only one or no sources... not the best scenario for new editors who want to see their work stick (or not get deleted). This isn't common to this edit-a-thon, but I would recommend scrubbing the list to most viable topics for the sake of the participants. czar 23:02, 28 February 2016 (UTC)

This is relevant, and something we talk about, but also beyond the scope of what we can do ourselves. --Theredproject (talk) 04:25, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

To all the Wikipedians and Commonists who haven't tried out Wikidata yet, dip your toe in the water with "Self-portraits of women"

User:Spinster and I have created an auto-generated list in a Commons gallery of all the self-portraits by women that are in Wikidata. Note this also lists the portraits that are under copyright if we have data for them and no image: c:Self-portraits of women. If you can think of any that aren't already in there, try adding one to Wikidata. The page is constantly being refreshed with new additions. You get a great view of women's art this way (up to around 1920, then the copyright problem kicks in). Enjoy! Jane (talk) 11:24, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

There were many problems in Pittsburgh!

...not with the participants, but with over-zealous page patrollers who deleted content while it was being created. The organizers need to come up with a template to prevent this from happening and to have one experienced Wikipedian on hand who knows how to stop the process of speedy deletion and to protest such deletions. There is a way to restore deleted articles, and instructions or help can be provided at future events. There is also an appeals process that will restore deleted content. How discouraging to new editors to have their hard work deleted. These deletions don't have to happen. Best Regards, Barbara (WVS) (talk) 14:47, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

Addendum: Since I don't know if I will be able to pass on this information personally I will post it here in print so that if someone wants to know of these processes they won't have to contact me personally-that usually doesn't ever happen on WP, so here is the information you need to prevent speedy deletions and deletions in general:

• The trainers at the two events I attended did a good job but did not prepare the participants for the possibility that their work could be deleted if not properly submitted.
• Organizers need to anticipate the problems with new page patrollers and have a plan to counteract this problem in new article creation.
• Organizers need to know that any content added to Wikipedia by a brand new editor is always immediately flagged for review and scrutinized. A high percentage of those who create new user accounts do so to vandalize the encyclopedia. In addition, even those new users who, in good faith, have added or created content are assumed to be inept and need to have their edits scrutinized.
• Instructions need to include the following:
  • Do not create a draft page for your new article. New draft pages are meticulously and instantly flagged for review by new page patrollers.
  • Instead, create a sandbox page to work on your new article, sandbox pages are not so aggressively patrolled and will probably survive for weeks as an article is worked on in the sandbox.
  • Place the template {{underconstruction}} at the top of every sandbox, draft and article page. This slows the process of speedy deletion.
  • If an article is marked for speedy deletion, its deletion can happen within minutes. The page creator will need to go immediately to the talk page of the new article to protest the speedy deletion with a message. If efforts are coordinated, other attendees at the event can assist in the prevention of the speedy deletion by also going to the talk page and protesting the speedy deletion. The higher the number of editors who protest the speedy deletion, the more likely that the article won't be deleted.
  • An experienced editor should be at the event who knows how to implement the actions needed to prevent speedy deletion and be prepared with pre-written 'boilerplate' that explains that the article is part of a planned editing event for new editors.
  • A template should be used that should appear on the talk page of the new article describing the fact that the new article should not be deleted during the event since it is being worked on.
  • If a page is speedily deleted, an experienced editor knows how to contact the other editor who deleted the article and request that the article be restored.
  • If the editor who deleted the article refuses to restore the deleted article, an experienced editor knows how to file a 'protest' and ask that the article be restored.
  • the Articles for Creation process should be avoided by new editors since it slows down the article creation process and editors that review AfCs almost always turn down the requests. If a new editor accidentally submits their newly created article at AfC, an experienced editor knows how to participate in the AfC process and help get the article into mainspace/become live/turn into a real article very quickly.

Yes, after 21,000 edits, I have learned how to work the system. Those editors who aggressively delete content are acting in good faith but are unaware of what edit-a-thons are really like. Best Regards, Barbara (WVS) (talk) 15:16, 6 March 2016 (UTC) and User:Bfpage (I have two accounts)

You should be hung out at WP:ANI for that "advice." It amounts to trolling other editors work and acting in phenomenally bad faith. 09:05, 10 March 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.230.65.134 (talk)

@Barbara (WVS): This is only a partial reply for now, but for the NYC/MoMA event we used a new template called Template:Preloaddraft. Participants click the name of an artist to work on or enter the name into a text box, and if that article already exists it just goes to the article (or is supposed to -- there have been some bugs), and if the article doesn't already exist, it creates a draft preloaded with a subpage of the template. So for example, {{preloaddraft|article name|Artist}} preloads the draft with Template:Preloaddraft/Artist, which includes a notice about it being a work in progress. As I said, there are some bugs, and I think that, at least for now, /Artist is the only preload subpage (Follow-up: see Special:PrefixIndex/Template:Preloaddraft), but it addresses some of these issues. In general, having people work in a sandbox or draft avoids a lot of the most immediate deletion problems, I think (other than copyvios). — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 16:14, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Barbara (WVS): Hi Barabara. Thanks for reaching out. We responded directly on the Pittsburgh meet up page. --Failedprojects (talk) 20:57, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Barbara (WVS): Some members used the Wikipedia:Draft space or sandboxes to create and refine their articles before moving them into the main space. This proved quite effective. We also made use of the template {{new user article}}. Mkdw^talk 21:13, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Barbara (WVS) and Bfpage: It is extremely irresponsible of you to direct users away from draft space and AfC; those tools (and the article wizard) exist precisely because most new editors don't know what is required of a mainspace article. If articles are rejected at AfC, it is because they are not ready to be published; advising new users to publish them anyway, without regard to the inclusion criteria, is terrible advice. They will be deleted anyway sooner or later, your new editors will be even more discouraged than they would have been if they'd used the proper tools, and no one will learn anything from the experience. Please stop spreading this damaging advice. In addition, brigading on talk pages to save others' pages, without any regard for the reason they are inappropriate, is extremely frowned upon behavior; that you would recommend such a thing is reprehensible. Edit-a-thons can be extremely helpful events for recruiting new editors and highlighting underrepresented topics, when those new editors aren't told all the wrong things to do. —swpb^T 14:18, 9 March 2016 (UTC)

Further, I think everyone else is going to take it as hubris to kind of say "look, any other editors, that's fine and all but these new editors, we just told them to go wild in mainspace and so everyone else should just "know" to ignore them." If the concerns are generally that things are being deleted too fast, that's one thing but to expect that everyone else should delay (since you aren't actually "fixing" anything) our notability concerns to encourage new editors. One thing I would suggest is that more pages be moved to draftspace but the template is a much, much better idea. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 02:28, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Yes, the template is something we were able to implement late in the game this year, we used it at MoMA and some of the larger events but were unable to prepare its use for every location quickly enough, but we will have it more baked-in to the process for all nodes in future.--Pharos (talk) 15:00, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

To the organizers of this edit-a-thon

I support your goals here; certainly Wikipedia needs better coverage of important female figures. But please instruct your participants to make sure their pages are appropriate for an encyclopedia (see our criteria for notability and reliable sources) before they hit save. Numerous pages have been appearing that don't even assert, much less support, the importance of their subjects; these are being deleted under Speedy deletion criterion A7. The Article Wizard and Draft namespace are very useful tools to keep editors who are not familiar with our inclusion criteria from wasting their own time by creating incomplete and inappropriate pages in the main space. I want to see your participants become active editors, not become discouraged because they weren't given guidance before leaping in. Thank you. —swpb^T 21:33, 8 March 2016 (UTC)

• Yes. Wikipedia:Meetup/Regina/ArtAndFeminism 2016/University of Regina has resulted in a spate of poor edits and article creations, replete with badly sourced, promotional and copyright violation edits. Some of the articles created as a result of the meetup appear salvageable, but the balance of them suffer from the aforementioned problems, and more than a few blatant copyright violations. Regina's page invites all, with no experience editing on Wikipedia necessary; it would benefit everyone if that invitation were modified to reflect the importance of learning encyclopedic standards and guidelines. Then there would be fewer missteps in the initial editing, and less cleanup for other editors. 2601:188:0:ABE6:65F5:930C:B0B2:CD63 (talk) 22:39, 8 March 2016 (UTC)

I agree with the above posts. On the one hand, as a reviewer, I accepted a few drafts that were developed during the Edit-a-Thon. On the other hand, as a reviewer, I had to decline some drafts. I also noticed that a few posts to the Teahouse and the Help Desk appeared to be from editors who didn't really understand Wikipedia, and were panicking because their drafts hadn't been accepted. It is my judgment (and other editors may disagree) that the participating editors were not given sufficient guidance about Wikipedia policies. I think that it is very important for any future Edit-a-Thons to be sure that the organizers of the Edit-a-Thon ensure that the participants understand how Wikipedia works, in particular as to there is no deadline, and that the review process is backlogged. I do not take issue with the objective of increasing the number of articles on women artists. (I do think that maybe there was a needless focus on feminist artists, when that is a term having multiple meanings.) However, just encouraging editors with little Wikipedia experience to submit drafts was not helpful and was a way to annoy the volunteer reviewers. In the future, I would suggest, at a minimum, that all future invitations to Edit-a-Thons should be reviewed before being posted, to ensure that the invitation does strongly encourage the participants to learn Wikipedia policies and guidelines. The concept of requesting articles on women artists was a good one, but there wasn't sufficient attention to requesting articles that met Wikipedia guidelines. Robert McClenon (talk) 03:29, 9 March 2016 (UTC)

I was an editor involved with the event who, fortunately it seems, was not a reviewer, but I did stumble across one article , Pansy Stockton, that was up for speedy deletion in which the author (then and still a red link), of the article did not even mention that the woman involved was an artist. I believe that I did manage to salvage the article, and once User:Ser Amantio di Nicolao showed up it was in the bag, but as far as I can tell the original author never returned, likely never even knew about the speedy deletion request.. I would like to state, though, that since the event was titled "Art And Feminism" it is not surprising that there was an emphasis on feminist artists. Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 04:30, 9 March 2016 (UTC)

I don't know how to define feminist artists. It is easier to define female artists (at least if we agree on what is art). Robert McClenon (talk) 19:13, 9 March 2016 (UTC)

The A+F campaign is not about "feminist artists". It's about any women who are artists – the feminism of the title just refers to the feminist goals of the project (making Wikipedia and also art history generally more gender-inclusive).--Pharos (talk) 03:57, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Thank you @Swpb:, @Carptrash:, @2601:188:0:ABE6:65F5:930C:B0B2:CD63:, @Robert McClenon: for your attention and care to the pages patrol, and ensuring the integrity of Wikipedia. Art+Feminism is rhizomatic, which means we can't control what any of the nodes do. We can offer them guidance, and we we provide them with solid training materials that emphasize notability and encourage new editors to start by working in sandbox and improving pages, rather than creating new pages. We encouraged them to create drafts, and only shortly before the event did we figure out a way to create/use the preload draft template. The draft template was very effective, and we will implement across the board going forward. But we can't control individual editors, and we can't prevent them from creating new pages.

We have well over 125 events around the world, with several thousand participants (we haven't even generated a full count yet.) Last year almost 1000 pages were created or improved. As such, there are bound to be pages that are deleted, or edits that are reverted. At present, we have counted about 15 which were nominated, many of which have been improved and kept. If you find others, we would appreciate you adding them here: Wikipedia:Meetup/ArtAndFeminism/Outcomes2016#Articles_proposed_for_deletion But that said, I want to encourage everyone to consider that a couple dozen out of well over 1000 articles is pretty good.

It is good to know that there are specific nodes that have produced more articles that were deleted than others. I noticed some shoddy articles coming out of the event in Amherst, MA. Knowing that allows us to investigate further in order to prevent that taking place in the future.

And again, I want to thank you all for your attention to this, and your careful good faith efforts to help this initiative move forward.Theredproject (talk) 04:18, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

It was a total Mons, and we all do know it. 08:47, 10 March 2016 (UTC)08:47, 10 March 2016 (UTC)08:47, 10 March 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.230.65.134 (talk)

Thanks! Yes, a few dozen out of 1000 is not bad. Identifying problematic nodes is great; from what I saw over part of an afternoon, Regina, Saskatchewan seemed to be producing the most junk. —swpb^T 16:34, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks @Swpb: for your help with that. Agreed that specific outliers (good and bad) are very helpful for us to analyze.Theredproject (talk) 02:09, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

This is a real mess as most of the people present seem not to have continued to make contributions, so they might not know that their articles have been deleted - only one of them made edits as late as the 11th. I have contacted that person, User:GGWuregina, in case they are able to notify other participants. Incidentally, what makes it worse is that it's been credibly suggested that participants started to write articles on each other, which I find understandable but goes somewhat against the spirit of these things. Blythwood (talk) 06:57, 12 March 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia article?

The A+F campaign has received a significant amount of press coverage. Perhaps enough for a Wikipedia article? ---Another Believer _(Talk) 00:43, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

I created a draft stub at Draft:Art+Feminism if anyone wants to collaborate on an article about the project. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 01:52, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Update: An article has been created, and subsequently nominated for deletion. Read, or contribute, to the following discussion, if interested: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Art+Feminism. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 18:51, 13 March 2016 (UTC)

Articles to Create Please Help

Erika Ordosgoitti [http://artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=24647 Here is an article about her --Aponteart (talk) 01:50, 19 March 2016 (UTC)

Drafts that need help

These are the drafts that remain from the March Events. All help is welcomed in moving these forward, and/or checking in with the authors to encourage them to do so.

The ones in the best shape

Seems good to go. Probably should get a once over.

1. Lili Réthi -- Condellc (talk)
2. Draft:Renée Radell -- OtterNYC (talk) - CE for NPOV given declared COI

Submitted and waiting review

1. Draft:Three Words (book)
2. Draft:Christina Jenkins -- Yanigo (talk)

Needs Sources (likely strong case for notability)

1. Draft:Jenny Marketou
2. Daria Dorosh
3. Draft:Umme Imam
4. Draft:Ghitta_Caiserman-Roth
5. Draft:Diana Burgoyne
6. Draft:Nina Chanel Abney - in 30 Americans, major show. Rubell collection
7. Draft:Jessica Lagunas -- Adriobi (talk) (many biennial exhibitions)
8. Draft:Mary Patten -- CaptainJae (talk)
9. Draft:Gertrude Fisk - needs CE for WP style
10. Draft:Batia Kolton -- Haworthk92 (talk)
11. Draft:Cynthia Bond -- Abnerflan (talk) - slam dunk for notability, all sources are non-independent
12. Draft:Jane Livingston -- Rhinegraves2K (talk) - also needs nonindepent, but should be notability slam dunk
13. Draft:Tina Williams Brewer -- Rhinegraves2K (talk) Start research here
14. Draft:Sylvia Wald -- Kduncw (talk) - notability slam dunk. just needs citations formatted correctly
15. Draft:Deborah Grant (artist) - needs list of exhibitions. clear notability
16. Draft:Alisa Wells -- Gkuriger (talk), Cmyok (talk) -- all coming from one source.
17. Draft:Lucy Kim - needs some better sources to establish clear notability. start here. Artforum review Artnews Review

Sources and Notability WP:PROF

1. Simi Ali - DRAFT (probably pass PROF as Full Professor, which in the UK is equivalent to Distinguished)
2. Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw -- Ashergray (talk), Echo Rococo (talk), Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk) - do note that this is a PROF, and is only Assoc, so may be TOSOON, and lets avoid another AfD battle.
3. Draft:Christina Thürmer-Rohr -- created new article from German sources! -- Triciaburmeister (talk)

Notable, but COPYVIO

1. Draft:Elizabeth Zvonar

Orphan

1. Sneha Solanki - DRAFT
2. Draft:Amanda Phelan -- Kellyjeanne9 (talk)

Probably should be integrated into a separate article

1. Draft:Pilot TV -- Infinite.tabs (talk) (should be integrated into an article on Wu Tsang, which it is suprising doesn't exist, or Emily Forman)

These ones need more work and are unclear re: notability

Needs Sources and Notability (unclear notability)

1. Draft:Yvonne Drewry -- grammar and citation edits -- Powelsar (talk) -- needs an experienced editor
2. Draft:Jan Crawford Winton
3. Draft:Eleanor King
4. Draft: Naghmeh Farahmand
5. Draft:The Mother Load -- Messitt (talk)
6. Draft:Yun Bai -- created page -- Romachic (talk) Probably notable, but there is a lot of junk in the CV that is really not helpful
7. Draft:Tabita Rezaire -- probably notable, given forthcoming Berlin Biennale exhibition, but as is, there isn't much there.

Notability (probably not strong case)

1. Siddiqua Mazhar - DRAFT
2. Draft:Hazel Meyer
3. Draft:Jennifer Grimyser -- Innotata (talk) TOOSOON

These are barely started

1. Draft:Anne Poor -- Grumpypie (talk) -- NYT Obitiuariy - so clear notability!!!
2. Delia Cancela -- Rbsieber (talk), Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk)
3. -- TigerCatMeow (talk), Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk)
4. Simi Ali - DRAFT
5. Draft:Thelma van Alstyne
6. Draft:Karen Tam
7. Draft:Rebecca Padgett
8. Draft:Natalie Majala Waldburger
9. Draft:Katherine Rinne
10. Draft:Daniela Salvioni -- Karinanw (talk) -- Declined
11. Draft:Marion Wilson (Artist)
12. Draft:Ada Wolfe -- Ellyvortex (talk)
13. Draft:Judith Barry -- DanielleLongue (talk)
14. Draft:Paola Prestini -- Innotata (talk)
15. Draft:Lucinda Luvaas
16. Draft:Britt Bass -- Sdeloach5 (talk)
17. Draft:Barbara Hanger -- Vrclibrarian (talk)
18. Draft:Connie Lucas Alexander -- Vrclibrarian (talk)
19. Draft:Lucina Bunnen -- Vrclibrarian (talk)
20. Draft:Olga Alexander -- Mmmitc2 (talk)
21. Draft:Tina Maria Dunkley -- Vrclibrarian (talk)

These are userspace drafts

1. User:Sheilalalalalalala/Napachie_Pootoogook
2. In the sandbox - Katrina Palmer
3. In the sandbox - Charlotte Prodger
4. In the sandbox - Jessica Warboys
5. Constance Coleman Richardson – DRAFT -- Kimles (talk)
6. Elsie Das -- Hippolyta in CA (talk)
7. Ina Iris Eichenberg -- created page in my sandbox -- Rebekah.frank (talk)
8. Rebel Girls: A Survey of Canadian Feminist Videotapes 1974-1988 (Exhibition) - Draft denied - needs more sources! Hillarywebb (talk) 23:40, 4 March 2016 (UTC)
9. User:Ayanami elena/Paige Williams -- Ayanami elena (talk)
10. User:Toulatoula/Geanna Merola -- Toulatoula (talk)

Thanks all --Theredproject (talk) 16:57, 27 March 2016 (UTC)

2016 Just For The Record IEG & PEG Grants notification — intersectional & gender diversity on Wikipedia!

more gender diversity on Wikipedia!

Just For The Record has prepared a combined IEG grant and PEG grant application to work on the promotion of more gender diversity on Wikipedia with an intersectional perspective. These grant applications build upon the exciting results of our 2015-2016 Brussels-based series of events addressing the gender gap on Wikipedia. Just For The Record has created a network in which expertise on these questions is created and shared. With our new applications, we want to expand this knowledge and network beyond the context of the edit-a-thon!

If awarded, the PEG grant will fund: location and refreshments for the 2016-2017 Just For The Record edit-a-thons. If awarded, the IEG grant will fund: research and analysis into the representation of gender on Wikipedia, combined with the construction of a research/ambassador network, leading to an intersectional non-sexist guide on how knowledge and history can be written in a more diverse way. We seek community comment, discussions and endorsement signatures (section at the bottom of the pages) to help complete the grant process: here and here! Many thanks, Lfurter (talk) 09:31, 9 April 2016 (UTC)

Way to thank participants

I think it would be a nice gesture for us to have a barnstar to thank those that participated in the 2016 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. Barnstars are placed on user talk pages and recognize the editor for their good work in a specific area or task. Looking over the event pages, it's clear there were many new editors who participated. This seemed like the most appropriate existing barnstar, but it's specifically fine arts. We could use this one or perhaps someone out there would be interested in making a new Art+Feminism barnstar. Mkdw^talk 21:22, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

Example

		The Barnstar of Fine Arts
		Thank you for participating in the 2016 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. Mkdwtalk 21:22, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

Code

{{subst:The Barnstar of Fine Arts|1=Thank you for participating in the [[Wikipedia:Meetup/ArtAndFeminism|2016 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon]]. ~~~~}}

Hi @Mkdw:. Yup, we have an Art+Feminism barnstar that we're sending out to our participants soon. --Failedprojects (talk) 21:35, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

@Failedprojects: Are these being organized to be sent out or is it up to each organizer to give them out to their participants? Sometimes waiting too long Mkdw^talk 04:49, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Data on editor retention

Hi! I was looking at this project and wondered if there is any data on editor retention. I'm curious to know the percentage of editors who continue contributing after having first contributed an article in an edit-a-thon. --Lemongirl942 (talk) 04:54, 12 May 2016 (UTC)

2016 content collapse

Resolved

Since things are starting to gear up for the 2017 campaign, I went ahead and grouped together planned 2017 events and collapsed the 2016 content until we determine how it should be archived. Don't worry, nothing has been deleted, just collapsed. I just wanted to make the page more readable, but does a project organizer want to archive the contents appropriately? ---Another Believer _(Talk) 02:29, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

@Another Believer: that's on our to do list. ;) we will be on it very soon!

Saskatoon duplicate

Wikipedia:Meetup/Saskatoon/ArtAndFeminism 2017 and Wikipedia:Meetup/Saskatoon/ArtAndFeminism/March 9 2017 are duplicates. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 22:33, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

De-Recognition of Affiliates with Long-standing Non-Compliance

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

Recognition as a Wikimedia affiliate - a chapter, thematic organization, or user group - is a privilege that allows an independent group to officially use the Wikimedia name to further the Wikimedia mission. While most Wikimedia affiliates adhere to the basic compliance standards set forth in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation, a protocol has been developed to address the exceptional cases when a Wikimedia affiliate does not meet basic compliance standards and their continued recognition as a Wikimedia affiliate presents a risk to the Wikimedia movement.

In the past year, the Affiliations Committee - with support from Wikimedia Foundation staff - has made a concerted effort to address a handful of chapters with long-standing issues of non-compliance. As a result, in the coming days and months, a small number of chapters that have been unable to return to compliance through their efforts in the past year will not have their chapter agreements renewed. As a consequence, these organizations will no longer have the additional rights to use the Wikimedia trademarks, including the Wikimedia name, that had been granted under those agreements.

If you have questions about what this means for community members in the affected affiliates’ region or language areas, we have put together a basic FAQ. The FAQ talk page is available for additional questions and comments, and the Affiliations Committee is happy to answer questions directly.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 15:54, 13 February 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to other languages. • Get help • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

Review of initial updates on Wikimedia movement strategy process

Note: Apologies for cross-posting and sending in English. Message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.

The Wikimedia movement is beginning a movement-wide strategy discussion, a process which will run throughout 2017. For 15 years, Wikimedians have worked together to build the largest free knowledge resource in human history. During this time, we've grown from a small group of editors to a diverse network of editors, developers, affiliates, readers, donors, and partners. Today, we are more than a group of websites. We are a movement rooted in values and a powerful vision: all knowledge for all people. As a movement, we have an opportunity to decide where we go from here.

This movement strategy discussion will focus on the future of our movement: where we want to go together, and what we want to achieve. We hope to design an inclusive process that makes space for everyone: editors, community leaders, affiliates, developers, readers, donors, technology platforms, institutional partners, and people we have yet to reach. There will be multiple ways to participate including on-wiki, in private spaces, and in-person meetings. You are warmly invited to join and make your voice heard.

The immediate goal is to have a strategic direction by Wikimania 2017 to help frame a discussion on how we work together toward that strategic direction.

Regular updates are being sent to the Wikimedia-l mailing list, and posted on Meta-Wiki. Beginning with this message, monthly reviews of these updates will be sent to this page as well. Sign up to receive future announcements and monthly highlights of strategy updates on your user talk page.

Here is a review of the updates that have been sent so far:

• Update 1 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (15 December 2016)
  • Introduction to process and information about budget spending resolution to support it
• Update 2 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (23 December 2016)
  • Start of search for Lead Architect for movement strategy process
• Update 3 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (8 January 2017)
  • Plans for strategy sessions at upcoming Wikimedia Conference 2017
• Update 4 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (11 January 2017)
  • Introduction of williamsworks
• Update 5 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (2 February 2017)
  • The core movement strategy team, team tracks being developed, introduction of the Community Process Steering Committee, discussions at WikiIndaba conference 2017 and the Wikimedia movement affiliates executive directors gathering in Switzerland
• Update 6 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (10 February 2017)
  • Tracks A & B process prototypes and providing feedback, updates on development of all four Tracks

More information about the movement strategy is available on the Meta-Wiki 2017 Wikimedia movement strategy portal.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation, 20:27, 15 February 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to other languages. • Get help

Overview #2 of updates on Wikimedia movement strategy process

Note: Apologies for cross-posting and sending in English. This message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.

As we mentioned last month, the Wikimedia movement is beginning a movement-wide strategy discussion, a process which will run throughout 2017. This movement strategy discussion will focus on the future of our movement: where we want to go together, and what we want to achieve.

Regular updates are being sent to the Wikimedia-l mailing list, and posted on Meta-Wiki. Each month, we are sending overviews of these updates to this page as well. Sign up to receive future announcements and monthly highlights of strategy updates on your user talk page.

Here is a overview of the updates that have been sent since our message last month:

• Update 7 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (16 February 2017)
  • Development of documentation for Tracks A & B
• Update 8 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (24 February 2017)
  • Introduction of Track Leads for all four audience tracks
• Update 9 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (2 March 2017)
  • Seeking feedback on documents being used to help facilitate upcoming community discussions

More information about the movement strategy is available on the Meta-Wiki 2017 Wikimedia movement strategy portal.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation, 19:42, 9 March 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to other languages. • Get help

Google Doc from the Notability Working Group

Here is the Google Doc from the Notability Working Group from Art+Feminism at MoMA on 3/11, to be worked on at Kickstarter on 3/12. Document is public, and editable by anyone. We recommend you be signed in, so we can collaborate better, but if you prefer to be an anonymous badger you are still welcome to contribute. --Theredproject (talk) 03:41, 12 March 2017 (UTC)

We invite you to join the movement strategy conversation (now through April 15)

This message, "We invite you to join the movement strategy conversation (now through April 15)", was sent through multiple channels by Gregory Varnum on 15 and 16 of March 2017 to village pumps, affiliate talk pages, movement mailing lists, and MassMessage groups. A similar message was sent by Nicole Ebber to organized groups and their mailing lists on 15 of March 2017. This version of the message is available for translation and documentation purposes

Dear Wikimedians/Wikipedians:

Today we are starting a broad discussion to define Wikimedia's future role in the world and develop a collaborative strategy to fulfill that role. You are warmly invited to join the conversation.

There are many ways to participate, by joining an existing conversation or starting your own:

Track A (organized groups): Discussions with your affiliate, committee or other organized group (these are groups that support the Wikimedia movement).

Track B (individual contributors): On Meta or your local language or project wiki.

This is the first of three conversations, and it will run between now and April 15. The purpose of cycle 1 is to discuss the future of the movement and generate major themes around potential directions. What do we want to build or achieve together over the next 15 years?

We welcome you, as we create this conversation together, and look forward to broad and diverse participation from all parts of our movement.

• Find out more about the movement strategy process
• Learn more about volunteering to be a Discussion Coordinator

Sincerely,

Nicole Ebber (Track A Lead), Jaime Anstee (Track B Lead), & the engagement support teams

05:00, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

Was Invited Via Watchlist Message To A Dead Link

Dear Wikimedians/Wikipedians:

I would love to participate and help out.

I was invited recently via a message on my Watchlist (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Watchlist) :

You are invited to an Art and Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon inside an art installation at the San Francisco Art Institute on Saturday March 25 from 1-5 PM. See the event page for details. [Hide]

(which I didn't even know people could do but ok no problem)

Unfortunately "event page" links to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/San_Francisco/Art%252BFeminism@SFAI_2017 which is a dead link.

Since I have no idea who posted this message on my Watchlist, I have no idea who to ask about it, or point out the broken link so they can fix it (e.g. in case they copy/pasted the broken link to others).

I'm hoping that by leaving this here on this Talk page that it will somehow make it back to the person posting the messages.

Meanwhile I'll keep digging for details of the actual event which I couldn't find on this page either.

UPDATE: Found the right link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/San_Francisco/Art%2BFeminism@SFAI_2017

(looks like the link that got copied to Watchlist pages had a double-URL-encoding bug where the % became a %25) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tantek (talk • contribs) 17:44, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

HTH and keep up the good work!

Thanks,

Tantek (talk) 17:37, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Start of the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections

Please accept our apologies for cross-posting this message. This message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, I am pleased to announce that self-nominations are being accepted for the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Elections.

The Board of Trustees (Board) is the decision-making body that is ultimately responsible for the long-term sustainability of the Wikimedia Foundation, so we value wide input into its selection. More information about this role can be found on Meta-Wiki. Please read the letter from the Board of Trustees calling for candidates.

The candidacy submission phase will last from April 7 (00:00 UTC) to April 20 (23:59 UTC).

We will also be accepting questions to ask the candidates from April 7 to April 20. You can submit your questions on Meta-Wiki.

Once the questions submission period has ended on April 20, the Elections Committee will then collate the questions for the candidates to respond to beginning on April 21.

The goal of this process is to fill the three community-selected seats on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. The election results will be used by the Board itself to select its new members.

The full schedule for the Board elections is as follows. All dates are inclusive, that is, from the beginning of the first day (UTC) to the end of the last.

• April 7 (00:00 UTC) – April 20 (23:59 UTC) – Board nominations
• April 7 – April 20 – Board candidates questions submission period
• April 21 – April 30 – Board candidates answer questions
• May 1 – May 14 – Board voting period
• May 15–19 – Board vote checking
• May 20 – Board result announcement goal

In addition to the Board elections, we will also soon be holding elections for the following roles:

• Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
  • There are five positions being filled. More information about this election will be available on Meta-Wiki.

• Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson (Ombuds)
  • One position is being filled. More information about this election will be available on Meta-Wiki.

Please note that this year the Board of Trustees elections will be held before the FDC and Ombuds elections. Candidates who are not elected to the Board are explicitly permitted and encouraged to submit themselves as candidates to the FDC or Ombuds positions after the results of the Board elections are announced.

More information on this year's elections can be found on Meta-Wiki. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the election talk page on Meta-Wiki, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-electionswikimedia.org.

On behalf of the Election Committee,
Katie Chan, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
Joe Sutherland, Community Advocate, Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, 03:35, 7 April 2017 (UTC) • Please help translate to other languages. • Get help

Voting has begun in 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections

This is a message from the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee. Translations are available.

Voting has begun for eligible voters in the 2017 elections for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees.

The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is the ultimate governing authority of the Wikimedia Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the United States. The Wikimedia Foundation manages many diverse projects such as Wikipedia and Commons.

The voting phase lasts from 00:00 UTC May 1 to 23:59 UTC May 14. Click here to vote. More information on the candidates and the elections can be found on the 2017 Board of Trustees election page on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Elections Committee,
Katie Chan, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
Joe Sutherland, Community Advocate, Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery • Translate • Get help

19:02, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Join the next cycle of Wikimedia movement strategy discussions (underway until June 12)

Message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki

The Wikimedia movement strategy core team and working groups have completed reviewing the more than 1800 thematic statements we received from the first discussion. They have identified 5 themes that were consistent across all the conversations - each with their own set of sub-themes. These are not the final themes, just an initial working draft of the core concepts.

You are invited to join the online and offline discussions taking place on these 5 themes. This round of discussions will take place between now and June 12th. You can discuss as many as you like; we ask you to participate in the ones that are most (or least) important to you.

Here are the five themes, each has a page on Meta-Wiki with more information about the theme and how to participate in that theme's discussion:

• Healthy, Inclusive Communities
• The Augmented Age
• A Truly Global Movement
• The Most Respected Source of Knowledge
• Engaging in the Knowledge Ecosystem

On the movement strategy portal on Meta-Wiki, you can find more information about each of these themes, their discussions, and how to participate.

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation • Please help translate to other languages. • Get help

19:24, 16 May 2017 (UTC)

Start of the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee elections

Translations of this message are available on Meta-Wiki.

On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, we are pleased to announce that self-nominations are being accepted for the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee and Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson elections. Please read the letter from the Wikimedia Foundation calling for candidates at on the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation elections portal.

Funds Dissemination Committee
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations about how to allocate Wikimedia movement funds to eligible entities. There are five positions being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC elections page.

Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson
The Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson receives complaints and feedback about the FDC process, investigates complaints at the request of the Board of Trustees, and summarizes the investigations and feedback for the Board of Trustees on an annual basis. One position is being filled. More information about this role can be found at the FDC Ombudsperson elections page.

The candidacy submission phase will last until May 28 (23:59 UTC).

We will also be accepting questions to ask the candidates until May 28. You can submit your questions on Meta-Wiki. Once the questions submission period has ended on May 28, the Elections Committee will then collate the questions for the candidates to respond to.

The goal of this process is to fill the five community-selected seats on the Wikimedia Foundation Funds Dissemination Committee and the community-selected ombudsperson. The election results will be used by the Board itself to make the appointments.

The full schedule for the FDC elections is as follows. All dates are inclusive, that is, from the beginning of the first day (UTC) to the end of the last.

• May 15 (00:00 UTC) – May 28 (23:59 UTC) – Nominations
• May 15 – May 28 – Candidates questions submission period
• May 29 – June 2 – Candidates answer questions
• June 3 – June 11 – Voting period
• June 12–14 – Vote checking
• June 15 – Goal date for announcing election results

More information on this year's elections can be found at the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation elections portal.

Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page on Meta-Wiki, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-electionswikimedia.org.

On behalf of the Election Committee,
Katie Chan, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
Joe Sutherland, Community Advocate, Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by the MediaWiki message delivery • Translate • Get help

21:03, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Art+Feminism at German Wikipedia

Resolved

The German Wikipedia article for Art+Feminism was nominated for deletion. Here is a link to the ongoing discussion, if you care to contribute. Thanks! ---Another Believer _(Talk) 12:49, 12 October 2017 (UTC)

Well, that was interesting! Thanks for the heads up @Another Believer: ;) failed projects 01:13, 15 October 2017 (UTC)

No prob! Marking this section as resolved. ---Another Believer _(Talk) 04:50, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: January 2018

L&E Newsletter / Volume 5 / Issue 15 / January 2018
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#LeadershipDevelopment
#CaseStudies

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
Raising awareness of Wikipedia in Nigeria, one radio program at a time

Leave your mark on Meta!
Inspire New Readers campaign, and AffCom elections

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:45, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: June 2018

L&E Newsletter / Volume 5 / Issue 16 / June 2018
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#WikiWomen
#WikiEduAsia

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
Karvachar’s WikiClub, when getting knowledge is cool

Leave your mark on Meta!
Inspire New Readers campaign, and AffCom elections

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:45, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: October 2017

L&E Newsletter / Volume 4 / Issue 14 / October 2017
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#Learning Days
#CEInsightsReport

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
On-boarding new editors:
The skills-focused approach of WMIL

Leave your mark on Meta!
New AffCom corner, plus learning patterns you can contribute to.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:50, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon in Portland, Oregon: Jewish Women Artists (March 8)

Main page: Wikipedia:Meetup/Portland/Jewish Women Artists

On March 8 (International Women's Day), and as part of the Art+Feminism project, Shoshana Gugenheim and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education will be hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon to create and improve articles about Jewish women artists. Click here for more information. You can also express interest or suggest article to create or improve here. Remote participation is also welcome! ---Another Believer _(Talk) 23:47, 17 February 2018 (UTC)

Share your feedback in this global Wikimedia survey

Dear Wikimedia Affiliates,
My name is María Cruz and I work for the Wikimedia Foundation on the Learning and Evaluation team. In one week or so, the Foundation is starting a global survey to learn about the experiences and feedback of Wikimedians. I am writing here, because I wanted to share with you a bit more about the project.
The survey is called "Wikimedia Communities and Contributors" and is conducted annually. We will send the survey to editors across all the Wikimedia projects, as well as Wikimedia affiliates and volunteer developers. This survey is going to be our way of making sure that we can hear feedback from a significant number of users from across the projects. This research supports editors and Wikipedia’s mission. This is our second annual CE Insights survey, and we look forward to improving it every year.
We will be contacting 2 people from each affiliate, based on the primary contact information that we have. Each affiliate will receive an additional third link which they can distribute to any leader in their chapter or user group.
Go to the project page to see the results of last year’s survey, and to see how your feedback helps the Wikimedia Foundation support communities. You can sign up to be notified about the results of the survey, or to learn how you can help with planning the survey next year.
If you have any questions or concerns about this project, please feel free to send them to Edward Galvez's talk page on Meta-Wiki or email him directly at surveyswikimedia · org in any language. You can learn more about this project and read about frequently asked questions. You can also share your feedback on Meta-Wiki.

Thank you for your time supporting this project!
María Cruz

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:42, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Notification of Rapid Grant proposal for Wikidata QuickSheets - useful in BLP work

Hello all, I wanted to let you all know that I have submitted a Rapid Grant proposal to further develop software that will semi-automate the process of moving BLP data from Wikipedia to Wikidata. As you will see, it is particularly useful for BLP and *gap work, as it will allow you to quickly source claims. For example, with the proposal to remove all unsourced Ethnic Group (P172) claims. The tool is designed to be accessible to those without programming experience by using simple article lists to generate spreadsheets for human evaluation. This builds on work done as part the Art+Feminism campaign, which is detailed at our workplan where you can see in detail more about how the tool works. I welcome your feedback on the proposal. --Theredproject (talk) 21:39, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

June Women in Red focus on GLAM

		Welcome to Women in Red's June 2018 worldwide online editathons. New: WiR Loves Pride New: Singers and Songwriters New: Women in GLAM New: Geofocus: Russia/USSR Continuing: #1day1woman Global Initiative
		(To subscribe: Women in Red/English language mailing list and Women in Red/international list. Unsubscribe: Women in Red/Opt-out list)

--Ipigott (talk) 10:17, 29 May 2018 (UTC)

WMF would like to  talk about better tools for editathon organizers

I’m a product manager at the Wikimedia Foundation. My team's next assignment is to build a tool that will make life easier for people who organize and run editathons (here's the project page).  

I’m reaching out people who organize editathons to learn more about your workflow and needs. I’d like to better understand what works for you and what doesn’t about your current tools and what ideas you have for tools that could make you more effective. I’m very interested in speaking with organizers from countries other than the USA, though I need to conduct interviews in English.  

If you’re an experienced organizer who could benefit from better technology for metrics, signups, promotion or other parts of the editathon process, I’d I’d like to set up a time when we might chat via video conference (Google Hangouts). To respond, please:

• Send me a contact email where I can reach you;
• Please tell me briefly how many and what type of editathons you’ve worked on and
• Let me know what time zone you’re in (I’m in California time).

You can reach me on my talk page or here: jmatazzoni[at]wikimedia.org. I'm researching this right now, so please don't wait to get in touch. I’m looking forward to learning more about your work! —JMatazzoni (WMF) (talk) 17:30, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: November 2018

L&E Newsletter / Volume 5 / Issue 17 / November 2018
Learning Quarterly

Frontpage:
#CEInsights18
#GenderEquity

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

A program in the spotlight:
Editatona: Writing women back in history

Leave your mark on Meta!
AffCom corner and Wikimania Poster session

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:10, 29 November 2018 (UTC)

Projects Grant Proposal: Smithsonian Wikimedian-in-Residence for Gender Representation

I wanted to give you a heads-up about a proposal I submitted to establish a Wikimedian-in-Residence for the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative to catalyze the cultural heritage sector to increase the representation of women on Wikimedia projects while also developing evidence for Smithsonian senior leadership to make an Open Knowledge Coordinator role permanent. The Smithsonian is investing heavily in increasing the resources about American women, focusing on women and girls of color, across its 19 museums and 9 research centers and we would like to develop, test, and share models for making these resources more widely available online. We will definitely touch on women artists that need representation on Wikipedia and Wikidata. If you have suggestions or ideas, or have interest in partnering, please chime in on the proposal discussion page. --Digitaleffie (talk) 21:44, 12 December 2018 (UTC)

2018 Affiliations Committee call for candidates

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee.

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and advise the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee can include up to fifteen members, roughly half of whom are selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms. Those joining the committee during the current process will serve a two-year term ending in December 2020.

Key skills

Being a part of the Affiliations Committee requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members, including the following key skills and experience:

- Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps bureaucratic process.
- Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
- Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly two-hour voice/video meeting.
- International orientation.
- Fluency in English.
- Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.
- Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
- Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organizing are a plus.
- Skills in other languages are a major plus.
- Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus.
- Strong track record of effective collaboration (such as evidenced skills at facilitation, mediation, negotiation, and so forth) are a major plus.
- Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.

We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members selected will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2018 member selection process will include a public review and comment period. All applications received by the committee will be posted on Meta at Affiliations Committee/Candidates/December 2018, and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

At the end of the public comment period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee who are not seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made by mid-January 2019, with new members expected to join later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please post your application on the nomination page and send an email announcing your application to affcom@lists.wikimedia.org by 31 December 2018. Your application must include the following information:

- Your full name and Wikimedia username
- A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.
- Answers to the following three questions:

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
   
2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
   
3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?
   

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

Best regards,
Kirill Lokshin
Chair, Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 06:25, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

New Affiliations Committee appointments

AffCom is excited to share with you the news that the Wikimedia Foundation Board has unanimously approved the changes to the Bylaws during the last Board meeting on January 30, 2019.

This change allows the participation of User Groups in the Affiliate-selected Board seats (ASBS) 2019 process.

To read the Board's announcement, please click here

--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:45, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

Help us make Wikipedia talk pages more accessible to more participants

Hello!

Our team at the Wikimedia Foundation is working on a project to improve the ease-of-use and productivity of wiki talk pages. As an affiliate, I can imagine you’ve run into challenges explaining talk pages to first-time participants, or it is an consultation that would interest your members.

We want all contributors to be able to talk to each other on the wikis – to ask questions, to resolve differences, to organize projects and to make decisions. Communication is essential for the depth and quality of our content, and the health of our communities.

We're currently leading a global consultation on how to improve talk pages, and we're looking for groups that can discuss and report on their experiences using (or helping other people to use) wiki talk pages. We'd like to invite you to participate, with the user groups that you belong to. You can learn more about the consultation at Mediawiki.org and if you're interested in hosting a group discussion (on-wiki or off-wiki), you can sign up at the participant sign-up group.

If you’d like to participate or if you have any questions, please contact us and let us know. The more people participate from many horizons, the better the outcome will be.

Thank you! Trizek (WMF) 15:29, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

Call for complementary facilitators and more to get the ASBS 2019 process started!

Hi everyone, hope all is fine with you!

The next weeks will be intense, as affiliates figure out their participation in the process that will soon select 2 people for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. Since new Bylaws established that the user groups are for the first time going to be involved in such process, a lot more support than before is certainly going to be necessary, among other things, for big and healthy conversations on the topic. Hence, please encourage members of your group to become a complementary facilitator, or sign up yourself! You can add yourself to the list on Meta or reply to me to flag availability. One person from the facilitators group should soon be selected to liaise with the Foundation Board’s Chair, María Sefidari, on behalf of all affiliates, and it may be wise to also find a deputy for them.

Finally, if you can think of any huge obstacles that would prevent your group from participating to the process (for instance, a language barrier, or lack of good decision-making mechanisms, etc.), please reach out to me directly: it is really important that we hear about them as early as possible. Thank you! Elitre (WMF) 15:23, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

Update on the Affiliate-selected Board seats 2019 process

Hi all,

The Election Facilitators met on Friday, April 5. We finalized the resolution, which is now frozen. The Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation will be asked to approve the resolution.

We have made two small changes to be more inclusive. We extended the date for compliance with AffCom reporting and being in good standing to May 7 to allow time for as many Affiliates as possible to be current with these requirements. The Election Facilitators adjusted the language in case a quorum is not met during the election.

On the talk page of the resolution one issue was raised. The issue looks like to be about a possible candidate. Affiliates will have ample time to discuss the merits of candidates during nomination time, screening time, and they can cast their votes on candidates. The Election Facilitators didn't see the necessity for this change, and left the resolution on this point unchanged.

The Election Facilitators will be Abhinav Srivastava, Lane Rasberry, Jeffrey Keefer, Ad Huikeshoven, Neal McBurnett and Alessandro Marchetti. We will welcome more volunteers to assist us in this process, to reach out to the diversity in language and gender in our communities, and do so in an advisory role.

The nomination period opens on April 15. We are going to prepare nomination pages on Meta. You can expect a call for nominations. There is a draft call, including a candidates' profile section with non-binding guidelines about experience and characteristics for nominees. You are welcome to add your insights, or discuss on the talk page.

Erica Litrenta (WMF staff) supports us in this process. She will reach out to all affiliates through mail and other channels to make sure we are up to date with (user)name and contact details of your primary contact.

On behalf of the Election Facilitators, Ad Huikeshoven 10:52, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

Update about the Affiliate-selected Board seats process 2019

Hello everyone!

• The Resolution has been approved by the Board of Trustees;
• Nominations phase is now open, from April 15 00:00 UTC to April 30 23:59 UTC. See the Call for Candidates and Nominations pages;
  • Community members may ask questions of the candidates;
• Your main representative has just received an email to confirm that they are indeed the primary contact and will perform official actions on behalf of your group (such as endorsing candidates and then voting). Some groups also need to verify their eligibility status in due time, as explained in the email;
• New content is available to spread awareness around the process - the infographic on this page has clickable links and can be translated, and a primer is available, that we hope will be particularly helpful to those new to such a process;
• Finally, you are welcome to help with translations! Pick one page from the ASBS category and, in the next couple of weeks, please consider translating profiles of the candidates in particular.

Thanks for your attention! The Facilitators for ASBS 2019, 07:33, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

Affiliate-selected Board seats 2019 process: your representative

Hello. The name of the only person who will vote on behalf of this group to select the next two Board members is now at m:Affiliate-selected Board seats/2019/Eligible entities. Please contact me directly as soon as possible if you need any kind of corrections there. There's only a few hours left to endorse candidates, and only the official voter can do that. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that you can make a difference with the necessary translations.

Appreciate your attention and your support so far! Thank you! Elitre (WMF) and Facilitators of ASBS 2019, 12:15, 29 April 2019 (UTC)

Introducing Wikimedia Space: A platform for movement news and organizations

Hi Meetup/ArtAndFeminism/Archive 1,
I’m writing to let you know that the Community Engagement department at the Wikimedia Foundation is launching a new platform, Wikimedia Space. Here, you will find stories for and by contributors to the Wikimedia movement, and a space for discussions of different topics.

We know that finding information about Wikimedia activities and processes is very complicated, which makes the learning curve to enter our movement and be successful afterwards, really steep. By centralizing community stories and conversations in one shared space, we believe we are facilitating access and discoverability of topics across the movement, improving, in turn, connections among Wikimedians.

As an affiliated organization to the Wikimedia Foundation, we hope that you can share this platform with your local community, and we count on you to encourage them to add their voices. If you’d like to contribute stories, and overall, participate in the discussion section, please read our blogging guidelines and our code of conduct and join the conversation. Find more information about the project on its page on Meta.

Looking forward to seeing you at Wikimedia Space,
María Cruz, Communications and Outreach Manager, Wikimedia Foundation.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:53, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

References

Community consultation on Art+Feminism staffing plan

Dear Art+Feminism Community,

We would like to have your feedback on our staffing plan for the future of Art+Feminism’s leadership. As part of our grant proposal, we have prepared a staffing plan with descriptions and rationales. As stewards of this community, we know we can’t move forward in this process without your voice.

In particular, we seek your comments on the job description for an expanded full-time Executive Director position. As we have now moved to an official 501c3, in order to align with non-profit norms, we have proposed increasing this role from Director to Executive Director and from part- to full-time. The move from part-time to full-time is also in response to the fact that two years in a row McKensie Mack used all of their allocated hours by May, indicating that the work really really required someone to work full time(!) We know your thoughtful feedback will make the description even better.

Please submit comments on our Staffing Plan talk page by Monday July 22nd: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Art%2BFeminism_User_Group/Planning/Staffing2019

We will be meeting on the 23rd to incorporate this feedback, before posting the job description on Wednesday July 24th.

We imagine that some people receiving this RFC may apply for this position. We welcome your comments, but per WP:COI, please declare any conflict of interest via email to info@artandfeminism.org

A+F --Yhhue91 (talk) 22:37, 17 July 2019 (UTC)

How do we know about events?

A friend just sent me a link to this https://guide.artswave.org/event/artfeminism-wikipedia-edit-a-thon/?unapproved=576&moderation-hash=1b51bc1f52baa4847b179053d0c52d6d#comment-576 because she knows I edit WP. I had no idea it was coming up. How can I be notified of local events? --valereee (talk) 00:29, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

http://www.artandfeminism.org/find-an-event/ is probably the best place to find announcements for new edit-a-thons Vexations (talk) 01:03, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Vexations, the event my friend sent me doesn't seem to be listed there? --valereee (talk) 18:40, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Introducing Wikimedia Diary: A memory book (notebook) for all

		Wikimedia Diary
		Hello Meetup/ArtAndFeminism/Archive 1, I wanna share you about Wikimedia Diary, a public memory book (notebook) in which Wikimedians from all over the world are free to write any worth noting event/activities/experiences by them or community in this Wiki world. It is a more casual place to write about what one is up to. As we all know, a diary is a book in which diarist keeps a daily record of events and experiences. Likewise, the basic idea of Wikimedia Diary is that we do many activities here in wiki world which we are proud of, but unfortunately it became only the history anytime. So, It is meant to record those activities on the happened date with a signature (~~~~) which is worth noting, and letting fellow Wikimedians know about what inspirational you've did. It would motivate users from all around the world to keep on cool activities and publish a note. I hope you share your activities with all of us on the page, and please let your friends know about Wikimedia Diary. Also, your feedback is welcome on the discussion page. Thank you! Kind regards, Tulsi Bhagat, Initiator of Wikimedia Diary, Wikimedia movement communications group. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:09, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

2019 Affiliations Committee call for candidates

The Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee consists of fourteen members, selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms. Those joining the committee during the current process will serve a two-year term ending in December 2021.

AffCom continues to closely monitor the Wikimedia 2030 Strategy process that was initiated in 2016. While the affiliation models continue to be discussed as part of the broader strategy discussion, as no decisions have been made to change the current affiliation models yet, AffCom will continue to work in the same manner with regard to affiliate recognitions and intervention support for affiliates with issues of non-compliance in 2020. Specifically, AffCom will continue to process applications for user group and chapter/thematic organization creation, while we await the strategy next steps and begin to prepare for a smooth transition of the committee and affiliates ecosystem to any changing movement structures and systems in 2021.

Being a part of the Affiliations Committee requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members.

Required and Recommended Skills for Affiliations Committee Members

Across all committee members there are additional relevant skills as well as requirements which help to support the committee and its sustainability which include both required and relevant general skills

Required Skills

• Fluency in English
• Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly one and two-hour voice/video meetings.
• Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.
• Strong track record of effective collaboration
• International orientation

Relevant Skills

• Skills in other languages are a major plus.
• Public Communications (English writing and speaking skills)
• Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
• Documentation practices
• Interviewing experience
• Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organizing are a plus

• Experience with, or in, an active affiliate is a major plus.

• Teamwork
  • Focusing on shared goals instead of disagreements
  • Focusing on the conflict at hand and not past ones
  • Ensuring each member of the team has a clearly defined role, which can help reduce disagreements over areas of responsibility
  • Project and people management to coordinate different parties on a shared plan and seeing it through to completion.

• Problem-Solving
  • Ability to evaluate various solutions
  • Ability to consider multiple interests and points of view
  • Willingness to revisit unresolved issues
  • The capacity to recognize and respond to important matters
  • The ability to seek compromise and avoid punishing
• Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.

Given the expectations for maintaining course in 2020 and preparing for potential 2021 transitions, it is important that we are also clear about two different skill sets critical to committee support at this time. The first skillset is oriented to understanding affiliate dynamics and organizational development patterns to successfully process affiliate applications for recognition; the other is oriented to conflict prevention and intervention support for affiliates in conflict.

Affiliate Recognitions Relevant Skills

• Administration
  • Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps bureaucratic process.
  • Attention to detail

• Monitoring & Strategic Development
  • Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.

• Organizational Awareness
  • Understanding of and community building and organizational development
  • Understanding of group dynamics
  • Awareness of the affiliates ecosystem and models

Conflict Prevention & Intervention Relevant Skills

• Communication
  • Active listening
  • Reading nonverbal cues
  • Knowing when to interrupt and when to stay quiet
  • Being culturally sensitive at the same time remaining clear and concise when explaining a concept or opinion

• Stress Management
  • Patience
  • Positivity
  • Ability to inject a dose of humor to dilute anger and frustration when needed
  • Taking well-timed breaks that can bring calm in the midst of flared tempers
  • Ability to manage stress while remaining alert and calm

• Emotional Intelligence
  • Being emotionally aware,
  • Ability to control emotions and behaviors,
  • Ability to practice empathy,
  • Impartiality,
  • Don’t take anything personally,
  • Being aware of and respectful of differences.

• Facilitation skills
  • Meeting facilitation experience
  • Peer or community mediation training
  • Peer or community mediation experience

Do you have any of these skill sets and an interest to support movement affiliates?

We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members selected will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2019 member selection process will include a public review and comment period. We invite you to share with us you applications, specifying your focus area you’re interested in. All applications received by the committee will be posted on Meta, and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

At the end of the public comment period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee who are not seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made by mid-January 2020, with new members expected to join later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please post your application on the nomination page and send an email announcing your application to AffComlists.wikimedia.org by 10 January 2020. Your application must include the following information:

• Your full name and Wikimedia username
• A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.
• Answers to the following questions:

1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you uniquely qualified?
4. Which subcommittee are you most interested in serving on: Recognitions OR Conflict Prevention & Intervention?

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

On behalf of the committee,

Camelia Boban, AffCom member

Queering Wikipedia

Last call for scholarship applications to attend the upcoming meta:Queering Wikipedia conference. Visit Meta-Wiki for more info.

Happy editing! ---Another Believer _(Talk) 01:45, 17 January 2020 (UTC)

Invitation to participate in Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos

Dear Wikimedia Affiliate Community,

We are inviting you to participate in Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos (WPWP), a new global contest scheduled to run from July through August 2020:

Participants will choose among Wikipedia pages without photo images, then add a suitable file from among the many thousands of photos in the Wikimedia Commons, especially those uploaded from thematic contests (Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Folklore, etc.) over the years.

WPWP offers a focused task for guiding new editors through the steps of adding content to existing pages. It can be used to organize editing workshops and edit-a-thons.

The organizing team is looking for a contact person at the Chapter, Thematic group & Wikimedia User Group level (geographically or thematically), or for a language WP, to coordinate the project locally. We’d be glad for you to sign up directly at WPWP Participating Communities

Thank you,

Deborah Schwartz Jacobs

On behalf of Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos Organizing Team - 21:19, 9 May 2020 (UTC)

Odd that there's no user sig or live link. For any who may want a somewhat relevant link, Category:Wikipedia requested photographs. Jim.henderson (talk) 17:28, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

Call for candidates - June 2020

Hi everyone,

The Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members!

The main role of the AffCom is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and update the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees as well as advise them on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee consists of five to fifteen members, selected at least once every year, to serve two-year terms. As the committee must hold mid-year elections to replenish its members at this time, those joining the committee during the current process will serve a slightly extended term from July 2020 through December 2022.

AffCom continues to closely monitor the Wikimedia 2030 Strategy process initiated in 2016. While the affiliation models continue to be discussed as part of the broader strategy discussion, as no decisions have been made to change the current affiliation models yet, AffCom continues to work in the same manner with regard to affiliate recognitions and intervention support for affiliates with issues of non-compliance in 2020. AffCom continues to process applications for user group and chapter/thematic organization creation, while we await the strategy next steps and begin to prepare for a smooth transition of the committee and affiliates ecosystem to any changing movement structures and systems in 2021.

Being a part of the AffCom requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a mix of different skill sets in our members.

Click here for further details.

James Heilman on behalf of AffCom

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:18, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Affiliations Committee elections announcement June 2020

Hi everyone,

This is a friendly reminder that the Affiliations Committee (AffCom) – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing and sustaining Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is seeking new members! The deadline to post your application on the nomination page is 30 June 2020.

• Application process: Considering the anticipated changes following the Strategy recommendations, we had a limited scope to introduce changes in the process. We have made a small but impactful addition to the application process by introducing the Self Assessment survey form which will help the committee know more about your engagement as endorsements are not consistently shared, may not be representative, and often do not speak to the specific skills needed.
• Selection process: No change; see: Membership.

If you have any questions, please contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to answer questions about our work if this helps people decide to apply. Please distribute this announcement among your networks. Good luck to all the candidates!

On behalf of the committee,

--Rosiestep (talk) 00:49, 19 June 2020 (UTC) via MassMessaging

Feedback on movement names

There are a lot of conversations happening about the future of our movement names. We hope that you are part of these discussions and that your community is represented.

Since 16 June, the Foundation Brand Team has been running a survey in 7 languages about 3 naming options. There are also community members sharing concerns about renaming in a Community Open Letter.

You should have received a separate affiliate survey via email. If you have not, feel free to email brandprojectwikimedia.org.

Our goal in this call for feedback is to hear from across the community, so we encourage you to participate in the survey, the open letter, or both. The survey will go through 7 July in all timezones. Input from the survey and discussions will be analyzed and published on Meta-Wiki.

Thanks for thinking about the future of the movement --The Brand Project team, 13:37, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Note: The survey is conducted via a third-party service, which may subject it to additional terms. For more information on privacy and data-handling, see the survey privacy statement.