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IRC office hours/Office hours 2009-11-06

< IRC office hours
  • Nov 06 15:31:59 <randmontoya>I am.
  • Nov 06 15:32:12 <cary>I feel like I should remind people in more places
  • Nov 06 15:32:15 <randmontoya>let's have a good talk, peeps...no low blows and no rabbit punches
  • Nov 06 15:32:27 <randmontoya>keep all hits above the waist
  • Nov 06 15:32:41 <cary>Welcome to Rand's second office hours
  • Nov 06 15:32:51 <cary>Remember to preceed any questions with QUESTION
  • Nov 06 15:33:03 <cary>and remember that #wikimedia-office-talk may be used for random chatter
  • Nov 06 15:34:30 <cary>We can also sit here and play cards
  • Nov 06 15:34:51 <Quagmire>Bonsoir cary :)
  • Nov 06 15:35:07 <cary>Quagmire, I'm not the featured act
  • Nov 06 15:35:18 <Quagmire>I know :)
  • Nov 06 15:35:24 <Rjd0060>randmontoya: I'm sure most people here would like an update on the fundraiser.
  • Nov 06 15:35:25 <randmontoya>I'll start things off: the Annual Fundraiser is scheduled to start on Tuesday. Here is the nearly functional donation page: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Support_Wikipedia/en
  • Nov 06 15:35:28 <Brian_S>Wikipedia forever
  • Nov 06 15:35:29 <Rjd0060>oh, QUESTION
  • Nov 06 15:35:31 <Rjd0060>;)
  • Nov 06 15:35:47 <randmontoya>At first, we are testing that donation page against this one: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Support_Wikipedia2/e�n
  • Nov 06 15:36:07 <randmontoya>the big difference is in the ask strings....one has suggested gifts going from $35 on up
  • Nov 06 15:36:15 <randmontoya>the other has $250 on down
  • Nov 06 15:36:21 <Rjd0060>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Support_Wikipedia2/en (first link didn't work for me)
  • Nov 06 15:36:40 <randmontoya>this will be tested first while we have a set banner when the campaign starts
  • Nov 06 15:36:55 <randmontoya>following that, we'll move into our rotating banners of Phase 1
  • Nov 06 15:37:09 <randmontoya>From there we'll be testing messages and approaches
  • Nov 06 15:37:39 <dami_hun>(the donate by credit card button throws an error... :( Ö
  • Nov 06 15:37:41 <dami_hun>)
  • Nov 06 15:37:43 <randmontoya>If any particular banner isn't performing, we have the ability to remove it, update it, or test it in a different way
  • Nov 06 15:37:56 <randmontoya>dami_hun...the page isn't completely live yet
  • Nov 06 15:38:04 <Huib>Quistion: I am getting the feeling that this fundraiser is all about Wikipedia but we do have other projects also, will they get there own banners and pages?
  • Nov 06 15:38:13 <randmontoya>the donation stream is still going through the old page for right now
  • Nov 06 15:38:35 <randmontoya>Great question, Huib: we ABSOLUTELY will have project specific messaging.
  • Nov 06 15:39:03 <tgr>Eric said something about pulling the wikimedia forever thing if it turns out badly, how do you determine that?
  • Nov 06 15:39:30 <randmontoya>The pages are built with project specific coding where we can...and if Ariel's extension works properly, our donors won't even leave their project site when making a donation. We will DEFINITELY have project specificity.
  • Nov 06 15:39:44 <Quagmire>Question: Will we be able to donate by Paypal?
  • Nov 06 15:39:46 <Huib>Yay :)
  • Nov 06 15:39:58 <randmontoya>tgr: we'll know. we have our stats from last year ready and have back up banners ready as well.
  • Nov 06 15:40:13 <randmontoya>While I don't expect it to fail, we are prepared with back up options.
  • Nov 06 15:40:24 <tgr>I mean, what are the criter
  • Nov 06 15:40:31 <randmontoya>We are open to testing many things...in a way, the only way we can fail is by not testing and learning as we go.
  • Nov 06 15:40:34 <tgr>I mean, what are the rough criteria?
  • Nov 06 15:40:43 <tgr>underperform by x% ?
  • Nov 06 15:41:10 <randmontoya>Quagmire: we will have both Paypal and CC processing. And other ways to give. http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give/en
  • Nov 06 15:41:44 <randmontoya>tgr: we don't have exact criteria, but only the numbers from last year, day to day and date to date: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserStatistics
  • Nov 06 15:41:56 <randmontoya>we have banner stats from last year as well
  • Nov 06 15:42:04 *BusyNeko s'appelle maintenant DarkoNeko
  • Nov 06 15:42:12 <randmontoya>you can find those posts on the wikimediafoundation.org blog
  • Nov 06 15:42:31 *cary donne la parole à randmontoya
  • Nov 06 15:42:37 <randmontoya>sadly, i don' t have time right now to get those...but in November/December, there are stats for every early banner we ran
  • Nov 06 15:42:39 *cary thought he did that already
  • Nov 06 15:42:43 <randmontoya>those are great spots for comparison
  • Nov 06 15:42:52 <randmontoya>tgr, does that answer the question?
  • Nov 06 15:44:05 <tgr>randmontoya, sort of. I was curious what exactly would you consider a failure, but its not important
  • Nov 06 15:44:16 *Jeromyu waves
  • Nov 06 15:44:19 <randmontoya>failure = me not reading my goal
  • Nov 06 15:44:28 <randmontoya>reading = reaching, duh  :(
  • Nov 06 15:44:51 <randmontoya>i consider failure not testing enough and not learning more about how different messages appeal to differnt people
  • Nov 06 15:44:51 *Avruch__ s'appelle maintenant Avruch
  • Nov 06 15:44:55 <peteforsyth>wish I had time to participate actively in this discussion..but I want to give a HEARTY HIGH-FIVE to Rand, Jelly, and everyone else who's been busting their butt over the campaign :)
  • Nov 06 15:45:12 <randmontoya>thanks peteforsyth
  • Nov 06 15:45:19 <jellyhelm>thanks Pete
  • Nov 06 15:45:22 <randmontoya>I'm excited about our chapter participation this year too.
  • Nov 06 15:45:29 <cary>Thanks Pete
  • Nov 06 15:45:59 *cimon smiles and grins.
  • Nov 06 15:46:02 <Huib>Quistion: If I use the system Ideal for donating money will it go to the Foundation or to the local chapter ? Since Ideal con only be used in some countries?
  • Nov 06 15:46:16 <Avruch>how does the chapter participation work? The WMF collects the money and splits some back, or the other way around? (forgive me if there is a system I don't know for asking)
  • Nov 06 15:46:17 <Huib>can only be used in some countries
  • Nov 06 15:46:23 <randmontoya>we're going to see how much we can amp up our chapter giving. we're giving chapters their own pages for donations this year. an example: imediafoundation.org/wiki/Global_Support/uk
  • Nov 06 15:46:31 <randmontoya>that will eventually be customize for our UK donors
  • Nov 06 15:46:39 <cary>Reminder
  • Nov 06 15:46:47 <cary>Please preface any questions with QUESTION:
  • Nov 06 15:46:55 <mpeel>randmontoya: eventually? next week... ;-)
  • Nov 06 15:47:01 <cary>that way we can be certain if we get overloaded, that we'll be able to find your question and not lose it.
  • Nov 06 15:47:15 <randmontoya>Avruch: the chapters will process the donations for those who click through those banners and share some proceeds back to the WMF
  • Nov 06 15:47:40 <randmontoya>Right now, DE, FR, UK, CH, & HK are involved
  • Nov 06 15:47:47 <randmontoya>I expect a few others as we go along.
  • Nov 06 15:48:15 <Avruch>randmontoya, according to a couple of WMUK board members there are legal issues with sending money back to the WMF. Have those been resolved?
  • Nov 06 15:48:37 <randmontoya>I'll let mpeel speak to that. We are working with them on addressing things.
  • Nov 06 15:48:40 <tgr>QUESTION: how can chapters change the contents of their donation box?
  • Nov 06 15:48:48 <randmontoya>We want it to work for both WM UK and WMF.
  • Nov 06 15:49:07 <cimon>quack quack...
  • Nov 06 15:49:12 <randmontoya>tgr: chapter members have been invited to get accounts on wmf.org...they can manage it themselves
  • Nov 06 15:49:38 <Tango42>QUESTION: Hi Rand! What are you long term plans regarding fundraising? I've heard rumours of an intention to prioritise donations through chapters. Could you tell us a little more about that?
  • Nov 06 15:49:55 <cary>I think we have several questions waiting now.
  • Nov 06 15:49:59 <cary>so let's hold up on new ones
  • Nov 06 15:50:05 <randmontoya>what the next question?
  • Nov 06 15:50:08 <Tango42>randmontoya: As WMUK Head of Fundraising, I'd like to thank you for your help with getting our various issues resolved - thanks!
  • Nov 06 15:50:19 <cary>Huib had a question
  • Nov 06 15:50:21 <mpeel>Avruch: There are questions outstanding, but we're working towards a resolution for them. Both WMUK and WMF want to do this if we can.
  • Nov 06 15:50:31 <cary><Huib> Quistion: If I use the system Ideal for donating money will it go to the Foundation or to the local chapter ? Since Ideal con only be used in some countries?
  • Nov 06 15:50:31 <randmontoya>you're welcome tango42, I wish I could respond more quickly
  • Nov 06 15:51:18 <randmontoya>Huib, the NL chapter will have all the NL donors...since you'll be managing the donation page, I believe you'll have your chapter iDeal link and paypal.
  • Nov 06 15:51:38 <randmontoya>Huib: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Support_Wikipedia/nl
  • Nov 06 15:51:56 <randmontoya>Huib, does that answer the question?
  • Nov 06 15:52:00 <randmontoya>And next question?
  • Nov 06 15:52:29 <Cassandro>Tango42 had one
  • Nov 06 15:52:33 <cary><Tango42> QUESTION: Hi Rand! What are you long term plans regarding fundraising? I've heard rumours of an intention to prioritise donations through chapters. Could you tell us a little more about that?
  • Nov 06 15:52:37 <Avruch>question: will there be a way to specifically donate to overseas chapters? (for instance, I owe WMAU $20 from a bet ;-)
  • Nov 06 15:53:00 <randmontoya>Tango42: can you explain "prioritise donations through chapters"?
  • Nov 06 15:53:13 <randmontoya>Do you mean as a long term plan?
  • Nov 06 15:53:28 <Tango42>ie. make donations through chapters a larger proportion of total donations to the WM movement
  • Nov 06 15:53:37 <Tango42>and donations directly to the WMF a minor part
  • Nov 06 15:53:39 <randmontoya>I personally believe that our test of the NL donation page (link above) will be the way of the future.
  • Nov 06 15:53:44 <ipatrol>Question: Some on #wikipedia-en have questioned what paied staff do that volunteers can't, your response?
  • Nov 06 15:54:09 <randmontoya>I believe that eventually chapters will be better able to fundraise in their countries than the Foundation...you know your people, language and culture.
  • Nov 06 15:54:37 *Jeromyu est parti ("When two people dream the same dream, it ceases to be an illusion. KVIrc 3.4.2 Shiny http://www.kvirc.net")
  • Nov 06 15:54:39 <randmontoya>I believe we'll have a working relationship on overarching themes and messages (so we're all talking the same global messaging).
  • Nov 06 15:54:59 <Tango42>The NL page looks the same as the no-chapter page to me, except for a few words of Dutch...
  • Nov 06 15:55:02 <randmontoya>Tango42, that's what I think and what has happened with other global nonprofits, like the Red Cross.
  • Nov 06 15:55:23 <cary>ipatrol, this question is not relevant to rand so we will be ignoring it.
  • Nov 06 15:55:33 <Natalie>How does one translate "No Wikipedia, no knowledge. Know Wikipedia, know knowledge." to Spanish?
  • Nov 06 15:55:39 <Natalie>cary: You can't ignore questions on behalf of Rand.
  • Nov 06 15:55:46 <Natalie>It's not your turn. :-)
  • Nov 06 15:55:46 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 15:55:48 <cary>Natalie, I'm moderating
  • Nov 06 15:55:56 <Huib>Quistion: Is the nl page not really clear about how we donate to? Since the page is talking about donating to the foundation but the money ends up first by a chapter?
  • Nov 06 15:56:09 <randmontoya>cary, what's next?
  • Nov 06 15:56:13 <Huib>by a chapter first.
  • Nov 06 15:56:13 <tgr>QUESTION: if all goes well WM-HU will participate, and we intend to use Wikipedia to ask people for their income tax later
  • Nov 06 15:56:22 <cary>randmontoya, Huib is.
  • Nov 06 15:56:25 *cimon est parti ("Leaving")
  • Nov 06 15:56:34 <tgr>(you can offer 1% of your income tax to a nonprofit in Hungary)
  • Nov 06 15:56:38 <Natalie>Fairly sure my question was first, but I'll wait.
  • Nov 06 15:56:45 <cary>I mean Natalie
  • Nov 06 15:56:49 <tgr>is that covered in the fundraising agreement?
  • Nov 06 15:56:55 <cary><Natalie> How does one translate "No Wikipedia, no knowledge. Know Wikipedia, know knowledge." to Spanish?
  • Nov 06 15:57:04 <cary>tgr, please try to keep your question in one line... for me
  • Nov 06 15:57:04 <ipatrol>cary: you just dropped the question because you were burned my it earlier
  • Nov 06 15:57:12 <randmontoya>Huib, the NL link, above, is not complete yet. The WM NL chapter will be putting the entirety of their donation links and process all of the donations this year.
  • Nov 06 15:57:17 <ipatrol>*by it
  • Nov 06 15:57:28 <randmontoya>It's very different than the WM UK link, for instance.
  • Nov 06 15:57:42 <randmontoya>Neither page is complete and working, but we're working on that. :)
  • Nov 06 15:57:54 <Huib>:)
  • Nov 06 15:58:03 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 15:58:09 <Natalie>How does one translate "No Wikipedia, no knowledge. Know Wikipedia, know knowledge." to Spanish?
  • Nov 06 15:58:09 <tgr>QUESTION: if all goes well WM-HU will participate, and we intend to use Wikipedia to ask people for their income tax later (you can offer 1% of your income tax to a nonprofit in Hungary) is that covered in the fundraising agreement?
  • Nov 06 15:58:15 <cary>randmontoya, what Natalie said
  • Nov 06 15:59:24 <randmontoya>Natalie: obviously some messages won't translate to all languages and we won't run those banners in those languages. We've asked our translators to highlight problem translations and we'll exclude those from the runs. No doubt, it's difficult to run a perfect campaign across all languages.
  • Nov 06 15:59:41 <Natalie>It's not very difficult.
  • Nov 06 15:59:45 <Natalie>We've done it in years past.
  • Nov 06 15:59:57 <randmontoya>We may make a mistake here and there, but we're trying our best.
  • Nov 06 16:00:00 <Natalie>But the banners for this year seem to be largely English-centric.
  • Nov 06 16:00:12 <Tango42>randmontoya: You could just avoid the terrible puns...
  • Nov 06 16:00:14 <Natalie>It's tgr's turn. After, I have another question.
  • Nov 06 16:00:24 <Natalie>Tango42: Or the terrible campaign. :-)
  • Nov 06 16:00:24 <cary><tgr> QUESTION: if all goes well WM-HU will participate, and we intend to use Wikipedia to ask people for their income tax later (you can offer 1% of your income tax to a nonprofit in Hungary) is that covered in the fundraising agreement?
  • Nov 06 16:00:42 <randmontoya>We will be adding banners as we go...especially other quotes from different languages (like we did last year).
  • Nov 06 16:00:48 <randmontoya>next question?
  • Nov 06 16:00:55 <Tango42>tgr's is next
  • Nov 06 16:01:02 <cary>randmontoya, I just pasted it.
  • Nov 06 16:01:40 <Avruch>QUESTION: (repeating mine) will the WMF develop a simpler method for facilitating donations to the chapters directly, even if the donor doesn't live in the chapter region?
  • Nov 06 16:01:48 <randmontoya>tgr: WMF has been trying to be very flexible with our chapters in terms of their local needs. I think we'll do the same for WM HU. We'd be willing to help with that....I'll need more details, but it should work out.
  • Nov 06 16:02:10 <randmontoya>That cool, tgr?
  • Nov 06 16:02:36 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:02:40 <tgr>sure, I'll ask someone on the board to write you the details
  • Nov 06 16:02:48 <Cassandro>[01:01]
  • Nov 06 16:03:00 *allenm est parti ("Leaving")
  • Nov 06 16:03:09 <randmontoya>thanks cassandro
  • Nov 06 16:03:41 <randmontoya>Avruch...that is the big hole right now in the process. if a donor in the US wants to give to the FR chapter, they will have a hard time finding that link
  • Nov 06 16:04:05 <randmontoya>The donor will have to go through the Chapters link to find the WM FR chapter.
  • Nov 06 16:04:12 <Natalie>cary: <Natalie> How will the effectiveness of the fundraiser be measured? What counts as a successful fundraiser? What counts as an unsuccessful fundraiser? Is this data available anywhere and what are the consequences of a failing fundraiser?
  • Nov 06 16:04:15 <randmontoya>That's just going to be going an ongoing problem.
  • Nov 06 16:04:49 <Avruch>there won't be, say, one page with PayPal links for all the chapters that have accounts? (or something similar)
  • Nov 06 16:04:52 <randmontoya>Natalie, I answered those questions above. You can pick them up from the chat log and definitely feel free to ping me if you have any further questions.
  • Nov 06 16:04:55 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:05:07 <Cassandro>QUESTION: what will the Foundation do with indirect donations which are not made in US dollar?
  • Nov 06 16:05:08 <randmontoya>Avruch: we don't have plans for anything like that
  • Nov 06 16:05:40 <randmontoya>But if a chapter needed us to help process things like that...we could look into it.
  • Nov 06 16:05:47 <randmontoya>That cool Avruch?
  • Nov 06 16:05:55 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:05:56 <Avruch>yup, thanks
  • Nov 06 16:05:56 <Natalie><randmontoya>: tgr: we don't have exact criteria, but only the numbers from last year, day to day and date to date: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserStatistics
  • Nov 06 16:06:04 <Natalie>All right. Why isn't there exact criteria?
  • Nov 06 16:06:08 <kibble>randmontoya, I believe Natalie's was next, then Cassandro's.
  • Nov 06 16:06:12 <kibble><Natalie> cary: <Natalie> How will the effectiveness of the fundraiser be measured? What counts as a successful fundraiser? What counts as an unsuccessful fundraiser? Is this data available anywhere and what are the consequences of a failing fundraiser?
  • Nov 06 16:06:14 <Natalie>Surely there's a hard number somewhere.
  • Nov 06 16:06:20 <Natalie>What's the goal of fundraiser?
  • Nov 06 16:06:38 <Natalie>$5 million? $10 million? $25 million?
  • Nov 06 16:07:01 <Natalie>Without a goal, how it possible to measure effectiveness.
  • Nov 06 16:07:06 <Natalie>effectiveness? *
  • Nov 06 16:07:33 <randmontoya>Natalie, the goal is $6.5 in community gifts.
  • Nov 06 16:07:39 <Yojojo>QUESTION: Will the WMF be able to find a way for people like myself, who don't have credit cards, bank accounts etc., to donate to the cause? I'm in a position to donate, but bankers drafts here are expensive, and paypal & credit cards are simply not an option. A national contact in each country or region perhaps?
  • Nov 06 16:07:44 <Natalie>And, looking at day-to-day figures, wouldn't it be possible to blame the global economic downturn for any reduction and ignore the _strong_ objections from the community over the content of the banners?
  • Nov 06 16:07:49 <randmontoya>A community gift is a gift under $10K
  • Nov 06 16:07:56 <Natalie>Okay.
  • Nov 06 16:08:05 <Natalie>Thank you.
  • Nov 06 16:08:14 <cary><Yojojo> QUESTION: Will the WMF be able to find a way for people like myself, who don't have credit cards, bank accounts etc., to donate to the cause? I'm in a position to donate, but bankers drafts here are expensive, and paypal & credit cards are simply not an option. A national contact in each country or region perhaps?
  • Nov 06 16:08:20 <randmontoya>Next question? Or have I answered everything so far?
  • Nov 06 16:08:29 <cary>Yojono's question
  • Nov 06 16:08:34 <Natalie>Yojojo's *
  • Nov 06 16:08:36 <Cassandro>[01:05]
  • Nov 06 16:08:53 <cary>sorry, Cassandro, do you mind if we handle that next?
  • Nov 06 16:08:53 <randmontoya>Yojojo, good question. We have http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give/en and are trying to find other ways.
  • Nov 06 16:09:07 <Cassandro>cary: i can wait :)
  • Nov 06 16:09:12 <Cassandro>-i +I
  • Nov 06 16:09:19 <randmontoya>For instance, but sadly only in the US, now have Mobile Giving: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mobile_Giving
  • Nov 06 16:09:45 <randmontoya>Yojojo, we are working on getting chapters in more countries to make it easier.
  • Nov 06 16:09:51 <randmontoya>Where are you Yojojo?
  • Nov 06 16:10:08 <Yojojo>I'd propose something like a national contact who can take donations and convert them to a payment by cc, under the names of the donator.
  • Nov 06 16:10:19 *DarkoNeko est parti (Read error: 60 (Operation timed out))
  • Nov 06 16:10:20 <Yojojo>Randmontoya: uk, milton keynes.
  • Nov 06 16:10:48 <mpeel>Yojojo: WMUK would be happy for you to donate to us... ;-)
  • Nov 06 16:10:48 <randmontoya>That's interesting Yojojo...I don't know how to make that work. But you should be able to give to the local WM UK chapter too.
  • Nov 06 16:10:56 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:11:01 <kibble><Cassandro> [01:05] <Cassandro> QUESTION: what will the Foundation do with indirect donations which are not made in US dollar?
  • Nov 06 16:11:48 <randmontoya>Cassandro...donations through paypal and via CC are translated into USD by our bank. In a way, all donations get make in USD.
  • Nov 06 16:12:06 <randmontoya>But, Cassandro, what do you mean by 'indirect donations'?
  • Nov 06 16:12:15 <Seddon>Question: What level of media advertising offsite is used during the fundraiser?
  • Nov 06 16:12:18 <Cassandro>I mean not via a chapter
  • Nov 06 16:12:52 *kibble est parti (Remote closed the connection)
  • Nov 06 16:12:53 <randmontoya>Cassandro, most money is indirect then. It comes directly to WMF.
  • Nov 06 16:12:59 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:13:25 <Tango42>Seddon>
  • Nov 06 16:13:28 <Tango42>I think that's next
  • Nov 06 16:13:39 <randmontoya>Good question Seddon.
  • Nov 06 16:14:01 <randmontoya>We have a great PR team this year and are planning a nice subtle social media campaign
  • Nov 06 16:14:18 <Avruch>QUESTION: Now that the Foundation is working to direct donations towards chapters (and making grants to them, but that's separate), what type of due diligence is being done to ensure the money is used in a way that doesn't conflict with the WMF mission? And if some uses do, what recourse is there?
  • Nov 06 16:14:24 <Seddon>so is it mostly relying on digital mediums?
  • Nov 06 16:14:31 <randmontoya>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Support/en
  • Nov 06 16:14:32 <Seddon>online*
  • Nov 06 16:14:56 <randmontoya>Seddon...almost everything is online or digital.
  • Nov 06 16:15:11 <Seddon>so nothing in more traditional mediums?
  • Nov 06 16:15:19 <ashyrokova>also that would be more of a question for the communications team...they'd be better to go into detail
  • Nov 06 16:15:27 <randmontoya>We have a team of volunteers to help our efforts on FaceTweet or MyFace or Tweeter or whatever.
  • Nov 06 16:15:41 <randmontoya>we'll have an email to Internal-l soon
  • Nov 06 16:15:58 <Seddon>ok cool
  • Nov 06 16:16:06 <Seddon>i wait in anticipation
  • Nov 06 16:16:20 <Tango42>QUESTION: What is the plan if the target is reached early this year? I recall there was some difficulty last year balancing the desire to get rid of the annoying banners with the desire to let chapters taking part keep collecting donations.
  • Nov 06 16:16:24 <randmontoya>Our new staff PR person, Moka Pantages, is magic fire with the social media. I'm excited about it.
  • Nov 06 16:16:38 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:16:45 <Rjd0060>randmontoya: <Avruch> QUESTION: Now that the Foundation is working to direct donations towards chapters (and making grants to them, but that's separate), what type of due diligence is being done to ensure the money is used in a way that doesn't conflict with the WMF mission? And if some uses do, what recourse is there?
  • Nov 06 16:16:59 <Huib>all I have donated tweets will end up in #wikimedia on twitter also, maybe nice to follow (Seddon)
  • Nov 06 16:17:51 <randmontoya>Avruch, we have a pretty standard grant process regarding our chapter grants. I believe that chapters need to report back on activities and expenses.
  • Nov 06 16:18:02 <randmontoya>That answer it Avruch?
  • Nov 06 16:18:06 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:18:11 <Rjd0060><Tango42> QUESTION: What is the plan if the target is reached early this year? I recall there was some difficulty last year balancing the desire to get rid of the annoying banners with the desire to let chapters taking part keep collecting donations.
  • Nov 06 16:18:32 <Avruch>Do the grant recipicient requirements apply to donations received via the WMF fundraiser as well?
  • Nov 06 16:18:48 <Avruch>(since that could reasonably be a lot more money)
  • Nov 06 16:19:09 <mpeel>Avruch: sadly the WMF don't like the idea of reporting to chapters. ;-)
  • Nov 06 16:19:18 <randmontoya>Excellent question Tango42. We do plan on ending early if and when we hit our goal. Since the chapters will have significantly more exposure this year, we hope this isn't an issue this year. If it is, we'll discuss solutions.
  • Nov 06 16:19:41 <randmontoya>Avruch, what mpeel said.
  • Nov 06 16:19:51 <randmontoya>next question?
  • Nov 06 16:20:05 <Rjd0060>No other questions yet
  • Nov 06 16:20:30 <Rjd0060>Anybody else have anything to ask?
  • Nov 06 16:20:33 <Tango42>QUESTION: Should we sack cary from moderating these sessions since the audience seem to be doing a better job? ;)
  • Nov 06 16:20:37 <randmontoya>I love this page (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Template:Social_bookmarks) and thank Natalie for helping make it work, btw.
  • Nov 06 16:20:45 <randmontoya>lol
  • Nov 06 16:20:50 *randmontoya loves working with Cary
  • Nov 06 16:21:18 <Rjd0060>Tango42: in his defense, the other moderator fell out of the internet ;)
  • Nov 06 16:21:24 <randmontoya>Can you guys take a look at this page and really think about it: http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Financial_vision
  • Nov 06 16:21:25 <Cassandro>QUESTION: how do you want to reach out to those countries which have no chapters during the fundraising?
  • Nov 06 16:21:31 <randmontoya>That page is infinitely important!
  • Nov 06 16:22:01 <Avruch>Since there aren't other questions yet, I'll ask a follow up. As the WMF directs more of the total fundraising pie towards chapters, doesn't that increase the risk of misuse? Not that its likely, but... And does the WMF have any responsibility to monitor for such misuse?
  • Nov 06 16:22:12 <Rjd0060>randmontoya: <Cassandro> QUESTION: how do you want to reach out to those countries which have no chapters during the fundraising?
  • Nov 06 16:22:31 <randmontoya>Cassandro, good question. We don't have good ways to reach deep into some countries...but we're young and exploring different methods. This year, we hope to make some social media contacts, but that is a hole in our messaging, to be sure.
  • Nov 06 16:23:06 <randmontoya>I'd love good practical ideas on how to do that Cassandro...we may not be able to implement this year, but we'll try.
  • Nov 06 16:24:05 <randmontoya>What else, peeps? We hope to go live on Monday/Tuesday...I appreciate all the feedback and time.
  • Nov 06 16:24:09 <Rjd0060><Avruch> ... As the WMF directs more of the total fundraising pie towards chapters, doesn't that increase the risk of misuse? Not that its likely, but... And does the WMF have any responsibility to monitor for such misuse?
  • Nov 06 16:24:47 <Seddon>randmontoya: do you think that forming a fundraising chapter network would be useful for reaching into countries relatively untouched? by combining the reach and reach of the chapters as well as that of the foundation for maximum effect
  • Nov 06 16:25:09 <randmontoya>Avruch: we do have reporting requirements from chapters and they have boards that are agreeing to the Chapter agreements. While misuse is possible, we are doing our best to ensure accountability.
  • Nov 06 16:25:11 <Seddon>(thats a follow on to avruch's question)
  • Nov 06 16:25:24 <Seddon>no sorry
  • Nov 06 16:25:25 <randmontoya>The chapter agreement requirements are somewhat steep.
  • Nov 06 16:25:33 <randmontoya>Does that answer it Avruch?
  • Nov 06 16:25:49 <Tango42>Seddon: How does your idea differ from starting chapters in those countries?
  • Nov 06 16:25:51 <Seddon>i meant cassandro's
  • Nov 06 16:25:58 <Huib>Question: Are we still going the correct way and will everything be done by start of the fundraiser or do we need more volunteer help?
  • Nov 06 16:26:12 <Avruch>randmontoya, I suppose it does within the limits of an IRC chat ;)
  • Nov 06 16:26:46 <randmontoya>Seddon: I'm not sure about the country specific fundraising network. Not sure how it would work.
  • Nov 06 16:26:51 <Seddon>Tango42, well starting a chapter may not be feasible, but outreach should still be done
  • Nov 06 16:27:01 <randmontoya>I need more data/explanation...probably off this chat.
  • Nov 06 16:27:06 <Seddon>sure thing rand
  • Nov 06 16:27:09 <randmontoya>Next Question?
  • Nov 06 16:27:10 <Rjd0060>randmontoya: <Seddon> randmontoya: do you think that forming a fundraising chapter network would be useful for reaching into countries relatively untouched? by combining the reach and reach of the chapters as well as that of the foundation for maximum effect
  • Nov 06 16:27:19 <Seddon>ignore that one rjd0060
  • Nov 06 16:27:25 <randmontoya>Next?
  • Nov 06 16:27:27 <Rjd0060><Huib> Question: Are we still going the correct way and will everything be done by start of the fundraiser or do we need more volunteer help?
  • Nov 06 16:28:25 <randmontoya>Huib: you're too nice. I think we're mostly set...we have lots of work to do, but it's mostly technical stuff. I think your help and a few others will make it go.
  • Nov 06 16:28:54 <Kaare>QUESTION/comment: should anyone wonder, a Danish translation of the fundraiser messages hasn't been started due to the wording of especially the phase 1 and 2 messages - a direct translation would sound corny and none of us willing to do translations are marketing people, i.e. we're unable to come up with alternatives that might work
  • Nov 06 16:29:28 <randmontoya>Kaare: we encourage you to do translate what you can and mark the ones that just don't work.
  • Nov 06 16:29:44 <randmontoya>We know it won't be complete, and understand the situation.
  • Nov 06 16:30:07 <Kaare>what would be used in their place?
  • Nov 06 16:31:13 <randmontoya>we have the messages from last year, Kaare...or just only use the few that work.
  • Nov 06 16:31:23 <randmontoya>we'll need to review how many messages work and go from there
  • Nov 06 16:31:58 <randmontoya>we are willing to flexible because you translators know much better than we do
  • Nov 06 16:32:09 <randmontoya>Next question?
  • Nov 06 16:32:14 <randmontoya>I think we're almost done.
  • Nov 06 16:32:16 <Huib>Question Will you make a blog post when the fundraiser starts or some days before that, our rss feed is followed by a lot of sites and it could be good promotion
  • Nov 06 16:32:18 <Kaare>randmontoya: thanks, we'll consider it
  • Nov 06 16:32:27 <Rjd0060>randmontoya: Huib's question, two lines up
  • Nov 06 16:32:32 <Tango42>QUESTION: What question you would ask if you were us?
  • Nov 06 16:32:40 <randmontoya>Huib: definitely. It's all part of the PR campaign.
  • Nov 06 16:32:47 <Tango42>(Interesting word order there, sorry!)
  • Nov 06 16:32:57 <randmontoya>Tango42: good one
  • Nov 06 16:33:11 <Rjd0060>I like tango's question
  • Nov 06 16:33:34 <randmontoya>i have nothing, Tango42...you guys have honed in on a lot of important stuff already
  • Nov 06 16:33:58 <randmontoya>you guys are amazing at being prepared and asking smart stuff
  • Nov 06 16:34:10 <randmontoya>i have no response to that question, Tango42
  • Nov 06 16:34:19 <randmontoya>A'ight...I think that's it.
  • Nov 06 16:34:23 <Cassandro>half-serious QUESTION: how will Jimmy further participate in the fundraising?
  • Nov 06 16:34:30 *lyzzy est parti ()
  • Nov 06 16:34:34 <Huib>Rjd0060: thanks for pinging me again and again, it keeps me awake :P
  • Nov 06 16:34:39 <Tango42>That's ok, rand - I asked it to give you a chance to say anything you had been waiting to say and hadn't been given a chance
  • Nov 06 16:34:51 <Tango42>I've we've already covered everything, then that's great
  • Nov 06 16:34:54 <randmontoya>Cassandro: Jimmy is a big part of our outreach and pushing the story.
  • Nov 06 16:35:11 <randmontoya>Awesome...I'm outta here and back to the planning for the fundraiser.
  • Nov 06 16:35:15 <randmontoya>Thanks all.
  • Nov 06 16:35:26 <Tango42>Byebye! Thanks.
  • Nov 06 16:35:30 <Cassandro>thanks for answering our questions
  • Nov 06 16:35:33 <Natalie>Why is that?
  • Nov 06 16:35:35 <Natalie>Why is Jimmy being used still?
  • Nov 06 16:35:37 <Natalie>Am I quieted?
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