IRC office hours/Office hours 2013-07-18
Meeting on Funds Dissemination Committee eligibility
18 August 2013
0000-0100 UTC
[00:00:18] <philippe> Hi folks - for those who are here for office hours, we're going to be a couple of minutes delayed as people move to the conference room. [00:00:22] <philippe> But we'll start shortly. [00:01:47] * philippe waves to Steven_Zhang, Snowolf, ragesoss_, MissGayle, mindspillage, matanya, Lydia_WMDE, otherswhomican'tbebotheredtonamebeforetheorchestraplaysmeoffstage......� [00:01:59] <Steven_Zhang> hey phikippe [00:02:03] <Steven_Zhang> oh there's an office hours? [00:02:06] <philippe> there is :) [00:02:07] <Steven_Zhang> how convenient :) [00:02:11] <philippe> FDC eligibility. [00:02:18] <Steven_Zhang> haha, I had a dream about you the other day. [00:02:22] <Steven_Zhang> I told maggie about it :P [00:02:32] <philippe> that's slightly scary in and of itself :P [00:02:32] <Thehelpfulone> that sounds.. interesting :O [00:02:34] <philippe> Hey tho :) [00:02:39] <Thehelpfulone> hi :) [00:02:43] <wolliff> Hi, everybody! [00:02:49] <Steven_Zhang> nah, wasn't scary. Good thing I have a day off today (well I'm home sick) [00:03:09] <philippe> OK, our crowd has regathered in here... so shall we get started? [00:03:47] <KatyLove> Thanks, Philippe! We are here and ready to go. :) [00:04:00] <Steven_Zhang> I've got a question :) [00:04:23] <KatyLove> OK Steven, great! Just one second--we're going to try to do some introductions first to make sure people know who is here. [00:04:29] <Steven_Zhang> yup [00:04:39] <philippe> So, in the room here today, we have Winifred Oliff - Grants Administrator, Katy Love - Sn Program Officer, Anasuya Sengupta - Senior Director of Grantmaking, and Garfield Byrd - Chief Administrative Officer and general guru. :-) [00:04:53] <philippe> I'm going to let Katy kick off with anything she wants to say, and then we'll see about taking questions. :-) [00:05:04] <Steven_Zhang> and of course Philippe, director of lca [00:05:18] <philippe> oh yeah, that too. I'm the guy holding the microphone, and running around the room. [00:05:18] <KatyLove> Thanks again, Philippe! And that's right, Steven, we should thank Philippe for being here and helping us out with the IRC. [00:05:38] <KatyLove> Alright--so we are here to share a bit more about the eligibility status table published by the WMF for the FDC process. [00:05:49] <KatyLove> You can see it here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_status/2013-2014_round1 [00:05:58] <philippe> BTW - this chat is logged and will go on meta at the conclusion. Fair warning. [00:06:02] <KatyLove> Thanks! [00:06:37] <KatyLove> The status table is a way for everyone to track what gaps exist or may arise in the coming months. [00:06:55] <KatyLove> All entities that submitted Letters of Intent to the FDC have been categorized into the "Yes, IF" or "No" category. [00:07:27] <KatyLove> The status table outlines all eligibility requirements for the next several months, through the time of a decision by the board and the dibursement of funds (if awarded). [00:07:27] <philippe> Katy is typing furiously. [00:07:45] <KatyLove> We have improved the table since last time by adding potential gaps, not just gaps that need to be closed by 15th September. [00:07:49] <KatyLove> (And sorry if this is too dry sounding!) [00:08:04] <Steven_Zhang> slow down, we have an hour :) [00:08:10] <philippe> Not if we're going to have time for the talent show too, Steven [00:08:15] <philippe> :) [00:08:17] <Steven_Zhang> ah, yes. [00:08:22] <KatyLove> There is a more detailed checklist where every entity that submitted an LOI can see exactly what needs to be submitted and by when [00:08:25] <KatyLove> That is here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_checklist/2013-2014_round1 [00:08:45] <KatyLove> In addition, the WMF staff are contacting individually all the entities that submitted LOIs (Letters of Intent, there we go again with the jargon!) [00:09:15] <KatyLove> So…that all said as background, I'd love to give you all some room for asking questions about these tables! [00:09:24] <KatyLove> And we'd all love to know who's in the room here. [00:09:41] <philippe> ...or whatever. Ask questions about whatever. I'm fairly sure Winifred knows some good recipes, or something. :-) [00:09:55] <Steven_Zhang> i'd like a good long island iced tea recipe fwiw...heh [00:09:56] <KatyLove> Anyone who submitted an LOI? [00:10:02] <Steven_Zhang> yeah, i'll go [00:10:08] <wolliff> There is no such thing. [00:10:12] <philippe> I'll message offline about the Long Island, Steven :O) [00:10:13] <KatyLove> +1 to Winifred [00:10:23] <Steven_Zhang> Steve Zhang, committee member of wikimedia australia (I'm also our FDC co-ordinator) [00:10:24] <philippe> But yeah, you have a (germane) questions, Steven? [00:10:27] <Steven_Zhang> yo sue [00:10:29] <Steven_Zhang> Yeah. [00:10:34] <KatyLove> Yes please! Do tell. [00:10:52] <Steven_Zhang> One question i saw on the mailing list is the requirements to send ID through [00:11:32] <Steven_Zhang> because our committee is relatively busy as of late, I am hoping to know what sort of ID will be asked for, and when (don't want to be too late sending that through, would rather have that ready) [00:11:54] <KatyLove> You will not need to submit any IDs until requested by the WMF. [00:12:44] <KatyLove> The only two times that this could occur is if Garfield's team needs to reach out to any entity for specific ID (again upon request), or Winifred may ask for it as part of the grant agreement. [00:12:57] <Steven_Zhang> so it's not a sure thing? [00:13:48] <KatyLove> Garfield's team would only request it if a red flag comes up during an "OFAC check" (we can talk more about OFAC checks if you are interested). [00:14:05] <Steven_Zhang> yeah [00:14:08] <Steven_Zhang> please do :) [00:14:15] <philippe> OFAC = ? I think Anasuya is typing that out atm. [00:14:32] <Thehelpfulone> I had a question that I asked in #wikimedia earlier that got no response, but I imagine you'd be considerably better at answering it: if I'm understanding the Wikimedia-L thread correctly, the WMF will not have any of its budget assessed by anyone "external" such as the FDC? [00:14:59] <philippe> Thehelpfulone: thanks, we'll get to that one as soon as we're done with Steven's question. :) [00:15:07] <Thehelpfulone> sure, thanks [00:15:12] * Steven_Zhang always thought the WMF's budget was quite reasonable fwiw...� [00:15:33] <KatyLove> After the Board decides about the FDC's recommendations, as a prerequisite of grant agremeents, Winifred in her role as Grants Administrator will request IDs for whomever is signing the grant agreement and whomever has access to the bank account where funds are stored. [00:15:34] <Anasuya> OFAC = the Office of Foreign Assets Control (for those remotely interested). http://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Pages/Office-of-Foreign-Assets-Control.aspx [00:15:51] <Anasuya> We need to do these, in order to be a responsible grantmaker and public charity [00:16:14] <philippe> OK, moving on to the question from Thehelpfulone.... [00:16:20] <Steven_Zhang> okay, cool [00:16:31] <philippe> Thehelpfulone: are you talking about the 2013-14 budget? [00:16:35] <Thehelpfulone> yes [00:16:59] <KatyLove> and Steven_Zhang - let me know if you have further questions. Hope that helps. [00:17:09] <Steven_Zhang> yep, will do :) [00:17:14] <philippe> Thanks, THO - Anasuya is typing a response. :-) [00:17:43] <Anasuya> Thehelpfulone: The conversation between WMF and the FDC is currently around applying for 2014-15 in Round 2 (March 2014). So that annual plan will be assessed by the FDC [00:19:24] <philippe> Other questions from anyone? [00:19:47] <Thehelpfulone> Anasuya, so the 2013-14 one isn't assessed by the FDC at all? [00:20:07] <Thehelpfulone> I was under the impression that when the FDC was created it would always assess the "non-core" part of the WMF budget [00:20:41] <Anasuya> Thehelpfulone: No, not in the FDC process - FDC members are open, of course, to comment as community members on the annual plan as everyone else is doing :-) [00:21:25] <Anasuya> Thehelpfulone: The core/non-core distinction no longer exists, after the Narrowing Focus discussions [00:21:45] <Anasuya> ...all that WMF supports is essentially seen as "core" work [00:22:09] <philippe> that's because in that discussion, we divested ourselves of the non-core, yes? :) [00:22:16] <philippe> (just clarifying for those who might not have been around for that) [00:22:24] <Anasuya> philippe: Yes, exactly. [00:22:27] <Thehelpfulone> I think what some people are thinking is that commenting after the annual plan is published and approved by the Board is pointless, because nothing will actually change [00:23:22] <philippe> I would point out that there are a ton of ways to influence the thinking of the Board prior to the publication of the plan - I know Board members love to hear about priorities, and when they hear the same things coming up over and over, that is the sort of thing that tends to make it to the planning process.... [00:23:28] <Anasuya> Thehelpfulone: And we hope that will no longer be the case with WMF applying for Round 2 but it needed the lag to make sense, i.e. for WMF to be submitting a draft annual plan to the FDC at a time which made sense [00:24:37] <Anasuya> ...The only way for the 2013-14 plan to have been approved would have been for WMF to have been in both Round 1 and Round 2, and that was going to be difficult [00:25:06] <Anasuya> ...sorry, not approved, assessed by the FDC [00:25:09] <philippe> Are there other questions? I think Garfield has his top hat and tap shoes on for the talent portion of the presentation, if not.... [00:26:08] <philippe> I'm hearing the theme music from the TV show "Jeopardy" playing here.... [00:26:49] <philippe> There's also a follow-up office hours tomorrow morning at.... 8AM Pacific Time? KatyLove?... if you think of something you forgot. [00:26:55] <Steven_Zhang> philippe: you know its the same music as the song "I'm a little teapot"? [00:27:01] <Steven_Zhang> Listen to it. You'll see I am right. [00:27:09] <KatyLove> Yes, that's right! [00:27:56] <philippe> Oops, we're sorting out the time for tomorrow here... [00:27:58] <Steven_Zhang> I have one [00:28:16] <philippe> It will be 9AM Pacific, which is 1600 UTC. [00:28:18] <Steven_Zhang> nah, I might just shoot an email throug about it [00:28:28] <Steven_Zhang> since its about the annual report requirement [00:29:16] <Anasuya> Steven_Zhang: What about the annual report, Steven? Might as well ask the question! [00:29:26] <Anasuya> :-) [00:29:37] <Steven_Zhang> well, have you received one in the past from us (and what does it look like?) [00:29:52] <Steven_Zhang> maybe we've written one up and i just don't know what i'm looking for [00:30:28] <Anasuya> Steven_Zhang: We're checking :-) [00:30:52] <KatyLove> I'm sorry. Scratch my initial comment and yes, the email from Garfield noted the next IRC would be 16:00 UTC, and on the office hours it is also confirmed: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_office_hours#Upcoming_office_hours [00:32:44] <Anasuya> Steven_Zhang: So you're right, on Meta we see the financial reports, but Garfield is going to check with his team if it was sent by email. We'll let you know :-) [00:32:53] <Steven_Zhang> OK, cool. [00:33:16] <philippe> OK, any further questions? ;-) [00:34:08] <Steven_Zhang> how'd you get the penguins to hold the nerf blasters? [00:34:21] <Steven_Zhang> (I can't think of any on-topic questions) [00:34:25] <KatyLove> :) [00:34:30] <KatyLove> How's the weather over there? [00:34:39] <Steven_Zhang> its cold and miserable [00:34:43] <Ironholds> lucky sod. [00:34:47] <Ironholds> It's 87 degrees with no wind movement. [00:34:57] <Ironholds> I'm visiting SF for the weather. The cold, British weather. [00:34:58] <Steven_Zhang> well Hong Kong is gonna be like a hot sauna [00:35:07] <Steven_Zhang> i hope my tattoo doesn't get infected >_> [00:35:22] <KatyLove> SF in the summer, very strange weather indeed. [00:35:37] <Steven_Zhang> i almost won that award to win a trip to SF at work :() [00:35:42] <Anasuya> Steven_Zhang: I find that the AU proposal for Round 1 of the FDC has this line around the annual report: "The report for 2011-2012 has not been written. It is due at the 2012 AGM which must be held before December 2012." [00:35:53] <Steven_Zhang> hmm, ok [00:36:48] <Steven_Zhang> i'll get on to that [00:36:57] <Anasuya> Steven_Zhang: Great! [00:37:07] <wolliff> The important thing to note is that in order to be considered eligible, these reports must be posted on the Reports page on Meta within 4 months of the end of the entity's fiscal year. The reports page is located here; http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports [00:37:37] <Steven_Zhang> i dunno [00:37:42] <Steven_Zhang> i wasn't on the committee back then [00:37:45] <philippe> OK, anything else? ;-0 [00:37:57] <Steven_Zhang> I'll try figure out what it constituites and get onto it :) [00:38:16] <Steven_Zhang> I think that's it, but I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again :-) [00:38:31] <philippe> OK, shall we move to adjourn then? Unfortunately, Garfield's tap shoes seem to have a problem, so no dancing today.... [00:38:33] <KatyLove> Looking forward to seeing you too. [00:38:44] <philippe> And I'll spare you my singing. :-) [00:38:54] <Steven_Zhang> haha. this i would like to see. [00:38:57] <KatyLove> If anyone has questions, please feel free to contact at fdcsupport@wikimedia.org [00:39:22] <philippe> OK, then ... thanks, everyone... and I'll archive this thing to meta. And with that... we're outta here. :p [00:39:26] <KatyLove> Thanks for coming! We're here to support the FDC applicants, so let us know if you have questions! [00:39:28] <wolliff> Goodbye! Thank you for joining. [00:39:29] <Steven_Zhang> turrah [00:39:33] <KatyLove> Ciao! [00:39:39] <Anasuya> Bye all (bye Steven)! [00:39:43] <wolliff> The applicants and the pre-applicants! [00:39:45] <philippe> ***** END OF LOGGING *****