tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33573016.post6552820034888579571..comments2024-02-11T02:24:22.330-06:00Comments on Nonbovine Ruminations: More on a Wikimedia US ChapterAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04107127399494404366noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33573016.post-65554034606978431772007-07-18T18:48:00.000-05:002007-07-18T18:48:00.000-05:00Hopefully Kelly will repeat her fantastic work at ...Hopefully Kelly will repeat her fantastic work at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kelly_Martin/US_regions<BR/><BR/>with a forced 'state based' mapping. Then we could see how 'by the states' is a bad solution in an objective way. <BR/><BR/>(Also hopefully any future updates will include drive time histograms or ECDFs, .. while the weighed averages are important it's still useful to know that Y% of the cities or people have a drive time over Y hours.Gregory Maxwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11296230768351202971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33573016.post-4295338437283172152007-07-18T16:49:00.000-05:002007-07-18T16:49:00.000-05:00Agree with Kelly on this one. Were I still living ...Agree with Kelly on this one. Were I still living in Florida, and were a Florida chapter created, it would likely be placed in either the Palm Beach/Broward/Dade Metropolitan areas, or in the Tampa/St.Pete/Clearwater metropolitan area (ignoring for a moment, the foundation's offices there). Well....what good would that have done me in Tallahassee? That's 4-7 hours away from me. Longer if I lived in either Pensacola or Jacksonville and had to cross not only north to south, but east to west, something that Florida's highway system only does in about 3 places (panhandle, orlando, and miami). A state system is incredibly inconvenient for people living in Florida, Georgia, or North Carolina, due to the wide spread of metro centers there, and the fact that so many of them are located near the border of another state (Savannah, Charleston, Jacksonville), or near physical features that make it difficult to reach the hub (South Carolina low country, North Carolina mountains, etc.)<BR/><BR/>I realize this post is rather specifically targeted, but it should remain a reason why states are just going to be less effective as a sole measure of chapter development.<BR/><BR/>Now, state chapters working with metropolitan center chapters (i.e. Wikimedia Florida, with Wikimedia Miami, Wikimedia Jacksonville etc.) might solve that problem but creates the new ones of redundancy, lack of use, and lack of need (doubly so given the already mentioned presence of the Foundation's tax-exempts status).Diplopotamushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09404500478069890295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33573016.post-57520670989714840292007-07-18T08:27:00.000-05:002007-07-18T08:27:00.000-05:00See, David, you've just made one of my points for ...See, David, you've just made one of my points for me (by not reading what I've written). States are NOT a "broader" option that cities (or, more accurate, metropolitan areas). Instead, they are simply less-well matched to population centers. This is a common error made by those not familiar with the internal structures of the United States -- and a stunning example of why Europeans (and Australians) should not attempt to dictate how an American organization ought to structure itself.<BR/><BR/>Please make an effort to actually read what I've written before commenting next time, OK? Thanks.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04107127399494404366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33573016.post-6828618789713423292007-07-18T06:29:00.000-05:002007-07-18T06:29:00.000-05:00The organisation seeking to become Wikimedia Penns...The organisation seeking to become Wikimedia Pennsylvania was originally just going to be Wikimedia Philadelphia. So going by states was actually a broader option than going by cities.<BR/><BR/>I think the logic is something like, if WMUS was a happener it probably would have been by now; and telling the WM.pa.us volunteers that their efforts are unwanted would be a bad thing.David Gerardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057086390864018760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33573016.post-11003299768045169152007-07-17T23:44:00.000-05:002007-07-17T23:44:00.000-05:00Hoi,For your information, it is possible to create...Hoi,<BR/>For your information, it is possible to create a pan-European organisation. It is even possible to gain tax exempt status for gifts.<BR/><BR/>This is even possible for the Wikimedia Foundation as an USA based organisation to get.<BR/><BR/>The problem is that the administrative requirements for such an organisation are on a different scale.<BR/><BR/>Thanks,<BR/> GerardMGerardMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14287269079265427282noreply@blogger.com