Wikimedia Canada/Discussion

Local Chapters

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I was chatting on #wikimedia today, there has been some discussion regarding 3 chapters, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal due to the geographic diversity of the country. Below is a copy paste of the IRC conversation. I'm thinking some sort of national org with one center for tax reciepts etc and then local subchapters for discussion. Tawker 18:51, 26 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

<jwales> I think that it will make sense to have 2 for canada someday, maybe 3

<jwales> because like the US, canada is huge and spread out

<tawker> true

<jwales> and a local chapter is in part about people being able to meet together and do things

<jwales> so Vancouver, Toronto, Quebec -- all pretty far apart

<tawker> Tor/Que not as much

<jwales> *nod*

<tawker> but still, major cities

<jwales> Tor/Que could be one chapter, or

<tawker> Vancouver for sure, Toronto

<tawker> 2 biggest cities

<bogdan> tawker: think of the future, some day might be in different countries :P

<jwales> perhaps a Quebec chapter might be very interested in French/English co-operations

<tawker> yea, that makes sense

<jwales> but I really must go

I personally think we should just have one chapter, and just have lots of local meet-ups or whatever people want. Otherwise, it wastes resources and time to duplicate services. -- user:zanimum

I just found this page and am interested in helping. I would vote for one in Calgary or Toronto then Calgary can benifit from Edmonton and Vancouver not being too far and Toronto just has a ton of people in that area --user:sarpulhu

Lets not forget Winnipeg, being a major central city in Canada. The city could benefit from Saskatchewan and NW Ontario. -- user:aragon

Winnipeg is NOT a major city. Winnipeg is only the 9th largest city in the country. The largest are, in order, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Hamilton, Winnipeg. --216.106.103.139 19:35, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Why not start off with Wikimedia Canada then a chapter for each province and territory? — The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.66.94.140 (talk)

216.106.103.139, Winnipeg is a central place for all of Canada to get to though. Greeves 21:23, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

While it may be central, we're looking for places that could support *independent* regional chapters, not where could serve as a meeting place. -- Zanimum 18:09, 9 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Regional Local Chapters

I think we should divide Wikimedia Canada into three local chapters:

Wikimedia Ontario: For the province of Ontario.
Wikimedia Western Canada: For Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the territories.
Wikimedia Eastern Canada: For Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces.

If we were to divide Canada into the regions defined above, then we would be fairly dividing Canada by population. Each of the regions would have about 10 million people. --FreshFruitsRule 19:17, 26 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

...or maybe into four:

Wikimedia Atlantic Canada: Atlantic provinces
Wikimedia Eastern Canada: Ont. and Qué.
Wikimedia Central/North Canada: Man., Sask., NWT., Nunavut
Wikimedia Western Canada: BC, Alberta, Yukon

Cavenba 03:37, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Fellow Canadians:

Considering the global aspects, Canada is regarded as one area on the map. To provide cohesivenss & equality versus division is critical in the global context. Our time zones are not that extensive.

What do you think of starting as one Canada, incorporating the foundation, having representation on the board from East (NB, NS, NFLD & Labrador), Quebec, Ontario, Prairies (MB, AB, SK), and Pacific. The Northern Terrritories could be associated by time zone.

Then as the activities develop, subsiduary chapters (or working groups) can be formed. Although Canada is large geographically, it is not large in population representation. {user: Angylom}

Sharon

Politically, Canada is is separated into four divisions which overlap so that won't work very well. Based somewhat on Jimbo's idea...

Wikimedia Canada - Western Division: Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan
Wikimedia Canada - Central Division: Nunavut, Manitoba, and Ontario
Wikimedia Canada - Eastern Division: Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick

Would that work? Greeves 22:42, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think we should keep it practical. One org, with "chapters" in the various cities. Once chapter(s) get big enough, I think the above division is something we should keep in mind for a framework. With about a few hundred members, we're still a tiny org overall. v:User:Historybuff 08:26, 7 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm in agreement with Historybuff: we want to have one organization overall. As things go, most users seem to be concentrated in major cities (e.g. I live on the island of Montreal), so one organization with multiple city-based chapters would seem to be the simplest way to best serve members: it only makes sense to create a chapter in an area if there are users in the area, so to start, chapters can be concentrated in the major cities where there is an arguable desire by multiple users to have one there. As chapters (assumedly) grow in number, proximate ones may be merged to simplify organization. Nihiltres^(t.u) 13:36, 20 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think everyone should agree on terminology before talking any more; the word "chapter" is being used by some to refer to an independent, incorporated chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation, and by others to refer to local workgroups or divisions. Is there anyone who is talking about setting up independent, incorporated local chapters, or does everyone just want local divisions of WikiMedia Canada? --Arctic.gnome 15:36, 6 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]