User talk:Keith mchenry

Welcome
Welcome!

Hello, Keith mchenry, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes ( ~ ); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place  before the question. Again, welcome!  Ol Yeller21 Talktome  20:13, 15 November 2011 (UTC)
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Food Not Bombs, WP:COI, and WP:COPYVIO
Hey Keith. I saw that you made a few edits to the Food Not Bombs article. The additions have been reverted and I wanted to come and explain why as best I can.

First and foremost, the text was a copyright violation of the Food Not Bombs website. As a co-founder, you may donate that text to Wikipedia (see WP:DCM) but even then, it must be written in an encyclopedic manner to be suitable for Wikipedia. In short, it can't be written in first person or promote the group.

Second, we have a guideline here on Wikipedia called Conflict of Interest. The guideline basically states that while editing about a topic you have close connection with is allowed, one must be very careful to keep the goals of Wikipedia above their own personal goals. It's obviously not a hard concept to understand but in practice, it can be very difficult to contribute in a way that's neutral and encyclopedic when you have strong feelings about something as I assume you do with your organization and its goals. The guideline goes on to suggest ways to avoid issues like using the talk page of the article to talk to other editors about making changes before they're made.

Lastly, I have obviously assumed that you are the Keith McHenry that co-founded Food Not Bombs. If this is incorrect, please let us know.

In conclusion, I hope that you don't feel shut down or attacked in any way. I skimmed the article and it does look like there's a lot of coverage of specific events. While I admittedly know very little about your organization, when I see an article that has this much coverage of what someone deems to be a controversial event, there's usually a slant or bias present. As you've pointed out that there are some inaccuracies in the article, I'm assuming you feel that this is the case. I suggest bringing up those issues specifically on the the talk page of the article.

If you have any questions about the article or WP itself, feel free to ask here or on my talk page and I'll do my best to assist you however I can. Have a great rest of the day!  Ol Yeller21 Talktome  20:11, 15 November 2011 (UTC)