Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Steering Committee/2011-10-14

Attending:
 * Chris Cheney
 * Donald Albury
 * Jan eissfeldt

Topics of Discussion:
 * Determination of new Wikimedia Contact with Sage on Haitus
 * Realistically Annie?, but may be Sage again - will confirm in the next meeting


 * Election Overview
 * Chris, Donald & Jan all agree, that top 3 vote-getters will appointed to the Committee as no-one ran for the Campus Ambassador position


 * Rumors of RFC to close down Ambassador Program
 * Donald brings up a rumor heard he that someone may start a RFC to close down the program as whole. Rumor has it that issues stems from India specifically, but could easily spill over into the US.
 * All agree importance to look into and Donald agrees to find out more behind the issue


 * Potential Back-end Integration with Canadian Education Program
 * Chris brings up discussion with Dr Obar (current lead for Canada), in that it may make sense to work more closely together - in particular the potential for Regional Ambassadors and the Steering Committee itself to cover both the US/Canada. Also mentions that Canadian/American school systems are from personal experience very similar, so would make sense logistically - and that from the public facing side the US/Canada programs would remain standalone
 * Chris, Jan & Donald agree it could work, but will get feedback from Regional Ambassadors before discussing further.


 * Negative Push-back towards Ambassador Program and what to do?
 * Agreement that there is a becoming a disconnect between professors and community standards, may need to re-approach topic of starting articles in userspace
 * Similar issues come with DYK - maybe tie topics together?
 * Chris, Donald & Jan agree to postponement discussion till new committee members are confirmed as some of the general Wikimedia blow-back might be being felt by the program, and a fresh pair of eyes may provide more thoughts.
 * AfD support on articles?
 * Talked about that the need for more general community buy-in, to help avoid issue, but in an official capacity as a committee we should stay on the side-lines for now.


 * Branding Issues
 * Chris brings up that many problems may stem from an overall branding issue and asks for thoughts about creating page with stats/stories
 * Jan brings back up general problems between Community and Wikimedia, mentions German elections will happen in November, which could change the situation
 * Jan, Donald & Chris agree to find more information and to bring issue back up next meeting for discussion.


 * Streamlines of Ambassador Page Results
 * Donald mentions online-ambassador pages are fine, but that we may need to pay attention to Campus Ambassador/Class pages in the future, while Sage is on Haitus.


 * Future Links to European Chapters
 * Jan re-iterates that his term is up at the next meeting, so we will need more formal links to the UK & German chapters in particular
 * Jan does mention he is willing to stay on as a liaison until the German Elections in November
 * Donald brings up question of should this be a Wikimedia or Steering Committee function?
 * Donald, Jan & Chris agree the general purpose of the Committee is potentially different from original intentions and that a formal discussion about the purpose of the Committee should be brought up post elections.