Wikipedia:Meetup/Auckland 1



Date: Sunday 25 June

Time: 12.00 noon

Location: The Cock & Bull, Robert Street, Ellerslie

Participants from left to right:
 * 1) GilraenSurion
 * 2) GeorgeStepanek
 * 3) Onco p53
 * 4) gadfium
 * 5) cky
 * 6) SimonLyall
 * 7) Linnah
 * 8) Avenue (not pictured)

Please see Meetup/Auckland for news of future Auckland meetups.

Report

 * We had 8 people come to the meeting; unfortunately the meeting time matched that of an All Blacks vs Argentina Rugby game (NZ won) so the pub was much fuller than usual on a Sunday and a little noisy. Our area was in a separate and sunny room so it wasn't too bad however.
 * General introductions and discussion happened for around an hour and then we worked our way slowly though the agenda.

New Zealand stuff
The general feeling was that compared to many countries New Zealand was in a good position, almost every town was covered although there was ongoing work with suburbs
 * How does Wikipedia cover New Zealand
 * Are there ample Kiwi articles?
 * If not, what can we do to improve that?
 * Possible areas to work on:
 * Are all towns/cities covered, should we look at a project to get images from all theses towns?

'''Suggested getting (outline?) maps of suburbs from NZ post or other organisation. Possible problem with each organisation having slightly different definitions of where each suburb is. Images from each area (local highlights) might be a good idea.
 * Schools, What New Zealand schools should Wikipedia cover, what should be the base criteria for a School to have its own article?
 * Should we have a list of all NZ schools, in a [List of New Zealand Schools]?

'''It was felt that schools were not an area that needed to be pushed as they were being added naturally. One participant noted that vandalism of these pagers was much higher than other pages'''
 * Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

We should probably include just about everyone listed here or at least check then for inclusion.
 * Years in New Zealand

A little messy and the template didn't work for many of the years, currently getting better as these pages are being tidied
 * Date, location and score of every All Blacks game.

If people want, higher priorities though
 * Biography of every All Black, Black Cap, etc

Additional people could be every all black (around 1000), Cricketer, Cabinet minister, etc. At least 10,000 possible biographies '''No active editors here. Felt that it didn't seem to be growing but all that was needed was a small number of keen people. Perhaps approaching Māori organisations or govt bodies to interest them''' '''A little discussion on this but people were not sure if the project is still very active. NZ related articles appear to be very sparse there'''
 * Māori wikipedia.
 * Simple Wikipedia

Ideas
'''Possibly to raise money. Nobody quite sure on idea otherwise''' Seems like a good idea but perhaps could be done for whole project, suggested that suggestion be made to Village Pump '''Probably doable and wouldn't require actual local organisation. Actual advantage would not be huge though. Probably higher priorities for now''' '''Suggested as money making or just list of iconic NZ foods. Linnah suggested good external source.''' '''Some discussion of a few problem articles, it was suggested that a list of "often vandalized" articles be kept that people could add to their watchlists. Perhaps some way to coordinate watchlists so all NZ articles are covered'''
 * How about a CD/DVD with all NZ articles and distributable images?
 * Should we provide a guide for schools on updating articles (perhaps asking them to avoid do an article about the school) for class projects.
 * Does Wikimedia New Zealand plan to install servers in New Zealand?
 * NZ food or recipes list
 * Problem articles, vandalism etc

Chapter Questions.
'''The main proponent of this was not here so only limited discussion. General feeling was that there did not seem to be a big need for something formal though'''
 * Why might we want to setup a local chapter?
 * If we setup a local chapter, what implications are there?
 * How does the chapter serve its members? They are paying for membership after all.
 * Is it actually possible for an Incorporated Society in New Zealand to transfer proceeds of donations to a US based organisation?
 * Should we have online AGM’s, Are online AGMs legal?
 * Where should we base Wikimedia New Zealand?
 * Do we need office space? It seems unnecessary and expensive.
 * Should professional advice should be sought on issues such as public liability and defamation before we go ahead with any chapter proposal.

Misc stuff
Yes, round of favourite article edited/created '''One admin, one considering. Suggested that there should perhaps be more NZ admins especially since we are in a timezone a bit separate from others''' '''Currently redirecting to the NZ portal. It was noted that .nz now has a domain name disputes procedure''' '''Next meeting should probably be in Wellington or Christchurch, perhaps with some sort of Teleconference or remote access (although this would require a solid agenda and firm running of meeting). Probably notice should be 4-6 weeks to give people time to plan ahead but the meeting should be regularly updated to keep it in people's minds. Also post cellphone number so people can call if they are lost'''
 * Do we enjoy editing wikipedia?
 * Any complaints?
 * Whats the Admin/User ratio at this meetup
 * wikipedia.co.nz
 * Next meeting

Impressions from participants
As mentioned above the pub was very full and noisy but it wasn't too bad where we were. The whole meeting was very casual and the food nice (although a little filling for me and perhaps a little expensive for others). A little disappointed we didn't have a few more but space would have been tight if we had. I think this sort of format would works better than a formal meeting, enabled us to get though a wide variety of topics too. Overall good, hope I didn't talk too much - SimonLyall 07:59, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Pre Meeting
My idea was to meet around twelve noon on a Sunday in a pub or cafe, so that we can get a meal and some drinks. If it's going well then the discussion could continue well into the afternoon.

I feel that trying to get agreement on a specific date would be difficult to impossible: in today's busy society there will be always be someone who can't make it. I have therefore just picked a date at random that's a couple of months ahead.

I'm suggesting twelve noon so that those who want to can go to church, and those who don't can sleep in. :) For the location I was thinking of an Auckland suburb close enough in to be central, but far enough out to have plenty of free parking.

I realise that Auckland is not central to the country as a whole (sorry), but it does mean that some three times as many people will be local as compared to the other big cities in New Zealand.

Suggestions, comments, thoughts, brilliant ideas &mdash; please share them all.

Update


Parking: ~40 next to the pub, more on Ladies Mile or close by

Directions: exit the Southern Motorway at the Ellerslie Panmure Highway, turn first left onto the Ellerslie Main Highway at the traffic lights, and then drive through Ellerslie village and around the corner: it's just past the corner on your right

Map

I have reserved the Conservatory for us. It's a smaller room that's off to the left as you come in the main doors. (It's just visible on the left of the photo.) The room is quieter and better lit than the main room, and there are no TVs (thank heavens). There were six tables and about twenty chairs when I was there today, but we can drag in more chairs if we need to.

They're happy to welcome under-18's, as long as they are accompanied by old farts like me. Which is fine, because I plan to arrive a few minutes early.

They do a great-tasting and very substantial Sunday roast for $15, plus a reasonable selection of pub lunch type meals.

Agenda

 * Discuss setting up Wikimedia New Zealand
 * Discuss the Draft Constitution that Brian has kindly drafted
 * Have a look at <-- Some ideas I thought about the other day.
 * Fund raising ideas

Who's planning to come?
Please give your name (three tildes only: "" ) and an indication of how likely it is that you'll be able to make it. With some idea of numbers, I can then book an appropriate number of tables &mdash; or a whole room if it seems warranted.


 * 1) GeorgeStepanek\talk  (100% barring accident or illness)
 * 2) Onco p53 - I'll be there.
 * 3) David Cannon - No promises, but I'll come if I can. At the moment, I'm too busy to be doing as much on wikipedia as I would like, but who knows, things might be different by June:=)
 * 4) Brian | (Talk) Try my damest to get there :) -Events have ended up conficting (at last minute). I'll have to pass this time :(. Brian | (Talk) 06:45, 23 June 2006 (UTC)
 * 5) SimonLyall I can probably come, prefer something a bit more central but I'll survive, are there people under 18 that makes a pub location a problem? Im not sure we need to plan this 2 months in advance.
 * :Good point about the age, We will need to figger that out. (If we are having lunch (not in the 'bar part' and there are other over 18 years around, I would think under 18 should be able to get in) Brian | (Talk) 12:25, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * ::We're going there for lunch today, so I'll confirm; but it's more of a "pub lunch" type pub than a "bar" so I don't forsee any problems. (We've seen children there before.) Is this planning too far ahead? Perhaps. But if anyone from Australia or further afield is planning to attend, then they might appreciate having quite a bit of notice. GeorgeStepanek\talk 22:57, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) gadfium. Looking forward to it. - Confirming that I intend to be there.
 * 2) mozasaur. It's possible I may be able to come, whatever, its a great idea, and I may well be in Ak around then. enjoy the banner, email me if you want the 10,000 pixel version.
 * 3) Hauser. Sounds like a good idea, though we'll have to see what happens in terms of me coming along. Hopefully the Motorway Patrol isn't bethralysing people at that hour! :P.
 * 4) User:Winstonwolfe. Will try to be there, but if I can't make it, if one of you can shout "BullSh-t" every time Hauser mentions Muldoon, I'm sure no one will notice my absence :-).
 * 5) Originalsinner. Will probably come because I have nothing better to do on a Sunday especially since my flatmate watches those awful soap operas on Sundays (One Tree Hill, Dawson's Creek). Means I have to find out where Ellerslie is... ah well ay.
 * 6) Bg. Will try to get there, but live in Christchurch so no promises!
 * 7) Vik. Sounds like a good excuse to visit the pub. I might have fire brigade things to do, but otherwise am up for it.
 * 8) Tom Webb. Am interested in attending!
 * 9) cky has a 99.44% probability of attending. :-)