Wikipedia:Meetup/Melbourne/6

Wikipedians in Melbourne had held five previous meetups. The sixth was held at Borders on 19 June 2007.

Previous meetups

 * Meetup/Melbourne 1 - November 2005
 * Meetup/Melbourne 2 - March 2006
 * Meetup/Melbourne 3 - June 2006
 * Meetup/Melbourne 4 - December 2006
 * Meetup/Melbourne 5 - 27 April, 2007

When?
Bainer, in passing I heard you mention late June? Don't mean to be too quick off the mark, but it's best to sort these things out early! Leon 05:14, 27 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I suggest sooner, rather than later, while the breakfast meetup a couple of days ago is still leaving a fresh impression with those whose made it. Metamagician3000 09:10, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Where?
Hmm.. well there was discussion about returning to the format of having somewhere out of the way to talk first. Of course, with the little VCA spot out of the picture as a possible venue, finding an alternative out of the hustle and bustle could be fun. Any chance of there being anywhere at a library or uni? Kyelewis 05:41, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Meetup proposal
In the true spirit of Wikipedia, and taking into account the above comments, I have been bold and suggest the following arrangements (which only require a phone call to confirm) for the next meetup:

Where: The Coffee Shop in Borders Bookshop at The Jam Factory in Chapel Street, South Yarra.

When: Tuesday 19 June from 7.00pm to 8.00pm 8.30pm- (I suggest Tuesday because the first three Melbourne meetups were held on a Tuesday)

In order to eliminate having to make arrangements for each new meetup, I suggest that we make this a set date (ie. third Tuesday of the month) on a bi-monthly or quarterly basis. We can discuss this as an agenda item for the next meetup. I have spoken with the manager of the Coffee Shop and he is happy to arrange tables in an area for each Wikipedia meetup.

The suggested criteria before the first Melbourne Meetup were :
 * 1) Quiet
 * 2) Seating for a dozen (give or take)
 * 3) Central, close to public transport - CBD(ish)
 * 4) Food
 * 5) Underage access
 * 6) Not smelling like a sewer is also good
 * 7) Parking

I think Borders Coffee Shop satisfies all of the above criteria. It's quiet. Seating is not a problem. It's almost CBD and public transport serves the area well (trams 8, 72,78, 79), and South Yarra railway station is a five minute walk away. There are more eating places to choose from than you can point a stick at. Underage access is OK. The smells are of coffee and newly printed books, and it has a large carpark at the rear. In addition, for those interested in going to the cinema after the meeting, Tuesday is the cheaper night at the Village Cinema Complex. If you want to check out the place, or have an interest in books, there is a Book Club meeting on the first Wednesday of every month from 6.00pm to 7.00pm.

That's the proposal. I would appreciate your comments. - Cuddy Wifter 04:05, 1 May 2007 (UTC)


 * It sounds fine in principle... i just wouldn't have thought it would be big enough - but then, i've never been to that particuar borders - does it have a very big coffee shop area? If you think it's big enough, then I'll say it sounds fine. In general, borders is a cool place to be (geek-cool that is), so it seems like a good choice. It means i'll have to travel further out from the city than usual, but I'm sure I'll deal :P Kyelewis 03:41, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Oh, and I think "South Yarra railway station is a five minute walk away" is a little optimistic. Kyelewis 03:42, 2 May 2007 (UTC)


 * It's a walk of 600 metres via the "Lovers Walk" footpath. The coffee shop has two seperate areas, one with seating for about 20 people and another with seating for about 50. - Cuddy Wifter 08:44, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
 * It sounds okay to me. I quite like the Borders coffee shop. Metamagician3000 12:42, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Isn't the Carlton one more central? On Lygon St. It's substantially closer to the CBD. 144.137.5.229 01:05, 9 May 2007 (UTC) Leon 01:08, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm happy with Prahan, but would much prefer Lygon St. Are the coffee places still open there? --Bduke 08:04, 9 May 2007 (UTC)


 * The coffee shop in the Borders on Lygon St is smaller. Seating for about 40, I'd guess. I don't know how busy it is in the evenings (and if it's open at all), but they may have trouble accommodating us. Generally, the places on Lygon Street get quite a number of customers.
 * Cuddy's proposal has the great advantage that somebody is willing to implement them. However, I think the discussions at the previous meetings lasted longer than an hour, so I'd propose either starting half an hour earlier or finishing half an hour later. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 08:53, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, one hour is too short. I've changed the finish time to 8.30pm. - Cuddy Wifter 19:02, 9 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Someone's willingness to implement does sound like a great advantage. From my POV, it's probably about the same whether it's Carlton or Prahran, though Prahran might actually be easier for some, being close to a train station. Metamagician3000 09:50, 9 May 2007 (UTC)


 * It's true, the population centre of metro Melbourne is supposed to be around Glen Ira... I don't actually have a problem with Prahran. Leon 22:20, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I am opposed to having set day/times for meetups because it will likely exclude (and include) the same people each time, for example, one person has already said they work each Tuesday and due to work and family commitments, I will always have a difficult time getting into the city at that time of the evening on a weeknight. Given we come from very diverse backgrounds and locations, I think the selection of days and times needs flexibility, not rigidity. Sarah 09:56, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Meetup 6 Arrangements
In the absence of any other suggestions, and with only two weeks to the proposed meetup date, I have informed the manager of the Borders Coffee Shop that Meetup/Melbourne 6 will go ahead, and that I will give him an idea of the numbers attending by the day prior to the Meetup. The arrangements are:

Venue: The Coffee Shop in Borders Bookshop The Jam Factory, 500 Chapel Street, South Yarra.

Date: Tuesday 19 June, 2007

Time: 7.00pm to 8.30pm-

In an effort to publicise Wikipedia, and attract more editors, I will send details of the meetup to the "Noticeboard" section of the local paper, the Stonnington Leader, and also leave some flyers at the Borders Coffee Shop. Hopefully this will be an interesting exercise in gauging the level of public awareness of Wikipedia. I would appreciate someone contacting all the people on the above list so that they are made aware of the meetup details. Done. - Cuddy Wifter 07:07, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Likely attendance
Please sign here and give some indication of how likely you are to turn up.

The last Adelaide meetup arrangements had this notice - Minors must be accompanied by a legal guardian - see the Perth discussion of this issue. Is this something which we should adopt?


 * Not if it's discussed the way it was discussed there on the Adelaide Perth meetup page. If anyone here feels that they might be 'jeopardised' in some way by meeting up with people under 18, I'd love to hear why. Kyelewis 14:44, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I do wonder why it's such a big issue if some younger teens turn up at a bookshop. Metamagician3000 06:58, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Definite: I am there!

 * 1) Cuddy Wifter 07:07, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) bainer (talk) 02:39, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Probable: All things being right, I'll be there

 * 1) Metamagician3000 05:25, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) Pimlottc 00:12, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 3) Alex Bakharev 00:40, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 4) Goldiemicky 11:50, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 5) Lokicarbis 07:23, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 6) Peter Campbell 08:21, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

Maybe: I'll try, but ...

 * 1) Excalibur2211 03:24, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) Claudine C. (talk) 02:21, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 3) Eyedubya 22:00, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 4) Rebecca 12:35, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Apologies: I wish I could

 * 1) Kyelewis 14:30, 6 June 2007 (UTC)  - I work Tuesday Nights :(
 * 2) Bduke 01:38, 7 June 2007 (UTC) - looks like I will be down in Gippsland for a few days around that Tuesday.
 * 3) Ninevah 03:54, 8 June 2007 (UTC) - ...Weekday evenings in the city are hard for me. Any chance future ones can be run on a weekend?
 * 4) Takver 04:27, 8 June 2007 (UTC) - childcare commitments clash
 * 5) Enlil Ninlil 04:28, 8 June 2007 (UTC) I can't come at that time, gotta work early.
 * 6) Peter McGinley 04:30, 8 June 2007 (UTC) - Gonna be down at Phillip Island on that date. Sorry!
 * 7) Jitse Niesen (talk) 13:25, 8 June 2007 (UTC) - overseas (for the whole month)
 * 8) I live in Sorrento and going into town and back out at that time on a week night is just impossible for me. Sorry guys, maybe next time. Sarah 09:46, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 9) Will be 550 kms away... matturn 11:43, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 10) Biatch - footy training
 * 11) Wai Hong- Sorry, can't make it
 * 12) MusicMen 00:16, 14 June 2007 (UTC) Would love to come, but I'm in the USA (that's about 10,000 km away)
 * 13) CWC. Drat.
 * 14) Angela - maybe next time. :)

Agenda
If you have any particular proposals or topics which you would like to be discussed please list them here.


 * Set dates for future meetups. - Cuddy Wifter 06:02, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I won't be attending this meetup for two reasons. 1) No agenda. 2) I can't think of any possible agenda between diverse collaborators (i.e. we all largely seem to edit pages on different topics, or at least I do). Any agenda between editors seems to be well handled enough on various talk pages about specific issues. In short, and I have only been to one before, what is the point of a Wikipedia Melbourne meetup? - Grumpyyoungman01 07:34, 8 June 2007 (UTC)
 * To meet other Wikipedians! I don't think there's ever been a need to come up with some other purpose. Rebecca 04:30, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Meetup Notes
It was a somewhat disappointing attendance with only Bainer, Cuddy Wifter and Metamagician3000 fronting up. If the timing of the meetup was a problem for some people, perhaps we should seek some input of alternative for Meetup/Melbourne 7. It was generally agreed that Borders Coffee Shop was a good venue for the meetup.

The three of us had a wide ranging discussion which included the following topics (in no particular order, and as I recall some 48 hours after the event):


 * Uploading images and Image copyright tags.
 * Neutral point of view, verifiability, no original research and citing sources.
 * Atheism discussion page.
 * Good articles and Featured articles, and the feasibility of a WikiProject Melbourne collaboration.
 * What's happening with the proposed local chapter Wikimedia Australia?
 * Wikipedia essays. (Stephen, I can't recall if you have finished the essay you mentioned. If you have, perhaps you can add a link to it here.)
 * The media and the need for a "spokesperson"
 * Do we need to put up an early Agenda heading for next meetup to solicit topics for discussion?

If you are interested in attending the next meetup, please add the page to your watchlist. - Cuddy Wifter 07:06, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Next time
I've just created a page for planning the next meetup, maybe some time in late July. Metamagician3000 11:58, 19 June 2007 (UTC)