Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/January 2009

The 11th New York City Meetup event was held on Sunday, January 18, 2009 in the Columbia University area. This was the sixth of the meetups with a session dedicated to discussing Wikimedia New York City issues.

Topics on the agenda included planning for our upcoming "Wikipedia Loves Art!" event at the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, with representatives from the Brooklyn, the Met and MOMA coming to the meeting, as well as discussions about our path forward, now that we are approved as an official chapter.

What, Where, When, and How?
There was be one public meeting in the afternoon at Columbia University in Pupin Hall.

Main public meeting (to discuss Wikipedia issues and chapter formation):
 * 1402 Pupin Hall, Columbia University. Take the elevator to the 13th floor and then walk up one flight of stairs. If we use this location, meeting to be held in the library at the east end of the hall. 2:30 PM - 5:00PM

Optional post-meeting meetup

 * A post-meeting walk to The Symposium, a Greek restaurant. After the restaurant, we can return to Pupin Hall for an observing session with the telescopes on the roof weather permitting. 5:00 PM onwards.
 * Alternative dinner location for kosher wikimedians, Café Nana Dairy Mediterranean cuisine under the hashgacha of Rabbi David Almog

Late arrival info and transportation
If you plan on arriving late, and are concerned about not finding your way to the group, you can drop your mobile phone number ahead of time at Special:Emailuser/Pharos (e-mail will not be able to be checked during the actual meetup time, leave requests ahead of time).

Nearby subway stations:
 * 116th Street–Columbia University (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) (That's the number 1 train)

Agenda
Bring your own ideas!
 * Follow-up on ideas raised in the November 2008 meeting (see video) and December 2008 mini-meetup minutes
 * The Chapters Committee and then the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation have now approved our bylaws and application as an official chapter.


 * Chapter business
 * Planning for Wikipedia Loves Art! with Shelley from the Brooklyn Museum, Denise and Hazel from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Victor from the Museum of Modern Art.
 * Clarifying our points system and rules for Wikipedia Loves Art.
 * Discussion on our path as a chapter, now that we're official.
 * Wikimedia NYC and regional committees, including groundwork laid at the recent Meetup/Connecticut and potential regional projects
 * Time and place of next meeting?
 * Plans for two-part Wikipedia classes with the New York Public Library in April
 * this discussion proved exceptionally promising, & I'll report on it. DGG (talk) 08:04, 13 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Other education project possibilities
 * Initial planning for 2009 Wikis Take Manhattan
 * Other projects, see the meta:Wikimedia New York City (recently updated)
 * Initial planning for our annual election meeting.
 * Possibility of "Wiki-Conference New York": A one-day regional scale Wikimedia conference for 100-200 people, to be planned for the summer
 * Offers of videoconferencing with meetups in London and Belgrade.
 * The WMF Chapters meeting this April in Berlin
 * Wikipedia Loves Art event at the Brooklyn Museum will be evening of February 7, where we'll be joined by Frank Schulenburg (Head of Public Outreach) and Sara Crouse (Head of Partnerships and Foundation Relations), flying in for the weekend from Wikimedia Foundation HQ in San Francisco. We'll have a special meeting with Frank and Sara earlier that day to discuss future outreach projects.
 * Other suggestions for projects?


 * Speakers and roundtable discussions
 * Presentation by Shapiros10 on Wikipedia Takes the Subway, occurring the following morning.
 * If time permits I'd like to make a few remarks and have some discussion of pending proposals concerning BLPs and related issues. Newyorkbrad (talk) 02:52, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Likely attendees

 * Sam Blab 01:22, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Pharos (talk) 03:21, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Becksguy (talk) 04:24, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Scottandrewhutchins (talk) 00:44, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * DGG (talk) 05:38, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Mblumber (talk) 03:56, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Newyorkbrad (talk) 00:48, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Gosgood (talk) 02:24, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
 *  MBisanz  talk 20:21, 24 December 2008 (UTC)
 * &mdash;harej // change the rules 03:35, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Nightscream (talk) 02:52, 12 January 2009 (UTC) I'll be there with my camera, unless something unforseen becomes.......well, seen.
 * &mdash;Elipongo (Talk contribs) 03:06, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Jim.henderson (talk) 03:13, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
 * User:Rebelpilot 12:02, 17 January 2009 {EST)
 * dm (talk) 00:48, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
 * If things work out. Daniel Case (talk) 15:13, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
 * They have. See you there. Daniel Case (talk) 06:47, 18 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Signing at the meet on a Columbia computer. Mitch 32 ( Go Syracuse ) 19:11, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Possible attendees

 * Possibly. Raul654 (talk) 01:27, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * –Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone  04:24, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * won't know until closer StarM  03:50, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ditto. -Seidenstud (talk) 02:56, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Gaaahh. 250 miles... school... I'd love to come, but I don't know, I don't know...... J.delanoy gabs adds  20:15, 24 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Cannot promise, but... Ecoleetage (talk) 04:40, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Scottandrewhutchins (talk) 15:38, 2 January 2009 (UTC) There is a Sunday school teachers meeting that afternoon I am expected to attend. If someone like Pharos wants to give me a phone number so I can arrive late, this could work.  The meetings rarely last more than an hour and definitely not more than 2.
 * Done! We'll be glad for you to join us anytime.--Pharos (talk) 15:49, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Probably won't decide until that morning. Depends on when I wake up and what I get accomplished during the week. -- DrGaellon (talk | contribs) 06:17, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Maybe. Bearian (talk) 20:56, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Maybe, depending on the weather and my mood. --Blue387 (talk) 01:56, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

Regrets

 * As promised, anything after January 10 means I'll be back at school in Pittsburgh and stuck there. TML (talk) 22:05, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * You could get Jimbo with a January 31 date ;)  aye matthew  ✡ 23:25, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * That's two years old :P Sam  Blab 23:26, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * /me laughs at self's epic fai, self, you failz  aye matthew  ✡ 23:28, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It's a week after I leave NY. Andre (talk) 23:29, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll be out of town the 7th through the 26th (the last meet up was terrific!) — Robert Greer (talk) 21:49, 28 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I will be in Colorado. -- David  Shankbone  00:33, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Every time I'm in Miami.— Ryūlóng ( 竜龙 ) 02:54, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm hosting inauguration guests. &rArr;   SWAT Jester    Son of the Defender  18:28, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Attendees of record

 * ''Wikipedians/Wikimedians, from the sign-up sheet. May be incomplete.


 * User:Bearian
 * User:Becksguy
 * User:Bezbozhnik
 * User:Daniel Case
 * User:DGG
 * User:Dmadeo
 * User:Elipongo
 * User:Gosgood
 * User:Jim.henderson
 * User:Mblumber
 * User:Messedrocker
 * User:Mitchazenia
 * User:Newyorkbrad
 * User:Pharos
 * User:ScienceApologist
 * User:Scottandrewhutchins
 * User:Shapiros10


 * ''Other guests


 * Shelley from the Brooklyn Museum
 * Denise and Hazel from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
 * Victor from the Museum of Modern Art
 * There was one chauffeur in attendance. Also, a wikisibling made an appearance.

Apologies
I apologize for not making it, guys. I came down with a cold on Wednesday, and have been nursing it since. I've been sleeping in for the past few days, and the Meetup slipped my mind. I'm usually better organized with my appointments than that. Sorry about that. Nightscream (talk) 17:44, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Your penance will be to have some nice hot chicken soup. Get better. — Becksguy (talk) 19:49, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Chapter formation
Wikimedia NYC was approved as an official chapter by the WMF board on January 12. Our next steps are to incorporate under New York law, establish a membership system, and then hold elections. We should be incorporated soon, and we should be able to hold elections in a couple of months.

Wikipedia Loves Art and museum guests
We planned for Wikipedia Loves Art! with Shelley from the Brooklyn Museum, Denise and Hazel from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Victor from the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA hasn't finalized yet). In the city, the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the New-York Historical Society (confirmed after the meeting) will also be participating.

The Brooklyn Museum public event will be the evening of Saturday February 7, and the Met public event will possibly be on Friday February 20th or on another Friday.

Particularly for the Met, it will be important that they can caption all photos before we upload them to Wikimedia Commons, which might take some time because they expect a very large participation. We discussed the possibility of our volunteers coming down to the Met and helping with the captioning.

DGG on the New York Public Library
User:DGG filled us in on some promising discussions with the New York Public Library for two-part classes that will be taught at the Mid-Manhattan Library this April. There is alsio great potential for expanding our educational initiatives with them.

Newyorkbrad on Biographies of Living Persons
User:Newyorkbrad led a lively discussion covering a number of proposed fixes to help with our perennial Biographies of living persons problem.

Wikipedia Takes the Subway
User:Shapiros10 described his intrepid plan for Wikipedia Takes the Subway the following morning. Which we pursued on Monday, with several intrepid teams of Wikimedians and family snapping photos of 24 unillustrated subway stations, and much else interesting besides.

Feb 7 meet in Brooklyn
On the afternoon of Saturday February 7, we'll be having a special long-term planning meeting in Brooklyn (place and time TBD) with Frank Schulenburg (Head of Public Outreach) and Sara Crouse (Head of Partnerships and Foundation Relations) of the WMF, flying in for the weekend from Wikimedia Foundation HQ in San Francisco. We will probably also have representatives from the New York Public Library there.

Later that day, we'll walk over to the Brooklyn Museum to set up our table and sign in the lobby in time for the start of First Saturday for Wikipedia Loves Art at 5 PM.