Meetings/2009-08-05
Wikimedia UK Board meeting Wednesday 5th August 2009, 8:30pm BST at #wikimedia-uk-board
Present: Michael Peel (MP) (Chair); Andrew Turvey (AT) (minutes); Zeyi He (ZH); Tom Holden (TH); Joseph Seddon (JS); Paul Williams (PW) (part)
Apologies: PW for late arrival; Steve Virgin (SV)
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Note: Please mark your actions with one of the following:
* {{done}} if you have completed what was agreed In addition please mark {{discuss}} if the board needs to discuss the action and add it to the agenda of the next meeting. |
Minutes of previous meetings
The minutes of the meetings dated 21 July and 28 July were approved. It was agreed that the action for TD to contact the gazette to solicit a pro-bono lawyer would be dropped given the discussion on engaging a paid lawyer.
The following actions were carried forward:
1. PW agreed to draft an email to the WMF formalising the agreement to use Wikimedia Foundation trademarks in members-only merchandising and to look into where we could produce merchandise. 
Carried forward (note: action transferred to AT)
2. MP agreed to draft templates for the six press scenarios identified at Media relations#Media response. Carried forward
3. AT to send out the details of the February 2009 Wikipedia Loves Art prizes. 
Done
4. MP agreed to install a wordpress blog at http://www.wikimedia.org.uk/blog. Done
5. MP agreed to work with SV to do mini press releases, no more than one per month, advertising spikes in traffic per WP:POPULAR related to particular news events. Carried forward
6. JS agreed to get a copy of the WMF's press release contact list in the UK. 
Doing...
7. MP agreed to add the HMRC letter appendices as attachments to section C of the Charity Commission application Carried forward
8. PW will research into the requirement for CRB checks for Schools Project volunteers and their transferability in liason with JS. Doing... (transferred to JS)
9. PW will develop a proposal for buying a computer for the Schools Project with, potentially, peripherals such as a projector, screen, printer etc. Carried forward
Matters arising
JS will draft an email for the Open Knowledge Foundation mailing list, to recruit new members.
ACTION: JS Carried forward
With regard to setting up wikipedia.x.uk as a portal along the lines of http://wikipedia.de, it was agreed that the risks were unquantified. Rather than looking into it at the moment, it was agreed we would revisit in January 2010.
AT agreed to take on the business cards printing.
ACTION: AT Carried forward
Reports
Secretary
The Secretary's Report was noted. AT will reply to the charity as proposed.
ACTION: AT Carried forward
It was agreed that we would try to move our wiki at http://uk.wikimedia.org to http://www.wikimedia.org.uk subject to technical feasibility re Single User Logins and hosting, with gb.wikimedia.org as a potential alternative. MP will investigate.
ACTION: MP Doing... [1]
Treasurer
The Treasurer's Report was noted, which includes the receipt of the Foundation's grant. TH has created subaccounts in the accounting software which ensures that the funds, which are designated for particular purposes, are not used for other expenses. Balances for each initiative will be reported in future Treasurers' Reports.
Chair
The Chair's Report was noted. MP agreed to follow up with Wikimedia Ukraine regarding the "uk." website conflict.
ACTION: MP Doing...
Initiatives
PW joined the meeting
The Initiatives Report was noted. ZH agreed to follow up with each initiative leader on progress with the timeline milestone of "Establish a plan for each initiative including timetable, aim and outline costing", which is due by 31 August.
Corporate relations
SV had spoken to AT before the meeting: SB has been in touch wanting to progress the BBC work, having received his token of thanks. For the next fortnight, SV has focus on his work where he is facing possible redundancy. After then, he will return and pick up his actions. If anything arises that needs an immediate response he will refer it to AT or MP.
Conferences
The Conferences Report was noted.
Charity Commission application
Section C (public benefit)
It was agreed that the chapter would, in princple, consider supporting non-Wikimedia Foundation free content work as appropriate.
With that agreed, the text of section C was agreed.
Section D (vulnerable people)
JS has investigated the situation with Criminal Record Bureau checks for board members and found that all board members will need to be checked if the Schools Project goes ahead, as this makes us a "children's charity". We will also be obliged to comply with other procedures such as child protection policies and complaints procedures. These obligations also mean that it is more likely that our Charity application will be refused.
PW left the meeting
It was agreed that we would not delay the Schools Project but would apply for charitable status and establish our procedures in parralel.
JS agreed to look into CRB checks - who to approach for them and how much they will cost.
ACTION: JS Doing...
AT agreed to investigate NCVO and other charity support groups for guidance on setting up procedures.
ACTION: AT Doing...
AT agreed to investigate getting paid legal advice on charitable status, using the Foundation's offer to fund.
ACTION: AT Carried forward
JS agreed to start drafting some child protection policies.
ACTION: JS Carried forward
Section E (Conflicts of interest)
AT has drafted a conflicts of interest policy based on various guidance. The Board discussed where a conflict of loyalty may arise that would prejudice a decision on a transaction with the Wikimedia Foundation. It was agreed that being an administrator on a Wikimedia Foundation project normally wouldn't present a conflict, but being a former appointee to a Wikimedia Foundation committee would. It was felt that MedCom and ArbCom would also present conflicts and this should be considered when the forthcoming Fundraising Agreement is discussed.
MP agreed to clarify his status on the Communications Committee.
ACTION: MP Done
The section will be discussed again at the next regular meeting to give members time to read it thoroughly.
Newsletter
It was agreed we would aim for the 14th August as a date for the next newsletter. Each initiative leader will be asked to write a section, plus a section on charity status update (AT) and Wikipedia Loves Art prizes (AT).
ACTION: PW, MP, AT Carried forward
Next meeting
The next meeting, to focus on initiatives with a brief discussion of the charity commission application, was agreed for Tuesday 18th August, 8:30 - 10:30pm.
The meeting closed at 23:00