User:Mike Peel/2011 Statement

I have been involved with WMUK since it was rebooted in 2008, serving first as Membership Secretary and then as Chair, and most recently as Secretary. My involvement has included organising events (most recently the Cancer Research UK Workshop; others include the Editathon, British Library and Britain Loves Wikipedia); talking to the media; responding to email queries (until our office manager, Charles, took over this role); talking with partner organisations; and much more. I have represented the chapter at the Chapters Meeting three times (in 2009, 2010 and 2011), as well as attending other Wikimedia meetings (e.g. the Multimedia Usability meeting in November 2009, and Wikimania in 2010), and I've also represented the chapter at non-Wikimedia-focused meetings.

I have been active on Wikipedia for over 6 years (my first edit was in March 2005), during which time I've made around 16,000 edits (although my edit rate has dropped off considerably since being involved with Wikimedia UK). I'm also active on the Commons, where I have made over 5,000 edits and uploaded over 1,600 images of my own creation. I have also made over 3,000 edits on Wikisource. In real life, I'm employed as a postdoctoral researcher at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (part of the University of Manchester).

This last year has seen fantastic progress for the chapter. We've organised a series of successful in-person events, a particular highlight being the GLAM-WIKI conference at the British Museum (organised by Liam Wyatt, supervised by myself). The chapter has participated in a very successful fundraiser, which brought in over half a million pounds to the Wikimedia movement. And much more.

In order to grow our activity to match our budget, we urgently need to professionalise the chapter over the coming year - primarily by hiring full-time employees - in order to scale up the activities and become an effective organisation. The planning process has been started by the current board, with 4-5 positions planned over the coming year, and represents a major transition period for the organisation. I would like to provide continuity during this process, as well as continuing to provide input and oversight to make sure that the chapter continues along the same approaches of transparency and responsibility as it has thus far, and also involves as many volunteers as possible in all of its activities. Simultaneously, I believe that the chapter should continue organising events (both by board members and ordinary members) to the best of its ability in the interim period, as well as provide funding for Wikimedia volunteers as necessary for them to pursue their activities both on- and off-line.

Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions you might have (on my talk page, or anywhere else you see me around).