Dear all, Here a little contribution to the discussion about new organizations for the Wikimedia movement. As far as I know, at this point there are not many groups who consider seriously about becoming such a new organization. Sometimes people mention the Esperanto Wikipedians because they cannot form a territorial chapter.
I have thought through how the new organizations of the Wikimedia movement could translate to the Esperanto movement. The Esperanto Wikipedia is not one of the smallest. For about 50-100 speakers of Esperanto contribute to Esperanto Wikipedia on a fairly regular basis. == Esperanto associations == For speakers of Esperanto, also called Esperantists, it is not unusual to be a member of an Esperanto association. The [[World Esperanto Association]] has individual members but is also a federation of the national Esperanto organizations. Besides that, there are specialist organizations; eight of them are politically and religiously neutral and well organized, they are affiliated to the Word Esperanto Association in more or less the same way as the national organizations. Other specialist organizations are not affiliated because they are not neutral or find it too much work to join. They have signed a contract of collaboration with the World Esperanto Association. == Esperanto associations and Wikipedia == There is a („other“) specialist organization of Esperantists occupied with the internet and education, called [[E@I]] (pronunciation: Eh – cheh – Ee). When an Esperantist-Wikipedian wants to do something about Wikipedia it is natural to approach E@I. But also the national associations and the World Esperanto Association are sympathetic to Wikipedia and like to have Wikipedia lessons at an convention, for example. In 2008 the Esperanto Wikipedians wanted to have a flyer for the promotion of Wikipedia among Esperantists. I then approached the Wikimedia Foundation directly for the use of the logos, and collected some money from the World Esperanto Association and the European Esperanto Association. At the World Congress of Esperanto in that year, all of the 2000 participants had that flyer in their goodie bag, and we were given a room for a lecture on Wikipedia. In 2011, the Czech Esperanto Association hosted a Wikipedia convention in the Czech Republic, with an international character as usual in the Esperanto movement. It would have been better visited, possibly, if travel expenses could have been reimbursed. This is actually less usual in the Esperanto movement but would be very welcome. Esperanto speakers are often multiplicators (like teachers, artists, socially active people). So supporting them is well invested energy. == What movement role for Esperanto? == So what can the new kinds of Wikimedia organizations, discussed about under the expression „movement roles“, mean for Esperanto? Actually the Esperantists could become an affiliated in all of the three new kinds: * A thematic organization: E@I, or a newly founded organization, could become a thematic organization of Wikimedia with similar rights and duties as the territorial chapters. * A Wikimedia group: E@I or even just a number of Esperantists listed on Esperanto Wikipedia could form a Wikimedia group. It could get the right to use the logo without especially asking WMF for permission, and ask some money from WMF for a flyer or similar expenses. * An Official Partner of Wikimedia: E@I or the World Esperanto Association could become a partner. I have talked to some Esperanto Wikipedians, some are enthusiast about a thematic organization, others not. One important question is how much (extra) work being a Wikimedia affiliate would cost. Kind regards Ziko _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
