Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Steering Committee/2010-12-02

Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committee meeting, 2010-12-02

Members present:

Sage Ross
Annie Lin
Cheryl Moy
Fletcher Commons
PJ Tabit

Agenda

Updates on recruitment of Campus Ambassadors
- Cheryl
  - MSU - 3 apps; 2 approved to move to next round, one app needs to be evaluated
  - Indiana University - 3 ambassadors; 2 current ambassadors, one accepted for training
- Fletcher
  - No responses from Troy; Fletcher contacted two clubs. We need to focus more on the Troy area for recruitment. Annie will follow up with the professor there. Sage will re-add a geonotice and canvass for local Wikipedians by other means. Additional clubs and individual departments may be possible avenues of recruitment.
  - Syracuse - we're pretty solid there, with returning ambassadors and a new strong applicant
  - LSU - Annie and Rod are meeting with a group of professors and potential ambassadors at LSU, leaving soon.
- PJ
  - Boston University - 2 applications passed to second round
  - Texas Southern University - Several talk page inquiries, but no applicants as of yet.
  - DC area - Seems to be well-covered for the spring.
  - Will send BU applications to the committee so Skype interviews can be conducted before Dec. 15.
- Annie
  - San Diego - 1 strong application (professor will not be a fellow, so we aren't promising an ambassador, however)
  - USC - 1 LA applicant
  - Berkeley - More strong applicants than need for ambassadors. Berkeley ambassadors may be used for SF State University.
  - Kentucky - 3 applicants, and 1 reporter who wants to do a story... but now the Kentucky professor may not be participating. They may be used for outreach.
  - Montana - Trouble spot... recruitment there is slow

- Alex (as relayed by Annie)
  - JMU - 1 accepted applicant
  - Western Carolina University is the toughest so far - 1 applicant, and Annie has reached out to the professor there to find other potential ambassadors.

the numbers of campus ambassadors projected are the "ideal minimum" (at least 1 ambassador/class)

Update on plans for regional Campus Ambassador training
- Train-the-trainer session, January 4-5
- Probably 5 regions:
  - Northeast region, in NYC
  - Midwest, most likely in Indianapolis
  - South, most likey in Baton Rouge
  - DC area, possibly at Georgetown campus
  - California/West, in the WMF office

Parameters for guests to regional trainings: How should we deal with people who want to participate in the training, even though they won't be Campus Ambassadors? Wikipedians may want to come, and interested professors (not necessarily public policy) may want to come.
- Benefits
  - Give them ideas for outreach
  - Extra Wikipedia experience to share with non-editors
  - Build broader support amongst the Wikimedia community for the Ambassador Program
- Potential pitfalls
  - space
  - taking up "trainer's" time to training non-CA

Moving forward with ambassador discussion about Online Ambassador training
- Fletcher and Sage will push forward with this once we begin recruiting the new wave of Campus Ambassadors