I have, occasionally, argued that wikipedia can only achieve higher quality in the long term by recruiting more good editors - people with real knowledge in a particular area, who can improve difficult content; or write articles in areas where nobody else has yet tackled. An ambassador can play a key role in the recruitment of these good new editors; I should put my money where my mouth is.
In three sentences or less, summarize your involvement with Wikimedia projects.
I mostly work on en.wikipedia; about 15000 edits. However, I have made a few modest contributions on Wikimedia Commons. My handful of edits on other language wikipedias are mere interlanguage links.
Please indicate a few articles to which you have made significant content contributions. (e.g. DYK, GA, FA, major revisions/expansions/copyedits).
I have written about 200 articles, but have only recently started taking them up the quality ladder. Maersk Triple E class is at GA review; before the end of the year I'd like to get a few others (such as Taxation in the Ottoman empire) to GA. I've helped Sp33dyphil with his drive to get lots of aviation articles to GA and FA. I've briefly dabbled with DYK, including a hook with 25 articles, and am currently reviewing an article by somebody else at GAN.
How have you been involved with welcoming and helping new users on Wikipedia?
I haven't done enough! I try not to bite new editors I see in the course of editing, and try to help with queries wherever they appear, but that's not a daily event. A couple of times a problematic-but-potentially-valuable new editor has appeared at AN/I and I've tried stepping in to help...
What do you see as the most important ways we could welcome newcomers or help new users become active contributors?
I think many potential new editors are scared off by the complexity of the markup language and the many rules; and many who take the plunge will be discouraged after their first edit is reverted. There are no easy answers, though.
Have you had major conflicts with other editors? Blocks or bans? Involvement in arbitration? Feel free to offer context, if necessary.
No major conflicts; no arbitration, blocks, bans &c. I dislike drama & friction - they consume the time and goodwill of editors which is a scarce resource that we should be pouring into better content. Of course there has been occasional friction in the usual areas that cause raised tempers - AfD, renames, style disputes &c. I work on the mediaton cabal. I try to soothe tempers on angrier articles (I watchlist a thousand articles on Balkan history, on alt-med and pseudoscience, and on economics - it's disappointing that I haven't even been taken to AN/I yet).
How often do you edit Wikipedia and check in on ongoing discussions? Will you be available regularly for at least two hours per week, in your role as a mentor?
I am usually on at least a few times a day.
What else should we know about you that is relevant to being a Wikipedia Ambassador?
I can't think of anything else to say; if you have any questions, fire away...
