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The following discussion is preserved as an archive of a successful Online Ambassador application.

Clear support from all discussion participants. Welcome to the Ambassador Program!--Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 18:57, 14 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

mattgirling

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mattgirling (talk · contribs)

  1. Why do you want to be a Wikipedia Ambassador?
    I was first made aware of this scheme by Sadads, who suggested I apply after seeing my DYK contributions. I currently work in education, and I've had a lot of experience speaking with both teachers/lecturers and students about Wikipedia (particularly those who aren't too familiar with our concepts or those who are quite sceptical), and I'd be glad to (in fact, I'd like to) carry on helping in this way in a wider field.
  2. In three sentences or less, summarize your involvement with Wikimedia projects.
    Although I'm a sysop, most of my work involves content creation on en-WP. I've uploaded some bits and bobs to Commons, though I only really use it to add to work I'm carrying out on en-WP.
  3. Please indicate a few articles to which you have made significant content contributions. (e.g. DYK, GA, FA, major revisions/expansions/copyedits).
    I've contributed a number of articles to DYK. My most significant work, Aldermaston, passed its GA two weeks ago. I aim to keep working on this and perhaps look to FA in the future.
  4. How have you been involved with welcoming and helping new users on Wikipedia?
    I'm often on [1], which means I'm always coming across new editors. Where reasonable, I'll make the effort to welcome them (if the welcoming committee haven't got there first!) and help them if their first edits aren't really suitable.
  5. What do you see as the most important ways we could welcome newcomers or help new users become active contributors?
    I think a lot of newcomers feel overwhelmed end as soon as they've registered; I know I did when I joined – the whole concept of WP was new and very confusing! The welcoming committee do a very important job with new editors, and that's something that needs to be continued. One major problem, however, is that I think we lose a large number of potential editors through speedy tagging new pages. I think new editors need more help with how to resolve these problems, whether that's a case of educating newbies on our guidelines before editing, or helping them resolve issues when they arise (eg WP:RESCUE). Similarly, I think it's easy enough to chastise newbies for "bad" edits, but little recognition is given for "good" ones – even if it's just a couple of spelling corrections, I wonder how many editors we'd encourage to continue just by saying "thanks".
  6. Have you had major conflicts with other editors? Blocks or bans? Involvement in arbitration? Feel free to offer context, if necessary.
    I had a conflict with an editor in August 2009 over the Michael Kapoustin article. To be as brief as I can, the article was riddled with WP:COI/WP:AUTO/WP:SOAP issues and libellous statements. I attempted discussion with the author (and WP:SPAs) to explain the reason behind my content removal, but was met with hostility. I rewrote the article as a verifiable stub, but the author made continuous attacks and legal threats. I had considerable support (both in editing and recognition) from User:Ttonyb1, but eventually the author was blocked (for legal threats) and the article AfDd.
  1. 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 log in daily, so two hours a week would be fine. I've always got an eye on active talk pages, even if I'm not editing them.
  2. What else should we know about you that is relevant to being a Wikipedia Ambassador?
    YOUR ANSWER (OPTIONAL)

Discussion

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