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otw_news2008-01-31 08:14 pm
femmequixotic) wrote in otw_news2008-01-31 08:14 pm
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January 2008, Newsletter, vol. 3
Welcome to the second January issue of the OTW Newsletter! We're constantly on the lookout for ways to keep fandom up-to-date and informed about what's going on behind the scenes here at OTW, so twice a month, ComRel will be compiling some updates about what the various committees are working on and we'll share them here.
Committee Updates
Accessibility, Design, and Technology Update from Naomi Novik
Quick update from ADT this week -- we got a fantastic response to our call for coder volunteers. We so thank everyone who offered and will be writing to you all tomorrow! Our development roadmap for version 1.0 has been approved by the board and we will be posting it in the next newsletter once we have it polished up for primetime.
Board Update from Francesca Coppa
Our 501(c)3 paperwork has finally been submitted! (This is the paperwork for our application to be a federally-recognized, tax-exempt nonprofit, as opposed to just a corporation.)
Community Relations Update from Femme (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
femmequixotic)
Community Relations is in the process of posting a series of FAQs regarding some common misconceptions we've seen crop up regarding OTW. In addition, we're making plans for some exciting events that you can get involved in--keep an eye out on our various news outlets for more details coming soon. We're also compiling the polls for our Anti-Fanfic Bingos and will be posting something fun with the results.
International fans! We're looking for volunteers to help us translate various OTW materials. If you're interested, please reply back to this post with your contact information. We're also interested in any advice you can give us or experiences you can share in regards to archiving, legal situations in different countries, and where your favourite fandoms are. Please feel free to email us at comrel @ transformativeworks.org!
Development and Membership Update from Ignaz (ignazwisdom)
We've finalized (we hope! *g*) the last of our donor database questions and we plan to have a complete working database within two weeks. We're caught up on donation acknowledgment letters as of January 23; if you made a donation before that date and haven't received an e-mail receipt from us, please contact us at donors@transformativeworks.org so we can check our info. Thank you once again to our early donors for their support!
Our first membership drive is still tentatively scheduled to take place a few months from now. In early preparation, we are working on a membership guide which we hope will answer the most frequently asked questions. (Please note that becoming a member of the OTW is entirely separate from using the OTW's services--such as An Archive Of Our Own and its software package--all of which will be available free of charge. Membership confers a warm fuzzy feeling and the right to vote in OTW Board elections, and for legal reasons requires a small donation. We will never charge a fee for using our services. Please also note that OTW membership is not yet open at this time.)
Additionally, we're looking to grow our committee with the addition of a few new committee members. As always, if you're interested in volunteering for the OTW or serving on a committee, please check out our Get Involved page.
Elections Update fromellen_fremedon
The Elections committee is going over our proposals with the Finance, ADT, and Volunteers committees, to make sure that the elections processes and policies we favor can be implemented and supported by the rest of the organization.
Financial Update from Sanders
Look for an update on 2007 income and expenses soon as well as an explosion of shark related puns and accompanying macros from FinCom.
Legal Update from Killalla (killalla)
The Legal Committee has now filed our application for 501c(3) status, which the OTW must obtain in order to gain exemption from federal income tax and offer tax deductions to donors who make charitable contributions. A link to our filing will soon be available on the OTW website. We have also responded to criticism of the OTW in the legal press. We continue our work reviewing licenses and researching licensing options, as well as developing a more comprehensive Legal FAQ and responding to queries that arise from members of the public.
Public Relations Update from Dafna (dafnagreer
The Public Relations committee continues to plan the next stages of the transformativeworks.org web site and is also working on media training for key spokespeople. As we get more requests from fans for help in handling media attention, we are also considering how best to organize that work, as well as our own eventual outreach to the media once the main projects of the organization are further along.
Systems Update from Jade Lennox (jadelennox)
The systems committee is going through some turnover right now. We have just bid a sad au revoir to Risha Bree, our outgoing committee member who will be much missed. And we are welcoming three new members, Sidra, Aveleh, and Derryderrydown, who bring a wide variety of skill sets into the committee. Additionally, we are starting up our volunteer training program -- for which we got so many wonderful applicants that we were only able to select a small subset. Hopefully the program will be successful and we can bring new people in as we grow.
The systems committee would also like to welcome its newest member, Xenacryst's brand-new baby daughter, just born last week. \o/.
Volunteers and Recruiting Update from KellyAnn Bessa
The Unix Systems Administration position has been filled. Systems has also chosen their Unix Systems Administration Trainees.
Emails were sent out to everyone who responded to the Focus Group search. Please contact Community Relations at comrel @ transformativeworks.org if you responded and did not get an email.
The response to Volunteer Ruby Coder and Volunteer XHTML/CSS Coder was fantastic. The applications have been forwarded to the Accessibility, Design, & Technology committee.
The responses came flooding in for the Quality Assurance (QA) Volunteer job. We just sent them off to Accessibility, Design, & Technology a few days ago, and it will likely take them some time to get through them all (plus all those coder volunteers!), but they are working on it.
We had a bit of problem with LiveJournal not sending us all the comments on recent job posts, and we've now added "Check the post to make sure you got all the comments!" to our job procedure to hopefully prevent this in the future. If you didn't get a confirm for the coder or quality assurance jobs, please send us an email at volunteers @ transformativeworks.org.
These jobs postings are still open and accepting volunteers:
Production Editor
Layout Editor
Marketing & Brand Coordinator
Translation Volunteer
Tax Preparer
Accountant
The Design Pool remains open indefinitely, and is always accepting people!
Content Policy Update fromainsley
We've now held two of the three first-round focus group chats and are preparing to incorporate the results into the archive's general principles draft. Additionally, we're continuing work on the draft version of the archive's abuse policy.
Journal Update from Mafalda Stasi(mafaldastasi)
The journal will launch its Web site and its announcement and call for papers on February 1. We created an official press release, a Web announcement, and flyers, which will be disseminated through several channels: mailing lists, Web sites, blog/LJ/communities, message boards, newsletters, academic conferences, etc.
Two copyeditors were obtained for the journal group via direct expression of interest to Volunteers. The job descriptions for production and layout editors were posted on otw_news, with a due date of mid-February.
A user's manual for the journal software, OJS, is being prepared, for the benefit of all journal volunteers present and future.
Open Doors update from Mary Ellen Curtin (mecurtin)
The Open Doors project of the Organization For Transformative Works is dedicated to offering shelter to at-risk fannish projects. While some of these projects will be integrated into the Archive of Our Own or the Wiki once those services are up and running, others which have a particular historical significance or are structurally difficult to integrate may continue to be preserved as "special collections". We hope to be unveiling our first project well before the end of February.
Wiki update
No updates at this time.
***
What details would you like to know? Where else should we be reaching out to fandom? Please give ComRel a helping hand and let us know! Email us at comrel @ transformativeworks.org.
Committee Updates
Accessibility, Design, and Technology Update from Naomi Novik
Quick update from ADT this week -- we got a fantastic response to our call for coder volunteers. We so thank everyone who offered and will be writing to you all tomorrow! Our development roadmap for version 1.0 has been approved by the board and we will be posting it in the next newsletter once we have it polished up for primetime.
Board Update from Francesca Coppa
Our 501(c)3 paperwork has finally been submitted! (This is the paperwork for our application to be a federally-recognized, tax-exempt nonprofit, as opposed to just a corporation.)
Community Relations Update from Femme (
femmequixotic) Community Relations is in the process of posting a series of FAQs regarding some common misconceptions we've seen crop up regarding OTW. In addition, we're making plans for some exciting events that you can get involved in--keep an eye out on our various news outlets for more details coming soon. We're also compiling the polls for our Anti-Fanfic Bingos and will be posting something fun with the results.
International fans! We're looking for volunteers to help us translate various OTW materials. If you're interested, please reply back to this post with your contact information. We're also interested in any advice you can give us or experiences you can share in regards to archiving, legal situations in different countries, and where your favourite fandoms are. Please feel free to email us at comrel @ transformativeworks.org!
Development and Membership Update from Ignaz (
ignazwisdom) We've finalized (we hope! *g*) the last of our donor database questions and we plan to have a complete working database within two weeks. We're caught up on donation acknowledgment letters as of January 23; if you made a donation before that date and haven't received an e-mail receipt from us, please contact us at donors@transformativeworks.org so we can check our info. Thank you once again to our early donors for their support!
Our first membership drive is still tentatively scheduled to take place a few months from now. In early preparation, we are working on a membership guide which we hope will answer the most frequently asked questions. (Please note that becoming a member of the OTW is entirely separate from using the OTW's services--such as An Archive Of Our Own and its software package--all of which will be available free of charge. Membership confers a warm fuzzy feeling and the right to vote in OTW Board elections, and for legal reasons requires a small donation. We will never charge a fee for using our services. Please also note that OTW membership is not yet open at this time.)
Additionally, we're looking to grow our committee with the addition of a few new committee members. As always, if you're interested in volunteering for the OTW or serving on a committee, please check out our Get Involved page.
Elections Update from
ellen_fremedonThe Elections committee is going over our proposals with the Finance, ADT, and Volunteers committees, to make sure that the elections processes and policies we favor can be implemented and supported by the rest of the organization.
Financial Update from Sanders
Look for an update on 2007 income and expenses soon as well as an explosion of shark related puns and accompanying macros from FinCom.
Legal Update from Killalla (
killalla) The Legal Committee has now filed our application for 501c(3) status, which the OTW must obtain in order to gain exemption from federal income tax and offer tax deductions to donors who make charitable contributions. A link to our filing will soon be available on the OTW website. We have also responded to criticism of the OTW in the legal press. We continue our work reviewing licenses and researching licensing options, as well as developing a more comprehensive Legal FAQ and responding to queries that arise from members of the public.
Public Relations Update from Dafna (
dafnagreer The Public Relations committee continues to plan the next stages of the transformativeworks.org web site and is also working on media training for key spokespeople. As we get more requests from fans for help in handling media attention, we are also considering how best to organize that work, as well as our own eventual outreach to the media once the main projects of the organization are further along.
Systems Update from Jade Lennox (
jadelennox) The systems committee is going through some turnover right now. We have just bid a sad au revoir to Risha Bree, our outgoing committee member who will be much missed. And we are welcoming three new members, Sidra, Aveleh, and Derryderrydown, who bring a wide variety of skill sets into the committee. Additionally, we are starting up our volunteer training program -- for which we got so many wonderful applicants that we were only able to select a small subset. Hopefully the program will be successful and we can bring new people in as we grow.
The systems committee would also like to welcome its newest member, Xenacryst's brand-new baby daughter, just born last week. \o/.
Volunteers and Recruiting Update from KellyAnn Bessa
The Unix Systems Administration position has been filled. Systems has also chosen their Unix Systems Administration Trainees.
Emails were sent out to everyone who responded to the Focus Group search. Please contact Community Relations at comrel @ transformativeworks.org if you responded and did not get an email.
The response to Volunteer Ruby Coder and Volunteer XHTML/CSS Coder was fantastic. The applications have been forwarded to the Accessibility, Design, & Technology committee.
The responses came flooding in for the Quality Assurance (QA) Volunteer job. We just sent them off to Accessibility, Design, & Technology a few days ago, and it will likely take them some time to get through them all (plus all those coder volunteers!), but they are working on it.
We had a bit of problem with LiveJournal not sending us all the comments on recent job posts, and we've now added "Check the post to make sure you got all the comments!" to our job procedure to hopefully prevent this in the future. If you didn't get a confirm for the coder or quality assurance jobs, please send us an email at volunteers @ transformativeworks.org.
These jobs postings are still open and accepting volunteers:
Production Editor
Layout Editor
Marketing & Brand Coordinator
Translation Volunteer
Tax Preparer
Accountant
The Design Pool remains open indefinitely, and is always accepting people!
Content Policy Update from
ainsley We've now held two of the three first-round focus group chats and are preparing to incorporate the results into the archive's general principles draft. Additionally, we're continuing work on the draft version of the archive's abuse policy.
Journal Update from Mafalda Stasi(
mafaldastasi) The journal will launch its Web site and its announcement and call for papers on February 1. We created an official press release, a Web announcement, and flyers, which will be disseminated through several channels: mailing lists, Web sites, blog/LJ/communities, message boards, newsletters, academic conferences, etc.
Two copyeditors were obtained for the journal group via direct expression of interest to Volunteers. The job descriptions for production and layout editors were posted on otw_news, with a due date of mid-February.
A user's manual for the journal software, OJS, is being prepared, for the benefit of all journal volunteers present and future.
Open Doors update from Mary Ellen Curtin (
mecurtin)The Open Doors project of the Organization For Transformative Works is dedicated to offering shelter to at-risk fannish projects. While some of these projects will be integrated into the Archive of Our Own or the Wiki once those services are up and running, others which have a particular historical significance or are structurally difficult to integrate may continue to be preserved as "special collections". We hope to be unveiling our first project well before the end of February.
Wiki update
No updates at this time.
***
What details would you like to know? Where else should we be reaching out to fandom? Please give ComRel a helping hand and let us know! Email us at comrel @ transformativeworks.org.
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*flails happily*
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And as I understand it, OTW is not campaigning on behalf of those fanworks.
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Thank you! We did have this on our radar but it's excellent to have folks like you looking out for our interests as well!
Thanks,
Susan
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Sure--IJ and JF. Specifically, to people who don't want to give LJ site hits and user-generated content because of their unclarified and randomly-enforced content policies.
Right now, several people that I know of believe that OTW is a LiveJournal fans' project, because all the discussion is held on LJ only. I understand that it's good to keep all the comments in one place--but why LJ instead of IJ for comments? (More activity, yes. But at the cost of excluding fans who've left LJ for the exact kind of policies that OTW hopes to avoid.) And if the decision is to keep comments on LJ only for a while--can we get an estimate when that'll change? When there'll be a blog at the OTW page that allows comments, or something like that?
Estimate doesn't need to be by date; could be "when we get X coding project finished" or "when we receive Y paperwork from the gov't." But it'd be nice to know when participation in OTW can stop requiring acceptance of LJ's ToS.
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http://henryjenkins.org/2008/02/an_interview_with_pat_aufderhe.html
Mentions creation of a blue-ribbon panel to develop fair use practices for media using video, so I think OTW would want to have a representative, or at least touch base.
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