User:Econterms/draft candidacy statement 2013

I am a candidate for the Board of Directors in the Feb-March 2013 board election

Following the stated rules, I'm addressing the requirements for a nomination package literally by following these statements at the board election page.

To submit your candidacy for election, please prepare a nomination package containing the following information: (1) Your full legal name; (2) A statement certifying that you meet the eligibility criteria listed above; (3) A statement regarding each mandatory disclosure listed above; and (4) A candidate statement up to five hundred (500) words in length.

My full legal name is Peter Benjamin Meyer. I edit under the identity [[1]].

My statement about eligibility requirements

I hereby state that as of Feb-Mar 2013 I meet the eligibility criteria. Specifically: (a) I'm a member in good standing of Wikimedia District of Columbia; (b) I'm over 18 years of age; (c) No order of court has declared my mind to be unsound; (d) No order of court found that I breached a duty as an organization's director; (e) No final order of court prohibits me from serving as a director; (f) I do not not owe more than $100 in outstanding debt to the District of Columbia.

My statement of mandatory disclosures

(a) I do not have a financial interest in any ongoing or planned transaction or arrangement undertaken by Wikimedia District of Columbia; (b) I do have minor "conflicts of duty" that could arise occasionally. My employer is a federal statistical agency whose rules regarding activities in outside organizations may require me to avoid taking public stands on legislation or candidates. I will follow those rules and norms. This won't affect my role in most activities of Wikimedia-DC. Also I help run, speak about, and advocate for internal federal government wikis and for government staff to participate directly in the Wikimedia projects. I cannot see how this would create a conflict with Wikimedia-DC; it should help. (c) I have not been convicted of any felony; (d) I have no fiduciary duty to, nor am I an employee, director, officer, or agent of, the Wikimedia Foundation, or of any Wikimedia chapter other than Wikimedia District of Columbia; (e) I participate in editing Wikipedias especially in English, and in editing Wikisource, and have not been subject to disciplinary action in those contexts.

My candidate statement

Goals: Academic links, meaning partly partnerships with outsiders for joint events ; be able to explain organizational issues clearly, preferably on-wiki, perhaps with an on-wiki glossary of terms. Editing cross-language and follow and define the movement.

I'm keeping track of government wikis with broad audiences, and on government rules regarding edits to outside sites. Outside of the GLAM context we do not have as many active partnerships with federal agencies as we should, and I am looking to seize opportunities to create them. I have worked on "social media policy" within an agency to create such opportunities but the doors to the relevant agencies is not really open yet. I attend WikiSym, Wikimania, SHOT, SIGCIS, and a number of economics/social-science conferences each year. I can represent Wiki-DC at these conferences and report back to the membership on the great analytical work that is going on. My ambition: to hold edit-a-thons with professional societies such as those for statisticians, economists, or historians. I have professional links to groups that could be interested. I've attended several edit-a-thons. Peter has degrees from Harvard College and from Northwestern University and works as a research economist on this history of technological change, specifically on how new inventions and industries arise. Information-sharing institutions help these things happen, and Peter uses the Wikipedias as valuable examples of the kind of support institution that helps technology progress.