User:Econterms/Candidate for Board 2014

I am a candidate for Wikimedia DC's Board of Directors in the September 2014 board election

Here I address the requirements for a nomination package specified there.

My full legal name is Peter Benjamin Meyer. I edit under the identity Econterms.

My statement about eligibility requirements

I hereby state that as of Sept 1, 2014, 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

I have been treasurer of this chapter since spring of 2013, and could continue if the Board asks. I am the chair of the chapter's Public Policy committee and can continue. Here are some of my accomplishments for the chapter and ambitions for the future.

• The chapter has received four grants from the Wikimedia Foundation during this periods, listed here, and has reported on one. Formally I am a contact for these and the WMF says we are in good shape.
• I keep track of government wikis and other collaboration platforms with broad audiences. I give talks on this subject including one at Wikimania 2012.
• I track the rules regarding government employees making edits to Wikipedia and other outside sites. Outside of the GLAM context we do not have many active partnerships with federal agencies, and if we can find open doors, I am looking to create more such partnerships. There are many specialists in the government who can help our open content.
• I co-organized the chapter's edit-a-thon on statistics in December 2013.
• Most years I attend several conferences related to wikis, including Wikimania, WikiSym (an academic symposium with presenters from several fields), and several academic conferences in social science fields and the history of technology. I made a plenary presentation about economic historians potentially working on Wikipedia at the 2013 Economic History Association conference.
• I'd like to support editing in languages other than English, ideally with a special edit-a-thon if we can find a supportive partner institution.
• I think the chapter is running well.

My background: I have a college degree from Harvard College in Applied Mathematics, a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University. I worked as a software developer at Symantec for some years then went to graduate school and now I am a research economist at a federal agency. My research is mainly on technological change, specifically on how new inventions and industries arise. Information-sharing institutions like wikis, conferences, journals, and clubs help these things happen.