Talk:Timeline

Changes

Milestone	Date Planned*/Achieved
Start publicising the chapter and getting supporters	29 August 2008
Close list of candidates, deadline for candidate statements, begin public questioning of candidates	13 September 2008
End questions, begin voting	20 September 2008
Finish voting, construct board	27 September 2008
Submit draft Memorandum and Arts to Chapter Committee, begin preparing application for Companies House	4 October 2008
Receive OK from Chapter Committee, Submit application to Companies House, Start accepting applications for guarantor membership, Begin preparing charitable status application to the HMRC	11 October 2008?
Receive notice of incorporation from Companies House, Announce AGM, Start processing applications for guarantor membership received up to this date, Begin negotiation with WMF, Submit charitable status application to the HMRC	25 October 2008?
Hold AGM	25 November 2008?
Conclude negotiations with WMF, sign contract	? (Possibly before the AGM, possibly after)
Receive tax exempt status	? (Possibly before the AGM, possibly after)
Open bank account	Within a fortnight of receiving tax exempt status

^*The further in the future a planned date is, the more liable it is to be changed.

I'd like to keep things separate even if they happen on the same day, so that we can mark them as completed properly. Just because we plan for them to all happen at the same time doesn't mean they will. --Tango 18:54, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

It just makes clear that everything except the first element of the list will happen after that first thing happens. In any case, that wasn't my main change in this. I've pushed the AGM as far forward as it could go. Possibly some kind of compromise would be better, but I thought representing the other extreme was worthwhile. It certainly doesn't need to wait for charitable status and the WMF contract. I'm also not sure dates are particularly useful beyond the election period since most of the events are outside of our control. --cfp 19:44, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Just noticed a problem with your timetable - we can't announce the AGM before processing the membership applications, since we won't have any members to announce it to at that time. --Tango 00:40, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Suggested change

How about:

Planned date*	Milestone	Achieved?
Start publicising the chapter and getting supporters	29 August 2008
Close board member candidate list; deadline for candidate statements; start public questioning of candidates	13 September 2008
End of public questioning of board member candidates; begin voting	20 September 2008
End of board member candidate voting; assemble board	27 September 2008
Submit Draft Memorandum and Arts to Chapter Committee	4 October 2008
Submit application to Companies House	11 October 2008
Receive notice of incorporation from Companies House	? 25/26 October 2008
Begin negotiation with WMF
Submit application to HMRC for tax-exempt status
Begin accepting applications for guarantor membership
Conclude negotiations and sign contract with WMF	? 10 November 2008
Receive tax exempt status from HMRC	? 10 November 2008
Begin opening bank account
Finish opening bank account	? 25 November 2008
Begin accepting applications for supporting membership
Begin accepting donations
95% of received applications for guarantor membership processed	? 3 December 2008
Announce date and location of AGM
100% of received applications for guarantor membership processed	? 3 January 2009
Hold AGM

^*The further in the future a planned date is, the more liable it is to be changed.

Some comments:

• exists if need be (hopefully not)
• Should the candidate board members have a couple of days before their statements are required after the list is closed?
• Perhaps a en:Gantt Chart would be better than a table?

Mike Peel 20:05, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

If you want two columns, I would have "Date Planned" and "Date Achieved", then we can not only see how far we've got, but if we're on schedule. My original plan had a week to put statements together, but Geni and I discussed it on IRC and decided that wasn't necessary. As long as we make the deadlines clear (once they're finalised), it doesn't really matter. I suggested a Gantt chart and everybody laughed! I think it's a good idea, though. --Tango 22:30, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Also to avoid wasting WMF's time, maybe we should get charitable status and a bank account before we start negotiating with WMF? --cfp 23:59, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't see why, registering with HMRC is just a formality, really (the checks are far less stringent than with the charity commission), and getting a bank account shouldn't be too difficult (time consuming, maybe, but we'll get there). I think it's beneficial to get the contract with WMF sorted ASAP since it's required for us to actually refer to ourselves as Wikimedia UK and describe ourselves as a chapter of the WMF. Until we can do that, we can't really do anything beyond getting set up (including help with the Wikimania bid, which would be good sooner rather than later). --Tango 00:38, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Ook. It's just that James F was expressing some worries about how easy it'd actually be for us to get the bank account due to credit rating issues. (Mine is fine, but since so many of the candidates are young, there's certainly scope for worrying, though I think uni students are usually OK with credit ratings if they give their parent's address.) We should also be better placed because we'll be a charity before applying for a bank account. But nonetheless, there's certainly a risk at least that it'll be non-trivial and it'd be foolish to ignore it completely. --cfp 01:42, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

It may well be non-trivial to achieve, but I'm confident it is achievable. We don't need an overdraft or anything like that, so credit ratings aren't too important (they may still check because of the very minor credit that's involved in cheques and things). My credit rating, while not very long, is pretty good, I think (the only poor thing is the lack of any real income, but the bank account won't hold my money, so I can't see why that would matter). --Tango 02:12, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Not to be a "downer", but your confidence is exactly how we felt when we started Wikimedia UK in 2004. Look where we are now.

James F. (talk) 10:46, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Let's make things interesting, shall we? A pint says we can have a bank account set up by Christmas. You in? --Tango 11:18, 31 August 2008 (UTC)