Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Hey Adarsh, Just sign up in this page and reach to the venue on time. There are no other formalities for this meetup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MBL36 I think we are moving off topic to the mail subjected. Requesting you to please start discussing the other subject in a different mail. regards User:Rameshng On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 6:41 PM, Aadarsh Gupta wrote: > Even I want to join in Bangalore wiki workshop which is gonna held on 14th > aug'11.. tell me the formalities which I'm supposed to do to attend it ?? > > On 8 August 2011 11:18, Subhashish Panigrahi wrote: > >> Congratulations one again.. >> >> I wish and request Shiju can join us in Bangalore Wiki Workshop scheduled >> to be held on 14 August. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MBL36 ) >> and Nikita can join us via Skype so the Bangalore community would get a >> chance to greet the 2 new members. >> >> ___ >> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l >> >> > > > -- > Aadarsh Gupta > Bangalore. > > > ___ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l > > ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Even I want to join in Bangalore wiki workshop which is gonna held on 14th aug'11.. tell me the formalities which I'm supposed to do to attend it ?? On 8 August 2011 11:18, Subhashish Panigrahi wrote: > Congratulations one again.. > > I wish and request Shiju can join us in Bangalore Wiki Workshop scheduled > to be held on 14 August. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MBL36 ) > and Nikita can join us via Skype so the Bangalore community would get a > chance to greet the 2 new members. > > ___ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l > > -- Aadarsh Gupta Bangalore. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Apparently people are continuously forgetting me :P Unfortunately, I'll still be in Israel until August 15th. I'll be there for the next meet. Damn' my schedule :( Kind Regards, Ganesh Rao On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 8:48 AM, Subhashish Panigrahi wrote: > Congratulations one again.. > > I wish and request Shiju can join us in Bangalore Wiki Workshop scheduled > to be held on 14 August. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MBL36 ) > and Nikita can join us via Skype so the Bangalore community would get a > chance to greet the 2 new members. > > ___ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l > > ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Congratulations one again.. I wish and request Shiju can join us in Bangalore Wiki Workshop scheduled to be held on 14 August. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MBL36 ) and Nikita can join us via Skype so the Bangalore community would get a chance to greet the 2 new members. ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Hey Annie, Let me start by saying that it was lovely to meet the entire Wikimedia team here in Haifa. I wish I had the opportunity to meet you as well, but nonetheless I hope we meet sometime soon. I have a lot to learn from you that will help me being a part of the GEP in India. Please let me know if you'd have time to get on a skype call sometime post 17th August. I pick this date only because I'm traveling in Israel until then. Talking about African drumming, it was a very interesting project. So the fundamental concept being, that a company's success is a function of it's employees and their capability of working in tandem and harmony with each other. And Sewa Beats (the organisation I was working with) employs rhythm and African music to help people connect with each other. So in a typical workshop, a team of 50 to 500 were taught a particular rhythm on African drum (called the djembe) and were asked to simulate the same in the group. In the process, management learnings were derived like the importance of team work and communication (thier ability to play the djembe together). There were more aspects involved which I would love to share with you, but lets take that over the skype call. Or else, i'll be writing paras and paras about the workshops. :-) However, I was not an active part of these workshops. I was working on their market expansion strategy in new markets particularly in Spain, Sweden, France and Denmark. Phew! That was a long mail. Will tell you more about it over our call. :-) Nitika On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 4:18 AM, Annie L. Lin wrote: > Welcome Shiju and Nitika! > > But now I can't help asking: how exactly can African drums be used for > management coaching (per Hisham's introduction of Nitika)? > > =) > > Annie > > > > > On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 12:50 PM, Nitika Tandon wrote: > >> Dear All, >> >> >> Thank you for your heart warming mails and welcoming me to the Wikimedia >> Foundation >> >> I am extremely excited to be a part of the Wiki community and would love >> to contribute to the benevolent cause of the movement. A lot has been >> achieved to awaken the world by the community and I am eager to learn from >> their experiences. I believe that there is a tremendous opportunity to take >> the movement to a different height, especially in India, and I look forward >> to working closely with all of you in future. >> >> Kind regards, >> >> Nitika Tandon >> >> >> On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: >> >>> Hi Folks, >>> >>> I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new >>> members of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought >>> I'd share with you the background of their selection. >>> >>> *Context* >>> >>> As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst >>> operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. >>> The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out >>> 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please >>> refer: >>> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) >>> We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as >>> well as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. >>> >>> The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and >>> nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 >>> for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & >>> previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. >>> >>> In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to >>> 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members >>> from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final >>> selected 2. >>> >>> *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* >>> >>> Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time >>> Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English >>> wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He >>> has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic >>> language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities >>> and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach >>> across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. >>> >>> Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He >>> currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. >>> >>> Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that >>> I was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in >>> Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains >>> a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously >>> on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he c
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Welcome Shiju and Nitika! But now I can't help asking: how exactly can African drums be used for management coaching (per Hisham's introduction of Nitika)? =) Annie On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 12:50 PM, Nitika Tandon wrote: > Dear All, > > > Thank you for your heart warming mails and welcoming me to the Wikimedia > Foundation! > > I am extremely excited to be a part of the Wiki community and would love to > contribute to the benevolent cause of the movement. A lot has been achieved > to awaken the world by the community and I am eager to learn from their > experiences. I believe that there is a tremendous opportunity to take the > movement to a different height, especially in India, and I look forward to > working closely with all of you in future. > > Kind regards, > > Nitika Tandon > > > On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > >> Hi Folks, >> >> I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new >> members of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought >> I'd share with you the background of their selection. >> >> *Context* >> >> As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst >> operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. >> The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out >> 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please >> refer: >> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) >> We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well >> as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. >> >> The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and >> nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 >> for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & >> previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. >> >> In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to >> 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members >> from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final >> selected 2. >> >> *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* >> >> Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time >> Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English >> wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He >> has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic >> language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities >> and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach >> across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. >> >> Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He >> currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. >> >> Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that >> I was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in >> Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains >> a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously >> on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could >> be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. >> >> Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects >> across India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to >> low levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent >> communities. However, these only point to the massive size of the >> opportunity for Indic language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic >> priority of the movement in India. After he joins, he'll collaboratively >> put together a plan for Indic language projects and work towards quality >> execution of high-impact initiatives. >> >> Shiju is currently serving out his notice period so will be able to join >> us only around September - October. >> >> *Nitika Tandon - Participation* >> >> Nitika [User:nitika.t] is relatively newer to the community - and has been >> brushing up her editing. She's been immersing herself in the Wikimedia >> world and attended community meet-ups as well as reviews of the Wikipedia >> India Education Program. She is from Delhi - and is currently based in >> Mumbai - where she works as a Strategic Partnerships Manager with Directi. >> (If you're not aware, they are one of the most prominent internet domain & >> solutions providers in India.) >> >> Nitika has an MBA and has also worked on research analytics. A >> fascinating detail I discovered about a previous assignment of hers - and >> you must ask her about it - is how African drums can be used for management >> coaching! She also reliably informs me that there are 7 Spanish dance forms >> and she instructs in all of them! >> >> Nitika is going to be working on Participation - which
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Dear All, Thank you for your heart warming mails and welcoming me to the Wikimedia Foundation! I am extremely excited to be a part of the Wiki community and would love to contribute to the benevolent cause of the movement. A lot has been achieved to awaken the world by the community and I am eager to learn from their experiences. I believe that there is a tremendous opportunity to take the movement to a different height, especially in India, and I look forward to working closely with all of you in future. Kind regards, Nitika Tandon On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > Hi Folks, > > I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new members > of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought I'd > share with you the background of their selection. > > *Context* > > As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst > operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. > The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out > 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please > refer: > http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) > We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well > as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. > > The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and > nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 > for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & > previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. > > In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to > 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members > from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final > selected 2. > > *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* > > Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time > Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English > wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He > has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic > language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities > and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach > across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. > > Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He > currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. > > Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that I > was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in > Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains > a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously > on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could > be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. > > Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects across > India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to low > levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent communities. > However, these only point to the massive size of the opportunity for Indic > language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic priority of the > movement in India. After he joins, he'll collaboratively put together a > plan for Indic language projects and work towards quality execution of > high-impact initiatives. > > Shiju is currently serving out his notice period so will be able to join us > only around September - October. > > *Nitika Tandon - Participation* > > Nitika [User:nitika.t] is relatively newer to the community - and has been > brushing up her editing. She's been immersing herself in the Wikimedia > world and attended community meet-ups as well as reviews of the Wikipedia > India Education Program. She is from Delhi - and is currently based in > Mumbai - where she works as a Strategic Partnerships Manager with Directi. > (If you're not aware, they are one of the most prominent internet domain & > solutions providers in India.) > > Nitika has an MBA and has also worked on research analytics. A fascinating > detail I discovered about a previous assignment of hers - and you must ask > her about it - is how African drums can be used for management coaching! > She also reliably informs me that there are 7 Spanish dance forms and she > instructs in all of them! > > Nitika is going to be working on Participation - which is primarily > focussed on increasing the contributor base of non-Indic language projects, > primarily Wikipedia. One of her first tasks will be to expand the > Wikipedia India Education Program from the Pune pilot to a more national > footprint. She'll also work on other initiatives to promote participation - > and I can foresee
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Dear All Thank you very much for welcoming me to the new role. First of all I am extremely sorry for responding to this mail very late. For the past few days I was traveling and my access to internet was intermittent. I'm really excited with this new assignment. As you all know over the past few years Indic wiki communities had done (either individually or through collaboration with multiple wiki communities) many great things. I was lucky enough to be part of some of these assignments. Due to the efforts of various Indic wiki community members, most of the big language wikis are active now. With more than 40 Indic language wikis I know the task is not going to be easy. But I am sure with the support from the respective language speakers we can together do many great things. I look forward to work closely with all of you and requesting your support for the same. Warm Regards, Shiju Alex On Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 10:54 AM, BalaSundaraRaman wrote: > Congrats Shiju and Nitika! I look forward to a good acceleration of wiki > growth in India with your participation. > > Regards, > Sundar > > "That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium > for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted." > - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture > > -- > *From:* Arun Ramarathnam > > *To:* Wikimedia India Community list > > *Sent:* Saturday, July 30, 2011 11:23 AM > > *Subject:* Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & > Nitika > > This is great news. > A warm welcome and best wishes to Shiju and Nitika in their new roles. > Regards > Arun > On Jul 29, 2011 1:42 PM, "CherianTinu Abraham" > wrote: > > Congratulations to Shiju and Nitika. > > > > It has been great working along with Shiju, closely for years now and I > > don't have to tell that how much he deserves this. I wondered how he gets > > time to "really" work with ABB with all his wiki activities ;) and I am > sure > > that this position would help him concentrate on one thing he is really > > passionate about. > > > > Welcome on-board, Nitika ! Looking forward to work with you too. > > > > Best wishes again to both Shiju and Nitika ! > > > > Regards > > Tinu Cherian > > > > > > On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol >wrote: > > > >> Hi Folks, > >> > >> I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new > members > >> of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought I'd > >> share with you the background of their selection. > >> > >> *Context* > >> > >> As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a > catalyst > >> operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects > here. > >> The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put > out > >> 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please > >> refer: > >> > http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html > ) > >> We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well > >> as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. > >> > >> The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and > >> nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 > (3 > >> for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of > existing & > >> previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. > >> > >> In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected > to > >> 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff > members > >> from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final > >> selected 2. > >> > >> *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* > >> > >> Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a > long-time > >> Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, > English > >> wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. > He > >> has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of > Indic > >> language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach > activities > >> and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for > outreach > >> across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. > >>
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Congrats to Shiju and Nitika ! Shiju is the person who deserve it from the Indic language community for this. He is always an inspiration for me to work in the wikipedia. It is a wonderful news for the Indic language communities to know somebody who is passionate on this to join. Not really knowing Nitika, Hoping to meet her soon. regards User: Rameshng On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > Hi Folks, > > I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new members > of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought I'd > share with you the background of their selection. > > *Context* > > As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst > operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. > The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out > 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please > refer: > http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) > We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well > as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. > > The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and > nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 > for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & > previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. > > In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to > 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members > from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final > selected 2. > > *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* > > Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time > Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English > wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He > has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic > language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities > and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach > across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. > > Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He > currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. > > Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that I > was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in > Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains > a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously > on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could > be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. > > Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects across > India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to low > levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent communities. > However, these only point to the massive size of the opportunity for Indic > language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic priority of the > movement in India. After he joins, he'll collaboratively put together a > plan for Indic language projects and work towards quality execution of > high-impact initiatives. > > Shiju is currently serving out his notice period so will be able to join us > only around September - October. > > *Nitika Tandon - Participation* > > Nitika [User:nitika.t] is relatively newer to the community - and has been > brushing up her editing. She's been immersing herself in the Wikimedia > world and attended community meet-ups as well as reviews of the Wikipedia > India Education Program. She is from Delhi - and is currently based in > Mumbai - where she works as a Strategic Partnerships Manager with Directi. > (If you're not aware, they are one of the most prominent internet domain & > solutions providers in India.) > > Nitika has an MBA and has also worked on research analytics. A fascinating > detail I discovered about a previous assignment of hers - and you must ask > her about it - is how African drums can be used for management coaching! > She also reliably informs me that there are 7 Spanish dance forms and she > instructs in all of them! > > Nitika is going to be working on Participation - which is primarily > focussed on increasing the contributor base of non-Indic language projects, > primarily Wikipedia. One of her first tasks will be to expand the > Wikipedia India Education Program from the Pune pilot to a more national > footprint. She'll also work on other initiatives to promote participation - > and I can foresee Wikimedia Commons being a potential initiative. > > Nitika will join us on August 1st. > > *Introductions* > > I'm going to be scheduling the August Monthly India Programs IRC on > Th
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Congrats Shiju and Nitika! I look forward to a good acceleration of wiki growth in India with your participation. Regards, Sundar "That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted." - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture > >From: Arun Ramarathnam >To: Wikimedia India Community list >Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2011 11:23 AM >Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika > > >This is great news. >A warm welcome and best wishes to Shiju and Nitika in their new roles. >Regards >Arun >On Jul 29, 2011 1:42 PM, "CherianTinu Abraham" wrote: >> Congratulations to Shiju and Nitika. >> >> It has been great working along with Shiju, closely for years now and I >> don't have to tell that how much he deserves this. I wondered how he gets >> time to "really" work with ABB with all his wiki activities ;) and I am sure >> that this position would help him concentrate on one thing he is really >> passionate about. >> >> Welcome on-board, Nitika ! Looking forward to work with you too. >> >> Best wishes again to both Shiju and Nitika ! >> >> Regards >> Tinu Cherian >> >> >> On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: >> >>> Hi Folks, >>> >>> I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new members >>> of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought I'd >>> share with you the background of their selection. >>> >>> *Context* >>> >>> As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst >>> operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. >>> The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out >>> 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please >>> refer: >>> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) >>> We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well >>> as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. >>> >>> The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and >>> nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 >>> for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & >>> previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. >>> >>> In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to >>> 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members >>> from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final >>> selected 2. >>> >>> *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* >>> >>> Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time >>> Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English >>> wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He >>> has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic >>> language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities >>> and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach >>> across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. >>> >>> Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He >>> currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. >>> >>> Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that I >>> was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in >>> Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains >>> a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously >>> on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could >>> be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. >>> >>> Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects across >>> India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to low >>> levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent communities. >>> However, these only point to the massive size of the opportunity for Indic >>> language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic priority of the >>> movement in India. After h
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Subha Your wonderful and warm story & comments are what make me so excited to have Shiju on board! Warmest Regards, Hisham Mundol Wikimedia India Programs skype : hisham.wikimedia gtalk : hmun...@wikimedia.org twitter : @mundol Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! On Jul 29, 2011, at 5:22 PM, Subhashish Panigrahi wrote: > Wow! > > I am so happy to see Shiju. Heartiest congratulations to both Shiju and > Nikita. > > Shiju is the guy who initially invited me to his house to teach the basics in > the month of February when I first joined Wikipedia as an Editor and kind of > pushed me into organizing the first Workshop for Odia Wikipedia in Bangalore > and 2nd in Bhubaneswar and handled almost everything. I am so overwhelmed to > see him on-board. Name any Indic Wiki initiative and you'll find Shiju being > the first guy to take initiative. A long time Malayalam Wikipedian, and being > part of the outreach programs in Indic initiative, Wikipedia India could > never have the great opportunity to get someone work for the foundation as a > staff. > > Just came to know about Nikita from Hisham's mail, will look forward to > meeting the new staff members in any Bangalore meetups. > > @Tinu, I would like to suggest we can have a small talk from Shiju in the > coming meetup. > > Cheers > Subha > ___ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Yes we do, Gaurav! Someone from the community in Delhi will be in touch with you shortly! btw, if there's anyone else on the list in Delhi who's interested in getting to know more about the movement and projects and the community, do shout out! ...I'm marking the Delhi community list as well. Best Hisham Mundol Wikimedia India Programs skype : hisham.wikimedia gtalk : hmun...@wikimedia.org twitter : @mundol Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! On Jul 29, 2011, at 6:10 PM, Gaurav Garg wrote: > Guys do u have any community members in Delhi to meet and learn from? > > Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone > > -Original Message- > From: Subhashish Panigrahi > Sender: wikimediaindia-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org > Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:22:52 > To: Wikimedia India Community list > Reply-To: Wikimedia India Community list > > Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika > > ___ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l > > ___ > Wikimediaindia-l mailing list > Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
This is great news. A warm welcome and best wishes to Shiju and Nitika in their new roles. Regards Arun On Jul 29, 2011 1:42 PM, "CherianTinu Abraham" wrote: > Congratulations to Shiju and Nitika. > > It has been great working along with Shiju, closely for years now and I > don't have to tell that how much he deserves this. I wondered how he gets > time to "really" work with ABB with all his wiki activities ;) and I am sure > that this position would help him concentrate on one thing he is really > passionate about. > > Welcome on-board, Nitika ! Looking forward to work with you too. > > Best wishes again to both Shiju and Nitika ! > > Regards > Tinu Cherian > > > On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > >> Hi Folks, >> >> I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new members >> of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought I'd >> share with you the background of their selection. >> >> *Context* >> >> As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst >> operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. >> The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out >> 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please >> refer: >> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) >> We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well >> as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. >> >> The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and >> nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 >> for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & >> previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. >> >> In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to >> 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members >> from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final >> selected 2. >> >> *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* >> >> Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time >> Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English >> wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He >> has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic >> language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities >> and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach >> across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. >> >> Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He >> currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. >> >> Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that I >> was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in >> Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains >> a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously >> on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could >> be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. >> >> Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects across >> India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to low >> levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent communities. >> However, these only point to the massive size of the opportunity for Indic >> language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic priority of the >> movement in India. After he joins, he'll collaboratively put together a >> plan for Indic language projects and work towards quality execution of >> high-impact initiatives. >> >> Shiju is currently serving out his notice period so will be able to join us >> only around September - October. >> >> *Nitika Tandon - Participation* >> >> Nitika [User:nitika.t] is relatively newer to the community - and has been >> brushing up her editing. She's been immersing herself in the Wikimedia >> world and attended community meet-ups as well as reviews of the Wikipedia >> India Education Program. She is from Delhi - and is currently based in >> Mumbai - where she works as a Strategic Partnerships Manager with Directi. >> (If you're not aware, they are one of the most prominent internet domain & >> solutions providers in India.) >> >> Nitika has an MBA and has also worked on research analytics. A fascinating >> detail I discovered about a previous assignment of hers - and you must ask >> her about it - is how African drums can be used for management coaching! >> She also reliably informs me that there are 7 Spanish dance forms and she >> instructs in all of them! >> >> Nitika is going to be working on Participation - which is primarily >> focussed on increasing the contributor base of non-Indic language projects, >> primarily Wikipedia. One of her first tasks will be to exp
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Lovely news! Welcome aboard, and look forward to meeting you soon, Nitika, and you Shiju, now in this new avatar. :) Cheers Bishakha ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > Hi Folks, > > I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new members > of the India Programs team. > --cut-- > Shiju, Nitika, Congratualtions on your new roles. I am confident that your work will help growth of Wikimedia movement at a rapid pace. Best wishes Arjun ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Fantastic news - a warm welcome to both of you. :-) A small team, with the help of our vast community of volunteers, can make a huge difference. Really excited to see what you will come up with. -- Erik Möller Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Guys do u have any community members in Delhi to meet and learn from? Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone -Original Message- From: Subhashish Panigrahi Sender: wikimediaindia-l-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:22:52 To: Wikimedia India Community list Reply-To: Wikimedia India Community list Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Wow! I am so happy to see Shiju. Heartiest congratulations to both Shiju and Nikita. Shiju is the guy who initially invited me to his house to teach the basics in the month of February when I first joined Wikipedia as an Editor and kind of pushed me into organizing the first Workshop for Odia Wikipedia in Bangalore and 2nd in Bhubaneswar and handled almost everything. I am so overwhelmed to see him on-board. Name any Indic Wiki initiative and you'll find Shiju being the first guy to take initiative. A long time Malayalam Wikipedian, and being part of the outreach programs in Indic initiative, Wikipedia India could never have the great opportunity to get someone work for the foundation as a staff. Just came to know about Nikita from Hisham's mail, will look forward to meeting the new staff members in any Bangalore meetups. @Tinu, I would like to suggest we can have a small talk from Shiju in the coming meetup. Cheers Subha ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Congratulations to Shiju and Nitika. -- With Warm Regards, *Jayanta Nath* Calcutta,West Bengal ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 1:41 PM, CherianTinu Abraham wrote: > Congratulations to Shiju and Nitika. > > It has been great working along with Shiju, closely for years now and I > don't have to tell that how much he deserves this. I wondered how he gets > time to "really" work with ABB with all his wiki activities ;) and I am sure > that this position would help him concentrate on one thing he is really > passionate about. > > Welcome on-board, Nitika ! Looking forward to work with you too. > > Best wishes again to both Shiju and Nitika ! > > Dear Tinu, i was writing same lines . you stole my words Kudos to expanded India Team !!! Anivar > ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Congratulations to Shiju and Nitika. It has been great working along with Shiju, closely for years now and I don't have to tell that how much he deserves this. I wondered how he gets time to "really" work with ABB with all his wiki activities ;) and I am sure that this position would help him concentrate on one thing he is really passionate about. Welcome on-board, Nitika ! Looking forward to work with you too. Best wishes again to both Shiju and Nitika ! Regards Tinu Cherian On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > Hi Folks, > > I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new members > of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought I'd > share with you the background of their selection. > > *Context* > > As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst > operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. > The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out > 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please > refer: > http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) > We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well > as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. > > The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and > nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 > for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & > previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. > > In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to > 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members > from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final > selected 2. > > *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* > > Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time > Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English > wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He > has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic > language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities > and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach > across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. > > Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He > currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. > > Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that I > was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in > Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains > a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously > on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could > be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. > > Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects across > India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to low > levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent communities. > However, these only point to the massive size of the opportunity for Indic > language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic priority of the > movement in India. After he joins, he'll collaboratively put together a > plan for Indic language projects and work towards quality execution of > high-impact initiatives. > > Shiju is currently serving out his notice period so will be able to join us > only around September - October. > > *Nitika Tandon - Participation* > > Nitika [User:nitika.t] is relatively newer to the community - and has been > brushing up her editing. She's been immersing herself in the Wikimedia > world and attended community meet-ups as well as reviews of the Wikipedia > India Education Program. She is from Delhi - and is currently based in > Mumbai - where she works as a Strategic Partnerships Manager with Directi. > (If you're not aware, they are one of the most prominent internet domain & > solutions providers in India.) > > Nitika has an MBA and has also worked on research analytics. A fascinating > detail I discovered about a previous assignment of hers - and you must ask > her about it - is how African drums can be used for management coaching! > She also reliably informs me that there are 7 Spanish dance forms and she > instructs in all of them! > > Nitika is going to be working on Participation - which is primarily > focussed on increasing the contributor base of non-Indic language projects, > primarily Wikipedia. One of her first tasks will be to expand the > Wikipedia India Education Program from the Pune pilot to a more national > footprint. She'll also work on other initiatives to promote participation - > and I can foresee Wikimedia Commons being a potential initiative. > > Nitika
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Welcome onboard Shiju & Nikita, Warm welcome on behalf of the Pune community! Warm regards, Ashwin Baindur -- On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:55 PM, Ram Shankar Yadav < ramshankarya...@gmail.com> wrote: > Welcome aboard Nikita and Shiju :) > > On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > >> Hi Folks, >> >> I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new >> members of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought >> I'd share with you the background of their selection. >> >> *Context* >> >> As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst >> operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. >> The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out >> 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please >> refer: >> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) >> We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well >> as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. >> >> The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and >> nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 >> for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & >> previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. >> >> In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to >> 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members >> from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final >> selected 2. >> >> *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* >> >> Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time >> Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English >> wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He >> has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic >> language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities >> and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach >> across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. >> >> Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He >> currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. >> >> Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that >> I was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in >> Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains >> a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously >> on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could >> be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. >> >> Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects >> across India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to >> low levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent >> communities. However, these only point to the massive size of the >> opportunity for Indic language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic >> priority of the movement in India. After he joins, he'll collaboratively >> put together a plan for Indic language projects and work towards quality >> execution of high-impact initiatives. >> >> Shiju is currently serving out his notice period so will be able to join >> us only around September - October. >> >> *Nitika Tandon - Participation* >> >> Nitika [User:nitika.t] is relatively newer to the community - and has been >> brushing up her editing. She's been immersing herself in the Wikimedia >> world and attended community meet-ups as well as reviews of the Wikipedia >> India Education Program. She is from Delhi - and is currently based in >> Mumbai - where she works as a Strategic Partnerships Manager with Directi. >> (If you're not aware, they are one of the most prominent internet domain & >> solutions providers in India.) >> >> Nitika has an MBA and has also worked on research analytics. A >> fascinating detail I discovered about a previous assignment of hers - and >> you must ask her about it - is how African drums can be used for management >> coaching! She also reliably informs me that there are 7 Spanish dance forms >> and she instructs in all of them! >> >> Nitika is going to be working on Participation - which is primarily >> focussed on increasing the contributor base of non-Indic language projects, >> primarily Wikipedia. One of her first tasks will be to expand the >> Wikipedia India Education Program from the Pune pilot to a more national >> footprint. She'll also work on other initiatives to promote participation - >> and I can foresee Wikimedia Commons being a potential initiative. >> >> Nitika will join us on August 1st. >> >> *Introductions* >> >> I'm going to be scheduling the August Monthly India
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Welcome to the India Team! : Shiju & Nitika
Welcome aboard Nikita and Shiju :) On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Hisham Mundol wrote: > Hi Folks, > > I'm really pleased to send out this email welcoming the first 2 new members > of the India Programs team. Just before I introduce them, I thought I'd > share with you the background of their selection. > > *Context* > > As you might be aware, the Foundation had decided to undertake a catalyst > operation in India to promote the growth of the community and projects here. > The team is expected to be a small, nimble 5 person group. We had put out > 2 job postings - for Indic Initiatives and for Participation. (Please > refer: > http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-May/003007.html) > We posted them on linkedin and on the Indian FOSS community list as well > as announcing them on various Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. > > The response was wonderful. >110 applications for Indic Initiatives and > nearly 175 applications for Participation. These were short-listed to 10 (3 > for Indic Language and 7 for Participation.) These were a mix of existing & > previous Wikipedians, Wikipedia newbies and open source advocates. > > In June, the shortlisted 10 were interviewed and further down-selected to > 4. These 4 were then further interviewed by a group of other staff members > from the Foundation. I am pleased to inform the community of the final > selected 2. > > *Shiju Alex - Indic Initiatives* > > Most of you already know Shiju. For those who don't, Shiju is a long-time > Wikipedian [User: shijualex] and is active on Malayalam Wikipedia, English > wikiprojects and Wikimedia Commons, as well as Wikisource and offline. He > has been passionately involved with the establishing and building of Indic > language Wikipedias. He's participated in a series of outreach activities > and is also (jointly) undertaking a grant from the Foundation for outreach > across India. He's a regular member of the Bangalore community. > > Shiju is from Palakkad, Kerala and is married with a 2 year old baby. He > currently works as a Senior Technical Writer with ABB in Bangalore. > > Even those of you who know him might not know the following 2 things that I > was lucky to discover during the selection process. Shiju is an MSc in > Physics with a specialisation in Astronomy and Astrophysics - and he retains > a deep interest in anything astronomical. Feel free to quiz him vigorously > on this! He also enjoys trekking and misses his time in Pune where he could > be up & close the gorgeous Sahyadri Hills. > > Shiju is going to lead our work on promoting Indic language projects across > India. The challenges are enormous - from technical constraints to low > levels of awareness of these projects to vibrant but nascent communities. > However, these only point to the massive size of the opportunity for Indic > language projects - which is the joint top-2 strategic priority of the > movement in India. After he joins, he'll collaboratively put together a > plan for Indic language projects and work towards quality execution of > high-impact initiatives. > > Shiju is currently serving out his notice period so will be able to join us > only around September - October. > > *Nitika Tandon - Participation* > > Nitika [User:nitika.t] is relatively newer to the community - and has been > brushing up her editing. She's been immersing herself in the Wikimedia > world and attended community meet-ups as well as reviews of the Wikipedia > India Education Program. She is from Delhi - and is currently based in > Mumbai - where she works as a Strategic Partnerships Manager with Directi. > (If you're not aware, they are one of the most prominent internet domain & > solutions providers in India.) > > Nitika has an MBA and has also worked on research analytics. A fascinating > detail I discovered about a previous assignment of hers - and you must ask > her about it - is how African drums can be used for management coaching! > She also reliably informs me that there are 7 Spanish dance forms and she > instructs in all of them! > > Nitika is going to be working on Participation - which is primarily > focussed on increasing the contributor base of non-Indic language projects, > primarily Wikipedia. One of her first tasks will be to expand the > Wikipedia India Education Program from the Pune pilot to a more national > footprint. She'll also work on other initiatives to promote participation - > and I can foresee Wikimedia Commons being a potential initiative. > > Nitika will join us on August 1st. > > *Introductions* > > I'm going to be scheduling the August Monthly India Programs IRC on > Thursday August 18th to introduce them both to you. Please do join us. > I'll send a reminder closer to the date. Also, needless to say, they'll > be attending a series of community meet-ups over the next months. > > In the meantime, please do join me in welcoming them onboard. I'm really > excited because this means that we