Hi Folks,
We encourage each and everyone of you to create a program submission. You can submit an interactive workshop or panel, a lecture, a short lighting talk or a poster for our dedicated poster session. Submissions are catered to both onsite and online (live or pre-recorded) or a hybrid combination. We at the Core Organizing Team would like to see a program submission related to community initiatives such as Wiki Loves Monuments.
The theme for this year's Wikimania is Diversity, Collaboration, Future. Topics that strengthen collaboration on online campaigns and initiatives are topics we like to see this year. There are also photography outreach (photo walks, teaching participants on Heritage Photography). Singapore is one of a few countries where important cultural and heritage structures are at close proximity. It is great way to collaborate with each other. There is also a spacious Wikimania Expo space where achievements on Commons like Wiki Loves photographt campaigns can be exhibited.
For participants joining virtually, we also have allocated online hours for you too to allow you to participate & present.
Session submissions for Wikimania 2023 are open until 28 March.
Visit the following links for further info:
Wiki page: https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2023:Program/Submissions
Diff post: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/28/be-part-of-the-wikimania-2023-program/
Program Submission Form: https://pretalx.com/wm2023/cfp
Kind regards,
Butch Bustria
Chair, Program Subcommittee
Event lead, ESEAP Wikimania 2023 Core Organizing Team
Dear all,
In another thread, Ciell, mentioned international jury is on their last
round these days.
We were considering making local announcements/awards event on the same day
with international results, so we can also enjoy and review best
international photos.
Can organizers know the date and time of announcement ahead of time?
Preferable week or more in advance, so we can arrange things and notify
participants?
Thanks beforehand,
Best,
Aleksey
Hello organizers!
Exciting times!
While the international jury is finishing up their final round in Montage,
and the international team is preparing the communications and award
ceremony ahead, I wanted to let you know that we will be sending our Grant
Request for WLM 2023 to the WMF next week.
I have pulled together a summary of the request
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2023/2023-2…>
for you to read (and respond to, if you'd like) that highlights the key
focus areas in our proposal, the priorities for 2023-2024 and the budget
requested. Different from previous years, the budget will span for 1,5
years as proposed in February
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fu…>,
to align with WM Austria's fiscal year to ease workflows and lessen
workload for the international volunteers
Please let us know what you think, and if there are any questions: the
deadline for responses is Tuesday March 21st.
Best,
Ciell
Hello everyone!
First, I'd like to notify you that the WLM-i mid-point report is now
available on Meta here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fund/Wi…>.
In no less than 7 weeks, we have the deadline for our next grant request
for the upcoming WLM competition 2023. Within the team we have spoken about
the financing model on several occasions, and I also want to use this
opportunity to get your ideas about this.
The international team is considering asking our current fiscal sponsor
Wikimedia Austria to include the annual budget for WLM-i in their
multi-year grant. We would be putting terms and conditions in writing, and
WLM will stay an independent organized competition. But it would save the
international team time to not have to write a grant request for new funds
and 2 reports on the same competition every year (with all communications
before and after that come with these requests and reports).
A more extensive explanation is available on the mid-point report talkpage
here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fu…>:
it would be great to collect your input and ideas on the topic.
Best,
Ciell
Dear organizers of Wiki Loves Monuments 2022 all around the world,
The team of WLM international would like to learn how the last edition
of WLM worked for you, what worked well or even excellent, or where you
think things can be improved. We prepared a survey to collect your
answers and ideas:
*https://wikimedia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2aH8XbgJgy9VpQO*
All questions are optional. Filling in the answers may take about 10 or
15 minutes (also depending on how much you would like to share).
Please note that no information that could be used to identify
participants of the survey will be made public, see also the privacy
statement here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2022/Survey…
Thank you for taking the time!
Kind regards,
Manfred on behalf of the team of Wiki Loves Monuments international
Dear organizers of Wiki Loves Monuments 2022 all around the world,
The team of WLM international would like to learn how the last edition
of WLM worked for you, what worked well or even excellent, or where you
think things can be improved. We prepared a survey to collect your
answers and ideas:
*https://wikimedia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2aH8XbgJgy9VpQO*
All questions are optional. Filling in the answers may take about 10 or
15 minutes (also depending on how much you would like to share).
Please note that no information that could be used to identify
participants of the survey will be made public, see also the privacy
statement here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2022/Survey…
Thank you for taking the time!
Kind regards,
Manfred on behalf of the team of Wiki Loves Monuments international
Hello everyone,
The Community Development team
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Development> at the Wikimedia
Foundation is hosting its first community call
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Development/Community_Calls> of
the year on Tuesday, January 31st, 2023 from 18:00-19:30 UTC on Zoom.
<https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/89685036085>
What are these calls about?
Our community calls are created to be a shared space for Wikimedians across
the movement to hear and speak about projects related to capacity building
&/or leadership development.
Who is coming?
-
WikiAcción Perú
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiAcci%C3%B3n_Per%C3%BA> - a project
that seeks to make Peru visible in the free encyclopedia Wikipedia in
Spanish, Wikimedia Commons and other Wikimedia projects, with thematic
approaches of ecology, gender and culture. WikiAcción Perú
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiAcci%C3%B3n_Per%C3%BA> will be
sharing their project in Spanish|español with simultaneous translation
provided, about their Laboratorio de Paseo Fotográfico | Photo Walk
Laboratory project.
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:WikiAcci%C3%B3n_Per%C3%BA>
-
Leadership Development Working Group (LDWG)
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Leadership_Development_Working_Group>-
a 16 member group who has been working together since June 2022. Members
will be providing an overview of the group's work: leadership definition,
leadership development plan & guide the implementation of leadership
development.
Key Dates:
-
Tuesday, January 31st, 2023 at 18:00-19:30 UTC on Zoom.
<https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/89685036085> [
https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/89685036085] meeting link
If you are interested in participating in future Community Development
community calls, please contact Cassie Casares ccasares(a)wikimedia.org.
We are excited to see and hear from you in our call!
Thank you,
The Community Development team | comdevteam(a)wikimedia.org
[image: image.png]
Cassie Casares
Program Support Associate
Community Development
Wikimedia Foundation
ccasares(a)wikimedia.org
Hi all,
On behalf of the organizing team for Wiki Loves Monuments in Ukraine I’m
writing to inform you of our decision not to submit photos for the
international round.
Traditionally, Wiki Loves Monuments in Ukraine has been one of the biggest
WLM local contests in the world, as well as among the biggest projects
supported by Wikimedia Ukraine.
This year, Ukraine and subsequently the contest has suffered from Russia’s
full-scale invasion. Particularly, for security reasons the organizers had
to limit submissions only to photos taken before February 24th, 2022, which
is the date when Russia openly invaded Ukraine.
Despite the limitations, we managed to organize the contest in 2022 and
attract almost 14,000 photos of Ukrainian cultural heritage from almost 300
participants. They illustrate over 5,300 monuments, including 351 monuments
depicted for the first time.
However, the local organizers will not be submitting Ukrainian photos for
the international round because of the international organizers’ decisions
to accept photos from Russia on the international stage. To be clear, we do
not support this decision and had asked the international team not to
accept Russian photos in the international round.
While we fully support the spread of free knowledge in various forms, we
believe that it is not appropriate to promote on the international level
photos from the country that wages a brutal war against Ukraine, kills
thousands of Ukrainians – and systematically destroys and steals Ukrainian
cultural, architectural and archaeological monuments.
Besides, Russia’s war has deprived Ukrainian photos of equal conditions in
the competition. While daily life in Russia continues largely as normal,
Ukrainian photographers have had to operate in extremely difficult
conditions and under many limitations – both the formal ones imposed for
security reasons and the overall situation in Ukraine (power blackouts,
problems with internet connectivity, personal hardship etc.)
Therefore, we cannot accept Ukrainian photos competing alongside Russian
ones – we do not think that in current circumstances it is the right thing
to announce which Ukrainian photos are better and which are worse than
Russian ones.
We are grateful to Ukrainian participants and volunteers who have made the
contest possible this year against the odds, as well as to international
organizers for their hard work in supporting the largest photo contest in
the Wikimedia ecosystem.
Best regards,
Olga Milianovych
Member of the organizing committee for Wiki Loves Monuments in Ukraine
(Disclaimer: Antanana is a member of the Wiki Loves Monuments Ukraine
organizing committee. Due to her currently serving on the Wikimedia
Foundation Board of Trustees she recused herself from taking part in
discussions and making decisions on this topic).
Hi everyone,
The Wiki Loves Monuments international team has been asked if photographs
from Russia should be allowed or excluded from participating in this year's
international contest. We have been in contact with the organising teams of
Wiki Loves Monuments from Ukraine and from Russia to discuss this and to
find a solution.
We greatly appreciate that the team from Ukraine has organized the local
edition of the competition while there is war in their country! We
understand that there are reservations against seeing images from Ukraine
and Russia presented side by side in the galleries of nominated or winning
pictures.
The volunteer team organising Wiki Loves Monuments Russia emphasizes to
have no ties to the Russian government or the Russian Wikimedia affiliate.
They are submitting the 10 finalist images to the international final round
of Wiki Loves Monuments 2022, but the occupied areas, including Crimea and
Sevastopol, have been excluded from the Wiki Loves monuments campaign.
Also, in Russia there is no freedom of panorama for works of art. This
excludes, in fact, any images of monuments and statues erected since World
War II, and which for example glorify the war, from being legally uploaded
to Wikimedia Commons.
If images from Russia are excluded because of the war in Ukraine, this
could, without being based on a rule for the competition, set a precedent
for other territories where there is war around the world. Rules would have
to found, before deciding case by case, if a country should not be allowed
to send its nominations to Wiki Loves Monuments international.
With these considerations in mind, the WLM organising team does not see a
reason to exclude the submission of Russian finalists images to the
international final round.
On behalf of the WLM 2022 organising team,
Rubén Ojeda
International jury coordinator, Wiki Loves Monuments 2022
