Jayanta, Kalyan and other Bengali Wikipedians
It is sad that after your best efforts the plan did not materialize. But, I
appreciate dropping the plan considering the cost and other issues.
One way to make best use of book fair is to sell books / CDs based on
Wikipedias. Don't just use them for outreach.
Taking the case of Bengali Wikipedia which has a good community and chapter
support from Bangaladesh too, I would recommend the following:
* Try using services like
http://pediapress.com/ or tie up with a local
publisher to print books regarding Kolkatta, West Bengal, Bangaladesh and
any relevant local content.
* Besides using similar content from Bengali wikipedia, we can release mini
collection of books based on animals, plants, countries etc., etc.. written
in Bengali language. Even if you can compile 3 pages per article, a 30
article book will cross 100 pages and a decent material to publish.
I am sure that Wikipedia content is unique and exhaustive which may not be
available from other publications. The cost can also be less than the
market price due to the free content and non-profit model of publishing we
do. This will also be a huge PR and branding initiative. Making a book
should be lot easier than doing a CD. CDs are losing usage but books are
here to stay. This may be also another route to circumvent the IT sector
classification and get better support from the organizers. Ideally
speaking, we need to do lobby well and get venues for free or at the most
spend only very minimally for securing venues.
The same case applies for all Indic languages too.
Thanks,
Ravi