Dear Alex, Isaac & any other person going to Wikimania 2011:
I hope that your Wikimania registration and travel preparations are going smoothly. Anyway, I have some few updates regarding Wikimania:
As you know, Wikimania is going to be held on Aug 4 to 7. However on Aug 2 & 3, a couple of mini-conferences will also take place:
-Developer meeting/hackathon.
-Gathering of openZIM developers on Aug 2 & 3.
-Chapters mini-conference on Aug 3rd.
-Global South meeting on Aug 2.
And for the first time ever, this year's Wikimania will have a baby-sitting option, so if you want to come with your kids or younger siblings, that will be possible! Yes, your kids will also be taught about the [edit] button as well! So if your interested in this family holiday option, send me an email and I'll connect you to the appropriate person.
Looking forward to a successful Wikimania.
Sincerely,
Abbas.
Greetings,
As you may know, WMF is yet to fill 3 Community-Elected Board seats. Very good submissions have been made thus far: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_elections/2011/Candidates/en. If you have any questions for the candidates, kindly submit them to: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_elections/2011/Candidates/Questions/1.
Voting will begin from 29 May - 12 June 2011, so if you are eligible*; please exercise your right to vote.
Sincerely,Abbas MahmoodWikimedia Elections Committee.
*Voting criteria:-You must have made at least 300 edits before 15 April 2011 across Wikimedia wikis;-Have made at least 20 edits between 15 November and 15 May 2011.
Greetings, A couple of weeks ago, I launched a survey in order to get some feedback of what you guys were thinking of this chapter, the challenges, etc. Judging by the heated debate that arose on the mailing list when this survey was launched, participation was - not surprisingly - underwhelming and unimpressive. I will however release the results of the few that participated, since after all, they are a significant minority. Many thanks to all those who took their time to answer this survey.If you have any queries with regards to the results, I am ready to answer them.SincerelyAbbas.== The Results ==When you first joined WMKE, how did you find the environment?Hospitable: 63%Average: 13% Below average: 13%Other: 1 respondent said that the experience was "exciting yet inexperienced". What are your expectations of WMKE?RegistrationSensitization programsOffline productsDo great stuffPromote e-learningPatnerships with government + like-minded org's.Organized leadershipPromoting education in the most appropriate form (in local languages + easily accessible medium) Are they different from what actually happens at WMKE?Yes: 13%No: 63%Other: 13%Do you find WMKE a one-man's show?Yes: 13%No: 88%Is everyone given an equal opportunity to be heard at WMKE?Yes: 88%No: 13%Do you consider WMKE to be a top-down, authoritative group, or can anyone collaborate and/or do anything at grass-root level?63% said that anyone is free to contribute/collaborate.25% said it is authoritative/top-down12% had other opinions. Some said that "it is up to how much someone is willing to contribute" while another correspondent had mixed feelings and said that "some projects require financing and therefore require approval from the top authorities". Another respondent said: " WM-KE definitely gives a lot of room for individual initiative. However, as with any organisation relying heavily on technology, access to collaboration is restricted to those with access to that technology. There isn't a lot that can be done about that. And of course, also mainly those voice their viewpoints whose personality type allows them to speak up. Again, that's a general problem for organisations how to elicit the support and contributions from those who are shy, have been hurt in the past or have other inhibitions."Do you think members should be given orientation?Yes: 100%No: 0%If yes, by whom?25% said that anyone in the chapter should do the orientation.75% said that the person who introduced the newbie should do the debrief.How do you find the communications of meetings/minutes/progress reports?38% said they were effective. 13% said they were timely. 50% said "can do better". 13% said it was poor.Are face-to-face meetups better than online discussions?Yes: 88%No: 13%If yes, how frequently should they be arranged?13% said weekly87% said monthly.Some said both weekly and monthly so that those who missed one can easily catch up another.Was everyone given a chance to give their input in the bylaws discussion?75% said yes25% said noDid you attend the Wiki10 Anniversary63% yes38% noHow was the choice of the venue?On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being poor and 5 being excellent), all respondents selected 4.Quality of the presentations?On the same scale, 38% of respondents rated the presentations 3, while 25% of respondents gave a rating of 4.the turnover?13% of the respondents gave rated 3, while 50% rated the turnover as 4.the food?50% of respondents rated the food with a 4, while 13% rated it with a high-score of 5.the registration desk?13% of respondents rated it 2; 38% rated it 4; while 13% rated it 5.Remarks to the organising team:keep up the spirit & dedicationWas Ting Chen's visit to Kenya good for the future of WMKE?All respondents said yes.Do you think we should invite Wikimedia Staff/Board to future events?All respondents said yes.Are such events crucial in us achieving Wikimedia's mission?All respondents said yes.Did you participate in the Wikipedia for Schools project?75% said yes25% said noHow did you find the pilot?excellent idea, well executedsuccessfulcool, interactive & educativeimpacted, i felt there was much more we can do. It was really sad when we installed the software and knew that those guys would not really use them. Some schools had very few computers and too many students.The pilot were effective since we got feedbacks that would be used for future improvements of more projects.if you undertook the pilot, how was the accommodation?25% of respondents rated it 5;25% rated it 4;13% rated it 3. (The scale of 5 being excellent and 1 being poor)if you undertook the pilot, how was food & communications allowance?on a scale of 1 being meagre and 5 being more than enough:13% of respondents rated it with 2;25% rated it 3;25% rated it 4.if you undertook the pilot, how was your team leader?on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being unsatisfactory and 5 being exemplary:13% of respondents gave a rating of 4 while 50% gave an impressive 5 rating.if you undertook the pilot, how was your team as a whole?All respondents responded "efficient".if you undertook the pilot, what was the general impact/reception as a whole when you went to the schools?on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being below average and 5 being high impact:38% of respondents gave a rating of 4 while 25% gave a rating of 5.if you undertook the pilot, did you find it necessary for a pre-visit to be taken?All respondents said yes.Did you find the budget vs spending reasonable?all respondents said yes with the exception of one respondent who doesn't remember what the budget was.Did you find the 10th Anniversary budget vs spending reasonable?All respondents said yes.If there is something that you want changed at WMKE, what is it?get registeredtake discussions seriouslymanage the mailing list: too many (junk) emailsset goals and objectiveshave a structureinclusion of more Kenyan languagesmore transparency - inclusion of financial statements on the websiteinclusion of more experienced members.== Notes ==1. In the questions pertaining Wikipedia 10 Anniversary and Wikipedia for Schools project, you may have noticed that the percentage of respondents doesn't add up to 100%. This is because not all of the respondents were there when the above projects took place, and they therefore skipped these questions. So when I say that "All the respondents said yes" it doesn't mean that all the people who participated in the survey said yes, but rather it means that the few that answered that question all said yes.2. I have put some of the responses in bullet-form. Whenever you come across bullet points, these were the variety of answers I got to the question asked.== The End ==
Hey guys,
So I just created a wiki for Wikipedia takes Nairobi. Here's the link:
http://wikimedia.or.ke/Wikipedia_takes_Nairobi
Kaburo from ICT board's working on polishing up the concept note for this as
well as looping in sponsors for the competition.
>From our side, the most urgent matter is coming up with a site to deal with
registration of those who'll participate. Something simple, fresh and fun will
work. We aren't looking to register a whole new domain and hosting so something
similar to Google sites (for developing websites) should work. A volunteer to
head this would be great and of-course I'll be on the side line in-case some
scripting and design is needed.
cheers,
Alex!
Greetings,
I'm pleased to announce that the 2011 Board Election now accepts candidates. The candidacy submission phase lasts from 00:00 UTC May 2nd to 23:59 UTC May 22nd. The election will fill the three community-elected board seats that are currently held by Ting Chen, Kat Walsh and Samuel Klein. More information on what it means to be a board member, who is eligible to be a candidate and how to submit your candidacy can be found on the election pages on Meta:http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_elections/2011 .As always, help with translation is very much appreciated. The translation coordination page can be found athttp://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_elections/2011/Translation .Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page on Meta, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, board-elections(a)wikimedia.org.Sincerely,Abbas MahmoodElections Committee.