[WikiEN-l] Fwd: [Wikimediauk-l] Media coverage of Cancer Research UK workshop

[Charles Matthews]

On 04/04/2011 11:56, David Gerard wrote:
> This sort of thing is happening a bit lately. It strikes me as
> possibly a somewhat more manageable form of expert participation than
> throwing individual well-meaning experts into a wiki cagefight with
> individual persistent idiots. How's the community tending to treat
> such groups?
The interface with institutions is becoming more complicated (good). But 
the jargon bears explanation:

*"workshop" tends to mean Wikipedians sitting down with others, 
persuading them editing is something they can do;
*"backstage" events tend to mean others inviting in Wikimedians, to 
motivate them to edit;
*"in residence" tends to mean a Wikimedian advocate and facilitator, 
partly there to convince the institution there is something to which 
they could ally in a strategic sense;
*"academy" is apparently for general evangelism.

We naturally see all such things as tending to drive the addition of 
content to the projects. There remains the issue of whether they do 
recruit new expert editors; and whether these will know enough to (for 
example) head for a WikiProject if they need help with the obstreperous. 
My feeling is that dealing with onsite social interactions is still the 
hardest know-how to convey.

Charles