<div class="gmail_quote"><p class="MsoNormal">Hi, everyone!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Apologies at the top for the epic email! As you know, our 10th anniversary is right around the
corner.<span> </span>The milestone offers us an
unprecedented opportunity to channel the energy and positive international
spotlight from our celebration around what’s most important to the Wikimedia
movement. In reality, celebrating 10 years of Wikipedia has begun.
Volunteers are now poised to host scores of celebrations in all parts of the
world – at least two on every continent so far – and a handful of press have
already covered the pending milestone. Whether we proactively work with media
to cover the anniversary or not, we know it'll happen. What may not happen and
what matters most – the reason we need to be strategic in how we approach media
relations – is influencing how media cover this historic milestone. Even more,
beyond changing what people know about Wikipedia, the ultimate birthday wish is
influencing how they act (i.e. turning skeptics into readers, readers into
volunteers/editors, etc…). However without wider, more informed appreciation
first, we can't expect wider, more useful action in the future. We want the
world to get to know us as a people-driven movement, appreciate what we’re
doing and join us: this is our 10-year birthday wish.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">As we discuss,
almost daily, on the the Communications Committee list, there are a number of challenges we face as movement
communicators: 1) general awareness regarding exactly what we are 2) a real
understanding and appreciation for the people-driven movement and the extended
global impact of our work 3) disambiguation from a number of other
organizations and causes.<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To address this, we’ve drafted three core messages and a
call to action that everyone can remix and use however they like.<span> </span>All press will have their own angle on
our 10 year celebrations, but if we all work together to at least incorporate
three similar messages and the same call to action, the impact of our global
communications work will be much more effective. The draft messages are below for your review. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We’ll be
uploading a light communications tool kit to the <a href="http://ten.wikipedia.org" target="_blank">ten.wikipedia.org</a> site so that
all volunteers have access to the materials as well.<span> Phase I has been uploaded.</span><span> </span>Over the next few weeks, we'll include a
media advisory, press release and other “how to” guides for volunteers. We'll<span> send another email once that information has been included.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you have any questions or would like to help with the
creation of the tool kit, please let me know.<span> </span>And as always, if you have any feedback
on anything, please share.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cheers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Moka</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><b>W10 Messages</b></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Creative hooks to generate interest from various media
outlets will vary, as will stories and central focus; however, in each and
every interview, global volunteer spokespeople should return to the basic call
to action and these main messages at several points in the conversation. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wikipedia is more than a Website: it’s a non-profit,
volunteer-based, advertising-free public service:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*Wikipedia is a public service created and maintained by
people volunteering their time for the betterment of the world. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*In order to maintain editorial independence, we do not
allow advertising on Wikipedia and generate revenue to keep the site and the
movement going by encouraging many individual donations. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*Wikipedia is truly the people’s encyclopedia: Hundreds of
thousands of volunteers created and maintain the site and hundreds or thousands
of people help pay for it to make sure it continues to be a free public service for everyone in the world
to use. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Everyday People Helping Everyday People: </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*We’re a volunteer-led, mission-focused movement. Behind
every article, word and photo on Wikipedia are people working and giving their
time because they care about providing free information and knowledge to other
people. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*Wikipedia is more than an encyclopedia; it’s a collective
movement committed to providing free information to people who need it. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*These people are doctors, lawyers, teachers, college
students, your 13-year-old daughter or son, your grandmother or that person who
held the door open for you this morning. These people all have something in
common: they have information that they want to share because they care. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Increasing diversity of information and impacting information scarcity:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*Our commitment in the Global South is an example of how
people writing this encyclopedia are committed to changing the world for the
better. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*As a mission-focused group of people, we’re fiercely
committed to improving information scarcity in parts of the world where good,
quality information in local languages is hard to find. In some parts of the
world information is accessible, even overwhelming, but in many parts of the
world people are starved for knowledge. In places where books are expensive and
libraries few and far between, or even nonexistent, Wikipedia is often one of
the only reliable, freely accessible resources available. But it’s still
limited in countries outside of the Global North and we need more help to
change this. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*Our focus on the Global South and increasing our diversity of contributors is to help make sure this
isn’t an encyclopedia written by people in rich countries for people in less
fortunate countries, or rich people writing for rich people, it’s about making
sure we have participation from as many people as we can, from all walks of life.<span> </span>We all know that the more diverse our
editors are the more comprehensive and rich our encyclopedias will be. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Call to Action: Our 10th Birthday Wish</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*We have a birthday wish for our ten years: we want people
to get involved and contribute. We need you to contribute. Contribute with your
time and become an editor. If you absolutely can’t edit, donate. We can’t keep
this amazing resource going if we don’t have the continued support from as many
people as possible who are willing to share. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*This is just the beginning.<span> </span>Wikipedia is not complete; we have a long way to go.<span> </span>Only about five percent of humanity use
Wikipedia each month. There are a number of articles that are missing.<span> </span>We need help filling in gaps of
information in all of our 270 languages. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*We have about 100,000 people contributing, and in general,
they tend to be younger, European, educated males. Our current volunteers are
wonderful and we admire them for all that they’ve done to keep this amazing
free resource going, but we need more people to join us. More women. More
people from the Global South. More older people. We all have something to
contribute, and we invite you to share what you know. We all know that the more
diverse our editors are the more comprehensive and rich our encyclopedias will
be, so we invite you to join us. </p>
</div><br>