Hello all,

We all know one of the most exciting and unanticipated results of GLAM-Wiki partnerships is the close community we have established as Wikipedians coordinating in various countries, and working together to support each other in our outreach. Now our connections as Wikipedians are creating a reciprocal effect of benefiting our organizations through unique side projects that may or may not be Wiki-focused, but can help in sharing our cultures across borders.

I'm very excited to share a simple but significant project that we've started at the Children's Museum, a blog series called "Families Around the World," in which we highlight the unique traditions of children and families from our project partners around the globe. This stemmed from the fact that people were interested in learning more about the Catalan tradition of Castelling, and I piped up and said "Well hey - I have a close [Wikipedia] friend who lives in Barcelona!" My colleagues were so impressed with Alex's quick work getting video and writing up a fantastic blog post about Castelling. And it turned out amazing!

http://www.childrensmuseum.org/blog/wikipedian-in-residence/castellers

Because I'm lucky enough to know all of you, I am hoping to continue this theme by highlighting my Wikipedia friends from around the world and having you (whoever would like to!) guest blog (no video necessary) about family and children traditions in your country.

I'm always amazed by the surprising little gems of projects that crop up here and there that help to illustrate that Wikipedia is not just an encyclopedia, but an impressive community of volunteers who all have the core goal of sharing of knowledge (and culture!)

I hope you enjoy the video and blog- and let me know if you're interested in this project as well! (And thanks Alex : ).

Lori