Thanks Romaine and Zana! Your help would indeed be very appreciated. 

Zana: I find your input interesting, you suggest we should focus primarily on countries without a chapter and without a previous participation. I was wondering what would be more effective, training wise, to focus on countries without any experience (start from zero) or on countries that have at least some experience in organizing, and have something to relate to. 

To focus the discussion a little more, I will try to pose some questions, which you may have opinions on. 

Best,
Lodewijk

On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 5:15 PM, Romaine Wiki <romaine.wiki@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Lodewijk,

I am not sure how, but I am willing to help out.

Greetings,
Romaine

2014-11-06 23:20 GMT+01:00 Lodewijk <lodewijk@effeietsanders.org>:
Hi all,

This is a quite early stage idea, so please don't shout me down for not having specifics yet :) 

Looking back at the past few years of Wiki Loves Monuments, Wiki Loves Earth and now also Wiki Loves Africa (all built upon the same philosophy), it stroke me that there is so much being learned in different countries, but that we are not always effectively sharing that among ourselves. Even if we share, it doesn't seem that the best practices make it actually to the implementation - I think there's room for improvement here, and that this could increase the outcomes (in many different ways) and reduce the costs (especially in volunteer organizing time). 

In the first year that we organized the competition on a global scale, we had a very effective meeting (May 2011) with a bunch of people from countries that indicated they wanted to organize WLM later that year. Although much was to be improved, it helped to build an effective network of people helping each other to organize effective competitions - sharing skills, tools and inspiration. The discussions there were in my opinion a major component in the success of the competitions in 2011 and 2012 (in 2012 we also had a shorter meeting in Amsterdam).

At the same time we have seen the many challenges to get together an effective international team. While I want to applaud the wonderful work done by volunteers nationally and internationally, I had the impression that both at Wiki Loves Earth and later at Wiki Loves Monuments, a better international coordination could have helped the competition. 

I would like you to ponder a bit with me, and think whether it would be useful to organize again a training meeting for a variety of organizers around the world, where skills and experiences can be transferred, best practices can be shared, the network of organizers internationally can be strengthened and the international coordination can be given a push in the beginning. 

First of all, please think whether this would be a good idea, and if so what should be the goals, realistic outcomes and what kind of organizers should be joining definitely. After that, we can draft up the budget, the pro's and con's and consider whether this would be a wise investment of our time and money. Don't worry just yet if it is realistic to request the money etc - that is a separate discussion. 

My initial attitude is positive yet somewhat critical (I know it's going to be expensive, but I think if there is enough support, it could be worth it) and I very much look forward to your thoughts. Your input would be highly valued on this page on Wikimedia Commons. 

Looking forward to your very valuable thoughts,

Lodewijk

PS: I am very happy to help organize such a training to help future competitions, but please don't think I will join the international team again :) Just want to be realistic. 

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