Hello everyone,
*In a nutshell*
- 2021's competition can be organized for any 30/31 days during the
months of September and October.
- The deadline to submit the top 10 national winners will be December
5, 2021.
- National organizers should publish information (username or name) of
jurors and rounds organized on this page
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Juries>
.
- We have a budget this year as well to award special prizes - please
share if you have any ideas by July 15.
- And, if you are interested in organizing, please signup here
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Participating_countries>
.
*Full announcement (also available at
https://w.wiki/3a5s
<https://w.wiki/3a5s>)*
It's that time of year again when we get started for Wiki Loves Monuments.
By 2020, we have completed ten iterations of the international edition.
Thanks to all other organizers, participants, sponsors and partners, who
collectively achieved this feat. With the onset of a global pandemic, last
year has been particularly challenging for many organizers to keep the
photo competition running. Nevertheless, we received 200,000+ images.
Though it is great to see several countries recovering to normal life after
a long period of lockdowns and restrictions, many countries aren't quite
there yet. Since February this year, we have been organizing office hours
to have inputs from community members regarding various aspects related to
the competition, which also includes the timeline. The framework for 2021
is based on all consolidated feedback from these conversations and surveys
we did for 2020 (sorry for the delay in publishing those reports!)
- *Responsibility for national organizers:* We would like to emphasize
that the international team coordinates the national competitions: we are
not qualified to tell you exactly how to organize your competition.
National teams are best placed to decide whether and how to organize a
competition in your country. We will try to help set an international
framework, and assist in the exchange of best practices. We expect that
national organizers will follow the guidelines and regulations set by their
national governments and health authorities. Note that funding and WMF
affiliate recognition may come with additional guidance/requirements.
- *Transparency of national juries:* The international team has been
receiving feedback over the last couple of years for better
transparency of
national juries, to avoid potential conflict of interest organizers may
have with jurors. So from this year on, national organizers
should publish
their information (username or name) of jurors and rounds
organized on this
page
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Juries>
.
- *Extended timeline:* Many organizers welcomed the extended timeline
last year. Though we will be continuing that this year, but not exactly as
we did last year. National organizers have the opportunity to choose a
different range of dates for their national competition. You can pick any
range of 30 or 31 days within the period of September-October 2021 as your
upload dates. That means that one country does not have to use the same
upload dates as another. This will allow flexibility according to the
situation in various countries.
- The last date for all uploads is 31 October 2021, and any uploads
beyond that date will be ineligible for consideration.
- The jury deadline will be December 5, 2021, for all countries.
- *Exchange of knowledge:* National organizers innovate in many ways
to make their competitions successful. While some try out new social media
campaigns, some organize an interesting photo walk, and others use Wikidata
to make the upload process easy. It would be helpful for other organizers
to learn from these practices. Here is a page
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Knowledge_Exchange>
on Wikimedia Commons where you can share your strategies and let the
community know what worked, what didn’t and any suggestions for others
interested in the idea.
- *Special awards in 2021:* Though the international team tried to
organize special awards last year, we couldn’t make it work. We have a
budget this year as well to award special prizes. We would like community
members to suggest ideas for these special prizes. For example,
underrepresented regions, the most numbers of unique monuments covered etc.
Please send in your ideas via email or by posting on the Commons talk page
by July 15.
Lastly, and most importantly, if you are interested in organizing the
competition for your country/region, please sign up at
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Partic…
.
If you need any support with organizing, please reach out to one of
the international
team members
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Organizers>,
or you can also post to the mailing list, or on the help desk
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021>
on Wikimedia Commons.
Best,
Krishna Chaitanya,
for the International Team
PS: If you are interested in helping with the international coordination,
please check out the roles here
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments/Documentation/International_team>
and let us know if anything interests you.