As you may have heard, a little while ago some organizers of Wiki Loves Monuments 2011 came together in a rainy and cold Amsterdam to evaluate the 2011 edition, and kick off documentation for 2012. We would like to share some of the results of our meeting with you.

We would like to get a feeling of in how many countries there would be people potentially interested in organizing a Wiki Loves Monuments nationally; but firstly, let us start with the basics.

Wiki Loves Monuments is a photo contest organized in 2010 and 2011 in, respectively, the Netherlands and in Europe. The contest asks the general audience to upload pictures of monumental/historical sites and buildings during September. It has a federal structure and is organised seperately in every participating country by the local people who know how things work in their area; best photos from all countries are nominated for an international contest.

In 2011 this contest was very successful, with more than 165.000 photos of monuments in 18 participating countries submitted in total. This was possible thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers in those countries who helped organise Wiki Loves Monuments in one way or another. The winning pictures have been published on <http://www.wikilovesmonuments.eu> and on Wikimedia Commons: <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2011_winners>.

Besides the wonderful direct impact on the overall quality and coverage of heritage and culture topics, Wiki Loves Monuments is a fantastic opportunity to reach some of our important goals: we had a participation of over 4.000 new users who created the first ever community-driven contribution peak on Wikimedia Commons (<http://stats.wikimedia.org/reportcard/#new_editors_per_month>); we have also helped in establishing cooperation between Wikimedia groups & chapters and some of their local cultural institutions and organisations in several countries.

Would you be interested in organizing a Wiki Loves Monuments in 2012 in your country? Would you like to know more? Find all the details at <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2012>. We have put together some information there for you -- and much more will follow soon.

We would also like you to join our public mailing list where everyone is welcome to ask any questions about the details on how to organise a Wiki Loves Monuments in your country. This is a place where many organizers of 2011 are already on and we will use that as our main channel for communications and information dispersion in 2012. Be bold and sign up for the list at <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikilovesmonuments>.