Dear all,
I was participating in WLM for the third time now, both as an uploader
(for multiple countries) and as someone helping with the uploaded files,
categorizing them on Commons, placing them into lists, and on one
occasion helping the jury with the preselection of photos. I was never
involved with any organizational team.
I still remember that in 2011 pretty soon after I started uploading
photos, I got a barnstar from Lodewijk for 50 (or was it 100?) uploaded
photos. I got also appreciacion messages from the organizing teams of
two countries I uploaded photos for, and, if I remember correcly, a
general appreciacion WLM message.
In 2012, I got an appreciacion message from one country. I am not sure
about the general WLM message, I believe I did not get it.
I am sure in 2013 I got nothing, even though we are in the middle of
November. Not that I personally need appreciacion messages (I try to
maintain barnstar-free spaces in all projects I am an administrator,
including Commons), but I guess if I uploaded 100+ or 200+ photos and
did not get anything, then almost nobody got anything.
Since one of the WLM goals was to attract new users, giving
appreciacion messages out is particularly important, especially for
them.
I would then ask the organization committees, international as well as
the national ones, somehow coordinate and do the following:
1) At least leave a nice bot message at the talk page of everybody who
uploaded anything for WLM-2013;
2) Ideally, also bot-messages for specific countries (if every country
does it we do not need the central one);
3) (This is much more difficult, but would be much more appreciated).
Check who categorized images and did the routine maintenance on Commons,
who placed the images into the lists and did other maintenance on the
projects, and add to their talk pages non-templated messages on how the
organizers appreciate their work.
If this is done, I would personally go to the Commons pages of the
organizers and thank them there for their work. (I would also appreciate
then having the lists because at this point I have no idea who the
organizers are).
Though this does not belong to this topic, I would like to take the
opportunity and thank all the organizers, national and international -
they are still finalizing the results, but I think we already can
conclude that they spent considerable time to make the contest happen.
Thank you for your time and efforts, they are really appreciated by the
wide Wikimedia community.
Cheers
Yaroslav