Hello, WLM organizers,
I hope this mail finds you well. My name is Mariel, I am a Junior Program Officer temporarily working on the Rapid Grants Program, and I will be the primary point of contact in the office for the WLM submissions and approvals period. Don't hesitate to email me questions or concerns about your Rapid Grants submissions.
We have the following information to share with all of you intending to submit a Rapid Grants application for this contest:
- First and foremost, the Rapid Grants program has updated its funding guidelines. You can find the new ones here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn. Please read through them before and as you write your application. You'll see that we are no longer funding certain items like T-shirts, human resources expenses, or long-distance travel.
- If you are a returning grantee, please ensure you are up to date in your reporting requirements from previous grants. We will not review WLM applications of grantees pending completion on past initiatives. If your group has an APG, you are not eligible for Rapid Grants support for WLM.
- We will take close looks at the incentives offered by each contest. *DO NOT announce WLM prizes before you receive a grant approval*, as we are likely to adjust the prizes you suggest originally depending on demand.
- If you need a venue, please try to find a free venue in your community. This will cut down on cost and will help you long-term in your partnership building.
- Don't rely on social media advertising for the contest; we encourage you to think of partnerships with photo clubs and local institutions to reach relevant potential participants.
- For WLM purposes, please do not rely on the WMF Merchandise Store for prizes. We had some complications with this for WLE; your Rapid Grant budget should cover any monetary support you need from WMF for your contest.
- People who have their grant requests approved will be asked to send in paperwork. You can anticipate this by reading through the relevant sections for you on this page https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Processing/Rapid.
- Bonus: Here is an example of a WLM report that we thought was fantastic, in case you're in need of some inspiration. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Nirmal_Dulal/Wiki_Loves...
*WLM CONVERSATION HOURS*
If you have questions or WLM things you want to discuss over a call, I will be holding the following WLM Conversation hours on Google Hangout:
Friday August 9th -- 3pm UTC (8am SF, 12pm Sao Paulo, 6pm Nairobi, 11pm Manila) http://meet.google.com/kon-wwtg-jxp
If you want to join the conversation but are unable to meet this Friday, please message me privately with times that would work for you on Monday, August 12. I'll send a follow up message to this list if a second hangout is organized.
Wishing you all a successful WLM,
Thanks for all the clarifications Mariel! I appreciate that we had an opportunity to discuss this earlier, and that you added the conversation hours.
I encourage everyone who's planning to submit a grant request this month to submit it *as soon as possible* and to also come to the conversation hours if you have any questions at all.
Best, Lodewijk
On Wed, Aug 7, 2019 at 9:18 PM Mariel Garcia Montes < mmontes-ctr@wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hello, WLM organizers,
I hope this mail finds you well. My name is Mariel, I am a Junior Program Officer temporarily working on the Rapid Grants Program, and I will be the primary point of contact in the office for the WLM submissions and approvals period. Don't hesitate to email me questions or concerns about your Rapid Grants submissions.
We have the following information to share with all of you intending to submit a Rapid Grants application for this contest:
- First and foremost, the Rapid Grants program has updated its funding
guidelines. You can find the new ones here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn. Please read through them before and as you write your application. You'll see that we are no longer funding certain items like T-shirts, human resources expenses, or long-distance travel.
- If you are a returning grantee, please ensure you are up to date in your
reporting requirements from previous grants. We will not review WLM applications of grantees pending completion on past initiatives. If your group has an APG, you are not eligible for Rapid Grants support for WLM.
- We will take close looks at the incentives offered by each contest. *DO
NOT announce WLM prizes before you receive a grant approval*, as we are likely to adjust the prizes you suggest originally depending on demand.
- If you need a venue, please try to find a free venue in your community.
This will cut down on cost and will help you long-term in your partnership building.
- Don't rely on social media advertising for the contest; we encourage you
to think of partnerships with photo clubs and local institutions to reach relevant potential participants.
- For WLM purposes, please do not rely on the WMF Merchandise Store for
prizes. We had some complications with this for WLE; your Rapid Grant budget should cover any monetary support you need from WMF for your contest.
- People who have their grant requests approved will be asked to send in
paperwork. You can anticipate this by reading through the relevant sections for you on this page https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Processing/Rapid.
- Bonus: Here is an example of a WLM report that we thought was fantastic,
in case you're in need of some inspiration. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Nirmal_Dulal/Wiki_Loves...
*WLM CONVERSATION HOURS*
If you have questions or WLM things you want to discuss over a call, I will be holding the following WLM Conversation hours on Google Hangout:
Friday August 9th -- 3pm UTC (8am SF, 12pm Sao Paulo, 6pm Nairobi, 11pm Manila) http://meet.google.com/kon-wwtg-jxp
If you want to join the conversation but are unable to meet this Friday, please message me privately with times that would work for you on Monday, August 12. I'll send a follow up message to this list if a second hangout is organized.
Wishing you all a successful WLM,
-- Mariel García-Montes Junior Program Officer, Rapid Grants Community Resources Pronouns: she/her/hers Wikimedia Foundation User: MMontes (WMF) _______________________________________________ WLM-Announce mailing list WLM-Announce@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wlm-announce _______________________________________________ Wiki Loves Monuments mailing list WikiLovesMonuments@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikilovesmonuments http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Pe joi, 8 august 2019, Mariel Garcia Montes mmontes-ctr@wikimedia.org a scris:
Hello, WLM organizers,
I hope this mail finds you well. My name is Mariel, I am a Junior Program Officer temporarily working on the Rapid Grants Program, and I will be the primary point of contact in the office for the WLM submissions and approvals period. Don't hesitate to email me questions or concerns about your Rapid Grants submissions.
We have the following information to share with all of you intending to submit a Rapid Grants application for this contest:
- First and foremost, the Rapid Grants program has updated its funding
guidelines. You can find the new ones here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn. Please read through them before and as you write your application. You'll see that we are no longer funding certain items like T-shirts, human resources expenses, or long-distance travel.
- If you are a returning grantee, please ensure you are up to date in your
reporting requirements from previous grants. We will not review WLM applications of grantees pending completion on past initiatives. If your group has an APG, you are not eligible for Rapid Grants support for WLM.
- We will take close looks at the incentives offered by each contest. *DO
NOT announce WLM prizes before you receive a grant approval*, as we are likely to adjust the prizes you suggest originally depending on demand.
- If you need a venue, please try to find a free venue in your community.
This will cut down on cost and will help you long-term in your partnership building.
- Don't rely on social media advertising for the contest; we encourage you
to think of partnerships with photo clubs and local institutions to reach relevant potential participants.
- For WLM purposes, please do not rely on the WMF Merchandise Store for
prizes. We had some complications with this for WLE; your Rapid Grant budget should cover any monetary support you need from WMF for your contest.
- People who have their grant requests approved will be asked to send in
paperwork. You can anticipate this by reading through the relevant sections for you on this page https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Processing/Rapid.
- Bonus: Here is an example of a WLM report that we thought was fantastic,
in case you're in need of some inspiration. https://meta. wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Nirmal_Dulal/ Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2017_in_Nepal/Report
*WLM CONVERSATION HOURS*
If you have questions or WLM things you want to discuss over a call, I will be holding the following WLM Conversation hours on Google Hangout:
Friday August 9th -- 3pm UTC (8am SF, 12pm Sao Paulo, 6pm Nairobi, 11pm Manila) http://meet.google.com/kon-wwtg-jxp
If you want to join the conversation but are unable to meet this Friday, please message me privately with times that would work for you on Monday, August 12. I'll send a follow up message to this list if a second hangout is organized.
Wishing you all a successful WLM,
-- Mariel García-Montes Junior Program Officer, Rapid Grants Community Resources Pronouns: she/her/hers Wikimedia Foundation User: MMontes (WMF)
Le jeu. 8 août 2019 à 18:49, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com a écrit :
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Well... It's unclear but it's also what I understand from https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn#Facilities,_equip...
Cdlt, ~nicolas
Thank you for your question (and to Nicolas for chiming in). The answer is *it depends*. And here is what it depends on:
If you are providing vouchers or large prizes as part of your competition and T-shirts (or stationery) are a secondary prize for the same individuals who would receive these large prizes, then we would ask you to remove them from the budget. However, if you are printing a small number of T-shirts (or stationery) as the only prizes for a small number of people, then we would not take them off your budget.
The general rationale is that, in Rapid Grants experience, T-shirts and stationery end up being high-cost items in most grant proposals, and, unless they are given out strategically, they will add to a pile of things that people don't use. We don't think the world needs more of that!
Now, more specifically about T-shirts. Let's say that you are considering T-shirts as the main prizes in your competition. We will not say no, but we will encourage people to consider other gifts, such as notebooks or mugs, for the following reasons:
- When you are designing and printing T-shirts, you generally go with a set shape or size that might not fit the people who will receive it in the end. So T-shirts can end up excluding people who do not fit in this average because they are too big or too small… You can read what others have said about this issue (for example, on this blog post https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2018/05/no-more-conference-t-shirts-please/).
- How many people do you know that actually wear all the T-shirts they receive from similar initiatives? Wiki volunteers might be expected to wear and re-wear these T-shirts in different events, but people with loose affiliations to the movement most likely won't. A mug, a notebook, socks, have more use potential than a T-shirt.
Again, if you decide that, in your context, T-shirts are the best possible incentive and that's the prize you choose, we will accept it. But in the meantime, please consider more inclusive and useful alternatives.
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 12:57 PM Nicolas VIGNERON vigneron.nicolas@gmail.com wrote:
Le jeu. 8 août 2019 à 18:49, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com a écrit :
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Well... It's unclear but it's also what I understand from https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn#Facilities,_equip...
Cdlt, ~nicolas
Pe joi, 8 august 2019, Mariel Garcia Montes mmontes-ctr@wikimedia.org a scris:
Thank you for your question (and to Nicolas for chiming in). The answer is *it depends*. And here is what it depends on:
If you are providing vouchers or large prizes as part of your competition and T-shirts (or stationery) are a secondary prize for the same individuals who would receive these large prizes, then we would ask you to remove them from the budget. However, if you are printing a small number of T-shirts (or stationery) as the only prizes for a small number of people, then we would not take them off your budget.
The general rationale is that, in Rapid Grants experience, T-shirts and stationery end up being high-cost items in most grant proposals, and, unless they are given out strategically, they will add to a pile of things that people don't use. We don't think the world needs more of that!
Now, more specifically about T-shirts. Let's say that you are considering T-shirts as the main prizes in your competition. We will not say no, but we will encourage people to consider other gifts, such as notebooks or mugs, for the following reasons:
- When you are designing and printing T-shirts, you generally go with a
set shape or size that might not fit the people who will receive it in the end. So T-shirts can end up excluding people who do not fit in this average because they are too big or too small… You can read what others have said about this issue (for example, on this blog post https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2018/05/no-more-conference-t-shirts-please/).
Hmm, is that the general way to go? We always printed the t-shirts based on requests from the winners.
- How many people do you know that actually wear all the T-shirts they
receive from similar initiatives? Wiki volunteers might be expected to wear and re-wear these T-shirts in different events, but people with loose affiliations to the movement most likely won't. A mug, a notebook, socks, have more use potential than a T-shirt.
I do know quite a lot of people who wear the swag they receive, but I realize that this is dependent on local context and habits. Specifically, in Romania it is not uncommon for photographers to work in t-shirts (as opposed to shirts or a more formal attire).
That being said, compared to the other stuff you mentioned, t-shirts have the advantage of lasting much longer AND being far more visible. Mugs and socks are mostly visible to their owners, while t-shirts visible to anyone who happens to be near the owner.
Again, if you decide that, in your context, T-shirts are the best possible incentive and that's the prize you choose, we will accept it. But in the meantime, please consider more inclusive and useful alternatives.
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 12:57 PM Nicolas VIGNERON < vigneron.nicolas@gmail.com> wrote:
Le jeu. 8 août 2019 à 18:49, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com a écrit :
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Well... It's unclear but it's also what I understand from https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/ Learn#Facilities,_equipment_and_materials
Cdlt, ~nicolas
-- Mariel García-Montes Junior Program Officer, Rapid Grants Community Resources Pronouns: she/her/hers Wikimedia Foundation User: MMontes (WMF)
I agree with you about the visibility of t-shirts, but we have found in Ireland that reusable cotton shopping bags are very popular as gifts, and have the same benefit of being seen.
On Thu, 8 Aug 2019 at 19:27, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com wrote:
Pe joi, 8 august 2019, Mariel Garcia Montes mmontes-ctr@wikimedia.org a scris:
Thank you for your question (and to Nicolas for chiming in). The answer is *it depends*. And here is what it depends on:
If you are providing vouchers or large prizes as part of your competition and T-shirts (or stationery) are a secondary prize for the same individuals who would receive these large prizes, then we would ask you to remove them from the budget. However, if you are printing a small number of T-shirts (or stationery) as the only prizes for a small number of people, then we would not take them off your budget.
The general rationale is that, in Rapid Grants experience, T-shirts and stationery end up being high-cost items in most grant proposals, and, unless they are given out strategically, they will add to a pile of things that people don't use. We don't think the world needs more of that!
Now, more specifically about T-shirts. Let's say that you are considering T-shirts as the main prizes in your competition. We will not say no, but we will encourage people to consider other gifts, such as notebooks or mugs, for the following reasons:
- When you are designing and printing T-shirts, you generally go with a
set shape or size that might not fit the people who will receive it in the end. So T-shirts can end up excluding people who do not fit in this average because they are too big or too small… You can read what others have said about this issue (for example, on this blog post https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2018/05/no-more-conference-t-shirts-please/).
Hmm, is that the general way to go? We always printed the t-shirts based on requests from the winners.
- How many people do you know that actually wear all the T-shirts they
receive from similar initiatives? Wiki volunteers might be expected to wear and re-wear these T-shirts in different events, but people with loose affiliations to the movement most likely won't. A mug, a notebook, socks, have more use potential than a T-shirt.
I do know quite a lot of people who wear the swag they receive, but I realize that this is dependent on local context and habits. Specifically, in Romania it is not uncommon for photographers to work in t-shirts (as opposed to shirts or a more formal attire).
That being said, compared to the other stuff you mentioned, t-shirts have the advantage of lasting much longer AND being far more visible. Mugs and socks are mostly visible to their owners, while t-shirts visible to anyone who happens to be near the owner.
Again, if you decide that, in your context, T-shirts are the best possible incentive and that's the prize you choose, we will accept it. But in the meantime, please consider more inclusive and useful alternatives.
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 12:57 PM Nicolas VIGNERON < vigneron.nicolas@gmail.com> wrote:
Le jeu. 8 août 2019 à 18:49, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com a écrit :
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Well... It's unclear but it's also what I understand from https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn#Facilities,_equip...
Cdlt, ~nicolas
-- Mariel García-Montes Junior Program Officer, Rapid Grants Community Resources Pronouns: she/her/hers Wikimedia Foundation User: MMontes (WMF)
Wiki Loves Monuments mailing list WikiLovesMonuments@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikilovesmonuments http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org
Definitely like that idea! (and keep them coming :) )
I think the takeaway message is that if you have something that works particularly well in your country as a prize, go for it. But given the limited funding, secondary prizes are this time probably not supported.
Lodewijk
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 11:35 AM Rebecca O'Neill rebeccanineil@gmail.com wrote:
I agree with you about the visibility of t-shirts, but we have found in Ireland that reusable cotton shopping bags are very popular as gifts, and have the same benefit of being seen.
On Thu, 8 Aug 2019 at 19:27, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com wrote:
Pe joi, 8 august 2019, Mariel Garcia Montes mmontes-ctr@wikimedia.org a scris:
Thank you for your question (and to Nicolas for chiming in). The answer is *it depends*. And here is what it depends on:
If you are providing vouchers or large prizes as part of your competition and T-shirts (or stationery) are a secondary prize for the same individuals who would receive these large prizes, then we would ask you to remove them from the budget. However, if you are printing a small number of T-shirts (or stationery) as the only prizes for a small number of people, then we would not take them off your budget.
The general rationale is that, in Rapid Grants experience, T-shirts and stationery end up being high-cost items in most grant proposals, and, unless they are given out strategically, they will add to a pile of things that people don't use. We don't think the world needs more of that!
Now, more specifically about T-shirts. Let's say that you are considering T-shirts as the main prizes in your competition. We will not say no, but we will encourage people to consider other gifts, such as notebooks or mugs, for the following reasons:
- When you are designing and printing T-shirts, you generally go with a
set shape or size that might not fit the people who will receive it in the end. So T-shirts can end up excluding people who do not fit in this average because they are too big or too small… You can read what others have said about this issue (for example, on this blog post https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2018/05/no-more-conference-t-shirts-please/ ).
Hmm, is that the general way to go? We always printed the t-shirts based on requests from the winners.
- How many people do you know that actually wear all the T-shirts they
receive from similar initiatives? Wiki volunteers might be expected to wear and re-wear these T-shirts in different events, but people with loose affiliations to the movement most likely won't. A mug, a notebook, socks, have more use potential than a T-shirt.
I do know quite a lot of people who wear the swag they receive, but I realize that this is dependent on local context and habits. Specifically, in Romania it is not uncommon for photographers to work in t-shirts (as opposed to shirts or a more formal attire).
That being said, compared to the other stuff you mentioned, t-shirts have the advantage of lasting much longer AND being far more visible. Mugs and socks are mostly visible to their owners, while t-shirts visible to anyone who happens to be near the owner.
Again, if you decide that, in your context, T-shirts are the best possible incentive and that's the prize you choose, we will accept it. But in the meantime, please consider more inclusive and useful alternatives.
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 12:57 PM Nicolas VIGNERON < vigneron.nicolas@gmail.com> wrote:
Le jeu. 8 août 2019 à 18:49, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com a écrit :
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Well... It's unclear but it's also what I understand from https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn#Facilities,_equip...
Cdlt, ~nicolas
-- Mariel García-Montes Junior Program Officer, Rapid Grants Community Resources Pronouns: she/her/hers Wikimedia Foundation User: MMontes (WMF)
Wiki Loves Monuments mailing list WikiLovesMonuments@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikilovesmonuments http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org
-- PhD in Digital Media Project Coordinator Wikimedia Community Ireland http://wikimedia.ie _______________________________________________ Wiki Loves Monuments mailing list WikiLovesMonuments@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikilovesmonuments http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org
Hi,
Based on my personal experience, it depends a lot on the quality of the T-shirts. I (and many participants or other volunteers, who worked on organizing the contest) wear these T-shirts frequently, especially on Wiki-occasions, which have a good quality and good design. (For example I use my blue Wikipedia T-shirt, Wikimania Montreal or Wikipedia 10 T-shirt often, and I saw others do the same.) On the other hand, there are T-shirt, which I received other times, and they do not fit well or has a low quality: these T-shirts I don't use often, and most of the time they are only in the wardrobe.
A T-shirt which fits and looks nice has a good value for the organizers (this is the only "payment" and physical memory) and for the participants as well, and reminds later for the event. We never gave high prizes (the top prices has a value around 50 euro or less), but a T-shirt or a mug has a practical and symbolic value as well.
Best, Samat (unfortunately WM-HU could not participate in WLM in the previous years, but this is a general observation about competitions and contests I organized over the last more than a decade.)
On Thu, 8 Aug 2019 at 20:27, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com wrote:
Pe joi, 8 august 2019, Mariel Garcia Montes mmontes-ctr@wikimedia.org a scris:
Thank you for your question (and to Nicolas for chiming in). The answer is *it depends*. And here is what it depends on:
If you are providing vouchers or large prizes as part of your competition and T-shirts (or stationery) are a secondary prize for the same individuals who would receive these large prizes, then we would ask you to remove them from the budget. However, if you are printing a small number of T-shirts (or stationery) as the only prizes for a small number of people, then we would not take them off your budget.
The general rationale is that, in Rapid Grants experience, T-shirts and stationery end up being high-cost items in most grant proposals, and, unless they are given out strategically, they will add to a pile of things that people don't use. We don't think the world needs more of that!
Now, more specifically about T-shirts. Let's say that you are considering T-shirts as the main prizes in your competition. We will not say no, but we will encourage people to consider other gifts, such as notebooks or mugs, for the following reasons:
- When you are designing and printing T-shirts, you generally go with a
set shape or size that might not fit the people who will receive it in the end. So T-shirts can end up excluding people who do not fit in this average because they are too big or too small… You can read what others have said about this issue (for example, on this blog post https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2018/05/no-more-conference-t-shirts-please/).
Hmm, is that the general way to go? We always printed the t-shirts based on requests from the winners.
- How many people do you know that actually wear all the T-shirts they
receive from similar initiatives? Wiki volunteers might be expected to wear and re-wear these T-shirts in different events, but people with loose affiliations to the movement most likely won't. A mug, a notebook, socks, have more use potential than a T-shirt.
I do know quite a lot of people who wear the swag they receive, but I realize that this is dependent on local context and habits. Specifically, in Romania it is not uncommon for photographers to work in t-shirts (as opposed to shirts or a more formal attire).
That being said, compared to the other stuff you mentioned, t-shirts have the advantage of lasting much longer AND being far more visible. Mugs and socks are mostly visible to their owners, while t-shirts visible to anyone who happens to be near the owner.
Again, if you decide that, in your context, T-shirts are the best possible incentive and that's the prize you choose, we will accept it. But in the meantime, please consider more inclusive and useful alternatives.
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 12:57 PM Nicolas VIGNERON < vigneron.nicolas@gmail.com> wrote:
Le jeu. 8 août 2019 à 18:49, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com a écrit :
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Well... It's unclear but it's also what I understand from https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn#Facilities,_equip...
Thank you all for your insights; this has been an interesting discussion so far.
I agree with Lodewijk that the main message I am trying to convey is that T-shirts are only allowed for specific purposes, such as serving as main prizes. We encourage you to think of alternatives (like the tote bags suggested by Rebecca), but we will support T-shirts if they have been effective in your context (and it would be great if you, like Strainu, print them based on size/shape requests by the winners).
Beyond the general guideline, we will have discussions about the specifics of your context on the talk page of your proposals.
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 2:55 PM Samat samat78@gmail.com wrote:
Hi,
Based on my personal experience, it depends a lot on the quality of the T-shirts. I (and many participants or other volunteers, who worked on organizing the contest) wear these T-shirts frequently, especially on Wiki-occasions, which have a good quality and good design. (For example I use my blue Wikipedia T-shirt, Wikimania Montreal or Wikipedia 10 T-shirt often, and I saw others do the same.) On the other hand, there are T-shirt, which I received other times, and they do not fit well or has a low quality: these T-shirts I don't use often, and most of the time they are only in the wardrobe.
A T-shirt which fits and looks nice has a good value for the organizers (this is the only "payment" and physical memory) and for the participants as well, and reminds later for the event. We never gave high prizes (the top prices has a value around 50 euro or less), but a T-shirt or a mug has a practical and symbolic value as well.
Best, Samat (unfortunately WM-HU could not participate in WLM in the previous years, but this is a general observation about competitions and contests I organized over the last more than a decade.)
On Thu, 8 Aug 2019 at 20:27, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com wrote:
Pe joi, 8 august 2019, Mariel Garcia Montes mmontes-ctr@wikimedia.org a scris:
Thank you for your question (and to Nicolas for chiming in). The answer is *it depends*. And here is what it depends on:
If you are providing vouchers or large prizes as part of your competition and T-shirts (or stationery) are a secondary prize for the same individuals who would receive these large prizes, then we would ask you to remove them from the budget. However, if you are printing a small number of T-shirts (or stationery) as the only prizes for a small number of people, then we would not take them off your budget.
The general rationale is that, in Rapid Grants experience, T-shirts and stationery end up being high-cost items in most grant proposals, and, unless they are given out strategically, they will add to a pile of things that people don't use. We don't think the world needs more of that!
Now, more specifically about T-shirts. Let's say that you are considering T-shirts as the main prizes in your competition. We will not say no, but we will encourage people to consider other gifts, such as notebooks or mugs, for the following reasons:
- When you are designing and printing T-shirts, you generally go with a
set shape or size that might not fit the people who will receive it in the end. So T-shirts can end up excluding people who do not fit in this average because they are too big or too small… You can read what others have said about this issue (for example, on this blog post https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2018/05/no-more-conference-t-shirts-please/ ).
Hmm, is that the general way to go? We always printed the t-shirts based on requests from the winners.
- How many people do you know that actually wear all the T-shirts they
receive from similar initiatives? Wiki volunteers might be expected to wear and re-wear these T-shirts in different events, but people with loose affiliations to the movement most likely won't. A mug, a notebook, socks, have more use potential than a T-shirt.
I do know quite a lot of people who wear the swag they receive, but I realize that this is dependent on local context and habits. Specifically, in Romania it is not uncommon for photographers to work in t-shirts (as opposed to shirts or a more formal attire).
That being said, compared to the other stuff you mentioned, t-shirts have the advantage of lasting much longer AND being far more visible. Mugs and socks are mostly visible to their owners, while t-shirts visible to anyone who happens to be near the owner.
Again, if you decide that, in your context, T-shirts are the best possible incentive and that's the prize you choose, we will accept it. But in the meantime, please consider more inclusive and useful alternatives.
On Thu, Aug 8, 2019 at 12:57 PM Nicolas VIGNERON < vigneron.nicolas@gmail.com> wrote:
Le jeu. 8 août 2019 à 18:49, Strainu strainu10@gmail.com a écrit :
Hi Mariel,
I understand from the guidelines that t-shirts can still be provided as prizes. Is this correct?
Strainu
Well... It's unclear but it's also what I understand from https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn#Facilities,_equip...
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