Hi all,

for your information: A new activity policy is probably arriving before the WLM kickoff.

As a gentle reminder, I believe the current policy is described here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/COVID-19 (summary: don't organize any in-person activities, anywhere, for any group size).

Best, Lodewijk

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Katherine Maher kmaher@wikimedia.org Date: Fri, Aug 7, 2020 at 2:31 PM Subject: [Wikimedia-l] [Covid-19] An update on in-person gatherings To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

Hi all,

If this were a more predictable year, Wikimedians from around the world would be together this weekend at Wikimania Bangkok 2020, in the warm hospitality of our remarkable Wikimedia ESEAP hosts. We’d be preparing for a weekend of inspiring presentations, serendipitous meetings, and fascinating conversations with Wikimedians from dozens of projects, languages, and communities.

I miss these moments of togetherness, and seeing people in person. Even though we’re mostly known as an online community, in-person events have always been part of the fabric of the Wikimedia movement. They are how we have built working partnerships, friendships, and the skills that support these remarkable projects over the years.

In March, I sent messages out to the movement, asking grantees to postpone or cancel their in-person events until the World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic over. Today, that seems wistfully optimistic -- that we’d have this all wrapped up in six months! As we enter August the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us and seems likely to be part of our lives for some time to come.

*== Safer events guidance ==* As we all learn to adapt and live with this new reality, we at the Foundation want to offer more adaptable support for Wikimedia convenings.

We're already improving support for online events, but as different countries and regions start to offer more flexible guidance for in-person gatherings and travel, we expect to see more community interest for resuming in-person meetings (with appropriate precautions). We want to respond to this interest with tools and resources to help you assess your options, including whether your community can more safely host an in-person Wikimedia event.

We are developing some tools to support your decision-making process, including a risk assessment calculator, to help you evaluate your own situation. *Importantly, this will also include guidance on when not to hold an event.* This tool is developed in a way that should be flexible to use for all community members, regardless of your country and the size of your event.

We’re also creating a checklist of precautions, including resources with tips and suggestions for how to prepare, evaluate, and follow up on any event. Finally, we’re working to create a list of suggested types of events, such as walking tours, photo hunts, and community picnics, all of which can help meet the demand for safer in-person gatherings.

*== Your feedback ==* Living through a global pandemic of this scale is new for all of us -- and the best way to navigate this change is with the support of your community. In that spirit, the events team will start reaching out to affiliate leaders and potential grantees next week for their feedback and advice on these proposed resources. We’re asking for your help shaping these tools to make them as useful as possible for our diverse global community, with all the varied contexts our movement works in.

I look forward to sharing more about these tools, as well as additional information about event support and grants toward the end of August.

Until then, please stay safe and take care -- I look forward to the next time we see each other again.

Katherine