Thanks for the answer Winnie

This is a challenging solution...

If this is the path to go, then I think it would need clarifications on that page : https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2021/Scholarships

1) First, it would require a clarification to the individual people looking for support that they should consider contacting one of the approved group to ask them for individual support (taken into account geography, currency, language, thematic... )

Right now... any person living in Europe, or in USA, or in Asia... would rightfully wonder who they can ask to.
If I lived in Japan... what would be my best bet... should I ask Wikimedia Polska or Wikimedia Ghana ? How much chance do I stand of getting a favorable answer ? Probably none.
So if members were more aware of that, perhaps members would have the time to make sure a UserGroup that would agree to support them, make an application.

I think it would be a good idea to do that rapidly so that individuals get to realize that they probably can ask no approved group. It might give them to idea to contact their nearest UserGroup to ask them to apply.

2) I think the UserGroups which applied should be informed that they might get some requests some completely unknown people from all over the world. And they should make sure they have the mecanisms to actually answer and support. Do they know that ?
So again, that means that... if I live in Japan... and I contact the Ghana UserGroup to get supported... then the Ghana UserGroup would not be surprised and would consider my request with appropriate interest and willingness to support. Even though we do not speak the same language, do not use the same currency, do not work on the same project etc.

Many usergroups do not have staff, nor even a bank account, and may not be set-up to do international wire transferts.
For example, I am contact member of the offline usergroup. It would make sense for the offline usergroup to receive some participation requests since our operations are largely in countries where connexion data could be big.
But the usergroup is just a group. There is no legal entity behind it; nor staff to manage request; no bank account to wire money to anyone. So can not help in anyway.

If you want my honest feedback on the solution you mention ("pick up one of the affiliates which got funding and ask its team for support"), that will generally NOT work.
Which means that the current system will only serve those with good connexions and lucky enough that an affiliate they are members of, will actually make the request.
Under an appearance of super cool Wikimania participation support (data, childcare etc.), we are setting up a really unfair system, where people will be supported based on their understanding and knowledge of the ropes, and based on their involvement as members of an affiliate, and on the proactiveness of the usergroups.

I am not blaming you, the COT team does within the constraints forced on them. I do understand that and I fear there isn't much option to fix that in less than a month. I do get that and if you have no solution to offer, again, no blame.

But for the record, I think it is really a non-equitable process and I hope that it does not set the grounds to operate this way in the future in simular circonstances. I do not consider it a good governance solution that a handful of affiliates make the decision on who gets support and who does not, with no other built-in mecanisms at all.

Florence

Dear Florence,

You raise a valid concern that the COT has tried to mull over and the current proposal at hand is to have the affiliates extend support to any individuals or groups beyond their envelope. 

 

Kind Regards,

Winnie

On Thu, Jul 8, 2021 at 4:37 PM Florence Devouard <fdevouard@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Winnie

I would like a clarification

Given that this year, scholarships are only open to Affiliates, and given that only 12 Affiliates actually submitted requests, where can the actual individuals that will participate to Wikimania ask for support ?
I do understand the point of tasking the affiliates to deal with scholarship requests rather than having to deal with them at the Wikimedia Foundation level.
But in the end... 12 Affiliates will possibly cover the needs of their own members.

What about the several hundreds of participants that are not members of one of those 12 affiliates ? And who have no choice to turn to ?

Did I miss something entirely ?

Florence

Le 14/06/2021 à 20:12, Winnie kabintie a écrit :

Hello Hello!

We are pleased with the program submissions, for Wikimania 2021, that have come through so far and even the planning discussions we’ve seen going on in various groups.  

SUBMISSION PROPOSALS DEADLINE APPROACHING: The deadline to submit your proposals is approaching rapidly, Friday, 18th June, 12am PST and we would not like to see anyone locked out. Please make sure you submit your session proposals for the first ever virtual Wikimania.

Office Hours

Thank you to everyone who has joined the Submission Office Hours we’ve had last week. We have one more this week on 15th June at 12:00 UTC. More Office Hours around Wikimania 2021 will become available soon… Stay tuned. 

Scholarships Program Now Open

As announced last week, the scholarship program is now open until 30th July. This year, scholarships will only be issued to Affiliates, who will then distribute to their respective community members.

Read More about the Scholarship Program for Wikimania 2021 (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_2021/Scholarships)

Best Wishes,

Winnie Kabintie (User:Ms_Kabintie), on behalf of the Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team.

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