Dear Katherine,
I hope this email finds you well.
As resolved from the recent Wiki Indaba 2017 in Accra, Ghana please find
attached the L2K.[1]
This letter consists of the feedback collected from participants on two
sets of questions (explained further in the letter). The organizers of
Indaba analysed this data on behalf of the African conference participants.
We would also like to take the opportunity to appreciate Wikimedia
Foundation support including Asaf Bartov and Kacie Harold from Community
Engagement, Jack Rabah from the Global Reach Team, and Zack McCune from the
Communications Team.
See you soon at our next Wiki Indaba in Tunisia.
Best,
- Felix Nartey
[1] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2017/Letter_to_Kather…
Hello everyone!
I am pleased, in front of the Wikimedia Community of the Republic of
Srpska, to inform you that our community received its first annual APG
grant this year and we are very excited about it! :) We have already
started with the initial activities - the Trace of Soul 2017 project. It is
a photo competition revolving around natural and stationary cultural
heritage of the Republic of Srpska. The competition is organized for the
third time in the Republic of Srpska and we hope that it will be
successfully implemented as in the previous years. In addition to the
photo-competitions, we will have a number of accompanying activities -
photo-tours and editing workshops in various cities of the Republic of
Srpska. We hope that this year we will be able to improve the project both
in terms of quality and quantity.
For more information, see Trace of Soul
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Trace_of_Soul_2017>, and
the project
website <http://td.wikimedia.rs.ba/>.
Best,
Bojana
*Замислите свет у коме свака особа на планети има слободан приступ
целокупном људском знању. То је оно на чему ми радимо.*
Nearly all Wikipedia projects has virtually the same core content policies,
but with slightly different wording. Nearly all, because a lot of the
smaller lacks them, and a lot has outdated or only partial policies. It
takes a lot of time to actually make them and keep them updated.
Creating and maintaining the core content policies should not be something
that small projects should invest a lot of time in, they should simply be
able to point to existing policies on Meta. The central policies should be
localized if necessary.
Checking Meta I find
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_no_original_research_policy
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Neutral_point_of_view
I can't find anything like "Verifiability".
Would it be possible for Wikimedia Foundation to make some sound baseline
policies, and with the option for local projects to refine those? Perhaps
with assistance from editors on Wikipedia?
Lets try to make the policies accurate, without "no original research"
diverging into verifiability of external sources. It should be about
original research in content on Wikipedia. Likewise, at some projects
neutral point of view has become "do not diverge from creators point of
view"…
Would this be possible? It would be really nice if those baseline policies
pages could be copied to the individual projects like central user pages,
so they would be "internal" to the projects. Thus the projects would have
more "ownership" of them.
The same thing apply to other meta projects (Wikipedia, Wikibooks,
Wiktionary, etc).
Jeblad
This press release is also available online here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_an…
*Wikimedia Foundation announces Board of Trustees appointments and
leadership at Wikimania 2017 in Montreal*
*Wikimedia Foundation Board appoints Wikimedia community-selected Trustees,
and confirms Chair and Vice Chair leadership*
*(Montreal, Canada) 11 August 2017* — Today the Wikimedia Foundation Board
of Trustees confirmed the appointments of three community-selected trustees
including the reappointment of María Sefidari and Dariusz Jemielniak, both
current Board members, and James Heilman, former Trustee. The Board also
reappointed as Chair, Christophe Henner, and Vice Chair, María Sefidari, to
lead the Board. The announcement was made at Wikimania 2017 in Montreal,
the annual Wikimedia gathering celebrating Wikipedia, its sister projects,
and the Wikimedia volunteer community.
The Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees oversees the Wikimedia
Foundation and its work, and serves as the organization’s ultimate
corporate authority. The three appointed trustees, all of whom currently
serve or have served on the Foundation's Board, were selected by the
international community of volunteers who create and develop Wikipedia and
its sister projects.
The three open Board seats were filled through an on-wiki election process
in which individual Wikimedia volunteers submit their candidacy and the
broader Wikimedia volunteer community offers support to their preferred
candidates. Wikimedia community members participated in the election
process online in May 2017, during which more than 5,100 people voted from
more than 170 individual project wikis.
As community-selected Trustees, María Sefidari, Dariusz Jemielniak, and
James Heilman will each serve a three year term. As incoming Chair and Vice
Chair, Christophe Henner and María Sefidari will serve as officers for one
year terms. This will mark the second consecutive term as Chair and Vice
Chair for both Henner and Sefidari, respectively.
María Sefidari began contributing to the Wikimedia projects in 2006 and has
since served in several roles across the Wikimedia movement. She was a
founding member of Wikimedia España and Wikimujeres Grupo de Usuarias, and
she also helped create Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject. She has served
on several Foundation governance committees, including the Affiliations and
Individual Engagement Grants committees. María is a professor in the
Digital Communications, Culture and Citizenship Master's degree program of
Rey Juan Carlos University at the MediaLab-Prado in Madrid, Spain. She has
previously served on the Board from August 2013 to July 2015, and most
recently joined the Board once again in January 2016. She has been selected
for a second term which will conclude at Wikimania 2020.
Dariusz Jemielniak has held a variety of roles on Wikimedia projects,
including administrator, bureaucrat, checkuser, steward and ombudsman. He
served as the chair of the Wikimedia community’s Funds Dissemination
Committee for three terms and is the author of “Common knowledge?: An
Ethnography of Wikipedia.” Dariusz is a full professor of Management, the
head of the Center for Research on Organizations and Workplaces, and a
co-founder of the New Research on Digital Societies (NeRDS) group at
Kozminski University. Dariusz has been re-appointed for a second term as a
Trustee after first joining the Board in July 2015.
James Heilman, M.D., has helped to found both Wikimedia Canada and
WikiProject Med Foundation. As an emergency physician in Cranbrook, British
Columbia, and a faculty member of emergency medicine at the University of
British Columbia, James is an active member of the medical community on
Wikimedia projects. James has also been involved in establishing
collaborations with several organizations, including Translators Without
Borders and the World Health Organization, to improve Wikimedia’s coverage
of medical content. James previously served on the Board of Trustees from
July to December 2015.
Christophe Henner has been a leader within the Wikimedia community for more
than 12 years. Prior to joining the Foundation Board in 2016, he served as
Board Chair of Wikimedia France, and had been a member of the chapter’s
Board since 2007. During this time, he spent nearly three years in Vice
Chair and Chair positions. Christophe is currently the Chief Operating
Officer (COO) of the Blade Group, a cloud computing company headquartered
in France. At Blade, Christophe is scaling up operations to support the
company's transition from a start-up to a global company.
The Wikimedia Foundation and Board of Trustees are pleased to announce the
appointed Trustees, Chair, and Vice Chair, who collectively bring many
years of service and commitment to the Wikimedia community and mission.
Other seats on the Board include one seat for Wikipedia’s founder Jimmy
Wales, two seats selected by Wikimedia affiliate organizations, and four
seats appointed by the Board for specific expertise and other needs.
Terms for the community-selected Trustees start today, August 10th, 2017,
and will continue for three years. The newly appointed members join
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Chair Christophe Henner, and Board members
Kelly Battles, Nataliia Tymkiv, and Alice Wiegand.
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
- Christophe Henner, Board Chair
- María Sefidari, Vice Chair
- Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder
- Kelly Battles
- James Heilman
- Dariusz Jemielniak
- Nataliia Tymkiv
- Alice Wiegand
The Wikimedia Foundation Board was formed in 2003. Today, the Board
consists of up to ten Trustees
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees#Current_members>.
Its work is captured in part in resolutions
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolutions> and votes. It appoints
four officers: a Chair <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Chair>and Vice
Chair, and a Treasurer <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Treasurer> and
Secretary <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Secretary>. Other work is
delegated to its committees, including Board Governance, Audit, and Human
Resources committees.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that supports and
operates Wikipedia and its sister free knowledge projects. Wikipedia is the
world’s free knowledge resource, spanning more than 40 million articles
across nearly 300 languages. Every month, more than 200,000 people edit
Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, collectively creating and improving
knowledge that is accessed by more than 1 billion unique devices every
month. This all makes Wikipedia one of the most popular web properties in
the world. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is
a 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
About Wikimania
Wikimania is an annual conference centered on the Wikimedia projects
(Wikipedia and its sister projects) and the Wikimedia community of
volunteers. It features presentations on Wikimedia projects, other wikis,
free and open source software, free knowledge and free content, and the
social and technical aspects which relate to these topics. Wikimania 2017
marks the 13th year of the conference.
Wikimedia Foundation press contact
Juliet Barbara
press(a)wikimedia.org
Board profilesMaría Sefidari
María Sefidari Huici is a professor in the Digital Communications, Culture
and Citizenship Master's degree program <http://cccd.es/wp/> of Rey Juan
Carlos University
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Juan_Carlos_University> at the
MediaLab-Prado <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/es:MediaLab-Prado>.
Born in Madrid, Spain, where she still lives today, María graduated with a
Psychology degree from Universidad Complutense de Madrid
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complutense_University_of_Madrid>, and later
a Master's degree in Management and Tourism at the Business faculty of the
same university. She was a 2014 Techweek Women’s Leadership Fellow
<http://techweek.com/chicago-womens-leadership-program/>, which showcases,
celebrates, and supports emerging female leaders in business and technology.
María started contributing to the Wikimedia projects in 2006, and has since
served in many different roles across the Wikimedia movement. Maria was a
founding member of Wikimedia España
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Espa%C3%B1a> and Wikimujeres
Grupo de Usuarias <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimujeres>, and also
created Spanish Wikipedia's LGBT Wikiproject
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/es:Wikiproyecto:LGBT>. She has served on
several Wikimedia governance committees, including the Affiliations
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee> and Individual
Engagement Grants <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IEG> committees.
In her time on the Affiliations Committee, María served as the first
Treasurer of the committee, effectively overseeing and monitoring
disbursement of the committee's budget. From 2013 to 2015, she was also a
member of the Wikimedia Foundation Board.
María re-joined the Wikimedia Foundation Board in 2016 to fill an
community-nominated seat vacancy, and was later re-confirmed for a second
term in August 2017. Her current term will continue until Wikimania 2020.
In her spare time, María travels around the world, runs wiki-workshops to
engage new editors, and supports Real Madrid Club de Fútbol.
Dariusz Jemelniak
Dr. Dariusz Jemielniak is a full professor of management, the head of
the Center
for Research on Organizations and Workplaces
<http://www.crow.kozminski.edu.pl/>, and a founder of New Research on
Digital Societies <http://nerds.kozminski.edu.pl/>(NeRDS) group at Kozminski
University <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozminski_University>.
Originally from Warsaw <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw>, Poland
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland>, Dariusz studies open collaboration
communities, the phenomenon of organized sharing (including piracy), and
political memes. He has conducted research projects on related issues at
Cornell University, Harvard University, Berkeley, and MIT. In 2014, he
published Common knowledge? An Ethnography of Wikipedia at Stanford
University Press. He has been the recipient of many academic merit awards,
including a 2004 Fulbright Foundation scholarship and the 2009 Polish
Ministry of Science outstanding young scholar award.
Dariusz has held a variety of different roles on Wikipedia, including
administrator, bureaucrat, checkuser, steward, and ombudsman. He served as
the chair of Wikimedia’s Funds Dissemination Committee for three terms.
Dariusz has served as chairperson of the "Inkubator" network for rising
literary talent in Poland, chairperson of the Collegium Invisibile academic
society, and as a member of the the advisory boards of the Copernicus
Science Center and the English Teaching program of the Nida Foundation. He
is also the founder of Ling.pl <http://ling.pl/>, the largest Polish online
dictionary.
James Heilman
Dr. James Heilman is an emergency physician in Cranbrook, British Columbia,
and on the faculty of emergency medicine at the University of British
Columbia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_British_Columbia>.
James was born and raised in rural Saskatchewan, Canada. He completed his
medical degree in 2003 in Saskatchewan, followed by his residency in
British Columbia. James began editing Wikipedia in 2008, after he came
across an article needing improvement in the middle of the night. Realizing
that he could fix the Internet, he quickly became hooked, and later went on
to help found both Wikimedia Canada and Wiki Project Med Foundation
<https://wikiprojectmed.wordpress.com/>.
He has been involved in establishing collaborations to improve Wikipedia’s
medical content, with organizations such as Translators Without Borders
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translators_Without_Borders>, the Cochrane
Collaboration <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochrane_Collaboration>,
the National
Institutes of Health
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institutes_of_Health>, the World
Health Organization
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization>, and the
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. He is a
frequent speaker at medical schools and conferences to encourage his
colleagues to engage with Wikipedia.
James has a background in both distance running and adventure racing,
having completed Morocco’s Marathon Des Sables
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_des_Sables> and the Adventure
Racing World Championships.
Christophe Henner
Christophe Henner is the former Board Chair of Wikimedia France and current
Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Blade Group
<http://www.blade-group.com/>, a cloud computing company headquartered in
France. At Blade, Christophe is scaling up operations to support the
company's transition from a start-up to a global company.
Originally from Lavaur, Christophe studied economics and law at the University
of Toulouse <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Toulouse>. He has
deep and varied experience across the marketing sector, holding a variety
of leadership positions including Head of Marketing at the online media
group, L'Odyssée Interactive, Chief Marketing Officer at an international
digital media group, Webedia <http://www.webedia.com/>, and later deputy
Chief Executive Officer of Webedia's gaming division.
Christophe has been an active member of the Wikimedia community for more
than 12 years. In 2007, he joined the Board of Wikimedia France
<http://www.wikimedia.fr/> and has remained an active Board member in
various positions for the past ten years. Nearly three of those years on
the Board were spent in leadership roles, including Chair and Vice Chair of
the Board.
During his time on the Board, Christophe helped lead Wikimedia France
through a significant period of growth. This included leading the
development of the chapter’s brand and supporting the development of a
clear organizational strategy and vision for the chapter.
--
*Samantha Lien*
Communications Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
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This press release is also available online here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedians_and_free_kn…
A version of this press release is also available on the Wikimedia blog
here:
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/08/11/wikimania-2017-release/
*Wikimedians and free knowledge leaders convene in Montreal for 13th annual
Wikimania*
*Hundreds of volunteer Wikimedians and free knowledge leaders gather in the
heart of Quebec to celebrate Wikipedia, the Wikimedia projects, and the
people who make them possible*
*Representatives from the Wikimedia Foundation, Creative Commons, and
Mozilla announced the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship to honor
Bassel Khartabil, Syrian Wikimedian and global open culture advocate*
*(Montreal, Canada) 11 August 2017*— Roughly 1,000 volunteers and free
knowledge leaders from nearly 70 countries gathered today for the
start of Wikimania
2017 <https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimania>—the
annual conference celebrating Wikipedia and its sister projects,
the Wikimedia movement, and the community of volunteers who make them
possible. This marks the 13th annual Wikimania, which takes place on 11–13
August at the Centre Sheraton Hotel in Montreal, coinciding with Montreal’s
375th anniversary.
The event kicked off with an opening ceremony featuring Jimmy Wales,
founder of Wikipedia, Katherine Maher, Executive Director of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Benoit Rochon of Wikimedia Canada, and Harout Chitilian,
Vice-chairman of the Executive Committee for the City of Montreal.
During the ceremony, Maher joined Creative Commons CEO Ryan
Merkley, Mozilla Executive Director Mark Surman, and representatives from
the #NEWPALMRYA Project <http://www.newpalmyra.org/> to announce the
inauguration of the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship. The
fellowship commemorates Bassel Khartabil
<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/08/03/bassel-khartabil/>, Syrian
Wikimedian and global open culture advocate, who was recently confirmed to
have been executed in 2015 after being detained by the Syrian government in
2012. To honor Bassel’s contributions, the fellowship will support the work
of outstanding individuals developing culture under adverse circumstances.
Throughout this year’s Wikimania, attendees will explore sessions related
to the advancement of free knowledge, the role of academia and cultural
institutions, technology in free knowledge, privacy and digital rights, and
Wikimedia’s future as part of Wikimedia 2030
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017>, a
global discussion to define the future direction of the Wikimedia movement.
Wikimania 2017, being held for the first time ever in Canada, is
co-organized by the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Canada
<https://ca.wikimedia.org/wiki/Home>, the local Wikimedia affiliate
organization in Canada.
Wikimania 2017 will also bring together a diverse mix of attendees,
including seasoned volunteer editors; researchers and data scientists;
members from the medical community; librarians; and other free knowledge
leaders, including featured speakers Susan Herman
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_N._Herman>, President of the American
Civil Liberties Union, and Esra'a Al-Shafei
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esra%27a_Al-Shafei>, Bahraini human rights
activist and defender of free speech.
“There’s something incredibly unique about Wikipedia’s model,” said
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. “At its heart, Wikipedia is about people
coming together to connect across countries, languages and cultures to
build a shared understanding of our world. Wikimania is a time when this
global community can meet, share experiences and participate in
conversations about subjects that matter most to us as Wikimedians.”
Attendees of the conference can also experience #NEWPALMYRA's 3D-printed
Tetrapylon <http://www.newpalmyra.org/>, a freely-licensed recreation of
one of the most famous structures in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra,
which was destroyed by ISIS forces in 2016. The exhibit honors the founder
of the #NEWPALMYRA project, Bassel Khartabil. A passionate advocate for the
free exchange of knowledge, culture, and heritage, Bassel’s contributions
have been credited with “opening up the Internet in Syria and vastly
extending online access and knowledge to the Syrian people” by the European
Parliament.
"Bassel was known in the free knowledge movement for his boundless
enthusiasm and passion, always encouraging others to share, create, and
connect with the world around them,” said Katherine Maher, Executive
Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. “Like Bassel, we believe that a
commitment to expression, openness, and creativity is a reminder of our
shared humanity, and the foundation for a better world. Through the Bassel
Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship, we hope to carry on Bassel’s work to
protect and preserve the values to which he dedicated his life.”
Wikimania also offers conference-goers time to experience the unique
culture of Montreal. As the city honors its birth and growth over almost
four centuries, there will be opportunities
<https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Montr%C3%A9al> for attendees to
explore the city’s rich history through cultural tours, music, and cuisine.
"Wikimedia Canada members will present inspiring projects at Wikimania
2017, the result of successful collaborations with several Canadian public
and private institutions,” explained Wikimedia Canada President Benoit
Rochon. “The archives of BAnQ (Bibliothèque et archives nationales du
Québec) on Wikimedia Commons which have been viewed more than 30 million
times, the first Aboriginal encyclopedia in Canada
<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/05/15/atikamekw-wikipedia-initiative/>
(Atikamekw,
one of the largest and still active First Nations language) on Wikipedia
and the WikiMed conference are all unique accomplishments we will proudly
share with the international Wikimania participants.”
Other featured speakers include Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales in
conversation with anthropologist, academic and author Gabriella (Biella)
Coleman and moderated by internet entrepreneur Evan Prodromou; Bibliothèque
et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) Archivist-Coordinator Frédéric
Giuliano and Hélène Laverdure, Curator and Director General of the National
Archives at BAnQ; and Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Katherine
Maher, who will take the stage with Christophe Henner, the Chair of the
Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, to discuss the future of the
Wikimedia movement as part of Wikimedia 2030. You can learn more about the
conference at: wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that supports and
operates Wikipedia and its sister free knowledge projects. Wikipedia is the
world’s free knowledge resource, spanning more than 40 million articles
across nearly 300 languages. Every month, more than 200,000 people edit
Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, collectively creating and improving
knowledge that is accessed by more than 1 billion unique devices every
month. This all makes Wikipedia one of the most popular web properties in
the world. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is
a 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
About Wikimedia Canada
Wikimedia Canada <https://ca.wikimedia.org/wiki/Home> is an independent
nonprofit organization committed to the growth, development and
distribution of free knowledge in Canada, mainly by supporting the
development of content on the Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia. The
organization's work focuses on supporting and engaging Canadian individuals
and institutions to collect, develop and disseminate knowledge and other
educational, cultural and historical content in all languages of Canada,
including Aboriginal languages, under a free license or in the public
domain.
About Wikimania
Wikimania is the annual conference centered on the Wikimedia projects
(Wikipedia and its sister projects) and the Wikimedia community of
volunteers. It features presentations on Wikimedia projects, other wikis,
free and open source software, free knowledge, and and more. Wikimania 2017
marks the 13th year of the conference.
About the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship
The Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship—organized by Creative Commons,
Mozilla, the #NEWPALMYRA Project, the Wikimedia Foundation and others—will
support the work of outstanding individuals developing the culture of their
communities under adverse circumstances. Special consideration will be
given to applicants operating within closed societies and in developing
economies where other forms of support are scarce. Applications from the
Levant and wider MENA region are greatly encouraged. The one-year
fellowship, totaling $50,000 USD, is supported by funding from Wikimedia
Foundation, Mozilla, and the Jimmy Wales Foundation, and facilitated by
Creative Commons.
Wikimedia Foundation press contact
Juliet Barbara
press(a)wikimedia.org
--
*Samantha Lien*
Communications Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
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Katherine Maher just announced at Wikimania 2017 that all scholarship
recipients who were unable to obtain a visa, will be automatically
granted a scholarship for Wikimania 2018.
--
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
Hi all!
I apologize that we have not had a formal update the last couple of weeks —
with Wikimedia Conference, the associated Board meeting, and our regular
annual planning, I dropped the ball. The good news is that — as you have
probably seen and heard — a lot of discussions are taking place!
This week, I’m experimenting with a different type of update: now that the
conversations have launched, I will be sharing fewer bullet points about
the process, and more paragraphs about the overall work that is going on
around the movement. As more conversations happen, I hope future updates
will continue to be substantive, sharing key themes and discussions as we
see them emerge.
Last week, more than 350 Wikimedia community leaders from 70 countries and
many different stakeholder groups converged on Berlin, during the annual
meeting of movement affiliates, the Wikimedia Conference. This year,
leaders from movement affiliates were joined by an additional 200 leaders
from across the Wikimedia movement to participate in a program track
focused on movement strategy. In addition to participating in some
in-person discussions about our shared future direction, volunteers also
discussed ways to help spread this effort across their activities and
groups.
You may be wondering — where are the minutes from our meetings in Berlin?
Great question. Unusually for our community, the Berlin strategy track was
almost entirely analog, with markers and paper and sticky notes. The
facilitation team is in the process of digitalizing all of these materials,
from session notes to summaries and final statements. You can keep an eye
(or watch) on the Sources page[1] to keep track as additional materials are
posted - and jump in to respond and discuss as appropriate!
The discussions in Berlin are just one of the many ways people across the
movement have been able to engage in the strategy process since my last
update. Approximately 50 volunteers and groups are helping coordinate
discussions and several on-wiki discussions are already underway. This
cycle (the first of three) will run until April 15th, so there’s still a
week to share your thoughts - please do!
All of these are opportunities for you to contribute your thoughts on the
question, "What do we want to build or achieve together over the next 15
years?" For example, if you think we should go to deep space (after all,
we've gone to the Moon[2]), tell us more! Have a quick thought you want to
contribute? We want to hear it! Check out the participation page on
Meta-Wiki's movement strategy portal for more information on where and how
you can engage in this global conversation:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10152617
As conversations continue, we are busy following along. Summaries of the
on-wiki discussions are being posted on Meta-Wiki,[3] along notes from 64
recent discussions (and counting!)[1] We are thrilled to see the many
different ways and places our community are finding to have this important
discussion about our future. As key themes emerge across communities, I
hope to share them here.
About communications: recently, Nicole provided an overview of the progress
and plans for Track A during our monthly activities and metrics meeting.[4]
We are also working on a blog post announcing the official start of the
movement strategy process. In addition to these communications, we’ll keep
updating these weekly updates. We appreciate all the positive and
constructive feedback we have received on these updates so far, and invite
you to send us more on-wiki.[5] As we know, the more communications about
what is going on, the better.
Thank you for your continued engagement in this process. I have to confess
that while I’ve been excited about these conversations, I wasn’t fully
certain how everything would go once we launched. There is a big difference
between having a lot of notes on a whiteboard, and actually starting a
free-wheeling, global, multilingual community conversation with such a wide
and diverse group of people. Three weeks into the launch of the first
discussion, I’m genuinely humbled by what everyone is bringing to the
conversation. This community is brilliant, our vision is inspiring, our
challenges are great (and exciting), and we have so much opportunity ahead.
I’m grateful to be able to work alongside you.
Schönes Wochenende! (German translation: “Have a good weekend!”)
Cheers,
Katherine
PS. A version of this message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.[6]
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Sources
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_to_the_Moon
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Sources/Su…
[4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_metrics_and_activities…
[5]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Updat…
[6]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Updates/7_…
--
Katherine Maher
Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
+1 (415) 839-6885 ext. 6635
+1 (415) 712 4873
kmaher(a)wikimedia.org
Hello everyone,
If you are interested in The Wikipedia Library or Wikipedia and
Libraries, we have an event that might just suit you. We're talking
about the *Birds of a feather discussion: Wikipedia + Libraries Meetup*
that will happen in Wikimania 2017 on Friday, August 11.
If you are coming in-person, come join us in the venue at the time given
below!
Venue: *Joyce/Jarry (level A)*
Time: *Friday August 11, 13:00 - 13:30 EDT (17:00 - 17:30 UTC)*
You'll be getting a chance to meet librarians, Wikipedians, publishers
and other community leaders. You'll also learn how to get involved in
your community, how to collaborate and how to take upon projects and
create an impact.
If you won't be able to join us in-person, we'll also be taking your
questions from the Wikipedia + Libraries Etherpad
<https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Wikipedia_%2B_Libraries> and the
Wikipedia + Libraries Facebook group
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/WikiLibrary/>. Please ask your question
in the above forums and we'll try our best to bring them into the
discussion.
For more information on the event, please refer to the submission page
<https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Wikipedia_%2B_Librarie…>.
For a list of all Wikipedia and Libraries related events, please visit
this meta page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Library_User_Group/Wikimania_2017>.
Thank you,
Aaron
--
Aaron Vasanth
Global Coordinator
The Wikipedia Library
Wikimedia Foundation
avasanth(a)wikimedia.org <mailto:avasanth@wikimedia.org>