Dear Wikimedians,
Wiki Indaba is the official regional conference of the Wikimedia Foundation
for Africans both within and in the diaspora with interest in African
continent in addition to other open knowledge activators who are aligned
with the open information sharing mission.Topics of presentation and
dialogue include Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, other wikis,
open-source software, free knowledge, free content and how these projects
affect the African continent.
The 2020 edition of the conference was supposed to be held in Kampala,
Uganda but was postponed and will instead be held as a virtual event hosted
by the Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda from 5th - 7th November 2021
Whether you are a community member of one of the Wikimedia projects (such
as Wikipedia, Wikidata or others), or a fellow open content creator or
consumer, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in Uganda welcomes your
participation in this survey to identify themes and topics that would not
only be inclusive but also be of interest to you and your community.
Please give us your feedback by filling this survey http://shorturl.at/ltPR7
not later than 12th August 2021
Kind regards,
Geoffrey Kateregga
Communications Lead,
Virtual Wiki Indaba 2021
Dear everyone,
We are happy to share that Houcemeddine Turki, Wojciech Pędzich, Linar
Khalitov and Mardetanha are new members who have been appointed to the
Affiliations Committee.
Here are Houcemeddine Turki, Wojciech Pędzich, Linar Khalitov and Mohsen in
their own words:
1.
Houcemeddine Turki:
I am Houcemeddine Turki. I speak Tunisian Arabic as a native language.
However, I am keen on other varieties of Arabic including Modern Standard
Arabic, Algerian Arabic, Libyan Arabic, Egyptian Arabic and North Levantine
Arabic. I speak French and English as an upper-intermediate user (CEFR B2)
and Italian as an elementary user (CEFR A2) and I am a beginner in German
and Maltese (CEFR A1). So, I consider myself as a polyglot. In my real
life, I am a medical student and a research assistant in Biomedical Data
Science, Computational Linguistics, Library and Information Science and
Semantic Web at University of Sfax, Tunisia. As a Wikimedia volunteer, I
have been a Wikipedian between 2009 and 2019 before shifting all my
interest to Wikidata. I am mainly interested in developing tools and
efficient methods to ameliorate reference support and data quality of
Wikimedia projects and in ameliorating the coverage of regional and
scholarly topics in Wikipedia and in sister projects.
1.
Wojciech Pędzich:
I feel I can enrich the AffCom with my experience as Wikimedia Polska's
functionary and the functionary of the Wikimedia projects. I have a
background in English and in organisational management, with my M. Sc. on
content creation limitations on Wikipedia; I have also made a failed
attempt at a Ph. D. in leadership in open collaboration projects. I am also
a translator, including of Wikimedia and open collaboration-related books.
1.
Linar Khalitov:
I am a long-term Wikimedian mainly active in Russian Wikipedia and
Commons. I started contributing in 2007, and during that time, I have been
in different roles: sysop and bureaucrat in ru.wiki, OTRS member, sysop on
Commons (still keep the status), ombudsman, member of IEG and PEG (still
hold position), Wikimedia RU member (still there). I am also an active bot
owner with more than 1 mln edits on the bot account.
I am based in Kazan, Russia, have a financial degree and have practically
finished my EMBA in London Business School (graduation in July 2021). I
know English, Russian and Tatar languages (though my English is better
despite being a Tatar native). I have a full-time executive job in Russia.
Still, I am sure that I will be available enough as my MBA finishes, and my
grant committee participation will be over soon, too, due to the relaunch
of the grant approach by WMF.
I believe in the mission of Wikimedia movement and have always tried to
help and participate in promoting knowledge. I am sure that there is much
work to do as even in my region (European part of Russia) most people still
don't understand how Wikimedia projects operate, what benefits they provide
and how others can contribute. I think that chapters are the way of
promoting Wikimedia values around the globe and want to dedicate my
experience and knowledge in helping chapters to build sustainable models.
1.
Mardetanha:
Having joined wikimedia in 2005, I have been more serious about
contributing in 2007. Since then, I have been full time Wikimedian,
actively involved in many projects and in different languages, and been an
administrator for many, including Meta and Commons. After graduating, I
worked in a different field, but I have a background in engineering.
Currently, I'm living in Zanjan, Iran. Farsi and Azerbaijani are my native
languages. Additionally, I know English well, have extensive knowledge of
Turkish, and I am familiar with many Iranian language. My belief has always
been that affiliates are the heart of our movement, so the stronger the
affiliates, the greater the movement overall, In light of this, I feel
compelled to join AffCom and strengthen the movement.
Please join me in welcoming the newly-appointed members of AffCom.
*Kindly,---*
*Mehman Ibragimov*
*Vice-Chair*
*Affiliations Committee
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee>*
Hello all,
The West Bengal Wikimedians User Group
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/West_Bengal_Wikimedians> has reserved a
table at the Community Village of Wikimania 2021.
If you have already registered for Wikimania, you can find us in the
following link -
https://live.remo.co/e/wikimania-2021/
We will be at *Building 1, Floor 4, Table 19* for the next 4 days for you
all to interact. Some of our activities and projects will also be displayed
through the *Whiteboard *there.
See you all there!
Regards,
Bodhisattwa
(On behalf of West Bengal Wikimedians User Group)
Hi Everyone,
We wish to remind everyone that Wikimania 2021 registration closes 23:59
UTC today, Thursday, August 12.
The registration link is
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wikimania-2021-tickets-161884957265
For further information, you can also visit our event wiki at Wikimania.org.
Wikimania Telegram channel is also online at https://t.me/WikimaniaChat
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Butch Bustria
In behalf of the Wikimania Steering Committee and Organizing Committee
Dear Community Members,
Wikimania 2021 is around the corner, kickstarting with Hackathon this
Friday, August 13, and we just can’t wait. We would like to share some
reminders and important updates with you.
Registration
We are nearing 2500 registrants already! That’s bigger than any in-person
Wikimania. We want to ensure everyone’s safety and as such, will be closing
registration on Thursday, August 12 @ 23:59 UTC. If you haven’t done so
already, please register now
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Registration>. Registering will
allow you to receive updates from the organizers, immerse in the virtual
platform, and most importantly, interact with other participants and host
sessions.
Attendee Information
And speaking of registering, we hope to share participant information on
Monday, including links to Remo
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/08/03/virtual-wikimania-2021-finding-your-w…>,
our virtual platform space, and other important information to prepare you
for Wikimania 2021.
Volunteers
We are still looking for volunteers
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Volunteer> for various roles. If
you are interested, sign up to help. There are different roles and your
help is greatly appreciated.
Digital Resources
As with every Wikimania, and even more so a virtual one, we have
awesome digital
assets <https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Resources> to share with
you so you can use and share on yourself. Want to print a t-shirt for you
and your friends? Need social media posts or cool backgrounds, we got you
covered.
Hackathon
We will be kickstarting Wikimania 2021 with an all-day Hackathon
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Hackathon>! Please make sure to
register your session on the Hackathon schedule and join us for a day full
of collaborative work around the clock and around the world!
Community Village + Unconference
After the Hackathon, we have 4 full days of programming starting at
different times each day. As with every Wikimania, we will also have a
Community
Village <https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Community_Village>.
There are 140 tables available where you can share information for people
to see, and you don’t even have to be there. Finally, we will also be
hosting an Unconference space where any attendee can host a session and
gather with up to 20 other attendees. Reserve your Unconference space now
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Unconference>.
Best Wishes,
Winnie Kabintie (User:Ms_Kabintie
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Kabintie>), on behalf of the
Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team.
Hello all,
We invite you all to sign up for Toolhub's Quality Signal sessions!
Toolhub <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Toolhub> [1] is a
community-authored catalog of Wikimedia tools. On Toolhub, you will be able
to discover new tools in the Wikimedia ecosystem, promote their use in your
wiki community, and help improve them by contributing data. Toolhub's first
release is planned around Wikimania 2021.
The Toolhub team is currently working on identifying quality indicators
through conversations with tool users and developers. As a tool user, how
do you know which tool is reliable, useful, and safe to use? As a tool
maintainer, what makes it attractive to you to contribute to an existing
tool? What information are you looking for to decide whether to join a tool
project? We hope that these sessions will help gather quality indicators
for tools and provide valuable insight toward developing new features to
convey the quality.
Want to organize a quality signal session in your community in August/early
September? Please get in touch on the talk page or sign-up for an already
planned session by adding your name below it: <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Toolhub/The_Quality_Signal_Sessions> [2].
Your feedback, thoughts, ideas would be valuable!
If you are attending Wikimania, we are running a few introductions and a
feedback session as part of the unconference. Learn more here: <
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Unconference/Toolhub> [3].
Cheers,
Srishti
On behalf of the Toolhub team
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Toolhub
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Toolhub/The_Quality_Signal_Sessions
[3] https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Unconference/Toolhub
*Srishti Sethi*
Senior Developer Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Hello all,
This email is a reminder to start proposing projects and sessions for this
year’s Wikimania hackathon, taking place on August 13th (the first day of
Wikimania). You may have already seen the announcement email last week with
all the details.
This year’s hackathon will take place in a 24 hrs format covering all time
zones. You can start proposing a session or a project by following the
guidelines here: <
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Hackathon#Propose_a_project_or_a_…>
[1].
We also encourage folks to reuse the video of a previously recorded session
(in lecture format) to organize a watch party-style session. And, you can
pause during or after for questions and discussions. That way, you have to
do less prep, and one can watch your session at any time during the event.
There isn't a specific focus area proposed this time, so your session or
project needn't fit under a theme. Anything that involves MediaWiki
development or covers a technical area in the Wikimedia ecosystem. Plus, we
welcome sessions that would be helpful to newcomers–new to the event, our
technical spaces, or projects.
If you have any questions, feel free to use the related talk page to
contact the organizing team or join the community conversation on Telegram:
<https://t.me/wikimaniachat> [2].
We look forward to your participation!
Cheers,
Srishti
On behalf of the Wikimania Hackathon organizing team
[1]
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Hackathon#Propose_a_project_or_a_…
[2] https://t.me/wikimaniachat
*Srishti Sethi*
Senior Developer Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Dear Community Members,
As promised, we have published a series of posts on Diff with key information
for event participants <https://diff.wikimedia.org/tag/wikimania-2021/>.
There you will find information about navigating your way around the
virtual space Remo and the program, technical solutions, measures to make
the experience more welcoming and inclusive, accessing the amazing content
during (and after) the events … and so much more. Make sure to read them.
Office Hours
In case you have any questions, this week and next week, we will be
hosting office
hours - Wed. Aug 4 (3pm UTC), Fri. Aug. 6 (5pm UTC), Mon. Aug. 9 (10am
UTC), Tues. Aug. 10 (8am UTC), Wed. Aug. 11 (3pm UTC). For more
information, visit https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Organizers
Best Wishes,
Winnie Kabintie (User:Ms_Kabintie
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Kabintie>), on behalf of the
Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team.
Hi all,
Join the Research Team at the Wikimedia Foundation [1] for their monthly
Office hours this Tuesday, 2021-08-03, at 16:00-17:00 UTC (9am PT/6pm
CEST).
To participate, join the video-call via this link [2]. There is no set
agenda - feel free to add your item to the list of topics in the etherpad
[3] (You can do this after you join the meeting, too.), otherwise you are
welcome to also just hang out. More detailed information (e.g. about how to
attend) can be found here [4].
Through these office hours, we aim to make ourselves more available to
answer some of the research related questions that you as Wikimedia
volunteer editors, organizers, affiliates, staff, and researchers face in
your projects and initiatives. Some example cases we hope to be able to
support you in:
-
You have a specific research related question that you suspect you
should be able to answer with the publicly available data and you don’t
know how to find an answer for it, or you just need some more help with it.
For example, how can I compute the ratio of anonymous to registered editors
in my wiki?
-
You run into repetitive or very manual work as part of your Wikimedia
contributions and you wish to find out if there are ways to use machines to
improve your workflows. These types of conversations can sometimes be
harder to find an answer for during an office hour, however, discussing
them can help us understand your challenges better and we may find ways to
work with each other to support you in addressing it in the future.
-
You want to learn what the Research team at the Wikimedia Foundation
does and how we can potentially support you. Specifically for affiliates:
if you are interested in building relationships with the academic
institutions in your country, we would love to talk with you and learn
more. We have a series of programs that aim to expand the network of
Wikimedia researchers globally and we would love to collaborate with those
of you interested more closely in this space.
-
You want to talk with us about one of our existing programs [5].
Hope to see many of you,
Martin on behalf of the WMF Research Team
[1] https://research.wikimedia.org
[2] https://meet.jit.si/WMF-Research-Office-Hours
[3] https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Research-Analytics-Office-hours
[4] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Research/Office_hours
[5] https://research.wikimedia.org/projects.html
--
Martin Gerlach
Research Scientist
Wikimedia Foundation
Dear Community Members,
We are excited to share the program
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Program> for this year’s
Wikimania with you! This was a huge effort as we received an unexpectedly
high number of submissions and as much as possible, we wanted to include
all of them. We created two whole new tracks just for this — in addition to
the original two, the plenary, and the Unconference and on-demand tracks.
We thank you all for your patience and understanding as we bring virtual
Wikimania live.
The program table is a work in progress and over the next few days, we will
edit and build it out with more information.
We will share a series of blog posts tomorrow on Diff
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/tag/wikimania-2021/>with event specifics and
technical solutions for this first-ever virtual edition of Wikimania. All
registered participants will also receive specific guidance by email in the
next few days.
Upcoming Office Hours and Remo Practice Days
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Organizers>: Starting Tuesday,
August 3 at 10 AM UTC, we would also like to invite you to join us at our
upcoming Office Hours and practice days to walk through our event platform
Remo and answer any question you may have around the platform and how to
use it. 5 other opportunities are available to hop on Remo and ask us any
questions. Please check for a time and day that works for you.
Best Wishes,
Winnie Kabintie (User:Ms_Kabintie
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ms_Kabintie>), on behalf of the
Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team.
Hello everyone. I have just noticed the registration on eventbrite has been closed. Would it be reopened at a later time? If not, how should we help latecomers to participate in the event?
Best Regards,
Temp3600
Dear fellow Wikimedians,
Movement Strategy announces the Call for Candidates for the Movement
Charter Drafting Committee
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Movement_Charter/Draftin…>.
The Call opens August 2, 2021 and closes September 1, 2021.
The Committee is expected to represent diversity in the Movement
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Movement_Charter/Draftin…>.
Diversity includes gender, language, geography, and experience. This
comprises participation in projects, affiliates, and the Wikimedia
Foundation.
English fluency is not required to become a member. If needed, translation
and interpretation support is provided. Members will receive an allowance
to offset participation costs. It is US$100 every two months.
We are looking for people who have some of the following skills
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Movement_Charter/Draftin…>
:
- Know how to write collaboratively. (demonstrated experience is a plus)
- Are ready to find compromises.
- Focus on inclusion and diversity.
- Have knowledge of community consultations.
- Have intercultural communication experience.
- Have governance or organization experience in non-profits or
communities.
- Have experience negotiating with different parties.
The Committee is expected to start with 15 people. If there are 20 or more
candidates, a mixed election and selection process will happen. If there
are 19 or fewer candidates, then the process of selection without election
takes place.
Will you help move Wikimedia forward in this important role? As August 2
has arrived to the most "eastern" time zones (e.g. the Line Islands
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_Islands>), you can already *submit your
candidacy here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Drafting_Committee/Candida…>*
.
Please contact strategy2030[image: (_AT_)]wikimedia.org with questions.
Wishing you all a wonderful month of August!
--
Kaarel Vaidla (he/him)
Movement Strategy <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/2030>
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>