Dear Wikimedia Community Members,

As promised, here we are providing more updates around the development of Wikimania 2021! 

With only 2 months and 26 days left, we are walking steadfast into the first-ever virtual development for the biggest Wikimedia community event of the year!

Without further ado, here are a few updates to kick start the week:

• Session submissions: 

• Program submissions will open on May 21st. Proposals can be submitted as a Movement Group, Affiliate, Individual or as a Collective of individuals. 

• More details will be coming later this week, so please be on the lookout for updates.

• Scheduling Principles: 

• We are taking into consideration all time zones for Wikimania and will have a broad mix of UTC start and end times. 

• We plan to have a more elaborate programme on the weekend, less heavy program on weekdays to accommodate diverse individual schedules.

• There will be a combination of live and on-demand content.

• The first day of the five days of Wikimania is dedicated to the Hackathon.

• There is a two-hour break each day.

• On-demand content will be available during the event.

• Programming principles:

• Unconference and Networking activities run concurrently during all five days.

• The Collective & Individual Submissions tracks are running concurrently.

• Level of participation and expertise level will be taken into consideration (Three levels of content for: newcomers, intermediates, and experts).

• There will be on-demand content and support dedicated to newcomers.

• Wikimania registration

• Since this year will be our first-ever virtual experiment for Wikimania, and we want to maximize attendance; there will be no registration costs for event participants! Registering for the 2021 virtual Wikimania will be free of charge!

• We are opening up an additional Call for volunteers: Fill out the survey here.

• Trust and Safety tasks (Session Moderation, Help Desk Support and enforcing Trust and Safety Policy)

• Session Submissions Peer Review (Reviewing Session Submissions and logistics)

This is all folks! We’ll be back with more news next Monday and on Friday the 21st with details around session submissions!

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Best Wishes,

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