Dear Wikimedians, dear representatives of Wikimedia affiliates, A few weeks ago, we announced that the next Wikimedia Conference will take place from April 20 to 22, 2018 at the Mercure Hotel in Berlin-Neukölln (same location as in 2017). This email contains information about the program themes and the Eligibility Criteria for invited affiliates including the relevant reporting deadlines. == Program Themes == As in the previous editions of the conference, the Wikimedia Conference 2018 will again focus on three core themes. - Movement Strategy: In November 2017, phase 2 of the Wikimedia Movement Strategy Process will start. Its main goal will be to answer the question "How do we implement the strategic direction", which means identifying the roles and resources needed for execution, and the activities it involves. In order to ensure participation from the organized part of the movement in this next phase, we will again host a three-day track on movement strategy. This track will be designed together with the Wikimedia Foundation. - Partnerships in the Wikimedia Movement: Wikimedia organizations and groups have a wide variety of experiences and knowledge in working with partners to achieve our mission. Based on the conversation at the last Wikimedia Conference, Wikimania, and regional Wikimedia conferences, we aim to continue to offer a space for conversations, experience sharing and learning around partnerships within and outside the Wikimedia movement. This track will be designed together with the Wikimedia Foundation’s Global Reach & Partnerships team, WMDE’s Partnerships & Development team and the volunteer “Partnerships group”. - Capacity Building & Learning: The Wikimedia Conference currently is one of the main spaces for learning and sharing among Wikimedia affiliates. Again, we will host a track with sessions that are designed according to the participants’ needs, wishes and experiences. This track will be designed in close consultation with WMF’s Learning & Evaluation team, and will complement the pre-conference Learning Days. == Eligibility Criteria == The eligibility criteria for participating in the Wikimedia Conference 2018 are aligned to the Affiliates’ Agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation. Chapters, Thematic Organizations and User Groups must have shown signs of recent activity (within the last six months) and be up-to-date on their reporting by the eligibility deadline (December 15, 2017). Moreover, affiliates need to have been officially recognized by the Wikimedia Foundation before April 19, 2017. == Participant number regulation == - Chapters, Thematic Organizations and User Groups may send two delegates. Chapters and Thematic Organizations which employ at least 0.5 FTE by Sep 1, 2017, may send one additional delegate who is a paid staff member. - Allied organizations may send two delegates. - The biggest ten language/project communities (by numbers of active editors [>5 edits/month]) that are not represented by any affiliate, or have an affiliate, which is not eligible because it was recognized after April 19, 2017, may send one delegate. - As per September 2017, the biggest communities without an (eligible) affiliate representation are the Japanese, Vietnamese, Tamil, Bengali, Slovak, Croatian, Hindi and Malay, Wikimedia Commons and Wikivoyage communities. - The user groups West Bengal Wikimedians User Group (for the Bengali community), Hindi Wikimedians User Group (for the Hindi community), Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia (for the Malay community), as well as the Commons Photographers User Group (for the Wikimedia Commons community) and the Wikivoyage Association (for the Wikivoyage communities) may send one delegate. For the language communities (Japanese, Vietnamese, Tamil, Slovak, Croatian), decision finding and making process on who will be the one person sent to the conference, need to be made in the public (on-wiki). == Registration timeline == The registration process will start on November 24, 2018 and will end sharply (no exceptions), on January 15, 2018. The link will be provided on Meta.[1] If you have any questions regarding the registration process or the Wikimedia Conference, please do not hesitate to send us an e-mail to wmcon(a)wikimedia.de. Warm regards, Daniela Gentner & Cornelius Kibelka Wikimedia Conference team [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2018 -- Cornelius Kibelka Program and Engagement Coordinator (PEC) for the Wikimedia Conference Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin Tel. (030) 219 158 26-0 http://wikimedia.de Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch an der Menge allen Wissens frei teilhaben kann. Helfen Sie uns dabei! http://spenden.wikimedia.de/ Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207