Wikimedia Conference 2018: Program themes, eligibility criteria and reporting deadlines - Wikimedia-l

23 Oct 2017

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