Hi everyone,

We are officially one week away from Wikipedia’s 20th birthday! 🎉 Please see below for the latest updates about the celebration and ways to support and participate:

Virtual birthday party

For Wikipedia's 20th birthday party [1] on 15 January, we'd love to hear from you, highlight your work, and have your help to spread the word. Here is how to get involved:

1.

Record a video saying “Happy Birthday” or birthday wishes for Wikipedia in your language for our birthday video montage. You can record and submit a short clip (under 30 seconds) via your phone or computer by going to the Tribute webpage [2]. The deadline to submit a video is 12 January. * 2.

If you have a Wikimedia-related fun fact or accomplishment from the movement that you would like us to highlight in the celebration, please add it to the talk page on Meta [3], and we’ll highlight these during the celebration. 3.

Invite your followers to the event on social media. Here’s a sample post to adapt for your channels: Happy early 20th birthday to @Wikipedia, the world's largest free online encyclopedia! Join us at their virtual party on Friday, 15 January to celebrate Wikipedia and the people who make it possible. Details: link https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/01/01/you-are-invited-to-wikipedias-20th-birthday-party/ #Wikipedia20

Happy birthday videos to use at your event! Check out the Meta page [4] for multiple resources that you can use for your local birthday celebrations, including a birthday video message [5] from Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Katherine Maher and video clips of happy birthday in multiple languages.

Social media: #Wikipedia20

Visit the updated social media section on Meta [6] for posts to share on your channels before and on 15 January. These are the main things to know:

-

Please use #Wikipedia20 and tag @Wikipedia in all posts so we can help share them -

Before 15 January, we would greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about the virtual event [1] -

On 15 January, the Wikimedia Foundation will officially begin celebrating Wikipedia Day at 7:00 am UTC [7]. You can see our content plans on Meta. Please retweet and share our posts. -

On 15 January, please send Wikipedia a happy birthday message and encourage your followers to do the same. Link to the commemorative website ( 20.wikipedia.org) and include celebratory graphics [8]. -

If you would like additional amplification from the Wikimedia and/or Wikipedia social media accounts of materials you are sharing, please complete this form [9] with the relevant details.

FYI — paid video promotions

The Foundation will also be promoting videos that celebrate the birthday through paid digital media on a variety of non-Wikimedia websites. These will start on 15 January and continue for about four weeks. The plan is to reach existing Wikipedia readers in Nigeria and the United States with the following two goals:

1.

To inform them about the Wikimedia movement, broadly defined 2.

To increase awareness of the humans that power the Wikimedia sites

As a reminder, you can stay up-to-date by watching the Wikipedia 20 discussion page [10], and joining the Facebook group [11] and Telegram group [12].

If you have questions, please email wikipedia20@wikimedia.org or use the discussion page [10].

We are so excited to celebrate with you next week!

Samir + the entire Wikipedia 20 team

[1] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/01/01/you-are-invited-to-wikipedias-20th-bir...

[2] https://www.tribute.co/wikipedia/

[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikipedia_20/Global_event

[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_20/Resources

[5] https://w.wiki/tZn

[6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_20/Media#Social_Media

[7] https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=%23Wikipedia20+soc...

[8] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_20/Resources

[9] https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchEZ_-8jCJP6E6UQguy_MjOYgoNUfSyzNh...

[10] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikipedia_20

[11] https://www.facebook.com/groups/3028324960606545

[12] https://t.me/joinchat/E1HSNh2q8E-XPzdw3pLUIw *Tribute is a third party service based in the United States, with its own terms of service https://www.tribute.co/termsofservice/ and privacy policy https://www.tribute.co/privacy/. Please review their terms and privacy policy before submitting your video. In order to submit your video, you may need to provide Tribute with a name and email address. If you are not comfortable submitting your real name or email, we recommend using a username or pseudonym instead. By submitting a video, you are giving the Foundation consent to include your segment in the birthday montage, which will be shared during the virtual party, linked on the birthday meta page, and shared via our social channels.

Samir Elsharbaty (he/him)

Brand Associate

Wikimedia Foundation https://wikimediafoundation.org/