Dear Affiliates,
It has been a very tough 20 months since the community last experienced the
joy and delight of coming together at Wikimania. Wikimedia Foundation staff
have been working hard since the decision was taken to cancel Wikimania in
Bangkok in 2020, trying to find a way we can come together and celebrate
our movement.
For 2021 we are going to host a virtual Wikimania with the aim of it being
by and for the community. We recently established the Core Organising Team
(COT) with volunteers from across our communities. As the COT develops the
event we will seek out your support and appreciate your help throughout
this new, yet very exciting process
WIKIMANIA UPDATES
In case you haven’t seen the latest information around this year’s virtual
Wikimania, here’s a few links to inform you of the latest developments.
-
Save the Date & Core Organizing Team
<https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/OSYVJCIGN2XYJYG7ZMOWPY4FICPLEVK7/>
-
Call for Community Input
<https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/C6TZHX47BE3INAC3ACRZERN3ZWBYTAD2/>
We will be sharing Wikimania updates with the larger movement on a weekly
basis. Please see the link below for the first of this weekly series.
-
Scholarships & Sessions
<https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/AEP37MQVKM3Y7YDYMVMJU3X7RU7CUWEA/>
The official Wikimania Wiki is currently being developed, and we will be
going live with this soon.
WIKIMANIA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
As you may know, every year some people are awarded a scholarship to attend
Wikimania. These scholarships are through programs offered by different
affiliate organizations or the Foundation. The format of those scholarships
has been changed for this year as we don’t need to fund travel,
accomodation, conference fees, or visas for a virtual event. We do,
however, still have the resources that are usually allocated to Wikimania’s
scholarship program available. We therefore want to distribute those funds
to affiliate organizations interested in this opportunity.
This year we can lower the individual costs of scholarships, yet aim
bigger, and help more people participate in a virtual Wikimania.
We know every community will have different needs that will need to be
addressed to allow as many attendees as possible to join Wikimania, - this
is where we need your help! You know your local community best. So we would
like to empower you to make decisions as you best see fit.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
With the support of the Foundation’s grants team we will be providing
funding to support people attending Wikimania. What we would like to have
happen is that we provide funds to your affiliate organization so that you
can tailor support that will best help your community. This funding is
available to all affiliates independent of any current grants like the APG.
HOW WILL THIS WORK IN PRACTICE?
Funding will come from the Foundation. As the Foundation teams sort out how
this can be done from a Legal, Finance and Administration standpoint. This
could simply mean redirecting a portion of existing grants and allocating
the spend to Wikimania. We will be sharing more information on how to apply
for this support in the upcoming period of time.
WHAT IS ELIGIBLE TO GET FUNDED?
Below is a list of examples of where we think scholarships can help;
* Data/Internet packages and temporary bandwidth so people can participate
* Support to pre-record presentations
* At home support with child care, or similar assistance
* Safe
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Risk_assessment_during_COVID-19>
in-person meetups that coincide with live activities
* Safe
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Risk_assessment_during_COVID-19> post
Wikimania meetups resulting from having attended Wikimania
* Admin/operation costs for Affiliates to distribute funds
* Costs to Affiliates to organize presentation/workshop/time at the
conference
We ask that the affiliates organizations, take the lead with distributing
scholarship assistance to your community members, as you know how best to
create real impact for your community. This means that you would have the
freedom to award scholarships to those in your community as you see
fit. All the COT needs is an email of what you want to do and how much,
we'll review them and confirm the amount.
WHO ARE YOU? HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?
As the COT's affiliate contact, I'm here to help you through the next few
months. I hear some ask who am I? In short, I'm User:Gnangarra
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Gnangarra>. I've been
contributing for 15 years, I'm a member of Wikimedia Australia and spent 4
years as Vice President and 2 years as President. I'm one of the current
organisers of ESEAP. I know my experience within an affiliate organization
will help me to quickly help you and understand what possible barriers of
entry exist.
Please contact me anytime my email is gnangarra(a)wikimedia.org.au, I'm on
this all-affiliates(a)lists.wikimedia.org mailing list. I'm also happy to
zoom, skype, remo, googlemeet, or talk via any other platform.
My COT colleague who will be supporting the affiliate organization work is
User:WikiTatik <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:WikiTatik>
Watch this space as there will be more exciting opportunities to come for
affiliates to show and shine during Wikimania.
Regards,
Gnangarra
*Wikimania 2021*
*Celebrating 20 years of Wikipedia*
*acknowledging our Past, Present, and Future*
our virtual global conference
13–17 August, 2021
hosted by Every community
gnangarra(a)wikimedia.org.au
http://wikimedia.org.au
Wikimedia Australia Inc. is an independent charitable organisation which
supports the efforts of the Wikimedia Foundation in Australia. Your
donations keep the Wikimedia mission alive.
*http://wikimedia.org.au/Donate <https://wikimedia.org.au/Donate>*
_______________________________________________
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*Anass SEDRATI*
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