+ wikimedia-ru@
 
Dear Barbara,
 
Please accept our Season's greetings and the very best wishes to you, your loved ones and the CEE Hub activities)
I was involved in some of the discussions around establishing it and quite happy to see this project advancing well, welcoming you as its Coordinator.

I have a number of Wikimedia volunteering hats: Wikimedia Languages of Russia community, Wikimedia RU (Wikimedia Russia), Turkic Wikimedians, with main contribution in Tatar language Wikimedia Community User Group.

Our 2021-2022 draft report is probably best brief overview of Tatar language community activities (not formally filed yet, lots going on lately, some mass media coverage and minor facts missing). Our main activities are onwiki (especially this year), but we always respond to invitations (meetings, conferences, ceremonies etc.).

Just like all other Languages of Russia Wikimedia communities, very few people within Tatar volunteers community speak relatively fluent English, thus my role as a bridge was and is partly still important.

Only Wikimedia RU has a legal entity, registered in Moscow in 2008, has mandatory officers (with a formal salary) and had a history of getting Russian Federal President's Grant Foundation support, as well as various regional or private local sponsors per specifically approved projects. In practice, all groups, projects and functions are run by volunteers on as available basis, often sponsoring Wiki-contest prizes and other costs out of own earnings.

In all other Wikimedia affiliates, contact persons are usually the most active onwiki contributors, admins and outreach contacts, thus already overburned with functions (on top of regular money-earning and family life needs). Deterioration of the economic environment within Russian regions has an especially pronounced effect on lesser resourced language volunteering (those capable were mainly employed in non-priority functions for the Russian-language based economy, thus hardest hit).

In the current environment, the HUB is best to concentrate its support efforts on CEE member countries (including Central Asia and others) that have better situation with available volunteer resources and legal opportunities to receive grants from where you are located at. All local colleagues I'm in contact with would be happy to see Russian-speaking technical staff supporting general language functions (gadgets, templates, modules, etc.) to be possibly hired in whatever jurisdiction that you can do that - acting on their own or per specific requests from local community volunteers (similarly to what's done with simultaneous interpretation for Wikimedia events).

If you feel you need more context than this and have specific questions, let's plan to talk sometime in January. I'm copying the email into Wikimedia Russia list for all colleagues to see what I've said and feel free to add whatever's missing.
regards,
farhad

-- 
Farhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин http://sikzn.ru/ Тел.+79274158066 / Google - skype - Telegram - Wikipedia : frhdkazan / Wikidata:Q34036417
 
 
 
19.12.2022, 15:18, "Barbara Klen" <barbara.klen@wmceehub.org>:

Dear Farhad,

 

My name is Barbara Klen and I am the new CEE HUB coordinator. I started working on December 1st and that is why I am contacting you on behalf of the CEE HUB now. You can find out more about the CEE HUB if you go to this page.

At this point, I would like to arrange a meeting with you. I got your contact information from the CEE HUB's Steering Committee members and that is why I am contacting you specifically.

Our meeting would last for one hour max and the goal would be for me to hear from you how Wikimedia/Wikipedia projects in your community function, who is involved and how you organize yourselves, how much time is invested in everything related to Wikimedia and how you are structured (legal and financial aspect). This meeting would have two main goals: us getting to know each other a bit more, in a sense that we can productively cooperate in the future and for me to get a better understanding about aspects in which CEE HUB can support your work and facilitate the development of your community.

I really appreciate that you will invest your time and energy in this meeting. Please, be so kind and indicate 2-3 time slots that would work for you. I would do my best to adapt myself to the timing of your preference.

Looking forward to talking to you,

 

Barbara Klen

CEE HUB Coordinator

Tel. +385 91 1504 413

Web. www.wmceehub.org