Brion Vibber wrote:
Turnout was much greater than we expected, and
everybody seemed to
have a great time!
Personally, I had a great time, and will definitely do booth duty again
next year.
A few thoughts:
* It was great to hear the stories people had to tell about
Wikipedia. I think it would be wonderful to record some of them
for various purposes. The people gushing about Wikipedia were a
great reminder to me that what we do really matters in the daily
lives of millions. The people with particular issues put a human
face on problems that are often reduced to abstract acronyms in
our world (ones that came up on my shift: WP:BAND, WP:NOT, WP:BLP,
WP:NPOV, WP:COI). And the responses I got to asking, "What did you
use Wikipedia for?" would be fabulous to show to potential donors,
so they know how big an effect it has.
* The number one answer I got when I asked what people used
Wikipedia for was a brief pause followed by an exclamation:
"Everything!" The best one was a couple who looked at one another,
laughed sheepishly, and said: "To settle arguments!"
* Most people don't believe they can edit. Over and over, I told
people that all it took was two mouse clicks and a little typing.
No making an account, no logging in, just seconds to fix a
spelling error or a confusing sentence. They were always
surprised. It would be great to have a one-page handout that says
"You Too Can Edit Wikipedia!" and gives a simple introduction. If
that's been done already, let me know; otherwise I'll put it on my
to-do list.
* There are a ton of subject matter experts out there who would like
to contribute, but will never become Wikipedia editors. Some are
bemused by Wikipedia, some frustrated. We should find a way to
capture their contributions as primary sources, raw material for
our army of editors to work from.
* The common misconceptions and puzzlements about Wikipedia are
indeed common. I'd love to put together a common list of
frequently asked questions from events like this. At the very
least, volunteers could prepare themselves with ready answers. But
a series of handouts might eventually evolve from that.
* I gave my card to several people. Some were people who would be
valuable contributors. Others were people who had article issues
(BLP, deleted articles, concern about corporate COI and
POV-pushing). I wanted all of them to have somebody to get them
over the hump next they got stuck in our sometimes-overwhelming
operation. I'm not so scalable, but perhaps we could have cards
for some OTRS-like queue to get good people more help than can be
provided by a booth volunteer.
Overall, I had a lot of fun. Thanks to Jay, Cary, and the others who
made this happen.
William