When this meeting first began, it provided insights into data that was otherwise unavailable or hard to access. Thanks to the amazing efforts of staff and volunteers, those metrics are now available and updated regularly online. The purpose of the meeting thus shifted to focus on sharing progress updates and information from across the movement. We have realized however that this approach limits our ability to connect across languages and provide the level of detail necessary to create impact. In addition, interest in the meeting has remained steady, but is has not grown, and there has been a decrease of interest in presenting.
Fortunately, we have new methods of outreach that allow us to connect with wider audiences.. The new Wikimedia Foundation website, discussed at last month's meeting, has a greater ability to communicate across languages and is already helping us reach more people.[1] We are discussing ways to further expand this support. The new Wikimedia Space project that will be discussed at this month's meeting provides a central, real-time space to have discussions and share information on activities across the movement.[2]
We appreciate all of the feedback people have provided over the years, and will continue to reflect on any additional input you may have. I also want to personally thank the dozens of people that presented over the years and the evolving core team that worked every month to put the meeting on. They often made it look easy, and I know that is not always the case.
Thank you, and I will have more on this topic during tomorrow's meeting.
-greg
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/
[2] https://space.wmflabs.org/
Gregory Varnum (pronouns - he/his/him) Communications Strategist |
