Wow, Bala. Thanks much for this.
Maybe we could link this from Wikimedia.in too so we can collate all outreach programs over the years, please?
The sessions were a mixed success - half the crowd had turned up for the participation certificate and it was difficult to retain their attention. But the other half was eager to learn something new and there were a few very enthusiastic people eager to contribute
You know, my take on this is that half is a pretty good number - I've found this in some of my work as well - people have very different motivations for participating but if we can get a reasonably decent subset of attendees interested, it has been successful. A question I have, is there any particular material you have found more useful than others? Or any particular approach?
The college paid me 2500 Rs allocated to the "resource person" by UGC for such activities. It was an awkward situation accepting money - but they had to present their accounts and show that the money allocated by UGC was actually spent, so i couldnt say no. I took the money and donated 2100 Rs (minus my travelling + pamphlet expenses) to the foundation. Maybe the chapter can work out some sort of guidelines for this whole getting paid in the line of outreach thing. (The donation to foundation minus expenses was an idea i got from the prevailing paid editing practice in en wiki)
This seems like a good idea, Bala. I'd leave where a person chooses to donate the money, Foundation or Chapter, up to the individual but would love to hear feedback on this. My personal opinion, of course.
Thank you.
Best,
Gautam ________ http://social.prathambooks.org/