Wikimediauk-l September 2011

wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org

42 participants
48 discussions

Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Suggestions for Merchandise
by iain.macdonald＠wikinewsie.org 13 Sep '11

13 Sep '11

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Suggestions for Merchandise
by Bod Notbod 13 Sep '11

13 Sep '11

On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 3:41 PM, Richard Symonds <richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: > I’m looking into replenishing the chapter’s supplies of merchandise, but > rather than the standard fare of key rings and stress balls... We have those, then? The wiki page only mentions T-shirts but the page hasn't been edited since 2009: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Merchandise Looks like it could use some TLC. I like Andrew's 'citation needed' sticker idea. But am I to take it the merchandise will have "UK" on it (not for cn stickers, I don't think that would work)? Because Wikimedia already has quite a range of stuff, doesn't it, available online? So are you thinking of UK specific things to take to events etc? Or should UK have its own online shop? Bodnotbod

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Question: "UK" versus <s>regional</s> national branding
by WereSpielChequers 13 Sep '11

13 Sep '11

I've worked in organisations that did this, and I've seen it both succeed and fail. The pitfalls are that you need economies of scale for it to work, different things work in different places and some areas are far more motivated by this than others. Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire are three places where getting this right can make a particularly big difference. In Wales the key thing is to be bilingual in your written communications, and that today includes your website. A great thing to test in the fundraiser would be the option for a Welsh language donation page. Superficial localisation such as adding a tartan border but still using a London address can do more harm than good. WereSpielChequers On 13 September 2011 12:16, Tom Morris <tom(a)tommorris.org> wrote: > On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 09:22, Fae <faenwp(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Are there any views for or against using an image of "Wikimedia in > > Scotland" rather than just the WM-UK logo? My concern is that some > > will resist joining in a "UK" branded programme but would rush to > > support a country specific initiative. If it gets better results, we > > could follow a similar pattern for Wales and avoid appearing to push > > "UK" in every document (or teeshirt). > > > > Reductio ad absurdum: > > Unless it says "Wikimedia East Sussex", I'm not interested! ;-) > > -- > Tom Morris > <http://tommorris.org/> > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Suggestions for Merchandise
by Andy Mabbett 13 Sep '11

13 Sep '11

BTW, at the recent meting in Derby, I mentioned a supplier, Badges for Bands; http://www.badgesforbands.com/ I've no connection with them, and haven't even used them, but have heard good things from those who have. On 12 September 2011 15:41, Richard Symonds <richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: > All, > > > > I’m looking into replenishing the chapter’s supplies of merchandise, but > rather than the standard fare of key rings and stress balls, I’m wondering > if there’s any interesting requests people have. Obviously, we’re > constrained by cost, but if you’ve got any ideas, I’d love to hear them. > Some suggestions that have already been made – > > > > · Badges printed with the QR code for the Wikipedia page on QR Codes > > · Wikipedia logo-shaped cookie-cutters > > · Merchandise printed with Wikipedia memes such as [citation > needed], [edit], or maybe phrases like “Wiki Loves Museums” or “I Write > Wikipedia” > > · Business card-size cards with DYKs printed on them > > > > We’re looking for things that’ll be easily understandable by the general > public – something that would make the average person want to edit. That > said, feel free to make any suggestions, even if you think they might be > unworkable – they might be usable in future campaigns or as part of a bigger > project. > > > > All the best, > > > > Richard > > ___________________ > > Richard Symonds > > Office Administrator > > Wikimedia UK > > > > richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > > -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Suggestions for Merchandise
by WereSpielChequers 12 Sep '11

12 Sep '11

Hi Richard, Do you know which sort of distribution media you were thinking of for this merchandise, the target markets and what sort of messages and budgets? Also is this for WMUK promotion or fundraising? A few ideas I'd love to see tried once we are a registered charity are: Promotional: Mousemats and mugs are two of the best ways of getting a longterm marketing message into people's homes and offices. for new/potential editors Mousemats are unlikely to break in the post, there is a natural affinity between Wkimedia and your mousemat, (subconsciously our supporters will like to have their mouse moving round on a WMUK mousemat); Mousemats are a really convenient place to have a list of Wikimedia projects and a one liner - "you've probably already tried out our encyclopaedia www.wikipedia.org, but have you also visited: www.wiktionary.org our online dictionary" etc etc For experienced editors just the logo and a jumble of different vaguely familiar templates and codes {{fact}} #redirect [[target]] etc etc Mugs are a bit more expensive to post and have less room for printing than a mousemat, but a mug is possibly the most effective way to get your brand and a short message circulating for yonks round an office or staffroom. "Warm thanks from Wikimedia for supporting us through payroll giving" with Wikipedia, Wiktionary etc listed in a smaller font would make for a great promotional mug design, and I suspect quite a few people would email in for one if we asked our donors "Have you asked your Payroll department to sign you up for our payroll giving campaign yet? If so please us your name, address and Postcode to get a free mug for your staffroom or office kitchen." I worry about [Citation needed] stickers, it would be just too <s>tempting</s> easy to apply them while going up escalators. Might make good novelty cufflinks though. Tshirts also have their drawbacks, not least because you need lots of different sizes and both male and female shapes. I'd also be cautious about pens. Aside from the wikileaks connotations, they have less space for logos and messages than mousemats and are less likely to be communal and therefore widely seen than mugs. Any pen good enough not to look like a cheap charity pen gives an overly profligate look to the charity that gives it away, and any pen that looks appropriately cheap risks leaking and doing your image more harm than good. On the fundraising side, once we are a registered charity we will be in a lovely position to supply some feel good gifts for that always difficult Dad market. Most obviously through charity calenders - I'd love to see Majestic Titan in calender form. But Mousemats and mugs work here as well, though obviously with more of a quality picture and less marketing than the free promotional ones. Calenders have the disadvantage of being a somewhat seasonal and highly perishable product, so I'd be cautious unless we can do a deal with whoever gets the racks of charity calenders into WH Smith etc each Christmas. Mugs and mousemats can if over ordered be stored for years before being handed out, and at any time of year would make great gifts for curators etc at GLAM events (especially as they are low enough in value that even in most Public sector organisations they don't have to be declared as gifts). Another fun one would be flipflops especially as a great early summer gift for the campus ambassador program to hand out to students. But I don't know what the costs are here, especially if you want special [citation needed] tread ones. Hope that's of interest WereSpielChequers On 12 September 2011 15:41, Richard Symonds < richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: > All,**** > > ** ** > > I’m looking into replenishing the chapter’s supplies of merchandise, but > rather than the standard fare of key rings and stress balls, I’m wondering > if there’s any interesting requests people have. Obviously, we’re > constrained by cost, but if you’ve got any ideas, I’d love to hear them. > Some suggestions that have already been made – **** > > ** ** > > **· **Badges printed with the QR code for the Wikipedia page on QR > Codes**** > > **· **Wikipedia logo-shaped cookie-cutters**** > > **· **Merchandise printed with Wikipedia memes such as [citation > needed], [edit], or maybe phrases like “Wiki Loves Museums” or “I Write > Wikipedia”**** > > **· **Business card-size cards with DYKs printed on them**** > > ** ** > > We’re looking for things that’ll be easily understandable by the general > public – something that would make the average person want to edit. That > said, feel free to make any suggestions, even if you think they might be > unworkable – they might be usable in future campaigns or as part of a bigger > project.**** > > ** ** > > All the best,**** > > ** ** > > Richard**** > > ___________________**** > > Richard Symonds**** > > Office Administrator**** > > Wikimedia UK**** > > ** ** > > richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk <philippe(a)wikimedia.org>**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > >

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Suggestions for Merchandise
by Andy Mabbett 12 Sep '11

12 Sep '11

It's useful - and engenders goodwill - to have things to give away at events; especially button badges and stickers (geeks love stickers, for their laptops). It's also useful to have a few, slightly more valuable items, which can be given away in limited quantities, as spot prizes. I like the idea of badges/ stickers with phrases like "citation needed", etc. and perhaps also "{{fact}}". Please note, though, that my suggestion was for badges with the QRpedia code for the article on QRpedia; not a generic code for the one on QR codes in general. On 12 September 2011 15:41, Richard Symonds <richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: > All, > > > > I’m looking into replenishing the chapter’s supplies of merchandise, but > rather than the standard fare of key rings and stress balls, I’m wondering > if there’s any interesting requests people have. Obviously, we’re > constrained by cost, but if you’ve got any ideas, I’d love to hear them. > Some suggestions that have already been made – > > > > · Badges printed with the QR code for the Wikipedia page on QR Codes > > · Wikipedia logo-shaped cookie-cutters > > · Merchandise printed with Wikipedia memes such as [citation > needed], [edit], or maybe phrases like “Wiki Loves Museums” or “I Write > Wikipedia” > > · Business card-size cards with DYKs printed on them > > > > We’re looking for things that’ll be easily understandable by the general > public – something that would make the average person want to edit. That > said, feel free to make any suggestions, even if you think they might be > unworkable – they might be usable in future campaigns or as part of a bigger > project. > > > > All the best, > > > > Richard > > ___________________ > > Richard Symonds > > Office Administrator > > Wikimedia UK > > > > richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > > -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Suggestions for Merchandise
by Andrew Gray 12 Sep '11

12 Sep '11

On 12 September 2011 15:41, Richard Symonds <richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote: > · Merchandise printed with Wikipedia memes such as [citation > needed], [edit], or maybe phrases like “Wiki Loves Museums” or “I Write > Wikipedia” I have been asked on many occasions why there aren't [citation needed] stickers. (Really, I have. Yes, it worries me too.) I suspect there is a good market here on purely commercial terms... -- - Andrew Gray andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk

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Suggestions for Merchandise
by Richard Symonds 12 Sep '11

12 Sep '11

All, I'm looking into replenishing the chapter's supplies of merchandise, but rather than the standard fare of key rings and stress balls, I'm wondering if there's any interesting requests people have. Obviously, we're constrained by cost, but if you've got any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Some suggestions that have already been made - . Badges printed with the QR code for the Wikipedia page on QR Codes . Wikipedia logo-shaped cookie-cutters . Merchandise printed with Wikipedia memes such as [citation needed], [edit], or maybe phrases like "Wiki Loves Museums" or "I Write Wikipedia" . Business card-size cards with DYKs printed on them We're looking for things that'll be easily understandable by the general public - something that would make the average person want to edit. That said, feel free to make any suggestions, even if you think they might be unworkable - they might be usable in future campaigns or as part of a bigger project. All the best, Richard ___________________ Richard Symonds Office Administrator Wikimedia UK <mailto:philippe@wikimedia.org> richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk

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September London wikimeet and candidate WMUK chief execs
by Michael Peel 11 Sep '11

11 Sep '11

Hi all, The 49th London Wikimeet will take place on Sunday 11th September: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/49 We're hoping that the finalist candidates for the position of Wikimedia UK's chief exec will be able to attend this wikimeet, although this is still to be confirmed. This will follow from the first stage of interviews on 1-2 September and the second (and final) set of interviews on 9th September. We'll be making the final decision on who to appoint to the position a few days after the wikimeet - and your views of the candidates at the wikimeet will be particularly important in making this decision. In order to enable non-London wikimedians to attend this wikimeet and meet the candidates, WMUK is offering to cover travel costs to get to the wikimeet for up to 6 non-London wikimedians. To apply to have your travel costs covered, please send me an email by the 9th September, giving a brief rationale for why we should support your attendance (focusing on the presence of the future chief exec and questions you would like to ask them, the development of future wikimeets, or similar), and an estimation of your travel costs. Please note that we can't support attendance without prior approval by email. Thanks, Mike

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A proposal... MediaWiki Hackathon
by Lewis Cawte 10 Sep '11

10 Sep '11

Hi all Right, I'm not going to bore you with the long back story of this, but I was reading about the recently announced New Orleans hackathon, and as I normally do when I can't get to an event because its abroad or whatever, I go onto IRC and do my normal whiney thing (which I really hate myself for). But anyway, I got talking with 'sumanah, who is the Volunteer Development Coordinator at the Wikimedia Foundation (I guess that makes hackathons and stuff part of her job), but she suggested that if I can't get to these, why don't I organise my own... So anyway, then we got talking about some stuff, and we decided that it would be best, especially for my first event not necessarily worry about international developers and participants as much, and that I should focus the event locally. A few of the main hurdles with me not being able to get to the other hackathons are that my age, I'm 14 (15 in early September), so it makes finding a simple flight or whatever harder to find (because my parents don't have passports, and would not be able to afford coming with me, or finding something else to do), and cash to pay for hotel room and travel is also a problem. These problems also kind of apply to me running a hackathon, and a few solutions that came up were that 1, I hold it somewhere in Brighton, or somewhere rather close, and 2, that I contact my local chapter (if memberships a problem for no chapter support, I'll get the application in for the next meeting). And basicly I need to know, * How many of you would be interested in coming to a MediaWiki Hackathon, will be before Christmas this year, which would last a day or two, depending on the level of support and interest we get. There may be an opportunity for a chapter/GLAM/board meetup depending on time/venue/interest, but I still need to find out the relevant information before that can be arranged fully. I plan to cross post an announcement to * What support I can get from the chapter, I don't have a lot of money, and I don't get a lot either, if anything, how much would the chapter be willing to put into this event. * Would anyone interested be willing to pay a small fee to attend, like £5/10 a day? This has yet to be decided but it would help especially if the chapter doesn't have much money it can spare... * How many MediaWiki developers, toolserver users (not toolserver tools users, but people that have their own tools/bots on toolserver) do we have here, because I personally don't know of that many, but it'd be nice if we could have some kind of workshop thing or mentoring program, because if we don't have a few, we're going to have a lot of bored people sitting in a room for a couple of days. I've spoken to a few of the other developers in #mediawiki, and I know one or two people that have said they would be happy to travel into the UK if I can get one organised and run by Christmas... * Deputy Event manager like person. As I've said, I'll be 15 when this happens, and I'm not comfortable running this by myself, or booking stuff in my name... or being the emergency contact on the time of the event, mainly because I'm a stupidly heavy sleeper. I am happy, however to go to the event, do some speaking, go shopping or order shopping for snacks, work out transport routes and stuff, and I'll go along with someone to visit the venue if need be... Oh yeah, and if anyone doesn't know what a hackathon is, I've probably left it a bit late to explain, but its a meetup with a few talks and a lot of coding and bug fixing (and for this one, specifically MediaWiki related tools (so toolserver, pybot etc as well)). Hope I haven't forgotten anything, -- Lewis Cawte

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Wikimediauk-l September 2011