Hello,

I don't want people to be discouraged from applying for a Rapid Grant - I wouldn't say it's too late for this, and I encourage folks to apply for Rapid Grants if it interests them. Rapid grants I've submitted this year have been processed within a month, though it's true that some can take several months. Grant requesting can be YMMV ("your mileage may vary"), and it comes down to the nature of the project, how much is requested, the urgency of the funding, etc. Funding for this sort of event (Wikipedia Day) is pretty par for the course, so I don't think there should be any delays.

Worth noting that Rapid Grant requests must now be for between $500 and $2000 dollars. Unfortunately any requests for under $500 won't be accepted, which may or may not be a problem depending on the size of your event. If you wouldn't need $500 to host a Wikipedia Day, one suggestion I have is to turn the grant into a more long-term project (e.g. request funding for multiple Q1 2019 activities for your community, such as Wikipedia Day + two edit-a-thons). 

Happy to help anyone with setting up a grant request if needed.

Thanks,
Kevin Payravi
SuperHamster on en.wiki

On Wed, Nov 7, 2018 at 5:12 PM Pine W <wiki.pine@gmail.com> wrote:
Unfortunately, I would say that this is a bit late to request a "Rapid" Grant for January. WMF has been taking months to process requests for these grants. Someone who requests funding today might or might not get it in time for a January event.


Pine
( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )

-------- Original message --------
From: Lane Rasberry <lane@bluerasberry.com>
Date: 11/7/18 2:46 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: Wikimedia US Mailing List <wikimediaus-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: [Wikimediaus-l] host Wikipedia Day + Public Domain party in Jan 2019, request funds NOW!...

Hello!

Summary - 
  • Anyone can host a Wikipedia party in their local university, library, or community center
  • You should host a Wikipedia party in January 2019
  • The Wikimedia Foundation offers event funding support up to $2000 with a simple form that you fill out by 15 November
  • January 2019 is unusual for a change in public domain legal status, and your local uni / library is probably keen to co-host with you if you bring cake
-------------------
On January 15, 2001, Wikipedia was established and also creativecommons.org was registered. The organizations came to be good collaborators, with content in Wikipedia being available through Creative Commons licenses. There is a tradition in January of celebrating Wikipedia's birthday, Wikipedia Day!, and anyone can host a birthday party. Celebrate Creative Commons also! See previous events and documentation at

If you think you might host an event, please request funding NOW and by 15 November for response in December. Expenses which the Wikimedia Foundation has sponsored in the past include the cost of snacks for attendees, fees associated with renting a meeting space in a community center, and costs associated with promoting accessibility and diversity among participants.

Something unusual about this year is that 2019 in the United States is the first time since the late 1990s when there will be copyright expiration of published works. See context:
In practical terms, for as long as Wikipedia has existed we have given the general copyright advice that works published after 1923 are under copyright. In January 2019, our advice changes for the first time in nearly 20 years to be 1924, and we will count forward every year from this point with all the media from those years entering the public domain. Many librarians know about this shift in public domain, and your local university library might be hosting an event already to which you can add a Wikipedia talk or workshop + cake. If you show up with cake and wiki then they will love you and wiki forever.

Public Domain Day + Wikipedia Day + <3 Creative Commons in January 2019!

Thanks everyone and speak up here or on the Wikipedia Day talk page if you have questions.



--
Lane Rasberry
user:bluerasberry on Wikipedia
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