Dear Anass and colleagues,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

It is also my first time seeing the email, and although this must come as good news, but it makes me sad that Maciej chose to send this message to the mailing list: wiscom@lists.wikimedia.org instead of contacting us directly - our names are there under "Current Committee". It is a well-known fact that you will get very slow response or no response at all if you contact WMF via info@wikimedia.org or any other info@domain.org.

To put this into perspective, last week I sent a message on behalf of WISCom expressing our concern about the possible high number of Wikimania Scholarship Recipients from Africa who will be denied polish visas. Instead of using the official E-mail: kontakt@wikimedia.pl, from the Polish UG website, I sent the message directly to Maciej copying Käbi Laan and Wojciech Pędzich as well as all members of WISCom which means that he has our contact details but he never responded to our message.

I know from experience organising Wikimania South Africa in 2018 that the core team is probably busy dealing with thousands of messages but making a small effort to respond to our email (even if it’s a one liner: hey I’m busy colleagues, will respond later), shows that you care, and are not doing this as a checklist exercise to not lose face of the "African WISCom group". It also makes us feel valued and heard as a group.

Without ranting any further, please add my name there. I'm the lead organiser of the WikiIndaba conference this year and I also sit at WISCom.

Best regards,

Bobby Shabangu

On Sun, 3 Mar 2024 at 23:21, Anass Sedrati <sedranas@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Maciej and thank you for your answer,

I am adding the WISCOM chair, Bobby Shabangu to this exchange, in case he can see this email. Please Bobby, can you please check the email from Maciej and take action on it if possible today?

If not, we will proceed with the suggested method from Maciej, and the Wikimedia Morocco user group can choose one delegate by 5 March (@Maciej - We are fine with that date and can commit to make the choice by then if needed).

Thank you all for your kind support, and have a good evening, and a great start of your week!

Best regards,

Anass

On Sun, Mar 3, 2024 at 12:26 PM Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz <macieknadzikiewicz@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Anass,

thank you for your e-mail.

Until today, we have not received an answer from WISCOM (with this e-mail being the official contact – here).

If we do not receive information by today's end (let's say midnight UTC today), we will ask the Wikimedia Morocco User group, as organizers of Wikiindaba 2023, to delegate the representative. Could we ask that you decide by 5 March? We are moving forward with the logistics of all the scholars.

Cheers,
--

Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz (He/him)
Wikimania 2024 Poland – Team Lead
Wikimedia Europe Board Member
Wikipedia Administrator
User:Nadzik

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śr., 28 lut 2024 o 15:55 Anass Sedrati <sedranas@gmail.com> napisał(a):
Hello Maciej and thank you for your email,

I was not aware about this information as I am not a WISCOM member and did not receive the first email. The first time I am hearing about this information is now!

I am not sure who should take this decision. We as Wikimedia Morocco User group organized Wiki Indaba 2023, but the email was sent to the WISCOM. If you want the WISCOM to decide, maybe we can wait for them to answer, but it will be a pity not having Wiki Indaba onboard if there is no answer from them. If you want the decision by the Moroccan team as former local organizers, just let us know and we can discuss internally. Please advise what you want, and we will act accordingly. Thank you very much!

Best regards,

Anass

On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 3:06 PM Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz <macieknadzikiewicz@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello!

I would like to remind you about your availability for a scholarship seat for Wikimania 2024.

Please reach out to us before the end of the week.

Cheers,
--

Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz (He/him)
Wikimania 2024 Poland – Team Lead
Wikimedia Europe Board Member
Wikipedia Administrator
User:Nadzik

ᐧ

śr., 14 lut 2024 o 11:43 Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz <macieknadzikiewicz@gmail.com> napisał(a):
Dear Wiki Indaba Steering Committee,

it is my pleasure to inform you that the Core Organizing Team has decided to award the Wiki Indaba team with 1 spot for the Wikimania scholarship. This is a new process introduced for Wikimania 2024 and announced previously.

In the coming days, we will announce the scholarship decisions. Please take them under consideration, so there is no "double booking". Please decide on your representative by the end of February and inform us back. If you are not interested in this process, the seat will go back to the relevant region and community members from it will be chosen instead.

We know that your representative will add many benefits to the event and all other participants. Please stay in contact with Gisca Syalindri <gsyalindri-ctr@wikimedia.org>, who will be assisting the scholars with all of the logistics. P.S. Your representative will still need to pass Trust & Safety checks.

Cheers,
--

Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz (He/him)
Wikimania 2024 Poland – Team Lead
Wikimedia Europe Board Member
Wikipedia Administrator
User:Nadzik

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Anass SEDRATI
(+46) 70 508 51 07

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Anass SEDRATI
(+46) 70 508 51 07