Hi all!
Happy March! This week I was in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress conference to support the efforts of the Iraqi Wikimedians User Group. The community, led by Sarmad Saeed Yaseen and Ravan Jafaar al-Taie, led the development of a partnership with a local mobile network operator to bring Wikipedia to 12 million people for free. This is significant for a nation where mobile penetration is near-universal, but internet penetration is around 17%. [0] Congratulations to our Iraq Wikimedians for their efforts!
*Feedback requested* There are two items in particular on Meta-Wiki ready for your feedback:
- The briefing document has been expanded; it contains an overview of the information that every participant in the strategy discussion should know. Please help us improve it or share your thoughts on the talk page. - https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10184031 - Please also review the basic premises that should be mutually agreed upon by all participants and used as the basis of arguments. Once the discussions start, the premises will be fixed. - https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10191140
*Track A (Organized groups) and Track B (Individual contributors)*
- The Core Team and Track Leads have posted the draft of the toolkit for coordinating community discussions on Meta-Wiki.[1] They will be finalizing it with the Community Process Steering Committee this week. - The Core Team is developing some basic terminology and simple examples for a shared understanding of our intended outcome from the first phase of the strategy process. This will be shared with the Community Process Steering Committee before posting to Meta-Wiki for feedback. - Zack McCune and Blanca Flores from the Communications Department are working with the Core Team on a final graphic image of the process model that will be posted on Meta-Wiki next week. - Victor Grigas from Communications Department created a short video to inspire participants to get engaged and contribute; the final version should be available next week and utilized in subsequent announcements. - The Core Team researched movement strategy terminology, components, examples, and theories, and they continue to work with experts in and outside the Foundation to further develop content for the briefing document.[2] We expect this work to be complete by the end of this week. - The Core Team and Track Leads reviewed the initial plan for Wikimedia Conference Strategy track with the facilitators. They are working on a detailed agenda, which will be posted on Meta-Wiki in the next two weeks.[3] - Nicole and the Core Team are finalizing the materials which will be used to facilitate the first Track A discussions being held 10 March to 10 April. - The Core Team and Track Leads are reviewing options for collecting research for Tracks A & B. - Community Engagement is completing the hiring of language liaisons/specialists, and will begin training and onboarding next week.
*Track C (Partners and readers in high-reach markets) and Track D (Partners and readers in low reach markets)*
- The Core Team met with John Holcombe (Wellspring Insights) and discussed the objectives and best methodologies for quick, inexpensive, generative research in high-reach markets. His recommendation is an online survey that explores awareness, attitudes and usage. - The Core Team and Track C Leads spoke with Celinda Lake (President, Lake Research Partners) to get her insights on the proposed market research and recommendations on firms or contractors (including Lake) who could conduct desk and/or generative research. - The Core Team and Track C Leads spoke with Wikimedia Deutschland about a Track C strategy salon around Wikimedia Conference in Berlin. We will be working with them to find local contacts to invite. The date will be Wednesday, March 29. - Track C Leads are starting a job description and recruiting for a project assistant. - Track C Leads are working with Nick Wilson of the Technical Collaboration team to publish the Track C proposal on Meta-Wiki by mid-next week. - The Core Team and Track D Leads reviewed a preliminary list of experts and brainstormed additional types of people and organizations we should consult. They also began reaching back out to our networks to help fill some of the identified gaps.
*Next steps*
- Develop training sessions for newly hired language liaisons/specialists and discussion coordinators. - Send launch email to Track A organized groups, so that they can prepare for and schedule their in-person and virtual discussions, which will begin 10 March. - Prepare for Track B discussions, which will start by 14 March. - Develop content for discussion prompts, facilitator guides, and summary templates for reporting back results from discussions. - Finalize content for Meta-Wiki and local project wikis to help promote discussions. - Finalize Tracks C & D budget and identify research firms/consultants. - Build out list of experts and develop expert interview guide for Tracks C & D.
Thanks for reading through, and happy weekend!
Cheers, Katherine
PS. A version of this message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.[4]
[0] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2 [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Toolkit [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Process/Fra... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2017/Program_Design_Pro... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Updates/2_M...