CEE Talks

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CEE Talks are open virtual discussions on topics of interest for the Wikimedians from Central and Eastern Europe with the goal of more efficient and transparent decision-making and call for action.

Logo of CEE Talks

Overview

Sessions at Wikimedia CEE Meetings sometimes tend to include dynamic and intense discussions, so the time allocated is usually too short to draw conclusions and call for action. Additionally, there are many instances in which the current communication channels used by the CEE communities are insufficient to discuss important topics and efficiently make decisions. The lack of commitment after in-person events and the inefficient communication leads to passiveness, which prevents the mutual collaboration and adversely affects the future community growth. For that reason, the CEE Talks initiative was specifically tailored to address these problems through virtual discussions on relevant topics in order to keep the CEE communities active and eager for mutual collaboration while online. The format of the initiative was influenced by the success of the Wikimedia CEE Online Meeting 2020.

General instructions

Topics

The topic of a talk can be determined by a related discussion at a recent conference, an upcoming project or event, a future plan or initiative, a necessity to set priorities and goals etc. Several suggestions on what to schedule a talk for are listed in turn.

Ongoing development. There are numerous ongoing developments in the movement of particular interest for the CEE region at any time. CEE Talks can be useful in discussing those developments in order to discern the needs and priorities of the CEE communities as well as set up a call for future action.
Future event. Future events can be in the form of in-person meetings or region-wide initiatives. CEE Talks can improve the communication and the level of transparency in the organisational process of the event.
New collaboration. Internal collaborations between two or more CEE communities and external collaborations between the CEE partnership and other regional partnerships in the movement are of crucial importance for increased diversity and sustainable community growth. CEE Talks can be particularly helpful in connecting communities and establishing mutual collaboration.
New idea. Projects, initiatives and events in the movement are based on ideas from the community members. CEE Talks can be a leading channel to advertise new ideas and communicate them with other communities in the movement.
Experience sharing. Successful stories from past activities are nice but they become nicer after being shared with others. CEE Talks can be used for sharing experience, learning and tips for success.
Knowledge sharing. Knowledge should be shared with others and it is one of the main ideals in the Wikimedia movement. Successful stories from past activities are nice but they become nicer after being shared with others. CEE Talks can be transformed into workshops and trainings in order to share knowledge and skills.
Conflict resolution. Unresolvable conflicts are common in the movement and the on-wiki discussions typically consume a lot of time and efforts with no prospects of making decisions to satisfy all demands. CEE Talks can substantially accelerate the process of resolving conflicts and alleviate the potential adverse effects of the on-wiki discussions.

Platform

There are many platforms with different tools that can be used for hosting CEE Talks but it is strongly recommended to choose one of the most popular that the majority of potential participants will be familiar with (e.g. Google Meet, Zoom, Hopin). Note that some platforms have a time limit per meeting if used for free.

Language

CEE Talks can be scheduled in any language depending on the scope and target group. For topics of region-wide and global importance, it is recommended to use English.

Participation

Although the topics discussed at the CEE Talks are of interest for Wikimedians from Central and Eastern Europe, participation is open to every individual contributor from the Wikimedia movement (not only from the CEE communities) with a Wikimedia account.

Friendly space policy

Taking into account that civility and assuming good faith are core principles of the Wikimedia movement, all participants have to abide by the friendly space policies throughout each of the CEE Talks.

How to schedule a talk?

You can schedule a talk by following these steps:

Step 1: Insert the topic of the talk in the text entry box below.
Step 2: Click on the "Schedule new talk" button to create a scheduling form.
Step 3: Fill in the scheduling form and save the page to schedule the talk.
Step 4: Add the scheduled talk in the table of future talks below.

Please make sure that you have logged in before scheduling a talk.

Announcement

You can use the WM News section, CEE's Facebook page and CEE's Telegram group to announce your talk upon scheduling.

Archiving

You should move the information about the talk from the table with future talks to the table with past talks after the talk has ended.

Cancellation

You can cancel your already scheduled talk due to objective reasons such as no interest or unavailability by replacing the date and time in the table of future talks with the comment "Cancelled". However, it is always recommended to discuss the necessity of holding a talk before scheduling so that you can assess if there is initial interest and to enable another person to host the talk in case you are not available.

Summary of talks

CEE Talks are summarised in this category.