ESEAP Conference 2022/Report/Kingoflettuce

Report

Things learned at the conference

Was reminded of how fortunate I am to be able to freely access and contribute to the various Wikimedia projects. They are so valuable, and their full potential has yet to be unleashed! What I would really like to see happening is a major breakthrough for all editors living in the fear of getting persecuted for what they do. It's just not fair. With that bleak preamble out of the way, here are some of what I found to be the most interesting parts of the conference, in no particularly order:

• 99of9's very helpful and patient explanation of the intricacies of Wikidata.
• Similarly, Entity Explosion was quite an intriguing discovery to me.
• That said, I found MargaretRDonald's sharing a bit more abstruse (which is to say, I learned that OpenRefine and Biota may not be my cup of tea!).
• Speaking of Wikidata, Joycewikiwiki and KOKUYO's presentation was awesome. Great energy.
• Edit-a-thons are fun! One of the best ways to counter the dearth of x-related topics, I find.
• Very impressed with the Lontor project: it's inspiring to see history and culture being preserved so neatly. Ditto the Paiwan project (just love to see a mother/son team representing their community loud and proud) and Wiki Loves Manuscripts!
• Some very fair points were raised by Bunty Avieson during her presentation on Bhutan (which clearly apply elsewhere too). That said, sometimes our hands really are tied, for fear of entering into WP:OR territory.
• WhisperToMe tapped on his rich lived experiences to make a great point about language diversity. It will take time, but I'm hopeful we'll get there.
• Athikhun's presentation might have been the neatest of the lot. Crisp delivery and some intriguing insights.

Things contributed or participated in or since the conference

Didn't present anything this time around but I was a happy audience member both days. It was great fun being at the various table discussions and bouncing ideas off everyone. Not to mention the unforgettable socials!

Plans after the conference

• There's no reason why Singapore can't have its own chapter and I'm very keen to be part of the team that makes it happen. Stay tuned, it's going to be huge!
• Looking very forward to Wikimania 2023! Be there or be square.

Comments/suggestions

• I'm just beyond thankful to have had this incredible opportunity. Still quite surreal thinking back about it, considering that it was my very first Wikimedia conference. This was overall a delightfully-organised event, no complaints whatsoever. Top-shelf accomodation, the venue was just a stone's throw away, with superb food and leisure to boot. Kudos to everyone who made it happen! (Although I do regret missing out on the WoW conference. Also regret missing out on the other half of the sessions. Helping get Papuan fairy tales up on Wikisource especially sounded like much fun.)
• Hope to catch up with everyone (and get to know whoever else I didn't manage to meet/speak with) in the not too distant future. Thank you for letting me part of this community.