ESEAP Conference 2024/Report/seav

I am Eugene (seav) from the Philippines and I have been contributing to Wikipedia and other projects since 2002. I have attended a few global Wikimanias, conferences, and summits but this is my first time to attend an ESEAP event having never been to any of the summits or conferences that were held starting in 2018. So I found it quite interesting to participate in what is essentially a mini-Wikimania but focused on the Asia-Pacific region. It was fun, and I had a blast listening to sessions, meeting old and new friends, and being reminded why I have spent over two decades contributing to this global movement of open knowledge enthusiasts. I definitely look forward to attending more ESEAP events and being able to contribute to the growth of the Hub.

Activities during the conference and learnings

Aside from the opening and closing ceremonies and plenary sessions (ESEAP Hub stuff), I have attended the sessions listed in the table below. I generally chose the sessions that sounded interesting to me and which I thought would either satisfy my curiosity or would provide me with knowledge and ideas that I could try back in the Philippines.

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
[Session C2] Seeding an Ecosystem of Partners – Funding and Beyond [Session C2] Regional Grants Committee (ESEAP) [Session D2] Utilizing Let's Connect in the ESEAP Region [Session D2] Wikisource Loves Manuscripts: A Partnership Perspective on Collaborative Efforts to Preserve Cultural Heritage [Session E3] Wikidata for Education – Structuring Curricula Data on Wikidata [Session E3] Wikidata Workshop on the Language of Education in the ESEAP Region	[Session G1] Challenges in Building Multilingual Technology Platforms [Session G1] Trust and Safety Product - The Road Ahead [Session H1] Collaboration Between Wikimedia ESEAP and Sweden [Session H1] UNESCO-WMID on the Training in Ethnic (Indigenous) Languages on Mis/Disinformation and Hate Speech in the Context of Election 2024 [Session H1] Data Partnerships: 2024 and Beyond	[Session J3] ESEAP Perspectives in Wikimedia Global Governance [Session J3] Wikimedia Movement Charter and its Impact for the ESEAP Communities

The most interesting sessions for me where the ones related to the creation of the ESEAP Hub and that harmonizing the Charter with the still-to-be ratified Movement Charter is a though thing to do so I understood the preparatory committee's plans to basically adopt a wait-and-see attitude to the developments in the global arena.

Aside from attending the sessions above, together with Arnalie and Dennis, we facilitated an OpenStreetMap workshop on Day 3. I am always eager to build bridges between the Wikimedia and OpenStreetMap communities so I collaborated again with Dennis (we gave a intro presentation about OpenStreetMap at Wikimania 2023) to conduct this workshop.

Wikimedia topics aside, one of the highlights of the event was the trip to the Mari Mari Cultural Village. As a Filipino, I was already somewhat aware of the cross-border relations between ethnic groups in southern Philippines and eastern Malaysia, but it was during the cultural village trip that I was made aware of how large the relations was. I knew that the Sama-Bajau ethnic group were prevalent in the Tawi-Tawi province of the Philippines (known as Badjao), but I didn't know that the Bajau in Malaysia is the second-largest ethnic group in Sabah. Visiting the replica Bajau house in Mari Mari and seeing several familiar art and cultural pieces was a treat to see!

Post-conference contributions and future plans

Tote bag and goodies
Chlod taking a photo of Robert modeling the drinking of a soda can at the lobby of Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu
Plenary hall during the second day
OpenStreetMap workshop during the third day
Lansaran trampoline demonstration at the Murut House during the Mari Mari Cultural Village trip

I have uploaded several photos to Commons (a selection of which is shown above), and I will continue to upload some more especially of places I visited around Kota Kinabalu. As a tiny bit of Wikipedia content contribution, I created a stub article for the North Borneo War Monument in the Tagalog Wikipedia based on the English Wikipedia article. On the OpenStreetMap front, I helped other Wikimedians add data to the map and I contributed a few changesets myself ([1], [2], [3]).

Since Manila was voted to be the host of the ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025 and given the fragmented nature of the Wikimedian community in the Philippines, several groups and individuals (including myself as a representative of the Wiki Society of the Philippines) had an online meeting last May 19 where we agreed to co-organize the Summit next year. This meeting resulted in the following joint statement signed by an affiliate, three unaffiliated groups, and one unaffiliated individual. Naturally, one of my plans after the ESEAP Conference is to help with organizing or supporting the Summit in 2025.

Aside from that, I plan to take inspiration from the Sweden collaboration session and see if my group can reach out to the Swedish Embassy in Manila for potential collaborations around shared interests between Wikimedia and Sweden foreign affairs.

Comments and suggestions

I am very impressed with how well the conference was organized. Although the choice of host city was a bit awkward because of the lack of direct or convenient flights, it was made up with the provided shuttle service between the airport and the hotel. Speaking of the hotel, it was very comfortable and provided almost everything needed. I appreciate the fact that since prices in Kota Kinabalu are a lot cheaper than in other cities, the WMF/organizing team was able to afford a higher-end hotel that would have been too expensive or extravagant elsewhere. The accommodation was lovely, the food (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) provided by the hotel was more than sufficient, and the facilities provided for the conference was awesome. I rarely get the chance to have a conference/summit venue be at the same building as the accommodations and this made it a whole lot more convenient especially given the hot and humid weather.

This conference was also the first time I was able to use WMF's contracted Navan service and I would have to say that this was very convenient. In previous times I was able to go to Wikimedia events on a scholarship, I usually either book my own airline tickets and get reimbursed, or I provide my preferred flight date and times to WMF's travel agency. Navan provides a much more seamless experience that lets me choose my flights directly.

As for the conference itself, it was not perfect, but it was on par of better than other similar events I have attended. The program was well-designed and the side activities were varied and stimulating. I really appreciated the Mari Mari Cultural Village trip in particular and it was definitely a highlight.