Grants:Conference/Diversity Conference 2017

statusFunded

Wikimedia Sverige/Diversity Conference

This is an international conference that aim to bring together a diverse group of volunteers, staff and movement affiliates to discuss diversity within the Wikimedia universe.

targetGlobal

strategic priorityIncreasing Participation

amount-local425,620 SEK

amount~~50,000 USD~~ $62,862 USD

typeOrganization

nonprofitYes

creator• John Andersson (WMSE)

contact• john.andersson

wikimedia.se, sara.mortsell

wikimedia.se• info

wikimedia.se

organization• Wikimedia Sverige

website• https://wikimedia.se/

give feedback

endorse

Friendly space expectations

index

The conference will take place between the 3-5 November.

Goals and outcomes

Goals

Please list three to four priorities that the community has identified that they want to focus on at this conference. These should be specific and actionable.

The conference will promote, support and develop the work around diversity done by by various Wikimedia chapters, thematic organisations, user groups, projects and communities. We want this event to have a long lasting effect and have identified the following goals:

[impact: on movement] Firstly, diversity can be framed and acted on to contribute towards the access and quality of free knowledge. These discussions are something we believe will be informative also for the staff that are working to develop tools to solve some of the issues.

[output: during conference] Secondly, the conference is a workspace for participants to meet, discuss and connect around activities such as value propositions, action plans, mentorships. With the conference we want to create an arena for community members to discuss diversity in terms of identity and background of contributors.

[output: after conference] Thirdly, the teams formed during the conference will be supported with organizing/creating network opportunities, such as follow-ups at other events, online meetings, creation of communication channels, developing, or compiling, material about diversity issues etc.

[outcome: for participants] Fourthly, participants build capacity to achieve diversity goals and find support to identify challenges and develop off-wiki skills to raise awareness of inclusive actions for Wikimedia projects.

[outcome: for participants] Fifthly, we will work to achieve long term effect by supporting the teams formed during the conference to keep motivation up and contribute to learning and knowledge sharing.

Context

It is helpful to get an understanding of why this event is important to your community, and what experiences you have had in the past. Please answer the applicable questions below.

1. What inspired your community to begin planning this event?

Our chapter has acknowledged the importance to foster a more diverse community to reflect all perspectives. We are committed that the sum of all human knowledge should not lack coverage and/or quality.

There are many issues that span across national borders and specific Wikimedia projects and movement leaders need to get together and discuss and work on finding joint solutions. We would also help foster networks where these issues can develop over time. We believe organizing a Diversity Conference will help us achieve this. Furthermore, inspired by the Wikimedia Conference, we will work hard to create tangible outcomes during and after the conference. E.g. support ongoing network activities and development of missing material.

We want to continue learning about initiatives from all over the world and continue sharing our work with diversity on the Wikimedia projects. Sharing knowledge inspires us to try new solutions and can help us avoid repeating mistakes.

As a Chapter we have had an ongoing focus on increased diversity for several years. Through three externally funded consecutive projects we have had the opportunity to work on innovative solutions and also established diversity aspects in our programmatic work. In 2017 we will continue with one of the projects and the possibility of adding this conference as a major milestone would be most beneficial. As part of this work we have carefully followed the work done by other Wikimedia organizations and we aim to continue and connect with other projects and events such as the Gender Mapping project and the Wiki Women Camp 2017 in Mexico.

Finally, we hope to be able to organize Wikimania in 2019 and would like to organize more international events in order to prepare for such a large undertaking.

2. How does this event tie into other activities that your group has done?

Wikimedia Sverige has not previously organized an international conference in Sweden. We have, however, actively worked with engaging a more diverse user base in Sweden for more than 3 years, both with online volunteers and also volunteers in the Chapter activities. We intend to continue working to include more women, more people from the LGBTQI communities, more people from minority language communities in Sweden and more senior citizens through different outreach activities and partnerships.

We have organized workshops, edit-a-thons, a photo exhibition, mentor training, and initiated a number of important partnerships with expert organizations in this field. The Chapter has adopted a Policy for a diversity of perspectives complemented with an Action plan for a diversity of perspectives and a set of Guidelines for inclusive meetings. These documents will ensure a continued effort in this field over time - spanning across all our programmes.

We have seen a great interest in our diversity efforts from our community and partners, and we also see many possibilities to find further funding for this type of work. We recognize its importance to the Wikimedia projects as a whole and its potential to increase visibility and reach new groups of people.

Through our participation in other international events we are aware of the plenitude of important, interesting and innovative efforts happening all over the world within our movement. We want to know more about it!

3. If your community has hosted a similar conference in the past, what outcomes and benefits have you seen from past conferences?

Our chapter has been involved in a number of conferences in Sweden and also previously been supporting the GLAM Camp. We have seen the value in network building, in information sharing and in the creation of material.

Most recently, in 2016 we hosted our first international event – the Wikipedia Education Collab Meeting 2016 in Stockholm. This international event helped us identify missing material and tools that many of the Wikimedia organizations would benefit from. Furthermore the event strengthened the network of staff and volunteers active in the educational sector and the participants have continued to work together on a number of efforts around communication, sharing of best practices etc.

4. Please list the focus priorities identified in the report from the last conference organized by this community. What progress have you made in those areas?

N/A

5. If your community has hosted a similar conference in the past, what key lessons were learned, and what would you like to improve on?

We learnt about the importance of informing people about the event at a very early stage to ensure participation of key people. We also learned about the value of having dedicated staff who gather information and capture outcomes continuously during the conference to ensure continued work on the issue and to keep people unable to participate in-person informed and up to date. In the Collab meeting we used Graphic recording and a film team to further enhance and communicate the topic.

As this was our first international event where we were the main organizers it was also a steep learning curve around the hard work needed to organize travels and visas (and the value of WMF support with this!) and about the many practicalities around identifying a suitable venue, hotel etc. and the need to double-check all arrangements.

For future events we would like to improve the size and organizational execution. Participants at the Wikipedia Education Collab in Person Meeting 2016 were already highly active and we received a lot of preparatory support from the WMF team. For the Diversity Conference we hope to see representatives from small Wikimedia organizations as we believe that international events has the potential to help speed up the development of local capacities.

From participation in a number of events we have identified the need to have a program that also give room for networking opportunities and reflection. It is far too easy to fill up the program to much.

Measures of success

Please provide a list of both quantitative and qualitative criteria that will be used to determine how successful the project is. You are welcome to modify, delete or add to the metrics listed below so they reflect the goals of your event.

A total of 70 participants, for at least one of the days (More participants does not equal better. More important are the experience level, level of engagement, and diversity of the participants)
50 % female participants
At least 2 representatives from emerging communities
20 % of participants present at or moderate sessions
75 % response rate for the post-event survey, with an 80 % approval rating
2 new projects/partnerships initiated as a result of connections made, skills learned, or ideas shared at the conference 6 months after the event; reported from the participants, e.g. through the survey
1 new tool or communication channel created to better coordinate work amongst participants and the greater community
Information about the improvements of the Tea House has reached at least 25 people
Information about Wikispeech has reached at least 25 people
1 new sponsor supports Wikimedia Sverige's activities
2 external organizations, or media outlets, report about the event
1 internal report about the lessons learnt when organizing an international event will be produced

Plan

Venue and Logistics

Through this grant we will be able to organize an international conference focused on diversity issues within the Wikimedia movement. We will be able to bring together expertis from all over our movement to learn from each other and develop new methods and resources together. As diversity work is a demanding task a strong network with other active parties is important to keep people interested in continuing the work over time. To be able to achieve this the conference program will include the following:

Presentations and panel talks to share information.
Round-table discussions and workshops to solve important issues with other parties.
Social events, and space in the program around lunch and "fika", to talk and discuss with other participants.

The detailed program will be developed by the conference program committee.

As part of the conference we showcase a photo exhibition consisting of photos from well known Swedish photographer Tomas Gunnarsson, who specializes in critiquing both social norms in media and stereotypical photographic portrayal of women.

Stockholm Sheraton Hotel at the center of the image.

The rooms at Sheraton in 2016.

Venue and accommodation

After investigating a number of different options, with costs estimates, we found a package deal covering both the conference venue, accommodation and food to be the best option.

When we organized the Education Collab Meeting 2016 we worked with the conference organizing team at the Sheraton Stockholm Hotel. We were very happy with the professionalism of their team, and with the final result, and working with them again meant that we could negotiate a discount on the price. Continuing with this good working relationship will also help reduce our staff cost.

Having the conference in the same venue as the event will, from our experience, save a lot of time and effort both from participants and organizers. The hotel is located in the heart of Stockholm City, very close to Stockholm Central Station. The Old City, the beautiful City Hall and other sights are located within walking distance. The public transport in Stockholm is excellent, for people that would like to explorer the city further.

Through Sheraton Stockholm Hotel 30 comfortable double rooms have been booked (60 beds), with another 10 rooms reserved. The conference venue will consist of one larger conference room and two smaller workshop rooms.

Some of the food in the breakfast buffet.

Catering

Breakfast buffet is included in the price of the hotel room. Furthermore, the restaurant at the hotel will provide both lunch, a small coffee break early during the day and a larger selection of coffee and tea in the afternoon during the conference. A social dinner will be provided on the Saturday, including a glas of wine (also non-alcoholic wine will be served).

Social Activities

As social activities we will have guided tours on a relevant museum exhibits in Stockholm on Friday 3 November. We have been in contact with a number of our GLAM partners about the available tours that fit with the theme of the conference.

We will have a social dinner at the Sheraton 360° Restaurant on Saturday 4 November, with one glas of wine being included (also non-alcoholic wine will be served).

Internet

The hotel offer free in-room Internet access, with free wifi access throughout the hotel.

Giveaways

The participants will receive a conference t-shirt and we will produce a number of buttons. Furthermore, the participants will receive a printed conference program and a badge.

Friendly space policy

Please link to the friendly space policy that your community will be using for this event.
Do you need or want guidance on how to implement a friendly space policy?

Riktlinjer för inkluderande möten

Event Program

"Fika" is a crucial component of any event in Sweden.

Please give a brief outline of the conference schedule or program and any events or activities you are planning for participants. The timing, topics and format of each session should be finalized and published on Meta six weeks before the event.

The conference will take place between the 3-5 November. We will focus on 2-4 tracks concerning diversity. This will include both theoretical and practical approaches. To create the program we will form a program committee in 2017, which will be responsible for outlining the agenda and later select the topics. The overreaching theme of the conference will be "Privilege on Wikipedia". The conference will include presentations, facilitated group discussion for idea generation (e.g. a World Café) and workshops.

In the program there will be generous time for mingling and networking around the daily lunch and the "diversity fika" breaks. See also the section "Social activities" above.

Community Input

Grant reviewers will be interested to read how the planning discussion developed and who was engaged. Please link below to all of the places where discussion about this conference are happening, i.e. talk pages, Facebook groups, meetup pages, notes from meetings. The most central, up to date, and relevant page should be highlighted in BOLD letters.

The idea of hosting the conference was first presented to the community through our FDC application.

During the practical preparations for the event we spread information to the wider Wikimedia community in the following channels:

A post on the talk page for the first Wikimedia Diversity Conference, 16 December 2016.
Post in Facebook group Wikimania Women, December 2016.
Email to Wikipedia Mentor group in Sweden, December 2016.
Discussions at the Wikimedia Conference 2017 in Berlin about possible participation and involvement, April 2017.
Ongoing communication with key actors involved in diversity work in the Wikimedia movement.

We are currently working on forming a program committee with some of the most active community members in the field of diversity already signed up.

Participation

It is crucial that most participants have a minimum level of Wikimedia experience so that they can engage actively in workshops and discussions. Please answer all applicable questions below.

1. Please describe the target audience for this conference or event.

This conference will address a common concern in the Wikimedia movement. Therefore, we would like to invite anyone interested in or working with diversity topics in Wikimedia projects and our movement, specifically:

Wikipedians
Wikimedians
Wikimedia Chapters
Affiliations
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia researchers, diversity experts, and others with interest in the intersection of Wikipedia and diversity

2. If you are requesting funds for travel scholarships, what criteria will be used to select scholarship recipients?

When registering the applicants will be able to request a scholarship. If so, they will be requested to state why we should consider them for a scholarship, outlining how they have been involved in diversity work, what they would bring to the table and what they hope to achieve with their participation.

We will offer three types of scholarships: (1) Scholarship for conference participation, (2) Scholarships for conference participation + rooms and (3) Scholarships for conference participation + rooms + travel. See budget (below) for details of what this entails.

We will also contact other Wikimedia associates about partnership in the event organization. Some of them might be interested in sponsoring travel scholarships for the conference, and their criteria might differ (i.e. a specific geographical or language focus).

3. If your conference has an outreach component, how will you ensure engagement with these participants after the conference, and what impact do you see them having on the projects?

The main focus group are people already active in the Wikimedia movement in some capacity. We will invite people through email lists, through contacts with Wikimedia affiliates, through Facebook groups and on suitable wikis.

4. Are you thinking about inviting WMF staff to attend or participate in the event? If yes, please list individuals or teams who you may want to invite, or describe how you would like WMF staff to be involved in the event.

Katherine Maher, Executive Director at the Wikimedia Foundation

The following WMF teams have been contacted about the conference as we belive that their participation at the conference would be very valuable:

Community Engagement, especially Support, Safety and Programs
Wikimedia Language engineering
Reading
Wikimedia Research
Program Capacity and Learning
Community Resources

Follow-up

Please describe how you plan to follow up with event participants after the conference.

Survey

Participants of the conference will be provided with a survey monitoring their opinion on how they found the conference, in particular:

Whether the participants have found the event useful for their future work;
Whether the conference provided them with new knowledge on projects, policies or tools;
Whether or not they have been inspired to begin new projects or participate in existing ones;
Common areas of interest for Wikimedians working in this field that has emerged as a result of the event;
Any criticism or ideas for future improvements;
Other considerations.

Survey results will be analysed and made publicly available.

Content

Selected talks will be recorded (subject to the speakers' consent and availability of equipment). The recordings will be made available on Wikimedia Commons.
All speakers will be encouraged to prepare presentations which conform to open licensing so that they can be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons where they will be added to an appropriate category on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes from each track will be taken on etherpad/on-wiki; conclusions and main points from key sessions and talks will be made available on-wiki. Selected members of the organizing team will be tasked with preparing reports from the main thematic tracks, as exhaustive as possible, with key links and other material.

External communication

Blogposts will be prepared for wider dissemination within the movement.
A learning pattern will be prepared to complete existing learning patterns.

Resources and risks

Describe the resource potential for successfully executing this project and the key risks/threats.

Resources

Wikimedia Sverige is a well established chapter with 10 staff members, a well functioning board and an active volunteer community. The chapter has worked for many years with diversity issues and a staff member is also involved in the Gender Diversity Mapping Project's advisory board.

The organizing team has experience from a large number of conferences and has gained understanding of the importance to create events where the conference is not an isolated event, but that networks created need to be maintained after and that the conference need to connect to other initiatives and other conferences.

Wikimedia Norge will support us with the organization of the conference with a intern who will develop online material for the conference (e.g. registration forms, post-event survey, adding info to the Meta portal that will be created).

Organizing team

Area	Responsible	Tasks
Conference Grant	John Andersson (WMSE)	Timeline, coordination with WMF, coordination with other chapters
Logistics	Eric Luth (WMSE)	Identifying venues, catering and technology
Conference Program	Sara Mörtsell (WMSE)	Organizing the conference committee, finding a facilitator/facilitation team
Scholarships	Eric Luth (WMSE)
Communications	In the process of hiring	Communication plan, graphic profile, creating event portal, program, swag
Volunteer Coordination	Sara Mörtsell (WMSE)	Define volunteer tasks, identify volunteers
Remote Participation	Axel Pettersson (WMSE)	Making remote participation possible through video recordings, notes etc.
Social Events	Axel Pettersson (WMSE), Eric Luth (WMSE)	Walking tours, social dinner
Program Committee	Netha Hussain, Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight , and more to come...	Program design and proposal review
Other team members	Sabine Rønsen WMNO	Preparing forms for registration, proposals and post-event survey.

Risks

Examples of risks, along with how you would minimize or overcome them, are:

Skill gaps in project leadership team (e.g. no financial management experience)
Components of the measurement process that are hard to quantify

Examples of how to minimize these risks include:

Recruiting volunteers with desired skills to project leadership team.
Working with the WMF Learning & Evaluation Team to develop an appropriate measurement and evaluation plan.

The Probability and Effect of each risk is graded 1-3.

Risk nr.	Risk	Probability (P)	Effect (E)	Risk Factor (P)*(E)	Risk Mitigation and analysis
1	Lack of interest and participation of attendees	1	3	3	We believe this area to be a high priority for many Wikimedia associates, and we will work to limit this risk with early communication about the event, a well developed program and scholarships. This is especially important as Sweden is an expensive country.
2	Lack of volunteers in the organisation team	2	3	6	An event such as this should ideally have a large group of volunteers involved in the early stage, again putting focus on the need for early communication. But also to involve volunteers from other countries and new volunteers that haven't been involved in the movement earlier.
3	Lack of suitable venues due to prices or limited availability	2	3	6	The costs of venues are very high in Sweden, but we have many well developed cooperations with organizations that have venues and have been in contact with some of the commercial actors to discuss options. The biggest effect will be on the possible size of the conference.
4	Visa issues for non-Schengen participants	1	2	2	Sweden has a large number of bilateral agreements in place limiting the countries where a Visa is needed. We aim to work closely with the WMF Travel Team.
5	Financial risk due to changes of exchange rates, increase of costs of flights, catering	2	1	2	We will take this into consideration when budgeting for the event.

Budget

Please provide a detailed breakdown of project expenses according to the instructions here. See Budget Guidelines.

Event budget table

Item description	Unit	Quantity	Cost per unit (SEK)	Total cost (SEK)	WMF contribution	Other sources	Comments
Scholarship
Scholarships for conference participation, accommodation and travel	People	35	6,000	210,000	~~180,000 SEK (20,714 USD)~~ 30,714 USD	30,000 SEK (3,452 USD)	The cost for the conference, accommodation at hotell for two nights and support for travel costs. Part of the funding is expected from other sources (companies, other NGOs or other Wikimedia organizations) Cost per person US$690 ($250 Conference Registration + $155 Accommodation + $285 Travel Stipend)
Scholarships for conference participation and accommodation	People	20	3,506	70,120	70,120 SEK (8,069 USD)		The cost for the conference + hotel room at hotell for two nights. This scholarship is mainly intended for participants from other parts of Sweden or from Europe or that have their travel covered by e.g. another Chapter. Cost per person is US$405 ( $250 Conference Registration + $155 Accomodation)
Scholarship for conference participation	People	25	2,156	53,900	53,900 SEK (6,203 USD)		The cost for the conference at hotell (including venue, one social dinner, two lunches, two larger "fika" and two smaller, and one glas of wine). This scholarship is for participants from Stockholm and for participants that actively decides to cover their own costs (such as WMF staff). Cost per person is US$250.
Social event
Museum tour	Tours	1	10,000	10,000	10,000 SEK (1,151 USD)
Giveaways
T-shirts		80	200	16,000	16,000 SEK (1,841 USD)
Merchandise & stationery				12,000	12,000 SEK (1,381 USD)		Such as printed programs, badges, banners, flags, pens, stationery, stickers
Worktime
Administrative support	Days	80	2,500	200,000	150,000 SEK (17,262 USD)	50,000 SEK (5,754 USD)	Other sources are from WMSE's FDC grant. For a breakdown of expected work time and costs, see here.
Facilitator at conference	Days	2	10,000	20,000	20,000 SEK (2,302 USD)
Other
10% unforeseen expenses			50,000	50,000	30,000 SEK (3,452 USD)	20,000 SEK (2,302 USD)	Other sources are from sponsors.

			TOTAL	642,020	542,020 SEK (62,374 USD)	100,000 SEK (11,508 USD)

Currency exchange: 1 USD = 8.68635 SEK (27 May 2017), using https://www.oanda.com/

Total cost of event: 642,020 (73,882 USD)

Total amount requested from the Conference and Event Grants program: 542,020 SEK (62,374 USD)

Additional sources of revenue that may fund part of this event, and amounts funded: 100,000 SEK (11,508 USD)

Please confirm that you are aware that changes to the approved budget beyond 10% in any category must be approved in advance.

Yes

Discussion

Endorsements

Do you think this project should be selected for a Conference Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on the talk page of this proposal.

Josve05a (talk) 13:08, 16 December 2016 (UTC) Due to WMSE's extensive work with inclusivity and diverity during the last few years I believe WMSE and Sweden to be an optimal venue for this event. Also it would be cheap for me to attend ;)
Hannibal (talk) 13:32, 16 December 2016 (UTC) As one of the persons who have been engaged in the diversity issue (specifically gendergap) for several years, and as a Wikipedian for more than 11 years, I would like to show more Wikipedians how Swedish Wikipedia and Sweden deal with some of the issues that face us going forward.
As someone who moved in to Sweden recently, I can see that Swedes are very mindful about bringing in and respecting diversity. I think that there is a lot that the Wikimedia community can learn about inclusivity from the Swedish culture. I had presented a session and run a workshop at the 2013 Diversity conference in Berlin, and it was an eye-opening experience to be able to interact with people from different backgrounds and know their perspectives about increasing diversity in Wikimedia community. In 2016, WM-SE hosted the Wikipedia Education Collaborative meetup efficiently, and I feel that they are well-equipped to host the Diversity conference as well. I hope the Stockholm conference will shed more light into our goal of building an inclusive movement as envisioned by the ED of WMF. In addition to endorsing this proposal, I also express my willingness to work with the organizers in my capacity as a volunteer. Netha Hussain (talk) 16:18, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
I've long admired the work done by WMSE regarding diversity in general, and gender gap in particular, so I endorse this conference without reservation. The Swedish team is giving itself ample time to develop the event in concert with other voices in the Wikimedia movement. It acknowledges there are risks and is working to mitigate them. As the keynoter and session presenter at the 2016 regional diversity conference in Washington DC, I witnessed first hand the synergy which occurred when diversity thought leaders come together; I can also attest that at least one significant, measurable improvement was developed at the event and successfully implemented thereafter. I believe Sweden's 2017 diversity conference will offer fresh perspectives, will provide opportunities to develop resolutions, and will challenge attendees to find ways they can replicate diversity initiatives in a culturally-sensitive way across communities within our networked movement. --Rosiestep (talk) 17:03, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
I think the Swedish chapter would host a great diversity conference! That is why I give them my unreserved suport! Hockew (talk) 17:29, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
Strong support. I look forward to the Swedish hosting this very important initiative. Raystorm (talk) 13:42, 5 June 2017 (UTC)
I strongly support events related to diversity, and I believe that WMSE has the capacity and the quality to do it. Liridon (talk) 08:36, 8 June 2017 (UTC)
The board of WMNO strongly support the Wikimedia Diversity conference in Stockholm. Diversity is an issue that engages both volunteers and chapters around the world. Bringing a this topic to a conference will give an important opportunity to discuss our work, learn from each and build new partnerships. Wikimedia Sweden will be an excellent arranger, and in addition will WMNO pledge to help out with volunteers and organising in any aspect needed. Guro - Vice Chair WMNO Fiolen (talk) 12:20, 8 June 2017 (UTC)
Strong support for this conference as it is needed to realise the make up of our community and to advance the cause of a true collaborative environment that is welcoming to all. Flixtey (talk) 22:35, 14 June 2017 (UTC)