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Grants:PEG/Dimitris Koukoulakis - Commonsfest/Commonsfest 2014

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Not funded
This grant submission from a group in 2013-14 was not funded by the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • Prior to 2011, reasons for not funding this submission were communicated in private and may not be available on the discussion page. For more information about a particular request, please contact the grantee directly or send your questions to grants at wikimedia dot org.
  • Beginning in 2011, reasons for not funding this submission are communicated publicly on the discussion page of this submission.
  • Since this grant request was not funded, no report is required and no further action is required from the grantee.


Basic information edit

Project details edit

Official project name
CommonsFest 2014 - Τhe Festival of the Commons
Project start date (include month, day, and year)
09 May 2014 (may start earlier depending on participants)
Project completion date (include month, day, and year)
11 May 2014
Please describe the project in 1–2 sentences
CommonsFest is an initiative that seeks to promote free knowledge and peer-to-peer collaboration for the development and management of the commons.

Financial details edit

Currency requested
Euro €
Amount requested in currency requested
4,885 €
Equivalent amount in US$ on the date of this submission
6,690 $
List the exchange rate used to calculate the amount listed in US$
US$1.27 per Euro (quoted from google)

Grantee details edit

See the eligibility requirements for more information.

Are you an organization, an individual, or an individual submitting on behalf of a group?
Answer ORGANIZATION, INDIVIDUAL, or GROUP.
GROUP
Group information
Name of group:
CommonsFest organizers
Purpose of group:
To organize the festival in 2014 and several smaller events before and after.
Link to information about your group:
http://commonsfest.info/en/who-we-are/ (please note that the web page may not be up to date)

Contact information edit

1st Project Lead
Project lead name:
Dimitris Koukoulakis
Project lead username or email:
dkoukoul
Project lead title (position within group), if any:
none
2nd Project Lead
Project lead name:
Antonis Triantafyllakis
Project lead username or email:
aliendna51
Project lead title (position within group), if any:
none

Goals and measures of success edit

Project goal edit

Please briefly describe what will be accomplished if the project is successful.

Project goals
  • To promote the concept of the commons.
  • To promote projects and groups which share the ideals of free knowledge and peer-to-peer collaboration and are committed to building the commons.
  • To connect projects, groups and individuals who share the vision of freely sharing ideas and knowledge and help them collaborate with each other.
  • To create and diffuse free knowledge.
  • To develop a CommonsFest ‘template’, based on our core concepts and principles, that others could reproduce to organise their own CommonsFest in different places, thereby forming an international network of events.


Measures of success edit

Please provide a list of measurable criteria that will be used determine how successful the project is. You will need to report on the success of the project according to these measures after the project is completed.

Measures of success
  • the Festival has about 40 participants and speakers
  • the Festival is attended by at least 1500 visitors
  • the Festival and its mission are covered by local and national media
  • the Festival and its mission spread through the Internet
  • synergies between participating projects, groups and individuals are developed and exploited through the Festival


Project scope and activities edit

This section describes what will happen if this project is funded. Who will do what, and when?

List of activities
  • a technology exhibition for free/open source (FOSS) software and hardware
  • an art exhibition for Creative Commons (CC) licensed art (mainly music and films)
  • workshops on topics related to its core concepts and principles (e.g. Editing/contributing to Wikipedia and Arduino programming). OpenBadges will be given to participants of the workshops
  • talks on topics related to the Festival’s core concepts and principles
  • promotion of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects and at least one workshop on how to edit the Greek Wikipedia and contribute to the Wikimedia Commons
  • open discussions focused on the concept of the commons, free knowledge and peer-to-peer collaboration
  • screenings of CC-licensed films at the Festival
  • initiative for a CC-licensed recording of traditional (i.e. Cretan) music by local artists with the aim of enriching the musical commons
  • production of a CC-licensed documentary about the Festival
  • a huge update of our website (www.commonsfest.info)
  • media campaigns on social networking websites (such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
  • interviews and blog posts for the promotion of the Festival and its principles and ideas
  • creation and distribution of CC-licensed content (posters, videos, etc.) to promote the ideas and principles underlying the Festival (as well as the Festival itself) and the projects which will be presented at the Festival
  • upon its completion, an evaluation report for the Festival will be published, indicating its successes and weakness and proposing ways in which the Festival can be improved in the future.


Budget and resources edit

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

Grantees are subject to line-item scrutiny of expenses. Changes to the approved budget beyond 10% in any category must be approved in advance.

Project budget table
Number Category Item description Unit Number of units Cost per unit Total cost Currency Notes
1 Promotional material A3 Posters 300 0.5 150 Euros
2 Promotional material Banners 3 100 300 Euros
3 Promotional material Flyers & Festival Schedule 2000 0.10 200 Euros
4 Promotional material DVDs 200 40 Euros with FOSS and CC licensed material
5 Promotional material Web hosting 1 95 95 Euros
6 Promotional material T-shirts 100 7 700 Euros
7 Catering Staff 1 100 100 Euros
8 Expenses for speakers Meals 80 5 400 Euros we estimate 40 people 2 meals for the day they will be participating
9 Expenses for speakers Accommodation: single rooms 2 60 120 Euros
10 Expenses for speakers Accommodation: single rooms 2 75 150 Euros We will try to accommodate most guest speakers at homes or through using social networks like couchsurfing, but we would like to offer the option of a hotel for some who may be more comfortable with that.
11 Expenses for speakers Transportation (mainly taxis) 60 5 300 Euros These are for travelling speakers only. To pay for airport/port to place of accommodation and back. The rest of their transportation needs we will cover with our own means.
12 Festival Cost of renting Festival site 1 120 120 Euros
13 Festival Exhibition consumables 150 Euros
14 Festival Workshop consumables 300 Euros
15 Festival Projector 1 500 500 Euros
16 Festival Rental of audio equipment for talks & workshops 1 300 300 Euros
17 Festival Rental of audio equipment for concert 1 500 500 Euros
18 Festival Wi-Fi equipment 3 70 210 Euros Set up a stable link with the local open wireless community network for good internet access.
19 Documentation Hiring Camera operator 1 100 100 Euros
20 Documentation Video editing for documentary 1 150 150 Euros


Total cost of project
4,885 €
Total amount requested from the WMF Grants Program
4,885 €
Additional sources of revenue that may fund part of this project, and amounts funded
Donations will be gathered at several events and communal kitchens that will take place before the festival in order to cover other expenses such as providing food to volunteers, air tickets for speakers and more.

Non-financial requirements edit

See a description of nonfinancial assistance available. Please inform Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) of any requirements for non-financial assistance now.

Requests for non-financial assistance
  • If possible, we would like you to announce and publicize the Festival on your blog.
  • If possible, we would like you to send us a person for a workshop or talk on Wikipedia.
  • If possible, we would appreciate your suggestions on people and projects that, according to your opinion, we could invite as participants in the Festival.
  • If possible, we would like to receive Wikipedia-related promotional material for the Festival.
  • If possible, we would like to use the Wikimedia logo to signal Wikimedia’s support of the Festival.


Resources edit

This section is optional. It may be used to highlight the potential grantee's potential for successfully executing this project.


Consider including the following information:



Several blogs complimented the Festival and Michel Bauwens, founder of the P2P Foundation, wrote about it: “Last year I had the chance to participate in the CommonsFest in Heraklion in Crete, and I believe it was a historical first. Previously distinguished communities, like the free software movement, the free culture movement, the open hardware movements, coworking, hackerspaces, seed commons and open food networks, and others, who communicated little amongst themselves, came together realizing that they are all working in one way or another for the revival of the commons. For the time of the festival, they share their values, tell their experiences, and learn from each other. This is the birth of a new integrative social movement, strong because of its diversity, but also sharing strong common values and a desire for a new society, where commoning is the norm. The concept has now taken root elsewhere (OpenIt Berlin ..) and will likely and hopefully lead to longer term linkages between these associated social practices. The world needs it.”


  • Special skills or qualifications this potential grantee or project lead brings to this project:

Skills:

  • Organizational
  • IT
  • Promotional
  • Crowdsourcing/crowdfunding

Qualifications:

  • Senior software engineer with more than eight years of professional experience.
  • Most important, the ability to successfully organize such an event, as demonstrably proven by the success of last year’s CommonsFest.
  • Evidence of past success in executing similar projects:

The first CommonsFest we organized, which took place in April 2013, was a great success both in terms of organization and participation/attendance. Most crucially, our idea to organize an event that brings together many different aspects of the commons spread across Greece and even internationally. You can see more about our past event here: http://commonsfest.info.

What also testifies to the success of last year's CommonsFest is that we have since been invited to talk about the Festival and the concept of the commons at several conferences and festivals in Athens, Greece (such as the 2nd Alternative Festival of Solidarity & Cooperative Economy and the 4th Athens Biennale).

Impact edit

In the sections below, please describe how the project is related to the Wikimedia mission and Wikimedia's strategic priorities.

Fit to strategy edit

How will this project support the key organizational objectives of
  • increasing reach (more people will access or contribute to Wikipedia or our other projects),
  • participation (more people actually contributing),
  • quality (more content, more useful content, or higher-quality content),
  • credibility (more trust in our projects),
  • organizational maturity and effectiveness (how it will move you or the Wikimedia community forward),
  • or financial sustainability (how it will help you achieve more in the long run)?
This statement should address at least one of the strategic priorities listed here specifically. See WMF Grants Program criteria for decisionmaking.
We share the same mission with the Wikimedia Foundation to create and disseminate free knowledge. We are trying to spread this commitment to free knowledge across Greece where the Festival is physically located as well as on the global Internet. By displaying how useful the common and open knowledge is across different aspects of life (from building houses, to writing novels and hacking robots) we think more and more people will understand how important is Wikipedia and the rest of Wikimedia's projects and in general contributing to open knowledge. All our organizational work is carried out by volunteers, including the organization of talks and workshops by participants. Furthermore, we try to encourage the people in attendance at the Festival to join or form new groups and projects which share the Festival’s mission and principles. Volunteers will also help to run the event. While organizing and preparing the festival all of the content produced by our team and several participants is released under CC licenses or on public domain so as to do as we preach in real life.


Benefits edit

If the project will benefit a specific online community, please tell us.
We believe it will help the greek Wikimedia community, the FOSS community, the Creative Commons community and several hackerspaces as we promote their work.
Please provide a brief statement about how the project is related to other work in the Wikimedia movement. For example, does the project fit into a work area such as GLAM, education, organizational development, editor retention, or outreach?
It most certainly fits in the outreach program as this festival is intended to gather a broad range of people and showcase the real life examples where free/open knowledge has contributed and created art, software, hardware and more. As one of the promotional events before the festival we plan to run a "Wikimedia loves the monuments" event as well.
If successful, will the project have the potential to be replicated successfully by other individuals, groups, or organizations? Please explain how in 1–2 sentences.
Of course. From the beginning the goal of our team was to do something that can be replicated anywhere by everyone, that is why all our material is under CC licenses (even our logo) and we have given talks to promote this idea so others can replicate the festival. Many individuals have actually shown interest and we will be trying to help any of those who will take up on the challenge to organize one themselves.
Please list other benefits to the movement here.
  • The Festival will start a discussion in the local civil society about the concept of the commons and peer-to-peer collaboration (as well as related topics such as cooperative, sharing and solidarity economies) and how they can contribute to the satisfaction of the needs of the local community.
  • The Festival will promote projects and initiatives aimed at sharing knowledge and building the commons and will help them develop and exploit synergies between them.
  • The Festival will raise public awareness around the rights of technology users and how these are being threatened by a recent wave of intellectual property (IP) laws (such as ACTA, DMCA, PIPA and SOPA) which effectively establish a draconian IP regime.
  • The Festival will contribute to the diffusion of the discourse on the commons as the basis of an egalitarian society characterised by open, participative structures and free access to knowledge.
  • The Festival will create promotional and educational content that will be distributed under copyleft licenses.
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