Grants:PEG/WM CA/In person meeting/Report

This report for a Project and Event grant approved in FY 2012-13 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:PEG/WM CA/In person meeting.

You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email grants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Did you comply with the requirements specified by WMF in the grant agreement? Yes and this is a reimbursement.

Activities

Activities included one planning meeting and one informal meeting.

Allow the board to meet each other in person: The meeting allowed board members to meet with each other in-person for the first time, after coordinating on-wiki and over Skype during the steering committee stage and during the first year of WMCA's existence.
Meet local volunteers: Members from the Vancouver area were invited to join. Attendees included a volunteer who agreed to become the board treasurer.
Plan for the following year: Board members discussed objectives for the next year and the viability of various proposed projects.

What lessons were learned that may help others succeed in similar projects?: Spend time trying to find a perfect place to meet. If possible, you should find somewhere that allows loud conversations, is open late, allows people to stay for a long time without continuously buying things, has table space for writing and computers, and has plugs and wifi. Also, if you want more than just the most keen volunteers to come, advertise the event early.

What impact did the project have on WMF mission goals of Increased Reach, Increased Quality, Increased Credibility, Increased and Diversified Participation?: This meeting helped establish the formal organization of Wikimedia Canada, so it was foundational to our future projects that will benefit these missions. We also did early brainstorming for projects working towards these goals that were later continued to be developed online and in our home cities, such as GLAM projects and development of American Aboriginal language wikis. We discussed strategies to significantly increase outreach on local levels, and create strong local organizing groups in each board member's city similar to the ones that exist in Quebec.

Documentation of expenditures has been received by WMF.

No	Item	Budgeted (CAD)	Actual (CAD)
1	Benoit Rochon travel	777.28	777.28
2	Jeffery Nichols travel	480.71	480.71
3	Meal	179.48	179.48
	Total	1437.47	1437.47

Will you be returning unused funds to the Wikimedia Foundation?: No unused funds