Grants:Project/Rapid/Dance + Words / Wikipedia Dance Project
dancepluswords.ca
Please see the sample Editathon/Training application before drafting your application.
Project Goal
editChoose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.
- Recruit new editors
- Increase skills for existing editors
- Add or improve content pertaining to Canadian dance artists
- Raise the awareness of the Wikipedia platform and related topics within the performing arts community
Project Plan
editActivities
editTell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:
1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?
We will be doing 4 edit-a-thons in 2019. The proposed dates and locations are:
- May 26 – Montreal at the Bibliotheque de la danse Vincent Warren
- June 2 – Toronto at the National Ballet School Library
- June 22 – Vancouver at the Scotiabank Dance Centre
- August 24 – St. John’s, Newfoundland at Neighbourhood Dance Works
2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.
Two strategies are planned for getting the word out. Dance + Words is well connected to the Canadian performing arts community and we will deploy our own network of contacts to appeal directly for participants. A press release describing the project will be disseminated to journals and periodicals such as The Dance Current and Dance International and we will generate media interest to spread the word.
We will also rely on our partners in each city, each of which has their own mechanisms for promoting their events. So, for example, in Vancouver where our event is taking place at the Scotiabank Dance Centre, audiences and artists connected to this facility will be contacted with information about the Wikipedia edit-a-thon event there. In Toronto, The National Ballet School will include our information in various newsletters and e-blasts to its community members. And so on in each location.
Additionally, our networks include post-secondary institutions and departments at Concordia University, Université du Québec à Montréal, École de danse contemporain à Montréal, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver so we will appeal directly to students that study arts and culture there. We will also be reaching out to the dance service organizations, Regroupement québécois de la danse and the Canadian Dance Assembly to post information on their online community billboards.
Finally, we will deploy our own web site and social media channels to promote each event, post tips, tutorials and news, and coordinate participants, as well as setting up Wikipedia-specific dashboard tools.
https://www.thedancecentre.ca/
https://www.neighbourhooddanceworks.com/
https://www.thedancecurrent.com/
http://danceinternational.org/
3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?
Yes, we will be working with the following Wikipedians:
Montreal – Amber Berson - 13ab37
Toronto – Ella Dawn McGeough - Elladeer, and/or Zeesy Powers - Seazzy
Vancouver – Christine D'Onofrio and/or Simranpreet Anand - Simranpreet.A
St. John’s – Bailey McPhee
We are closely following models provided by the art + feminism initiative and working with several of their Canadian ambassadors. We've been inspired by art + feminism events at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and elsewhere, and find their resources and instruction videos clear and easy to use.
4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them? We anticipate that people who choose to attend our event will already be highly motivated and equipped with specialist knowledge of the Canadian dance community. We will be providing training to participants to be Wikipedia editors and supplying them with the resources and encouragement needed to make them effective on the platform. Further, our library and organizational partners will be supporting local research prepared ahead of each event, which will be made available to participants on the day. We hope in this way to engage participants on both the global and very local levels. Each of our venues is equipped with tables, chairs, projection equipment, wifi and other basic equipment. We will ask participants to bring their personal laptops and/or prepare them to work independently at home after the event. There are many ways of being engaged with Wikipedia and we hope to address as many as possible in the hopes that participants can each contribute in their own way to the best of their abilities.
5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)? We plan to stay in touch with participants via group lists and various functions on our website dancepluswords.ca. For example, we are crowd sourcing and plan to maintain a master list of Canadian dance entries that are either missing completely or that need improvement. Where possible we continue to encourage and support regular informal meet ups designed to keep the community engaged in writing and editing entries on Canadian dance arts and companies after our formal edit-a-thons.
6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?
We prepared and delivered 2 test events in 2018 in order to practice and troubleshoot our presentations. We feel ready and able to deliver this programming to dance communities across Canada. Funding from the Wikimedia Foundation will help us to provide support to our participants as they learn about the platform.
Impact
editHow will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets: Our target is to successfully hold 4 edit-a-thon events that include training and some additional programming around information activism for the performing arts community (i.e. panel discussions or lectures) as well as dedicated time for editing. The communities we are visiting are very different, but we anticipate an average total of 20 – 30 participants per event, with half of those becoming new editors. Over the course of the project we aim to create or improve between 20 and 50 articles.
If we manage to meet these goals, we will consider the project successful, but we do hope to exceed them. Part of our project’s purpose is to raise awareness of the Wikipedia platform and how it can benefit the communities we are engaging – while it is more difficult to track our success in this area, it is also an important goal.
Resources
editWhat resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding). We have some funding for organizing events, travel for organizers and providing speakers from the Canada Council for the Arts. We are also receiving in-kind donations from some of the venues to help with space rental costs, marketing and outreach. Members of the Dance + Words collective are experienced at event planning, marketing and producing and we will do the bulk of the organizing ourselves, with support from our partners and Wikipedia ambassadors in each region.
What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount. We are seeking additional funding for the childcare and refreshment budgets for each of the 4 edit-a-thons. We recognize that balancing the needs of family with work and other demands can be challenging. For each event we request minimum of $350 USD for childcare (which will be a mix of straight up care by certified and bonded providers and specialized activities (e.g. movement class) where it seems possible and appropriate) and $150 USD for refreshments for participants (this will include tea, coffee, water and healthy snacks throughout the event as well as an informal catered lunch). Our total request for all four events is therefore $2000 USD.
Childcare $350 X 4 = $1400 USD
Refreshments $150 X 4 = $600 USD
Total requested: $2000USD (2667 CAD)
Endorsements
editCommunity members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!
I strongly support on behalf of Art+Feminism! 13ab37 (talk) 22:11, 11 April 2019 (UTC)
As a local editor and facilitator, I highly endorse this extremely well-organized event covering a wide variety of voices on an underrepresented topic in Canada. Seazzy (talk) 15:34, 26 April 2019 (UTC)
This is a dedicated group of leaders from the Canadian dance community who are passionate about improving and expanding the content on Canadian Dance on Wikipedia. After leading a think-tank session on their wikipedia aims and objectives, they are well versed on the five pillars of Wikipedia. As a local editor and meet-up facilitator I strongly endorse their project. Elladeer (talk) 02:18, 29 April 2019 (UTC)