Grants:Project/Rapid/Srkrm/ArtFeminismSqueakyWheel/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2017-18 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/Srkrm/ArtFeminismSqueakyWheel.
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 rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

We are very happy with how our series of edit-a-thon’s went, due to the effectiveness of the instructor, the high quality of the articles that were created or edited, and the learning opportunities it provided for the organization. The insights gained from hosting the events this past year laid the groundwork for Squeaky Wheel’s future success with Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thons.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
3 events	4 events	Thanks to the support of additional sponsors, and fewer expenses, we were able to host 4 events.
Number of participants - 30 per event / 90 people total	40–50	While attendance and the number of articles created or improved were close to our target goals at our first event, subsequent events lacked attendance due to: 1. The departure of college students during the summer. Attendance for indoor events in Buffalo over the summer is generally lower. 2. Limitations of outreach efforts to target demographics on the East Side of Buffalo for our November event. 3. Challenges sustaining a community of returning participants.
Number of of articles created or improved - 100 entries by end of 2018	57	See above??

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well? Our instructor, Zeesy Powers, was perfectly suited to the role. She brought the requisite knowledge of how to edit Wikipedia articles along with an understanding of its policies; an extensive background in art writing and exhibition, which greatly contributed to improving the quality of articles; a deep grasp of women’s roles in Wikipedia; and a personable, generous temperament. We couldn’t hope for a better instructor. Although we weren’t able to reach our attendance goals at certain events, the small group size did mean that Powers was able to provide more one-on-one instruction to attendees, leading to deeper knowledge of Wikipedia, and better quality articles.
What did not work so well? In addition to attendance challenges, the most significant issue is that our instructor lived in Toronto, a distance of nearly 100 miles from Buffalo. Our efforts to encourage attendees to take up the mantle and become instructors were not effective. One of our goals for this series of edit-a-thons was to encourage local editors in Buffalo to become more proficient in the skills Powers provides, so that Squeaky Wheel can work with local instructors in the future. A local instructor would be better able to connect with local audiences.
What would you do differently next time? As the only organization in Western New York that is offering regular gatherings for Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thons, we are committed to hosting another event next year, in March 2020, and continuing this commitment. Our primary goal will be to recruit a qualified local instructor who can help improve attendance and reduce logistic challenges. We are also interested more long term collaboration between Wikipedia and Squeaky Wheel, as we believe we are uniquely situated to support it as a media arts center with over 30 years’ experience. We are currently looking into the feasibility of supporting a part-time, year round Wikipedian, who would be recruited and paid a stipend to conduct research, build partnerships, and present their research at edit-a-thons.

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

We spent $1784.75 of the awarded monies towards:

Guest Instructor Fees $600

Guest Instructor Travel + Accommodation $317.83

Outreach Coordinator $450

Food and Coffee $286.92

Posters $130

TOTAL $1784.75

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

We have $157.63 remaining of the awarded funds. We are happy to propose a use of these funds for an Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon event to take place in March 2020, or return it.

Remaining funds are due to WMF. The grantee should return these funds to WMF by bank transfer. Contact grantsadmin at wikimedia dot org to let WMF know to expect the funds. Instructions for returning funds to WMF are at Grants:Return unused funds to WMF.

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?

Thank you to the Wikimedia Foundation for giving us this opportunity. We hope to continue our partnership in the future!