Although in our grant request this event is named as Editatona Tecs 2018, we could only make it real in 2019. And although I'm the only one listed as a grantee, this event absolutely would not have been possible if it weren't for PedroHBA, who took a leading role in planning the event early on. We'd also like to thank the Wikimedia Community User Group Brasil for their guidance through our planning, particularly Joalpe, Sturm and EricaAzzellini.
We did not choose a specific theme for this Editathon. Approximately 350 articles of low quality were pre-selectioned to be improved, albeit some participants edited articles they found by themselves. The control of who was editing what was made via a sheet, where each person marked which article they were working on.
All prizes were given away in the following manner: all participants received a number when checking-in at the event, and we drew the winning random number from Google's random number generator. Each participant could be awarded either a Kindle or a headphone. We gave away 5 books that were donated to us by pt:Editora Blucher in the same manner. (Participants could receive an electronic and a book.)
Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?
Yes. We had a 9-hour Editathon that received 30 participants. Approximately 90% of them had never edited Wikipedia before, which is aligned with our goal of recruiting new editors. In addition, at the beginning of the event, a lecture was given by the experienced Wikipedian Sturm about the working of Wikipedia and the deconstruction of some myths, all of which gave the participants - including the organizers - an awareness of the importance of sharing knowledge, as well as an overview of the world's largest online encyclopaedia.
People had very little difficulty with the Wiki editing interface and we also had no problems with the wireless network connection. The questions that arose during the event were of a very high level, and the ones that we weren't able to answer ourselves were solved by Sturm and EricaAzzellini.
Although we did some kind of overbook, we had an absence rate of 40%.
2+ new editors
25+ new editors
Estimation based on the response of people who have never edited on Wikipedia
10+ number of of articles created or improved
17 articles created
Based on Outreach metrics.
10+ number of of articles created or improved
158 articles improved
Based on Outreach metrics.
345K bytes added
Based on Outreach metrics.
5 books, 2 kindles and 3 headphones prized
Some editors chose to directly contribute to articles of their area of expertise in Portuguese, while others chose to translate the English version of that article. The fields of those contributions spanned from Physics (Campo (física)), to Law (Crime doloso), to History (Sertanistas), to the Environment (Efluente), to Architecture (Apainelamento).
Throughout the event, many high-quality contributions were made. To name a few:
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?
People were engaged to the editions.
Everyone was able to edit.
There were no IP restrictions.
There was no internet conection or datashow problems.
There was no lack of space.
There was no lack of food.
What did not work so well?
People editing WikipediaWe have made desktops available to people who could not bring their own laptop. In the event day, only two people in this situation showed up and they ended up being isolated at a laboratory. This fact compromised their experience of group work. For the next editions, we will seek to provide a solution that doesn't isolate anyone.
We scheduled two coffee-breaks: one at mid-day and other before evening. However, we received all the food at the morning and we had a hard time to keep it warm for the second coffee-break.
We made a huge effort to make vegan food available at the event, but there was not anyone vegan.
While everyone fit comfortably in the space we found for the event, it was a little difficult to walk around, as the tables we were provided were larger than the ones we were expecting.
What would you do differently next time?
Provide a name tag for all participants.
Provide solutions that don't isolate anyone.
Provide more lectures during the event.
Provide a more structured way of distributing the prizes.
Find a way to keep food warm.
Find smaller tables.
Seek more sponsorships (courses, eletronics, trips, books, etc.) with companies whose values align with ours, as a way of trying to interest more people in the event.
Ask in the registration form if the person has any disabilities.
Ask in the registration form if the person is vegan.
Despite our grant request of USD 590.00, we received BRL 2244.91 on November 23rd, 2018 due to exchange variations. Thus, we had to cover approximately BRL 20.00 from our budget.
Anything else you want to share about your project?
For this project, we expected very low interest of our network. But in the launch of the registration, we were very surprised: all 50 positions were fulfilled in a few days. Altogether, we received 91 registrations. Because of this quick success, we only announced the event through Facebook.
We have built a hotsite, where participants could learn about Editathons and also find a link to register as a participant. We have made available through this hotsite certificates for those who showed up in the day (in Brazil, some teaching degree courses require their studends to spend some hours in extracurricular activities, so this certificate is important for those students).
Welcoming lecture
During the event, we showed on a datashow the contributions that were made, based on the metrics of Outreach.
At the end of the day, we share a opinion poll about the Edithaton to learn what we could do better. The results are shown below:
What do you think about the event organization?
Very bad (0.0%) Bad (0.0%) Good (14.3%) Very good (85.7%)
What do you think about the event food?
Very bad (0.0%) Bad (0.0%) Good (28.6%) Very good (71.4%)
What do you think about the event infrastructure?
Very bad (0.0%) Bad (4.8%) Good (33.3%) Very good (61.9%)
What do you think about the event prizes?
Very bad (0.0%) Bad (0.0%) Good (14.3%) Very good (85.7%)
Do you believe that this event contributed to a bigger understanding about Wikipedia functionings and about Open Knowledge culture?
Nothing or very little (0.0%) Partially or little (4.8%) Plenty (95.2%)
Do your expectations were met?
Yes (95.2%) No (4.8%)
Would you recommend an Editathon participation to a friend?
Yes (100.0%) No (0.0%)
