Grants:Project/Rapid/WLX and education projects in Thailand 2018
Project Goal edit
Briefly explain what are you trying to accomplish with this project, or what do you expect will change as a result of this grant. Example goals include, "recruit new editors", "add high quality content", or "train existing editors on a specific skill".
This year, Wikimedians in Thailand User Group has more variety than ever before as we plan to oraganize a wide range of activities including photo/article contests, Education Program, Mentor Project, Kiwix and Meetups.
Two photo contests and one article contest will be oraganized including Wiki Loves Earth (WLE), Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), and Wikipedia Asian Month (WAM). The idea of these contests are to increase the quality and quantity of freely licensed materials related to Thailand. They are also aimed at increasing awareness and appreciation of the beautiful Thai cultural and national heritage. These contests have been very successful since 2013, and the success will be carried on. In addition to those contests, we will pilot the One Article, One or More Images Project aiming to encourage editors to upload and use images to and from Wikimedia Commons in a competitive setting. We hope to both to elevate the quality of articles and to stimulate the engagement within community.
The Education Program since 2014 has been an effective way to recruit new editors and to create more content. Wikipedia writing assignment has been incorporated into more than ten sections of undergraduate chemistry classes at Mahidol University International College. Over 100 students have participated in the program resulting in the contributions equivalent to 100 A4 pages (assuming 3,000 bytes or 5 photos per page). Some class alumni who previously participated in the program became mentors/reviewers for students who are new to the program. Our education program is very self-sustained. It has been successful since the beginning and therefore will be continued.
New editor recruitment programs described in the previous paragraph, however, can be a double edged sword. Despite new contributions being made, new editors are frequently chastised by administrators and veteran editors. Such situation could turn them off before they have a chance to understand myriad Wikipedia rules, prevents them from taking more action, and makes them less motivated to contribute in a long run. At the same time it is as much as frustrating for an administrator to revert dozens of edits on a daily basis. To ameliorate these issues, we will be organizing Mentor Program, whereby more experienced editors will have an opportunity to mentor new editors through their first hours on Wikipedia. This system makes sure that new editors would get sufficient assistance in a friendly manner, and possibly reduce the workload of administrators. We're really excited to see how it goes. This is part of our volunteer support program discussed at the Wikimedia Conference 2018.
Another objective is to establish more collaborations with third-party organizations, especially those orgnizations whose ambitions and goals are aligned with Wikimedia movement. This serves to increase our visibility in the general public as well as to recruit newcomers into our growing community. We're also looking for additional sponsors for WLE and WLM. Among the collaborations we currently have, our collaboration with Dtac, a major mobile operator in Thailand, is a long standing one. Wikipedia Zero was first introduced in 2012 and has been in service until today. In addition to Wikipedia Zero, we are launching Kiwix for the first time to provide offline Wikipedia access in isolated places. It will be first implemented in prisons as learning and recreational materials for inmates.
Meetups will be held on a regular interval (bimonthly). It may not be as frequent as we originally intended (monthly) because we will emphasize more on quality rather than quantity. Meetups aren't just meetups but rather the building of the community. Our movement is gradually growing and meetups are there to strengthen interpersonal relationships, to build a stronger foundation for our community. Strengthening of interpersonal relationships is key element in building a stronger community, especially when we're taking steps forward to become a future Wikimedia Chapter.
Project Plan edit
Activities edit
- Education program (from April 2018 to March 2019)
- Mentor Program (from April 2018)
- One Article, One or More Images Project (May 2018)
- Kiwix (in collaboration with Dtac, from May 2018)
- Wiki Loves Earth (June 2018)
- Wiki Loves Monuments (September 2018)
- Wikipedia Asian Month (November 2018)
- Meetups (bimonthly)
Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing?
The WLE and WLM are part of international photo competitions hosted by Wikimedia. We have oraganized these event in Thailand since 2013 with support from both the international coordinator team and local sponsors. Photographs from Thailand have won international prizes in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and we have secured a number of partners for WMTH. This project here does not only increase the number of Thai heritage images on commons but also reaches out to the Thai people and educate them on how wiki projects work. Currently, there are four members in the organizing committee including myself (user:Taweetham, user:Pilarbini, user:Potapt, user:Athikhun.suw). Jury panel will consist of professional photographers, previous winners, local volunteers, and columnists.
How will you let others in your community know about your project (please provide links to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions)? Why are you targeting a specific audience?
Our activities are generally posted on our website (www.wmth.org), and Facebook page/group. Our partners also help advertise our activities by posting on their website.
What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
Impact edit
How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets and feel free to add more specific to your project:
Wiki Loves Earth and Wiki Loves Monuments edit
- Images
- We expect to receive at least 3,000 files uploads for both the WLE and WLM.
- We expect at least 10% of the uploads are quality images and will be used in various project over a period of time.
- People
- We expect to have at least 5 volunteers in the organizing team.
- We expect to have professional photographers, columnists as judges.
- Tracking tools
- http://tools.wmflabs.org/glamtools/glamorous.php (for images)
- https://metrics.wmflabs.org/ (for volunteers)
Wikipedia Asian Month 2016 edit
- Article
- We expect at least 100 articles to be created/edited on Thai Wikipedia.
- We might extend the WAM into the English Wikipedia
- People
- We expect at least 30 volunteers to participate.
- We expect to have at least 3 active volunteers as organizing team and judges.
- Tracking tools
- https://tools.wmflabs.org/wam/judging.php (for articles)
Mentor Project edit
We plan to make this a permanent project to increase the retention of editors by boosting the engagement within the community and making sure that the new editors get sufficient assistant and treated in friendly manners.
- Article
- We expect at least 100 articles to be created/edited on Thai Wikipedia in 2018.
- People
- We expect at least 30 mentees to participate in 2018.
- Tracking tools
One Article, One or More Images Project edit
The project is planned to be piloted for a month, then with positive feedback, we plan to convert it into regular event in which winners will be awarded either monthly or bi-monthly.
- Article
- We expect at least 100 articles to be assigned into category:articles needing images.
- Images
- We expect at least 100 images to be uploaded into Commons.
- We expect at least 100 images from Commons to be added into articles.
- People
- We expect at least 20 volunteers to participate in the first month.
- Tracking tools
Meetups edit
- People
We expect at least 5 volunteers in every meetup.
Resources edit
What resources do you have? Include information on who is the organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).
For photo contests (WLE and WLM), contesters are eligible for prizes. Therefore, we would like to request for funding for the prizes for the winners, postage, and any other cost associated promotional materials.
What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense:
- Project budget table
1USD is approximately THB31 baht (as of 27 April 2018)
| Number | Category | Item description | Number of units | Cost per unit (THB) | Total cost (THB) | Currency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awards | (1) Cash/voucher prize for 1st-10th winners (1st prize=10,000THB). Awards for 2nd-10th places will be managed when we know the total number of winners.
(2) Trophies and certificates for WLE, WLM, and WAM. |
2 (WLE and WLM) | 22,200 | 44,400 | THB | ~1,400 USD |
| 2 | Promotion | (1) Promotional materials (e.g. flyers, posters, postcards, calendars, t-shirts, merchandise, etc.)
(2) Web hosting, online advertisement and other associated costs |
- | - | 9,300 | THB | ~300 USD |
| 3 | Meetups | Six bimonthly meetups (venue and food for about 5-10 volunteers/participants during the course of the project) | 6 | 1,033.33 | 6,200 | THB | ~200 USD |
| 4 | Contingency | Incidental costs (Custom duty + other charges on WP merchandise sent from overseas, travels, phone calls, souvenirs/trophies for local corporate partners, extra postage fees, stamps and packages etc.) | - | - | 3,100 | THB | ~100 USD |
- Total cost
USD2,000 (~THB63,000)