Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikipedia edit-a-thons/trainings centered on Jamaican artists in Kingston, Jamaica./Report
- Report accepted
- To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikipedia edit-a-thons/trainings centered on Jamaican artists in Kingston, Jamaica..
- 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 edit
Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?
All goals were met except for the number of number of repeat participants. I am satisfied with the project’s execution. Participants were excited to engage with Wikipedia given their now expanded knowledge of the scope of the project. Several participants expressed interest in forming their own Wikipedia editing groups, while the National Gallery of Jamaica, who collaborated with me as as a host institution, is now considering making their archives more readily available to the public for the express purpose of developing Wikipedia articles highlighting artists in their collection. Furthermore, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts’ Art History department is now considering integrating workshops on the development of Wikipedia articles into their curriculum as part of their foundational course load. I am currently working on creating the Kingston community page. Not all participants use Facebook or social media, so I opted against creating a Facebook page as I originally proposed.
Outcome edit
Please report on your original project targets.
| Target outcome | Achieved outcome | Explanation |
| Recruit new editors | Recruited 13 new editors. | Though my goal was to create 15, see below for notes on marketing and accessibility and how they affected the number of attendees. |
| 10 new articles created or improved | Two new articles were created but many more were improved. | As they were new editors, I guided them through making new articles but encouraged them to spend time editing existing articles for citations, syntax and cleaning up hyperbolic, subjective language. One example of a new page is Camille Chedda. |
Learning edit
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?
Providing childcare worked well, as well as the travel bursary, even though it was not used. Being able to provide food was integral as well, given the length of the sessions. It was also extremely helpful to experienced editors available for questioning over Google Hangouts. They also provided guidance in promoting the final event by showing me how to create a Central Notice banner.
- What did not work so well?
Next time, I would try to plan far further ahead and advertise to a larger demographic. I would also try hosting at a library so participants will not be required to bring their laptops.
- What would you do differently next time?
I would say that a major hindrance was that Wi-Fi signals were not always strong enough to accomodate all the participants, especially at the last workshop where there were about 10 people working on articles at once. I foresaw this problem and purchased a personal Wi-Fi travel modem which accommodates 5 people and subsequently alleviated the bottleneck. I also think that having more time to promote the event would have been ideal. Since I only had 6 weeks in Jamaica with the notification that I received the grant coming on the first day of my residency after I thought that I was not going to be selected, there was not enough time to advertise sufficiently. It was also unfortunate that I arrived in Jamaica at the end of the school term and was not able to engage the student population effectively as a result.
Finances edit
Grant funds spent edit
Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.
$604.71 was spent. I will send an itemized table showing spending by merchant along with my receipts. Generally, money was spent on childcare, refreshments, stationery and the mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
| Retailer | Date | Description | JMD ($) | USD ($) | Total (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juici Patties | December 8th 2018 | Food | 3490.00 | 27.20 | 27.20 | Ink on receipt deteriorated due to heat exposure, the totals are still visible. |
| Juici Patties | December 15th 2018 | Food | 3200 | 24.94 | 24.94 | - |
| General Foods Supermarket | December 8th 2018 | Food/Snacks/Utensils | 4093.01 | 31.89 | 31.89 | - |
| General Foods Supermarket | December 15th 2018 | Food/Snacks/Utensils | 4219.16 | 32.88 | 32.88 | - |
| Scotiabank | December 8th, 2018 | Childcare fees | - | 100.00 | 100.00 | Withdrawn from Scotiabank with no fee due to them being partners with Bank of America. I also have proof of receipt of payment from the provider, Charmaine Belgrove. |
| Scotiabank | December 15th, 2018 | Childcare fees | - | 100.00 | 100.00 | " |
| Scotiabank | December 22nd, 2018 | Childcare fees | - | 100.00 | 100.00 | " |
| C-Mart: The Reader’s Bookshop | December 7th, 2018 | Stationery | 2865.49 | 22.33 | 22.33 | - |
| C-Mart: The Reader’s Bookshop | December 7th, 2018 | Stationery | 837.22 | 6.52 | 6.52 | - |
| Tep Wireless | December 14th, 2018 | Miscellaneous | - | - | 158.95 | Travel modem to accommodate more participants at the National Gallery of Jamaica during the last workshop. |
Remaining funds edit
Do you have any remaining grant funds?
$465.29 is left of the originally awarded $1070. As I am traveling to Trinidad and Tobago next for 3 months, I would like to use the remaining funds to host 3 more workshops in March while I am artist in residence at Alice Yard, which is located in Port of Spain. As previously indicated, I would like to host these workshops at local libraries if possible so that they can be more accessible. Funds will be used to cater food, though childcare and a travel bursary might not be available unless granted more funds.
Anything else edit
Anything else you want to share about your project?
Please do not cite my underspending as a reason to give less funding to similar projects in the Caribbean in the future! As this was my first time hosting a series of workshops, I identified several areas in my own budget where funding allocation could have been increased or decreased in response to Jamaica's social climate. For example, the travel bursary would have been better spent on purchasing a ticket to go to Montego Bay or a rural parish to do another workshop altogether, rather than asking them to journey to Kingston. A local editor would have identified this factor immediately and spent the money differently than I did instead of playing it safe. In conclusion, what I was granted was definitely enough and could have been better utilized and similar requests should not be penalized as a result of it. The community of people who want to do this work in the region is small but dedicated and they deserve these opportunities.