Grants:PEG/WM US-NYC/Events Grant Reapportionment/Report

Report accepted
This report for a Project and Event grant approved in FY 2011-12 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
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Compliance and completion edit

Did you comply with the requirements specified by WMF in the grant agreement?
YES
In this grant Wikimedia NYC promised and hosted the following events. Follow the links for more complete descriptions of the events.
Is your project completed?
YES
All the events which Wikimedia NYC promised have been held.
Did you use any of the grant funds?
YES
The grant funds reallocated for these events have been consumed in entirety.

Description of actual activities: Wikimedia NYC hosted five events associated with this grant. The two Wikipedia loves Libraries events were editing events in which anyone of any experience level could meet in the library, get help from the librarian in finding sources, and contribute to Wikipedia articles based on the sources they found. The two Wikipedia Day events were days for people of any experience level to attend presentations and participate in discussions about Wikipedia. The wiki workshop was an event targeted to people who were new to Wikipedia.

At the library events approximately 15 people participated in each event. At the Wikipedia Day events more than 100 people attended each event. At the workshop about 20 people attended.

Money edit

Incoming edit

Total incoming - $1715 Money originally came from two other grants.

In this grant, Grants:WM US-NYC/Events Grant Reapportionment, that money was to be reapportioned as described below.

Outgoing edit

Total outgoing - $1715

  • US$362.76 on Wikipedia Day 2010, entirely spent on pizza on 26 January 2010.
  • US$1352.98 on future small-scale events of an outreach nature (which often require short-notice planning): Wikipedia Loves Libraries, Wikipedia Day 2012, Wiki-Workshops of various types
    • Wikipedia Day 2012 - USD $1612, of which 1353 was covered by this grant and 259 was covered by funding from the chapter's own funds.
      • $350 - space rental and hiring custodians from rental space to supervise event
      • $1262- catering for food, including morning coffee and bagels, midday, dinner

What lessons were learned that could help others succeed in similar projects? Events work well when a mix of experienced and inexperienced Wikipedians attend together. Inexperienced people learn enough to be able to contribute as well as anyone else so long as experienced users will answer their questions. In all events with editing, especially the Wikipedia loves Library events, we found that new users will develop Wikipedia articles when they are confident that they can get help.

What impact did the project have on WMF mission goals of Increased Reach, Increased Quality, Increased Credibility, Increased and Diversified Participation? All of the events within this grant introduced new people to Wikipedia. Events which involve editing improve Wikipedia's quality because everyone always makes some contribution to Wikipedia before leaving the event and they also increase the pool of people in this community who have had a positive experience editing Wikipedia. Hosting events in partnership with other community organizations increases the credibility of the Wikipedia project's image in the community, particularly among librarians, university staff, and free culture advocates. Wikimedia NYC does outreach to diverse populations because the organization partners with existing community organizations which themselves are diverse, including the libraries and schools.

Will you be requesting re-allocation of remaining grant funding? No, there is no remaining grant funding. This consumed the excess funds of the Wiki-Conference New York 2 and Wikipedia Takes Manhattan grants, which were settled with this reapportionment.