Grants talk:IdeaLab/The Wikipedia Instagram Campaign

Next steps to develop your idea

Thanks for submitting your idea, The Wikipedia Instagram Campaign, for the New Readers Inspire Campaign. In order to help develop your idea further, we want to ask you to respond to the following questions here on the discussion page. Please refer to this document, which contains examples and resources to help you answer these questions:

1. Describe one or two versions of this idea that are smaller than your initial one.

2. List three assumptions about your project and why you think those assumptions are true (see the document for some examples).

3. List three skills or resources you don’t have, that you need for this project to succeed.

4. How can you determine if your project is successful?

Please contact me on my talk page if you have any questions. I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 21:58, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

• Thank you I JethroBT (WMF), here are my replies to the questions.

1. This idea has been carefully well thought out and this version of the idea is essentially the smallest that can be done. It can only get bigger. In other words, we could've decided carry out this campaign through all the major social media platforms, but restricting it to only Instagram reduces the scale considerably.

2. Assumptions about this project are:

(a) That people will respond to the contest call on Instagram. This is true, based on several examples of similar contests online.

(b) That contest participants will tag friends to their shared video for voting. Also based on examples, this is true for any popularity contest where there's a prize for grabs.

(c) That the contest will instill the Wikipedia brand awareness in the minds of the people reached....based on human behaviour, this is always true for anything that goes viral on social media.

3. The skills/resources that I don't have, but will be needed for the success of this project include:

(a) I don’t have video production equipment, so I’d have to hire them to make the initial contest call.

(b) I can do basic video editing and design, but I might need help to create a very appealing video, in order to draw in more people.

(c) I don’t have the funds to promote the contest call on Instagram, as well as to reward the winners of the contest.

4. This project will be considered succesful, once we achieve a considerable amount of public engagement through the campaign. The criteria for this have been listed on the main page.

Hopefully, these answers satisfy the questions :). Cheers!--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:27, 22 February 2018 (UTC)

Hi Jamie Tubers, it sounds like you have done a lot of thinking about this instagram campaign and that it is indeed small enough for a pilot. I suggest that you talk to Blossom Ozurumba, who is also planning a project that involves video and social media in Nigeria. It looks like the Wikipedia Street Take Over idea has a videographer, who might be able to work with you to create a video to start your campaign. If you want to apply for a Rapid Grant to fund things like prizes, Instagram promotion and video production, you should start an application soon. The deadline to submit the Inspire New Readers grant request is March 15th. In your application, I suggest that you include links to some similar campaigns/contests that you have seen, a timeline for when you would run the campaign, and a budget for the kind of funding you'd need. Please let me know if you have any questions - I'm happy to help. Cheers, --KHarold (WMF) (talk) 18:36, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

• Hello KHarold (WMF), thank you for your interest in this idea! Blossom lives in a city very far from where I am, so it might not be feasible to use her videographer. However, I intend to use the help of other videographers in the movement to make some videos at WMCON. I'm already talking to Zack McCune concerning this. However, it would still be safe to include the budget for this aspect, just in case. I will try to meetup with the grant deadline, and I'll take note of all the things you have advised...and ofcourse, I'll let you know if I have any questions or assistance :). Thank you once again!--Jamie Tubers (talk) 18:43, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Rapid Grant applications due March 15th

Thanks for starting your idea with the New Readers Inspire Campaign. I'm Chris Schilling (User:I JethroBT (WMF)), a community organizer supporting the campaign.

If you think you may need funding for your idea, Rapid Grants are available for ideas submitted during this campaign. Grant applications for ideas related to new readers are due by March 15th, 2018 (23:59 GMT). You can convert your idea into a Rapid Grant proposal by clicking on the Expand into a Rapid Grant button at the bottom of your idea page. Please review the guidelines and criteria before starting your grant application. If you need help completing your grant application, please contact me at cschillingwikimedia.org.

While applications for Rapid Grants can normally be submitted at any time, we have implemented a deadline for ideas on this specific topic. The reason for this deadline is because we plan to develop specific criteria later in 2018 for grant applications related to new readers and awareness-building activities. The applicants and project plans we receive from you in the coming weeks will help us define these guidelines and set expectations for future work in inviting people to use Wikimedia projects generally.

Also, if you do not need funding but would like to discuss other questions or needs for your idea (such as on-wiki volunteers or advising), please feel free to contact me on my talk page or at cschillingwikimedia.org, and we can discuss your needs over e-mail or schedule a time to have a conversation about your needs over Skype / Hangouts / IRC. Thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) 15:47, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

• Hello I JethroBT (WMF), hello KHarold (WMF), this is to notify you that I have finalized the grant; it's now ready for review. Thank you!--Jamie Tubers (talk) 14:50, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

Questions on grant proposal

Hi Jamie Tubers! We are pleased to see you have completed the grant request for this project and shared links to similar contests. The grand prize phone is more expensive than the prizes offered for most on-wiki writing and photo contests. I'd like to learn more about the prizes. What kinds of prizes are usually offered for the video campaigns that inspired this project? When people are purchasing equipment, we ask them to provide a link to the item is being sold. Is that something you can provide? I'm looking forward to following up with you in the next few days about this. --KHarold (WMF) (talk) 11:08, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

• Hello KHarold (WMF), Thank you for your comment!

On the prize question. Out of the three examples I gave, two contests gave out a grand prize of ₦1 million, the other one gave out several smartphones. This is the format for most Nigerian contests; if it is a cash prize, it is north of a million; when it is a non-cash prize, it is something generally considered very valuable. Since we don't have a budget for a million cash prize, this phone prize is relatively much smaller, while still being able to draw in an equally high number of participants. I understand that most Wiki contests offer smaller prizes, but Wikipedians already understand the goal of this movement, and are not exactly really after the prize. This campaign on the other hand aims to raise awareness amongst people who are non-editors and don't even know so much about Wikipedia. With all that said, the prize can be reduced, if you still think it is too much.

I won't be purchasing any equipment; I think what you mean is probably prizes. For the weekly prizes, the exact prizes have not been determined, we'll definitely just purchase feature phones within the budgeted range. For the grand prize; here's the link to where the phone is being sold online, at a discounted rate of ₦253,000 (original prize: ₦280,000). The phone will most probably be bought in a physical store though, so as to avoid the unreliability and risks of online purchases. Prizes online are typically less than what you get in the stores, so the budget has been adequately adjusted to account for this. (NB: There're also very expensive prices online, for example; the phone is being sold for ₦340,000 by this store).

I hope I have been able to answer your questions.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 22:16, 19 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi Jamie Tubers, thank you for getting back to me with this information. Our team has concerns about offering such an expensive grand prize. Is there a smartphone closer to $250 USD that you think people would be interested in as a grand prize? On another note, Zack and I discussed this project and he has suggested making the prompt for the contest something like, "tell us about a time that Wikipedia saved the day". Let me know if you think it is possible to run a popular contest with a less expensive phone as a prize. I'll be watching this page and will get back to you faster than I did this time. --KHarold (WMF) (talk) 17:36, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

• Hello KHarold (WMF), thank you for your reply.

I have slashed the grand prize budget into half. The present budget should be able to still get an appealing device, I expect the pull on potential participants to weaken though....we have to deal with that, I guess :). The amount you suggested ($250) is very low to get anything that would significantly pull participants. However, if you want that, it means I have to re-edit this proposal, as the potential impact of the contest would need to reduce. Is that a better option with you? I hope you'd prefer the ~$500 revised prize though :).

Furthermore; after the advice from Victor Grigas, I have upgraded the budget for video production. Thank you for your time.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 17:32, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

Approval

Hello Jamie Tubers, thank you for participating in the Inspire Campaign and updating your budget based on our team's advice and guidance. I am approving your grant proposal. I look forward to learning the results of your project in your grant report. Best regards, WJifar (WMF) (talk) 12:15, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

• Thank you very much WJifar (WMF)! I look forward to the positive impacts that this project would have. Big thanks to KHarold (WMF) and I JethroBT (WMF) as well! Cheers.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 15:24, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

• Hello WJifar (WMF); like it's been discussed already in the mail, I'd like to have the end date for this project shifted to August 31st, in order to allow enough time for planning and administration. Regards.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 13:51, 26 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello Jamie Tubers, thank you for putting your request here. I am approving your request to have an end date of August 31st for your project. Your new report due date is September 30, 2018. Best regards, WJifar (WMF) (talk) 18:44, 30 April 2018 (UTC)