Grants talk:PEG/Belayet Hossain/WikIftar Dhaka 2013

Need quick response from GAC

Since the event theme is Ramadan Iftar, and there remains only 10 days of Ramadan before Wikimania event to arrange the event. So I would request quick response from the Grant Advisory Committee (GAC) in this grant request.--Bellayet (talk) 14:01, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Not funded

I am afraid we won't be able to fund this under these conditions. We are committed to a public process in our grantmaking, and 10 days is not nearly enough to allow review by our volunteer committee, handle a grant agreement, and wire money.

It also seems you have not had any community consultation about this idea -- at least I don't see any evidence of such consultation. We generally expect community-facing events to be discussed in and by the community they are to serve, before seeking funding.

I'd like to note that we are interested in supporting meetups of Wikipedians in Bangladesh! I don't quite see the added value of necessarily doing it under the title Iftar -- I guess a meetup any other time of the year can be equally useful for the community. So perhaps we can discuss funding for this (and perhaps for more than one meetup) without a deadline, and come to an understanding.

Finally, all is not lost! I understand that the prospective Wikimedia Bangladesh still has some funds left from a previous grant, and they may see the value in funding this WikiIftar idea on your schedule. I encourage you to talk to the WMBD putative board, preferably in a public conversation, on the Bangla Wikipedia or the WMBD mailing list.

Cheers! Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 19:22, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Thank you Asaf for your prompt response. I need your guidance to get the grants and make success the event. I am very much aware that it is not possible to handle a grant agreement and wire money within 10 days. The response I asked to just guide me to the public process you mentioned to get the grant. Since I got this idea very instantly and the time is short I planned to make this page first and then invite others to this process with yours suggestion. I planned to spend from my own and get reimbursement later. So if I can manage at-least a confirmation from you about the grant within couple of days, I can arrange the event and get the money back later. I thought at least I can try to approach you about this project. That was my plan.

You are write a meetup at any other time is equally useful for the community, but as I mentioned at the grant page that this is a great way and a meaningful occasion to invite other fellow Wikipedians to meet and discuss about the projects and the movement.

Again thank you for your suggestions and guide me talk to the WMBD and Bangla Wikipedia community. I am ready to talk to them through WMBD public mailing list though I am afraid whether I get any response from them. Also I am going to start a discussion in Bangla Wikipedia about this idea. In the meantime I would request you to send back this request to the status from "Not Funded" to "Open" or "Draft", So I can get your reconsideration about the grantmaking.--Bellayet (talk) 22:35, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

I understand this was a last-minute idea. It is perhaps a little too last minute to happen in the time frame you want.

It is possible to discuss approving this grant and getting the money to you at a later date, but I'm afraid I still need to see that this idea is acceptable to the editing community, so the first step must be community discussion with a positive result.

I am leaving this request as not funded, but if and when you get a public conversation going and can show at least some community support, I am happy to reconsider. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 00:47, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

I have initiate the issue at WMBD mailing list as well at Bangla Wikipedia village pump for the community discussion.--Bellayet (talk) 08:55, 27 July 2013 (UTC)