Grants talk:PEG/Pradeep Mohandas and Pranav Curumsey - Wikimedia Chapter, India and Mumbai and Pune WikiCommunities /WikiConference India 2011

There is no doubt that such a conference might help Wikimedia projects in India, so I am generally absolutely for supporting it.

Two questions to clarify the budget:

1. Is there going to be any conference fee? If yes - what the amount of money you expect to receive? If not - how are going to get rid of people who just want to spend some time for free and are not interested in Wikimedia projects?
2. Do you really need "4 vehicles on call" ? This is quite high cost (around 5% of the overall budget). Would not be cheaper to simply use regular taxis if really needed?

Polimerek 10:12, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your support. Clarifications:

1. Yes, there will be a fee. This question could not have come at a more pertinent time - we have received almost 750 applications for scholarships in the last 24 hours since the site notice announcing the same went live in India. We are currently in talks with possible Registration Partners and should finalise this soon. At the moment the figures being talked of are INR 500 for all registrants (including scholars), INR 250 for registrants from Mumbai itself (to encourage local attention) and INR 5000 for institutional representatives for those who register upto one month before the conference and depending on the number of applications, the figures be revised (we will announce the rates as valid for those who register by X date following which may rates be raised). No final decision has been taken in this regard, but we hope to move on it soon. The rates will be for the entire conference and will include lunch/tea/water/snacks.

2. Since the local government has scrapped old taxi vehicles recently, there is a dearth of taxis at rush hour and we would like to avoid a situation where we do not have a vehicle to do something or get something important. We finalised the figure of 4 cars as we will need the same for organisational purposes, invitee external Speakers from outside Mumbai and for Foundation invitees.

Cheers, AroundTheGlobe 11:17, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Another 2 questions: (treat them as Advocatus Diaboli input :- ) )

1. Why have you choosen Mumbai as a conference place? The city seems to be in the southern corner of India - why not to choose a place somewhere in the middle?
2. What would you do if you receive much more scholarship applications than you can grant? Do you have any scholarship selection rules and selection committee?

Polimerek 22:26, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

For the following reasons:

1. The idea of a WikiConference India was suggested at a Mumbai community meetup. This was then proposed to the India list and was accepted by the community and the Chapter. In addition, Mumbai is an easily accessible city by air, rail and road. It is connected to almost the whole of India and hence we believe Wikimedians from various parts of the country can easily make it.
2. We expect more applications than there are scholarships. In fact, we have already exceeded than the maximum possible scholarships. Yes, we have put in place the scholarship selection rules and a Scholarship Committee to look into the scholarship applications.

Thanks. Prad2609 15:22, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

As this grant is specially only for Scholarships so it is very important to have fair rules.A report regarding this may be submitted Here after campaign is finished.As of now I have found no rules & regulations at WikiConference_India_2011/Scholarship_Coordination or some where else, I have got no response on talk page too.--Mayur ^{(talk•Email)} 15:25, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

The grant has been requested to finance both Scholarships and part of the expenses for Budget A in the Grant. We will be happy to submit a report regarding this to the Foundation once the campaign is finished.

Thanks. Prad2609 15:27, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I forgot see that grant amount has been increased to 40000 $, is this particular change is due to large no of scholarships? or some other reason--Mayur ^{(talk•Email)} 15:33, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

The grant request was edited after a conversation with the Sponsorship Team who had reservations on the amount that could be raised in time remaining. We raised the grant amount as a back up in case the Sponsorship Team cannot raise the said amount. We will not be raising the number of scholarships than was earlier decided as that is for people who really want to attend, have a good reason but cannot afford it and the initial number we feel is big enough to accommodate such people. We would not like a situation where every one who attends is paid for by us, we would like to have a good mix. AroundTheGlobe 05:47, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Can a page of Rules & Regulation for Scholarships be provided like Wikimania to have clear view to all? --Mayur ^{(talk•Email)} 15:44, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

I believe there is one as mentioned on the Scholarship form, for some reason there is no link, I am following up with the particular Team in that regard, thank you for bringing it to our attention. AroundTheGlobe 05:47, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

As we know this is a big Wiki event it may need larger budget than 40000$ so are you satisfied with this budget.How will you manage if there get shortage of budget.Would you want to apply for extra budget if expenditure crosses the Current budget limit--Mayur ^{(talk•Email)} 19:54, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

The Budget is over $40,000, this is just the amount we are requesting as a grant (we will be having other receivables such as local Sponsors and Registration fees). The total budget is around $55,000. This keeping in mind we are talking of actual figures. We have got quotes on which the figures are based, whether it be hotels, railways, venue, catering or anything else. We further have a 10% contingency that should take care of any increase in payouts. AroundTheGlobe 08:03, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Ok, So your grant can be kept in a format of 40000$ current and if limit exceeds then you many request another 10% of the grant request later.With a hope that you all pune and mumbai community will make it a grand success for Wikimedia foundation movements.Best wishes--Mayur ^{(talk•Email)} 08:35, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Apologies for not being clear enough, a 10% contingency is already factored into Budget A (Budget B is the Scholarships, we have already tied up accommodation a little under the rate quoted in the budget and the rail fares normally go up only during when the Railways Budget is submitted to Parliament in February every year, hence we did not see a need for contingency in Budget B). Thank you for your good wishes. AroundTheGlobe 05:10, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

"Wider ecosystem"

Could you expand a little on the target audience of the conference, beyond Wikipedians and Wikimedians? What parts/representatives of the "wider ecosystem" mentioned in the request will you be targeting, and how would they find out about it? Thanks. Ijon 23:09, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

We aim to include Wikipedia readers/users who use it as reference but do not edit, such persons can also apply for the scholarship. We will have a few external speakers as well who will talk from a different view point. Locally, the event will be promoted among schools and colleges. AroundTheGlobe 05:53, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Note about merchandise

The WMF will send you buttons and stickers, but sending hundreds of T-shirts is both cost-ineffective and a problem with customs. You will need to print the T-shirts locally, so you will need to budget for this. Ijon 18:14, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, we believe the India office is printing t-shirts, which is why we requested them. In case they are not we will budget for printing. AroundTheGlobe 04:40, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Rs to

The Rs need to be changed to . I am updating this. --Surya Prakash.S.A. 08:53, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Interim data point

This grant was never wired to WMIN for technical reasons, and spending was done by direct wire and personal reimbursements. Let this be an interim record of the fact the total amount of funds spent by the WMF against this grant was: 27863 USD. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 00:52, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Updated sum: 27551 USD. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 22:35, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Just to clarify, unless some other expense comes to light, the above is the total spent on this grant. This will retroactively become the "grant amount" for all practical purposes. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 18:00, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Report is overdue

NOTE: The report for this grant, due March 1st 2012, is now more than two months overdue. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 18:01, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing it out Asaf, you have been in the loop on the delay and a part report has been submitted in January. A full public report will be posted on meta before this week ends. AroundTheGlobe (talk) 12:04, 17 May 2012 (UTC)