Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Ghanaian Languages Meetup (ID: 22067664)

Feedback from MEA regional funds team

Hello DaSupremo, thanks for submitting this grant request. We appreciate your idea and the proposed project plan. We have reviewed the application and we have a few questions, requests, and suggestions regarding it.

• It is indeed important to bring together all Wikimedians who work with different local languages to identify priorities and shared goals. However, we think that all goals defined in your response to question 3 will not be possible to achieve in a 2 day meetup. We recommend focusing on 2-3 most important goals and building the event program around them. We would recommend focusing on networking and developing shared goals, instead of focusing on content development.
• We also want to request to ensure representation from all mentioned language groups and community members in the organizing team. Please confirm in your response to question 5 that if this grant is approved, you will engage organizers/advisors from different language communities. Moreover, we request that you ensure female representation in the organizing or advisory team. It would be great if you could involve team members who have some experience in organizing conferences or regional meetups.
• Similarly, we are requesting that you ensure participation from all language communities through a transparent application and selection process. We want to make sure that all Wikimedians who work with the identified language Wikimedia projects have a chance to participate. It can be done through having an open call for applications and having a selection committee that consists of members from all language communities. We kindly ask you to confirm this too in your response to question 9.
• Thanks for reaching out to the affiliates and groups in the region through their group discussion pages on Meta. Given the importance of the project, we would also like to request to reach out to these affiliates through email or other communication channels and invite them to take part in the organizing or program teams. Please confirm that you will contact them through other channels and engage them in designing the meetup schedule (question 11).
• In your response to question 3, please add more details of the event. Where it will be organized? Will it be online or offline? How long will it last?
• We also noticed that you mentioned that Dagbani Wikimedians User Group will be a fiscal sponsor. Could you please clarify the connection between this application and the User Group? Is it submitted on the User Group behalf? If this is a project organized by only Dagbani User Group and the communities they support, it should be supported by their General Support Fund.
• Finally, we would like you to request to create a Meta page when you will start organizing this event, where you will document the project, schedule, organizing team, selection process, as well as project outcomes when they are available. Please think about what will be a desired outcome for you? Maybe a page where you will agree on shared goals or a strategy? Or a page highlighting all your current challenges or priorities for the next year? Add these details to question 3.

We are sending the application back to you to make the requested changes. Please make these changes by February 26, 2023 and re-submit the application. Let us know if you have any questions. Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 13:48, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

Hello DSaroyan (WMF) (talk)

Thank you for your feedback on our grant application. We appreciate the time and effort you have put into providing us with your observations and suggestions.

• We have limited the goals to 2.
• The core organizing team currently includes members from all the affiliates and language communities in Ghana. We have included two female representatives in the core organizing team and the committees that will help organize the event. The committees will be made up of volunteer representatives from the various participating communities who will be carefully chosen from an open call.
• There will be an open call via email, community talk pages, mailing list, telegram platforms, and other channels for everyone to participate in the meetup and there will be another call for volunteers to serve on committees who will plan and organize the program, review proposals and all other reflections from the meetup.
• I confirm that we will be reaching out to all the language communities and affiliates in Ghana to be part of the core organizing team and planning committees for the program.
• The event will be organized in person in Tamale for two days (Friday and Saturday). Some important sessions will be streamed live to YouTube channels for online participants. We have chosen Tamale because more than half of the language communities in Ghana are based in and around Tamale, which means we will be able to bring more people to the event without the need to pay more for transport and accommodation considering the scope of the budget.
• Please note that the event is organized by individual members from the Wikimedia communities in Ghana and not by the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group. Since the event is organized by individual community members, the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group will receive the funds on behalf of the group as the only language Wikimedia affiliate group in Ghana. Also, the user group is based in Tamale where this event will be hosted. Since we don't have a group account, it will be easier and safer to receive the funds through a Wikimedia affiliate organization. 
• We have created a meta page for documentation of the event. This will be the first pilot of an annual event that is planned to be hosted every year.

Please we have made the changes and re-submitted the application. Best regards, daSupremo 23:46, 25 February 2023 (UTC)