Grants talk:Project/Rapid/AlwaysInRed/WPI Wikipedia Editing Community

Comments from DSaroyan (WMF)

Hello AlwaysInRed, thanks again for submitting this Rapid Grant application and congratulations on your first Wikimedia Foundation Grant! We are glad to learn about your plans to introduce Wikipedia editing to the students, faculty, and staff of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I have a few questions and requests after reviewing your grant application:

• It’s great that you’ll be using the Outreach Dashboard to track participant’s contributions. Could you please correct the Outreach Dashboard link in the proposal page? It seems broken now.

I apologize for the link issue. I have fixed it on the grant proposal and here it is again: Worcester Polytechnic Institute campaign outreach dashboard. -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 20:01, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

• How did you learn about Wikimedia Foundation funding programs?

I learned about the program by doing a Google search as I was looking for ways to support the Editing Community at WPI. -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 20:02, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

• We’d like to learn a bit more about your experience. Have you led similar projects or activities in the past?

I have led a themed Wikipedia edit-a-thon on WPI campus last Spring (dashboard available through the campaign linked above). I am part of the group of editors running the Wikipedia efforts at 500 Women Scientists; we have organized and led numerous edit-a-thons in the past couple of years (also tracked through an outreach dashboard campaign). I was introduced to Wikipedia editing as part of a course taught by Wiki Education in the Summer of 2020 that trains scholars in how to edit Wikipedia. -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 20:06, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

• Which resources will you use to train participants on Wikipedia?

I am working with a librarian on WPI campus to put together a LibGuide to collect training resources for our new editors. This page is still a work in progress (and it is currently accessible only through this link); we hope to launch it in the next couple of weeks. We will also have at least one expert editor available to give a short tutorial and/or answer questions at each meet-up. -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 20:20, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

Budget:

• Could you please provide more information about these two budget items?
  • Books for raffle
  • WPI swag for raffle — please note that you can also request Wikipedia swag. You can find more information here.

We are planning to have a raffle at each meet-up for one book and one WPI swag item. Each month we will have a theme for the meet-up (and an accompanying list of suggested pages to edit that will be collected on the dashboard); the raffle book will be chosen by a librarian to fit the monthly theme. The WPI swag items we had in mind include: mugs, notebooks, lanyards, pencils, and phone cases. I was not aware that Wikipedia swag could be requested; thank you for letting me know! I think Wikipedia swag would certainly be of interest to our attendees. -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 20:20, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

Looking forward to hearing from you. Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 12:17, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

Comments from I JethroBT (WMF)

Hello AlwaysInRed. Thanks for your proposal and for responding to Davit's comments above. One additional request I had is that we usually ask applicants to post a notification about proposals on-wiki, so communities are aware of what projects and events we are funded to benefit those Wikimedia projects. Would you be willing to post a brief notice about your proposal on some relevant community talk pages on English Wikipedia or other Wikimedia projects where you expect to be doing a substantial amount of work? Some spaces on English Wikipedia could include:

• en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Massachusetts
• en:Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)
• en:Wikipedia:WikiProject Boston (though, I know it isn't exactly in the neighborhood.)

These are just examples, and if there are other spaces on-wiki you want to use, that is fine. When you've added these notifications, please provide a link to them either here or on the proposal page. With thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 18:40, 2 September 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestions, I JethroBT (WMF). I have posted notifications on a few WikiProjects talk pages. I have linked them here:

• WikiProject Women in Red - Women Writers & their works (September 2021)
• WikiProject Women in Red - LBT Women
• WikiProject Women Scientists

I hope these are sufficient. We'd be happy to add more based on later themes and as the community comes together in the next months. -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 18:28, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

Grant end-date extension request

Hello WMF, I am writing to request an extension on the end-date of this Rapid Grant. During the past academic year (2021/22), COVID-19 restrictions on WPI's campus limited in-person gatherings and food options for in-person gatherings. As such, we had to adjust our plans for trying to make monthly meetups of the WPI Wikipedia Editing Community appealing to potential attendees while adhering to the COVID-19 rules. We provided to-go snack bags for attendees and increased the prizes/swag available. Nonetheless, we were not able to spend all of the grant funds allotted.

I am hoping to be able to extend the grant timeline to include the Fall 2022 semester. Moving the grant end-date to December 31 2022, would give us a chance to use the remaining funds to organize more meetups in the Fall with food, as originally planned. Would this be possible?

Thanks in advance for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you. -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 13:44, 25 May 2022 (UTC)

@AlwaysInRed: Thanks for your requested extension and for letting us know about limitations on your gatherings and adjustments that you have needed to make. We are glad you would like to use the remaining funds into the Fall 2022 semester, and so your proposed new end date for 31 December 2022 is approved. I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 21:05, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

That is great news, thank you! -- AlwaysInRed (talk) 22:41, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

Noting here that the final report submission will date will also shift to 30 days after this new grant end date, or 30 January 2023. Thank you! -- Morgan Jue (WMF) (talk) 22:51, 26 May 2022 (UTC)