Volunteer Supporters Network/VSN Training: Know your Community

Know your community - Why is it so important to be aware of the different roles and needs of volunteer organisers?

Volunteer organisers are important for a healthy community. They mediate conflicts, have ideas for new projects, apply for grants, show others how to edit, organise community spaces and events, and provide emotional support to others in need. As volunteer supporters, we can support them. However, we need to be aware that some of these roles are more visible than others and that we risk overlooking the work and needs of volunteer organisers that are critical to the long-term resilience of a healthy community. This can lead to volunteer burnout and community disruption.

I would like to present what I have learned from the helpful 2019 WMF study "Wikimedia Movement Organizers - Understanding the People who Power the Movement" and discuss ideas on how to implement a more systematic awareness of the different roles of volunteers in relation to their needs. I look forward to an exchange of thoughts and practices on how we perceive the different roles within the communities and how best to support them.

Trainer: Claude Beier from Wikimedia Germany

Date: Wednesday 6th December 2023, time 14 UTC at BigBlueButton (link will be sent to registered users before the meeting)

Language: English

Register for the meeting! edit

You don’t need to be a member of the Volunteer Supporters Network to participate in this online event! The number of participants is not limited. I ask for pre-registration (with Wikimedia username ~~~~). The event will take place on BigBlueButton. I will send the link for the BigBlueButton room to the participants in time before the meeting. Ideally, you should have activated the wiki mail function ("Send email to this user"). If you don't want to do this, please send an email to claude.beier@wikimedia.de, so that I can email the address directly to you. If it turns out that you can't participate, please remove yourself from the list.

I want to take part in the meeting edit

If you want to participate, just add yourself to the list below and I'll send you the link. You can also register via email by contacting Claude (claude.beier@wikimedia.de)

Vic Sfriso (WMAR) (talk) 15:45, 27 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
--Paula (WDU) (talk) 15:57, 27 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Alhassan Mohammed Awal (talk) 17:32, 27 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Edward ambele(talk) 9:49, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
Marta Arosio (WMIT) (talk) 09:34, 28 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
--Christoph Jackel (WMDE) 11:48, 28 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Martin Rulsch (WMDE) (talk) 09:40, 4 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Musindi250 (talk) 14:41, 4 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Lantus (WMCH) (talk) 13:05, 5 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Vyolltsa (WoALUG) (talk) 15:10, 5 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Sara Thomas (WMUK) (talk) 16:18, 5 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]
--Anisa Kuci (WMIT) (talk) 13:51, 6 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Other info edit

The meeting is a part of Volunteer Supporters Network 2023 program. You can also check other upcoming and past VSN meetings.

The Volunteer Supporters Network's safe space policy for video conferences edit

Basic rules for all participants edit

Friendliness and mutual respect – contribute to a pleasant atmosphere and a climate of friendliness and fairness. Refrain from statements that are intimidating, degrading, offensive or discriminatory, or that could be understood as such, even if you are talking about non-participants. Threats of violence, incitement to violence and unwanted sexual attention are unacceptable.
Openness – Be open for all Wikimedians to participate. Restrictions can be made for organizational or technical reasons. Persons on the Wikimedia Foundation Event Ban list are excluded from participating in the video conference.
Identity – Do not attempt to impersonate another person. Do not misrepresent your affiliation with any individual or entity.
Privacy – Respect the self chosen degree of anonymity of all participants. Allow participation with audio only (without video). Use the names of the participants, which they themselves indicate in the video conference. If video and/or audio recordings are planned, all participants must be informed of this, including the intended purpose, before the start of the meeting. Still images (screenshots) may only be taken during the video conference with the express consent of all participants concerned.
Data protection – Do not collect any personal data of the participants in the context of the video conference. For instance, do not demand that participants send you wikimails or reply to your wikimails. In the case of written notes intended for publication, use quotations that can be individually assigned sparingly and carefully. Never disclose or threaten to disclose private information about a person without explicit consent.

Facilitation edit

Recognizability – The participant in the facilitation role is automatically identified during the video conference (e. g. with a star symbol, as "facilitator" or as "administrator", depending on the platform). Ideally, the facilitator should be the person who starts or leads the video conference. If this is not possible for technical reasons or if the facilitation role has to change during a video conference, please point this out to the other participants.
Technical role – During the video conference, the facilitator has extended technical rights. This includes the ability to exclude other participants.
Social role – The facilitator is expected to support compliance with these rules with his or her extended technical rights and to coordinate additional measures if necessary. The facilitator may take any action to enforce these rules, including excluding participants and terminating the video conference.

Enforcement edit

Personal responsibility – All participants are responsible for compliance with these rules to the best of their ability.
Reporting – If you believe that someone else is not following this policy, you have the following options: (1) point out the terms openly, (2) inform only the facilitator (for example, by using the direct chat function) and/or (3) inform the Wikimedia affiliate that offers the respective video conference platform.
Consequences – In case of violations, the facilitator can act immediately. The Wikimedia affiliate providing the video conference platform may subsequently exclude participants from funding and a future participation in video conferences as well as, in the case of particularly serious violations, also pass on data to third parties.