Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2023/Survey results

This page contains the results of a survey of Wikimedia CEE Conference participants after the conference in Tbilisi in September 2023.

A total of 44 people took part in the survey, which is 31.2% of all conference participants.

Scholarship Process

Survey results about the Scholarship Process during WMCEEM23

This year, allocating scholarships for delegates was formulated as precisely as possible with instructions from Wikimedia UG Georgia and took on a more formal character. Affiliations and communities participating in the conference had to select their delegates, after which Wikimedia Georgia provided scholarships for these individuals to participate. After receiving feedback from conference participants (who received scholarships), we concluded that the process worked well.

Survey results:

Question	Agree	Disagree	Neither agree nor disagree
Was it easy to understand the scholarship application process?	30	1	3
The scholarship application was easy to complete	30	0	4
I was informed of my application status clearly and in a timely manner	28	0	6

Recommendations for the future:

Registration forms are long and need to be shortened.
Creating a single registration form for everyone instead of two for scholars and self-funded individuals.

Event venue and environment

The conference was held at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, one of the region's first universities.

91% of conference participants surveyed were satisfied with the environment, accessibility, and language support of the conference space. However, participants noted that there were problems with sound and visibility during the conference, which need improvement.

Recommendations for the future:

Improve Internet quality.
Have more laptops during the conference for the people who don’t have them with them.
Increase the quality and size of projectors.
Improve markup.

Strengths:

The quality of the conference translation was high.
Catering and food during the conference was good.
The location of the University and the hotel was close and accessible.
The program was well-designed with three tracks.

General experience

1. Program: 95% of conference participants noted that they gained the best skills and experience from the conference program and that the session topic interested them. 93% of participants indicated that they gained knowledge relevant to their activities in the Wikimedia Movement. The vast majority of participants indicated that they would apply the skills and knowledge they received from the conference in their work.

1.1. Some useful, exciting knowledge and skills conference participants gained at Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2023:

WikiQuest
Grant opportunities
New contacts
The updates about the CEE Hub
WikiClubs experience
Advocacy
GLAM programs
CEE Youth Group
Ideas for Wikimania from participants
Knowledge about Wikipedia educational program
Conflict of interest workshop
Anti-harassment procedures
Security and privacy precautions
Community building
SPARQL

1.2. How conference participants will implement their knowledge:

Use workshops for their Community
Hold team meetings
Meetups
Diff blog
Via Village pump
Social Media
Local events

2. Experience: 90% of the conference participants showed that while participating in the conference, they felt part of the Wikimedia Movement and wanted to be actively involved in the development of the Movement and Wikimedia projects. All interviewed participants indicated that they were able to make new connections during the conference.

3. Recommendations for the future:

Avoid sessions (ice-breakers, workshops) where a large number of people should shout in closed spaces
Pre-conference event for everybody
Communication with presenters
More extra activities outside the meetings
Having fewer planned sessions and more time for spontaneous conversations
Lighting talks have to be 10 min
Denser programme
Starting a bit later on Sunday morning (Afterparty)
Flexible room layouts
Better planning of the program
Newbie track