Wikimedia CEE Spring 2015/Meetings

A fragment from picture of Savrasov (A Spring Day), cropped and transformed to a WMCEE Spring header
A fragment from picture of Savrasov (A Spring Day), cropped and transformed to a WMCEE Spring header

First meeting, the 19th of December, Kyiv edit

Overview edit

The first meeting took place as part of Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014 in Kyiv. It concentrated mainly on the general idea of the competition, its usefulness and possibility of success. General structure and timeframe of the competition was discussed and a preliminary needs assessment was carried out. As a result current meta page was created and has been developed thereafter.

Participants edit

Moderator: Anna Koval (WMF)

Attendees: Miroslav Loci (WM RS), Fırat Özak (TR WP), Tomasz Ganicz (WM PL), Benoît Aga Prieur (WM FR), Kubof Hromoslav (WP SK, ELiSo), Levon Azizian (WM UA), Marek Stelmasik (WM PL), Andrii Dydiuk (WM UA), Wertuose (AZ WP), Mārtiņš Bruņenieks (LV WP), Gheorghe Zugravu (RO WP) and Kaarel Vaidla (WM EE).

Second meeting, the 28th of January, Skype and IRC (freenode #wmcee) edit

Overview edit

Meeting organised in order to clarify questions related to the project, carry out a more thorough needs and risks assessment and to continue collaborative and cooperative organisation of the event.

Agenda edit

  1. Timeframe
  2. Activity plan
  3. Needs assessment
  4. Risks assessment
  5. Questions - answers
  6. Next steps

Participants edit

Moderator: Kaarel Vaidla (WM EE)

Assistant: Mattias Jõesaar (WM EE)

Attendees: Friend (WM UA), Zana Strkovska (MK WP), Miroslav Loci (WM RS), Ivana Madžarević (WM RS), Mikhail Volchak (BE WP), Mher Bekaryan (WM AM), Zafer Batik (WP TR), Tomasz Ganicz (WM PL), Marcin Cieślak (WM PL), Fenerli1978 (WP TR), Hannabaradzina (BE WP), Levon Azizian (WM UA), Anna Koval (WMF), Nikola Cibrev (MK WP), Renessaince (BE WP), Yerpo (SL WP), Wertuose (AZ WP), Jan Loužek (WM CZ), Marios Magioladitis (EL WP).

Summary edit

21 participants from 13 countries participated on 2 sessions of virtual meeting and provided significant input to the development of the idea of the competition. All the points in the provisory agenda were discussed and additional questions were answered in the concluding phase.

As to timeframe, the start date of the competition was not decided, although the 20th / 21st of March seemed to be a bit more reasonable, as it provides more time for making preparations. It was decided that timeframe will be worked out according to activity plan and will be made available on the meta page.

During the discussion of activity plan' the attention was focused on the preparations phase and activities of local organizing groups were discussed. These include: a. reaching out to possible partners, b. creating project page on local wiki and c. providing article lists and possible sources also to the central meta page.

It was decided that international final event has a good value and will be organized, but possible dates and location are still to be discussed.

Every community was asked to carry out a needs assessment to be well prepared for the competition and to allocate resources where they are needed. Generally it seemed that local events can be organized without significant investments, but organizing final event may bring about a need for a grant request from Wikimedia Foundation or other external sources.

Some of the possible risks of organizing the event were discussed and these included: a. small number of participating countries resulting in lower outreach levels, b. overlapping of different writing contests in different countries, c. possible decrease of interest of participants in such competition over 3-month editing time etc. Some possible solutions for managing these risks were discussed.

An important question was promotion of the competition, which can be done with the help of possible partners, using social media and central notice. Printing physical promotional materials (posters, flyers etc.) was discussed, but no decision was made about engaging in such activity. Also it was proposed to increase diversity in possible competition contributions, including dealing with gender gap issues and topics related to women.

It was decided that as next steps local organizers will: 1) contact possible local partners, 2) create project page on their wiki, 3) contribute to structure page on meta, 4) assess needs and communicate them, 5) reach out when questions arise. The next meeting was scheduled to mid-February.

Notes edit

Etherpad protocol

Third meeting, the nn of March, Skype and IRC (freenode #wmcee) edit

Overview edit

Meeting organised in order to clarify questions related to the project and final event, share experiences and make final preparations for the kick-off.

Agenda edit

  1. Update on local progress
  2. Sharing experiences and thoughts
  3. Final event
  4. Questions - answers
  5. Next steps

Notes edit

Etherpad protocol