Wikimedia Conference 2016/Program/32

32: Building bridges between Wikimedia Conference & Wikimania

How to move forward

Ginevra and Cornelius presenting

What was this session about?

Cornelius and Ginevra talked about how to connect Wikimedia movement events better with each other, specifically the Wikimedia Conference and Wikimania.

What are the next steps to be taken?

Documentation of the Wikimedia Conference to be published in June;
WMCON Follow-Up Day at Wikimania

Who is the person to reach out to?

Cornelius Kibelka (Program and Engagement Coordinator for the Wikimedia Conference)

Slides

Slides

This session documentation was approved by the speaker.

Original Description

The session will have two parts: In the first part, we will explain what we achieved and planned during the days of this year Wikimedia Conference. As Wikimedia Conference and Wikimania are only nine weeks away from each other, we want to gather jointly with the audience all next steps of all Wikimedia Conference sessions that can be pursued until Wikimania. The idea is to keep participants of the Wikimedia Conference also engaged after the event itself. The PEC will publish a list of the next steps on the conference’s documentation page on Meta.

In the second part of the session, we want to briefly discuss (10-15 min) how we can further connect Wikimedia events with each other. We have a lot different Wikimedia gathering and events throughout the year, yet most of them are quite isolated and planned as “one-shots”. Gathered ideas can be implemented in the follow-up of the Wikimedia Conference and Wikimania.

Session Format: Conversing
Desired Outcome: List of next steps to pursue until Wikimania; Ideas how to connect Wikimedia events better
Speakers: Ginevra Sanvitale (Wikimania 2016) & Cornelius Kibelka (PEC for the Wikimedia Conference)
Summary of the session

Cornelius Kibelka (Program and Engagement Coordinator for the Wikimedia Conference) and Ginevra Sanvitale (Program Coordinator for the Wikimania 2016 in Esino Lario) opened together the session on programmatic bridges between both conferences.

Cornelius laid out that one of the important elements of his jobs is to make the Wikimedia Conference more productive and more sustainable. One of the components of the concept is to build so-called “Programmatic Bridges” to other conferences, where specific topics and issues of the Wikimedia Conference can be deepened and developed further.

As in 2015, he announced that there will be again a “WMCON Follow-Up Day” on the second pre-conference day of Wikimania. The idea is to have around six 90 min workshops on specific topics of the WMCON. He enumerated the topics: Impact, Volunteer/Community Support, Partnerships, Board Governance.

After his short introduction of the WMCON Follow-Up Day, Cornelius handed the mic over to Ginevra, who gave some details on the program structure of the upcoming Wikimania. She listed the different tracks and formats of the conference:

User digest
Critical issues
Discussions
Trainings
Posters
Meetups

The program was available in the Wikimania wiki: https://wikimania2016.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programme, Ginevra added.

After that, Cornelius took over and presented further conferences and Wikimedia gatherings, to which “programmatic bridges” could be build. His ideas was, he said, to bring WMCON topics to these conference, either by attending himself or by motivating “Thematic Ambassadors” to carry the (thematic) torch to these conference. He added that the CEE Meeting in Dilijan, Armenia (August 27–29) was a good example, but also maybe conferences like WikiConference India 2016, Iberoconf, and Wiki Education Conference.

After the presentation and talk by both speakers, Cornelius opened the stage for questions. First, he had a question to the audience: He asked how to connect Wikimedia conferences better and how to use existing resources better. One participant answered that Cornelius’ position (Program and Engagement Coordinator) was a good first start, as it was useful to have someone “to poke” and motivate people “to document more”. Another participant said that documentation of conferences was essential.

After this, Cornelius and Ginevra closed the session.