Wikimedia Cuteness Association/Goatification

Goatification originally started as outreach and awareness for goat inclusion in the Wikimedia technical spaces and beyond. Goatification started at the Wikimania Hackathon 2017 in Montreal.

Logo of the Goatification initiative
Goat of arms of the Goatification project
Logo of the Technical Advice IRC Meeting

2027 is the year of the goat and it's goating to be awesome. To move forward a Goat movement strategy 2027 is needed. See also on Phabricator.

Goat facts edit

  • Goats need other goats to be happy
  • Goats are smart
  • Goats are agile: They can do amazing things, e.g. climb on trees
  • Female goats have beards too and no one questions that
  • Goats can survive in the most marginal regions of the world, and people can survive because of goats
  • Goats love stroopwafels

What do you know about goats? You can add your fun-goat-facts here!

Central question edit

How can we as organisations and organised groups make space for bottom up initiatives? How can we focus more on projects and spend less time navigating power structures?

This sounds like a difficult question, but you can start with simple actions that stimulate a creative and happy space.

Simple actions edit

  • Goat alert: If you see people drawing cats, go there and draw goats!
    • Anyone can join, no common demographic.
  • Create stickers and give them to everyone.
  • Share funny images of goats (see also cuteathon)
  • Ask others if their project(s) already have been goatified

How it works edit

  • Network as default
  • No leader, as that helps avoiding bottlenecks
  • No one telling you what to do, nor how to do it. Instead there is space to innovate, space to grow, space to take your own responsibility
  • Fun-driven collaborative culture
  • Laughter is contagious
  • Lots of energy is contagious
  • Cryptic messages make you want to know what is happening
  • Appreciation tokens, swag and secret greetings increase excitement
  • Celebration of all contributions is a pleasure, and it makes you feel valued, and part of the fun
  • Let people share their goat ideas

Don't forget edit

  • Make sure you transfer your idea across platforms or events.
  • Find ways of including all people who might be interested, including those not present at the event

Possible output edit

Goatification during an event or on a platform can have various output. Users have reported:

  • I talked to people who I had been at events with for 5 years more about goats and this project and laughing about it then I had ever talked to them before
  • I have the impression that I get faster response on technical questions since goatification happened


Timeline edit

Outcomes goatification session as part of Movement Strategy Space in 2018

Communication edit

See also edit