Wikimedia MA User Group/Reports/WikiArabia2016/Anass Sedrati

Welcome back from Wikiarabia 2016!

مرحبا بك من جديد بعد ويكي عربية 2016

ⴱⴻⵔⴽⴰⵜ ⵣⴰⵢⵛ ⵣⵉ ⵡⵉⴽⵉ ⵜⴰⵄⵔⴰⴱⵜ 2016 !

Participant edit

Username : Anass

Outcome edit

Shared Experience: What is one way you shared something from your experience with your community (either locally or globally), after the event?

It was my second participation in Wikiarabia after my first visit to Tunisia in the Wikiarabia Monastir 2015. The experience was as its previous one very enriching both at a personal and a local level. As a relatively new user group (in Morocco), the fact of meeting older and bigger user groups in the region allows us to get inspiration from them and learn from their experience, by discussing common issues that might have occurred to them earlier. After the event, I have listed out some points that have to be discussed during the conference, and that would certainly be interesting for us as a user group in Morocco. I have specifically gathered a list of challenges that we have locally, and after discussing them with the participants, my aim is to return to the Moroccan team with some suggestions in order to go further and advance in our Wikipedia path along with our regional partners.

New Creation: What was one useful outcome that was created at the event for the Wikimedia movement?

One of the most important outcomes that were created under the event was the huge4 amount of interesting information shared by all the participants. Each one of us was coming from a different background and had an expertise in at least one aspect related to Wikipedia. The idea of having different presentations was very successful and let us learn so much in only the period of 3 days. The most useful outcome according to me was the points listed below (among others):

Grants: We learned how to request grants as a Wikimedia user group, which is very useful for us in Morocco, as we are new, and need probably support on that side.
Bots : We had a workshop on how to use simple bots in Wikipedia in Arabic for routine operations instead of manual editing, which can save a consequent amount of time.
Dialects : The eternal discussion on Arabic language and different Wikipedias in other dialects was of course present. I do agree with the conclusion of my colleague Reem (the presenter) who stated that a chance should be given to people wishing to write in their dialects. This is a form of freedom, as the most important in Wikipedia is that the reader and the writer understand each other well, and if it is through dialects that this can happen, so why not?
Wikipedia zero / Kiwix: Wikipedia Zero exists in Morocco, through contacts between Wikimedia and 2 of our national operators, but most of people do not know about it. Its marketing is not effective according to me. Presentations about Wikipedia Zero and Kiwix made me more aware about those issues, and it is definitely a point that we will try to work more about in the Moroccan user group (raise the awareness about those tools).
The future of Wikiarabia: This point was discussed briefly during informal discussions, but not really answered yet. Will there be a Wikiarabia held next year? Or once in two years? And Where? These are all pending questions until now.

Connections edit

During the Wikiarabia meeting in Amman, I have made very valuable connections, either enhancing the old ones that I have meet the last year, or through meeting new colleagues for the first time. Wikiarabia gave me the chance of putting a face on the various usernames that I was constantly contacting and discussing with online. The conference went on a nice and very friendly atmosphere. It was not only a way to discuss common issues related to Wikipedia or Arabic languages, but also a great opportunity to make new friends from different countries. All those smart people gathering in one place does not happen often, so one had to enjoy networking as much as possible, and luckily I managed to know almost everybody, which makes me glad and proud of knowing all those great people in person now.

Anything else edit

I would take this opportunity to thank the organizers from Wikimedia Levant who did an amazing and huge work to host us in very good conditions and made us feel like home. We definitely enjoyed Jordan, and wish all the best for all our friends there.