Wikimedians of Slovakia/Reports/2018/en


NOTE

Following several synchronous and asynchronous discussions with both parties and an in depth investigation over the course of the last two years, the Affiliations Committee wishes to provide the following conclusion statement with regard to the disagreement between Wikimedia Slovakia (WMSK) and user:KuboF Hromoslav:

1) Disputed Annual Report Statement on Funds Transfer:

From our discussion and investigation, it was noted that the Annual Report contained a statement detailing money transfer from the User Group’s bank account to KuboF’s personal account, the most usual way of reimbursing in that time. The money amounted to € 200 to cater for expenses related to books, and € 60 as money related to 2% register tax. KuboF agreed that he transferred the money to himself, however, he objected that he demanded the money.

2) Annual General Assembly Title:

WMSK's Board confirmed that the 2018 Annual General Assembly lacked a quorum. AffCom reviewed this element and consequently confirmed this to be accurate, albeit not due to bad faith, but rather due to capacity challenges faced by the User Group after KuboF’s sudden resignation. Regardless, the meeting that was held in 2018 cannot technically be considered an Annual General Assembly, according to the affiliate’s bylaws. However, we are cognizant of the fact that the affiliate’s bylaws have not been reviewed by AffCom as they are not a requirement for a User Group.

3) Updates on progress made on AffCom’s recommendations and requests:

In order to address the affiliates capacity issues, we have issued a series of recommendations that we have shared with the WMSK Board. We intend to follow up with the Board every 3-6 months as we evaluate the affiliate's ongoing progress in maintaining their commitments in this regard.


Regards, --Camelia (talk) 16:12, 24 January 2022 (UTC)

(Camelia Boban, on behalf of Wikimedia Affiliations Committee)

This is an annual report for the Wikimedians of Slovakia UG for the year 2018.

Membership

On 1 January 2018, the organization had 11 full members and 15 associate members. This number only increased by one associate member through the year. The organization has not awarded any honourary membership. In march 2019, the organization had 27 registered members, but only 4 full members and 2 associate members actually paid their membership fee.

Membership statistics for 31 December 2018

full members
11 (1 January), 11 (31 December), 4 (membership fees paid)
associate members
15 (1 January), 16 (31 December), 2 (membership fees paid)
honourary members
0 (1 January), 0 (31 December)

Organizational situation

Annual general meeting

An annucal general meeting took place on 17 March 2018 at 14:00 at Inštitút zamestnanosti, Povraznícka 11, Bratislava. Five people took part including 4 full members. At the beginning of the AGM we discussed potential project partners and the use of the financial contributions under the 2% scheme. We also discussed the intended stepping down of the chair Michal Matúšov during the year 2018. The rest of the board asked him for a hand-over of his position and to prepare transition documents for the upcoming chair. Web security was discussed. There was an idea of creating a minigrant program for external organizers. Michal Matúšov informed about the organization's place in the international Wikimedia movement. We discussed promotion through social networks. Sponsoring of our pages on social networks and the use of printed materials was approved. Upcoming projects were presented as well.

User group recognition

On 25 June 2018 the Affiliation Committee of the Wikimedia Foundation recognized Wikimedians of Slovakia UG as a user group for the duration of one year with the possibility of an extension.

Board changes

Michal Matúšov resigned his position as well as his membership in the organization on 20 December 2018. As a result, Radoslava Semanová, the deputy chair, became the only board member able to act in the name of the organization. However, she was staying abroad at the time. Accordingly, the board asked Michal Matúšov to register the organization for 2%. The then chair asked for a 100 euro reward for such action. The board, knowing the potential outcome of the 2% registration accepted it.

Activities

The user group organized and coorganized these projects:

WikiEdit Slovenská ľudová kultúra

The project was prepared by Radoslava Semanová in February 2018. The goal of the project was to increase the awareness of Slovak folk culture and heritgae on Slovak Wikipedia. Cooperation with scientists in the fields of ethnology and folklore studies from various scientific institutions was established. The institutions were: Národopisná spoločnosť Slovenska, Ústav etnológie a sociálnej antropológie Slovenskej akadémie vied, Katedra etnológie a folkloristiky Filozofickej fakulty Univerzity Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre, Ústav religionistiky Filozofickej fakulty Masarykovej univerzity v Brne, Katedra histórie Filozofickej Fakulty Univerzity Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici and Centrum pre tradičnú ľudovú kultúru.

The project consisted of two parts. THe first part was a meeting of specialists and the selection of the encyclopedic articles to be prepared for Slovak Wikipedia. This meeting took place in April 2018. The second part was a two-day editathon. It began by an introductory Wikipedia presentation which was followed by a practical workshop in editing Wikipedia content. The participants created 7 new articles and expaned further 7. One of the articles was prepared in advance by a member of the Institute of Ethonlogy and Social Anthropology and converted into wikitext. Pictures were added to articles, 3 pictures were added to Wikimedia Commons. Participants also created categories and recategorized content. 15 people took part in the editathon in person and several Wikipedia editors took part online. After the editathon a feedback form showed that 50% of those who responded wanted to continue working on Wikipedia. Three of the specialists are still active on Wikipedia. A project report was presented to the board in June 2018 and the project was evaluated as successful. The project was presented at the CEE meeeting in Belgrade Serbia in 2019.

WikiOnTheRoad

The project was prepared in April 2018 by Matej Grochal and Radoslava Semanová. WMSK applied for a rapid grant from the Wikimedia Foundation. THe goal of the project was to increase awareness of Wikipedia, Wikimedia and Wikimedia Commons in the regions of Slovakia. Several trips to smaller to towns that are smaller but still centres of their region were planned. After the grant was approved, the project started with its first stop in Levoča in August 2018. The City gave us book sources to draw from, the venue and marketing support. During the visit, board members Radoslava Semanová and Matej Grochal gave na interview on local televsion. The participants (also Michal Matúšov and Patrik Kunec for WMSK) created 5 articles on Wikipedia and added dozens of pictures to Wikimedia Commons, many of them from not yet covered areas of Levoča, for example the hockey arena or hospital. The second stop was in Lipany (Sabinov District) in September 2012. 2 articles were expaned and 5 new created. The participants were Dávid Štefan, Radoslava Semanová and Matej Grochal for WMSK. Many pictures were again taken for Wikimedia Commons including a Jewish cemetary. The third stop was a secondary school in Banská Štiavnica. Patrik Kunec and Dávid Štefan presented Wikipedia to its students and teachers, focusing on the work of editors and how to work with sources. The project took place in 3 towns rather than the envisioned 7. THe challenge was the lack of success in establishing relationships with the local governments, overestimating human resources and their time possibilities. Due to the results and circumstances of the project, we evaluated it as partially successful. Matej Grochal presented it at the 2018 CEE meeting.

Wiki Asian MonthÁzijský mesiac

The goal of the competion was the furthering of Wikipedia content about Asian countries. 6 editors took part, adding 36 new articles. Wikimedians of Slovakia UG rewared all of them with a gift certificate for a book retailer valued at 25 euro. Dávid Štefan a Matej Grochal were the organizers.

Other activities

Radoslava Semanová gave a talk about Wikipedia, structure of the Wikimedia Community, editing and the need for academic sources at the Department of Musicology, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava..

Matej Grochal took part in the CEE Meeting in Lviv, Ukraine in October 2018. He presented the WikiOnTheRoad project to the community and took part in several workshops such as the one about leading an organization and the Movement Strategy workshop (which he also co-facilitated).