Wikipedia Asian Month/Archive/Documentation/Organizing a Wikipedia Asian Month onsite event

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Welcome to the meta portal for Wikipedia Asian Month! Wikipedia Asian Month (WAM) is an annual online event that aims to promote Asian content in Wikipedia. Since 2015, each participating local community runs an online Edit-a-thon every November, which promotes the creation or improvement of the Wikipedia content about Asia except their own country. The participating community is not limited to Asia. The project is run across various language-specific Wikipedias and other project websites of the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikimedia movement), however, some specific actions are held in some countries and Wikimedia communities with local organisers. Wikipedia Asian Month has achieved much over 5 years: over 37,500 high-quality articles have been added in more than 63 language-specific Wikipedias by more than 2,900 Wikipedia editors. Main – Organise – Documentation – Media

Hosting onsite events has proven to be an effective way to both persuade non-Wikipedians to participate with Wikimedia Sites and also bring together local Wikipedians to meet up and have fun, while helping out the Sites. The concept of the onsite event varied from a full-day event (classic) to a multi-day event.

This page includes instructions to help organizers plan a onsite event. These instructions are not rules, but rather, flexible guidelines to give you ideas on planning your event.

Decisions edit

Here are a few initial decisions you must make before planning your event:

Choose a location. In which city or area will the event take place? Is there a specific city which could use a lot of photos and where you can reasonably expect a good participant turnout?
Choose a date. In most countries, a weekend day will attract the most participants for a full-day event.
Choose a site. It is often useful to decide on a certain site for all participants to meet before the event begins. This could be a café (probably only suitable for small groups) or another public place. Considerations: Do you expect most participants to come by train or car? Make sure transportation is reasonable.
Choose a event format (optional). Do you want this event to be a contest? If so, what will contestants be competing for?
Choose an audience. Do you want to focus on local non-Wikipedians or Wikipedians? Or do you just want as many people as possible?

Preparations edit

Announce the event wherever you can: on Facebook, in local papers, on Wikipedia (possibly in the sitenotice for Wikipedia or a Geonotice). Promote your event in the project pages on Wikipedia. Promote the event on your own website or blog. Promote the event via local Wiki groups and meetup groups. Don't forget to ask all the local Wikipedians you know to participate. (The best way might be through user boxes and asking in person.)
Send the international organisation (for either "Wikipedia Asian Month") a notice saying that you'll host an event. They will then promote the event for you!
Create a page for the event where you give instructions to participants. Don't forget obvious instructions (e.g.: "Bring a notebook.")
Create ways for people to sign up for the event, so that you can know ahead of time how many people will come. Make this RSVP form/page also accessible for non-Wikipedians. Facebook event pages or Google forms are good options for that.
Make sure you do not underestimate the number of participants. Bring enough swag ("Wikipedia Asian Month" postcards or other Wikipedia/Wikimedia items) with you to hand out.
Create clear instructions for participants, including instructions for new participants on how to edit article and/or who to send an email to when they can't figure out how to edit articles.
Create a category specifically for your event, for participants to upload their photos into one central place.

During the Event edit

Make sure the organizer is there on time, before the event's start time.
Make sure the participants understand what you expect from them and understand the instructions.
Make sure participants have fun!
Also consider planning an "afterparty" of sorts--perhaps a shared meal or drinks near the site.