ESEAP Conference 2022/Report/Butch Bustria

About the participant

I wish to inform that I am part of the ESEAP Conference 2022 Core Organizing Team. I am also writing my report as a participant since I was a recipient of a travel scholarship. I have been engaged with the 2018 Conference in Bali, Indonesia, the 2019 Strategy Summit in Bangkok, Thailand and in this conference including its program content selection.

Things learned at the conference

As a participant I was able to learn different activities undertook by our member individuals, groups and affiliates. I consider myself as Wikisource newbie and I was able to get valuable content and idea on the Bali Lontar Project, the indigenous languages, the usage of Wikisource in digitized books, manuscripts. The event management tool is also a good resource every outreach event organizser consider in working on their initial or regular events.

Things I contributed or participated in or since the conference

I presented a history of ESEAP from its precursor on the Wikimedia Asia Project in 2007 to the first photograph of a meetup in Wikimania 2012 till the formation of ESEA in 2015 and the inclusion of Oceania that would became ESEAP in 2017. I personally got involved in the events before Wikimania 2012 and after Wikimania 2017 (August 2017) including the conferences and summits ESEAP had organized.

I also presented and announced key information about Wikimania 2023, which will happen in Singapore on 15-20 August 2023. Wikimania 2023's theme was finalized with the help of a collaborative effort of the regional community.

ESEAP Hub was one major milestone in the conference and the Interim Hub Committee which I am part of was formed. The regional community got really involved in the discussion phase and interest to build the foundation of the ESEAP Hub advanced in this conference.

Presentations

• 
  ESEAP History and Perspective. Presentation last 19 November 2022
• 
  Wikimania 2023 presentation

Images of me

• 
  ESEAP History and Perspective. Presentation last 19 November
• 
  Providing a reaction during the ESEAP Hub workshop last 20 November
• 
  Spoke at the ESEAP Conference Opening Reception last 18 November
• 
  Participation during the Worlds of Wikimedia Conference at the University of Sydney last 17 November

Plans after the conference (from what I learned or contributed in the conference)

The ESEAP Hub will progress in 2023 and the community will hopefully come up with a declaration statement around April 2023 to list the clear aims, functions and its relations to the global movement, to ESEAP stakeholders, its affiliates, and online groups. The Interim Hub Committee, which I am part of, will set the foundation and direction of the discussion. Hopefully we would also work on the governance model and budget before ESEAP general community meets in person in Singapore on 15 August 2022 for a Strategy Summit.

The ESEAP Wikimania Core Organizing Team, which I am also part of will consult the regional community on our advocacy efforts in Wikimania. Our theme focused on Diversity, Collaboration and Future.. We hope that our event strategy would help the movement advance on its strategic vision of being an essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge, and anyone who shares this vision would be able to join us.

I would help provide greater emphasis and promotion of Wikisource in future engagements, hopefully including Wikimania.

Comments/ suggestions about the conference

I would wish that future hosts would give greater assistance on the visa processing especially those who are first time travelling on their countries. Wikimedia Australia did a fantastic job on making the conference a success despite the opinion of some that having conference in Australia is geographically distant and expensive. The effort, contribution of its participants both onsite and online made a great value of the Wikimedia Foundation resources and grant provided. This event resulted in greater cooperation of Wikimedians in the East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region.