Wikimania 2016 bids/Esino Lario/Program/Tasks

Cute and cuddly, boys. Cute and cuddly! Skipper, Madagascar, 2005.

The program team focuses on the general plan of the program and it contributes to its implementation.

Please consider that you are the team and you take the decisions. Your decisions need to be feasible and to be nourished by the relevant information and experience other people have (and you need to collect this information and experience). Feedback is essential to consider issues you might not have thought of and no matter which direction you choose you will need to be able to address all remarks and explain why you choose a direction and not another. Always consider other possibilities (a series of options are essential for risk management: B plans, your preference as a venue and other possibilities).

Area	Team	Outcome	Composition	Tools/references

Objectives

It might be useful to have a look where we are heading for and how we will evaluate.

Approach

The fundamental principles by which Wikimania Esino Lario operates can be summarized in five "pillars":

Collaboration. The team is one team, which includes all the people involved, who are already wikimedians or not. The edit button exists also offline, and wikimedians are all the people who want to modify things to share their knowledge and to support the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual, educational content. We include all the project contributors in the organizing team, we credit work, we design a program meant for different kind of participants, we include in a transversal way the interests and needs of different people, we make sure participants are in the best conditions to obtain a visa, we select for scholarships dedicated members which need economic support to participate (through a transparent process which provides full - really full - or partial scholarships, according to the needs), and we plan an inclusive and collaborative event.
Scalability. We are not planning one event, we are planning a format which can be replicated in other places. We document what we are doing and how we do it, we produce guidelines for the future and to involve people who can contribute further to other events; we look for solutions which can be relevant for other contexts.
What already exists. Priority is given to local suppliers and to tap on existing resources. We look at previous experiences and we build on it.
What can last. Priority is given to invest in what lasts beyond the event. We reduce to the minimum all the expenses related to the ephemeral and we invest time, energy and budget in what is useful and relevant beyond the event.
Experimenting and having fun. We gather for the pleasure of it.

Things to do

Clearly define all the team members.
Have a look at the venue - Wikimania 2015 bids/Esino Lario/Venue.
Check if the venue is adaptable for what the teams want to do - Wikimania 2016 bids/Esino Lario/Venue.
Make sure venue, calendar and budget allow teams to do what they want to.
If you don't know, involve people in the discussion: ask personally, post questions in relevant mailing list and discussion pages.
Update the relevant articles with what is coming up : Program - sessions, evening events, excursions.
If you are adding anything to the program, you need also to define how you will collect content (the process, the call for proposals, and so on).

Review the expected outputs for each group of attendees

Overview of the different kind of people contributing and participating in Wikimania. Relevance of their participation, possible expectations and possible ways to meet their expectations.

Who	Description	Why we want them at Wikimania	Expectations/needs	Expected outcome (our objectives)	Output (what we do to get the outcome)
Attendees in general	Everybody		Logistics (venues, accommodation, food, transport, visa, registration, scholarships): finding what they need, having a covenant stay, being able to afford their participation. Communication designed specifically for the different targets. Information, answer to their questions. Expectations and need can vary	Making sure food and connectivity responds to needs and its good. Making sure the program is a combination of things you can listen to or passively enjoy (panels, presentations, exhibition), things which makes you interact, experience and learn (workshops, training, discussions, gatherings), and things you can choose from (sufficiently large program) Making sure people remember not only connectivity and food, but also what the event was about. Making sure people are prepared for the specific location of Wikimania (they know how is going to work and what the general atmosphere will be). Making sure people have being able to contribute to the program (to define what they want to talk about and listen to). Allow people to take advantage of the location (excursions, tourism...).	Managing properly all aspects of the logistics and communication. Giving the event a a general working direction (not necessarily one theme but maybe something common to all sessions. i.e. a relevant question at the end or during each session such as "what would you do if you had all possible money and resources? what would you do with what we currently have?)
Newbies	People who are new. They still know little about the archipelago, the movement and its dynamics. People working in GLAMs. Policy and decision makers. People contributing to like-minded organizations and projects. People who have just started editing the Wikimedia projects. People who never edited the Wikimedia projects.	Because Wikimania is and can be an excellent occasion for outreach.	Getting a sense of what Wikipedia and Wikimedia is. Providing them with a sense of what king of synergies they can build with the Wikimedia projects. Browsing possibilities to get involved in projects and initiatives (active participation). Accessing discussions and communication material which is specifically conceived for them (it responds directly to the questions "what can I do?"/"how can I do it?". Maybe for some people, getting a job at Wikimedia Foundation or in a Wikimedia related project or chapter-affilate.		Providing them with an overview of Wikipedia archipelago/Wikimedia: exhibition. Providing them with a sense of what is going on: posters, chapters village. Allowing them to time with people (coffee breaks, meals, parties, flat). Providing them presentations that specifically target them (maybe it is just enough to indicate in the presentation what kind of knowledge is required to understand it, if it is meant to target a specific audience...).
Insiders	People who are active on the Wikimedia projects (at least one).	Wikimania is for them.	Meeting in person people they already know and they have been working with online. Getting more involved in projects and initiatives (as promoters, leaders).
Engaged	People who are specifically engaged in the movement and its projects.	Wikimania is for them.	Meeting peers and colleagues. Developing further their projects. Presenting what they are working on. Contributing to Wikimania programme. Looking for people to work with. Meeting in person people they already know and they have been working with online.		To present their work: posters, presentations, panels, chapters village. To develop further their work: workshops, meetups (formal and informal meetings).
Media and journalists
Researchers	They contribute to study Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, open online communities, wikis and they produce papers, publications, data, analysis. They link Wikimedia and the Wikimedia projects to universities and research centres.	They can contribute to discussions with data and analysis. They are often part of the community already.
Developers
Like-minded organizations
Organizers	The chapter(s), the volunteers, the promoters, the people contributing to the planning and implementation.	Well...
People working in GLAMs.
Policy and decision makers.
People who will not be at Wikimania

Guidelines Wikimania

Program committee

Guidelines

The program is developed by a combination of local and remote volunteers.
The program team can be split into several groups—for instance, the people who are planning the parties and social events and the people who are in charge of the presentations, lectures, and workshops.
For reviewing submissions, make sure to have some technically-oriented people who are able to judge the technical submissions for the program, and can also help liaison with planning the hackathon.
there needs to be very good coordination between all of the groups and the core team.
Several areas, such as the attendee party, the keynote speakers, and Wikimedia Foundation events, will require the input and possible leadership of the core team.
The program committee needs to work closely with the planning team.
the chair of the program committee should serve as a liaison between logistics and program.

Immediately at the end of the conference, you'll need to make sure the attendees are taken care of.

Space for people to gather after the conference.
You don't need to plan activities for attendees after the conference, but it can be a nice touch and is a good job for local volunteers.