Grants:Conference/Magotech/Wiki Student Summit: Connecting, Collaborating and Creating on Wikimedia

statusDraft

Conference & Event Grant

Wiki Student Summit: Connecting, Collaborating and Creating on Wikimedia

The event aims to promote collaboration and encourage students to learn from each other while working on Wikipedias projects.

targetWikipedia (en & sw), Wikidata, WikiCommons, Wikiquote, Wikiversity & Incubator

strategic priorityIncreasing Reach (more people access Wikimedia projects)

event dates14/8/2023 - 16/8/2023

amountplease add the amount you are requesting (USD)

typeindividual

nonprofitNo

creator• Magotech

contact• ceomagotech.net

website• www.uswiki.africa

Friendly space expectations

index

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Event overview

Purpose and vision

Please give a brief description of the event you are planning. What do you hope to accomplish during the event? Why is this event important for your community?

The purpose of the "Wiki-Student Summit: Collaborating for Knowledge" is to bring together students from diverse backgrounds to connect, collaborate, and create on Wikimedia projects. The event aims to provide a platform for students to share their knowledge, skills, and experiences with one another, while also learning new techniques and strategies for contributing to Wikimedia projects.

The vision of the event is to empower students to become active and engaged members of the Wikimedia community, and to foster a sense of community among students who are interested in Wikimedia and open-source projects. The event will provide students with the opportunity to network with each other and with experienced Wikimedia editors and contributors, and will inspire them to continue contributing to Wikimedia projects long after the event is over.

Do you consider this to be a Regional; Thematic or Growth event? You can read more about each category.

Regional

Is it a Remote, or in-person event?

in-person

Important details

Please add key information to the table below. The dates, location and number of participants can be estimates and do not need to be finalized at this time.

Proposed date(s)	14/8/2023 - 15/08/2023
Proposed location	Morogoro
Number of participants	150
Event page	Wiki Student Summit: Connecting, Collaborating and Creating on Wikimedia
Primary contact person	Magoiga Mtatiro

Background

Community input

Use the results from the community engagement survey to fill in the table below. Since you cannot cover all topics or meet all needs at one event, prioritisation is important. Please rank the priority of each topic, skill, project or problem as high, medium or low. Finally, please answer the questions in the table below, if any of the questions are not relevant leave it blank.

	Description	Priority
Strategic discussions: What are the top issues affecting your community that need to be discussed in person?	Developing communication strategies to minimize the stigma around the use of Wikipedia in education institutions in Tanzania and Developing methods and practices to run Wikimedia programs in the areas with low internet connectivity. Forming a central platform to support and advocate for the movement’s needs mostly in Students in Tanzania. Creating awareness about Wikimedia projects through better outreach efforts. Enhancement of Collaboration between Students from different communities.	High
Capacity development: Are there important skills that many people in your community need to learn?	In our community there is a lack of technical skills i.e creating or editing on templates, Wikisource proofread technicality, using mediawiki tools etc. Basically I am in interested in creating or editing on templates and I hope that this summit can help me reading this. Contributing to Wikidata. Wikidata is still new to many communities in Tanzania and as for our community (University Students Wikimedians) we have been trying to learn from online resource but we hope through this summit we will be able to have an experienced editor providing a workshop. Building sustainable partnerships mostly with educational institutions and government sectors. Leadership Development. Outreach and Awareness activities. Technical skills (a contribution to the Swahili community) Writing user scripts and gadgets Developing bots Developing Lua-based templates	High
Working groups: Are there joint projects that need to be planned in person?	Creation of a central platform students, which will support community growth and function according to the movement’s needs Tanzania. Knowledge on most technical aspects of Wikimedia are limited to only few wikimedians.	High
Community building: Are there other in-person activities are important for community building?	Forming long-lasting connections with Wikimedians from other communities, for further collaboration. Sessions and group work to boost community Capacity, team building and collaboration. Bringing experienced Wikimedians who have of late, become inactive, back to the movement.	High

Survey analysis:

1. How many people did you send the survey to? How many people responded to the survey?

The survey had been widely promoted across various channels used by University Students Wikimedians community, including the two mailing lists, Facebook, WhatsApp groups and through personal contacts to a total of 321 diverse members from our database. A total of 221 members took part in the survey

1. Did you see consensus around shared goals that this community wants to focus on in the next 12 months? What were the top 2 goals?

• Capacity building and collaborations with institutes.
• Newcomers Outreach and Experience

1. Based on survey responses, what are the most important things your community should do at the conference to achieve those goals?

Based on the survey, capacity development and skill development should be prioritized more than any other aspects during the conference. It was felt by many that it would be good to learn such skills by meeting other Wikimedians and forming sustainable connections, which can later be followed up if needed. Apart from that, many editors who largely contribute content to Wikimedia projects felt the need to improve their technical skills, such as using the Phabricator and templates on Wikis. Also, community members have reported various aspects of various problems they face, be it while contributing online or while organizing outreach and being part of governing structures, the conference should be providing enough time and space for people to discuss more on these issues and brainstorm on potential solutions, which can later be materialized.

Context

It is helpful to get an understanding of why this event is important to your community, and what experiences you have had in the past. Please answer the applicable questions below.

1. What inspired your community to begin planning this event?

The community was inspired to begin planning this event due to the increasing need for young people to be more involved in open-source and Wikimedia projects. They saw that students have a lot of knowledge and skills that can be beneficial to Wikimedia projects, and that providing them with a platform to connect, collaborate, and learn from each other would be an effective way to encourage their participation and engagement.

Furthermore, the community noticed a gap in opportunities for students to connect with other students and experienced Wikimedia contributors, and wanted to create an event that would bridge that gap. They wanted to offer students an opportunity to learn and share their skills, as well as to be inspired and motivated to continue contributing to Wikimedia projects.

2. How does this event relate to other activities that your community is working on?

This event relates to other activities our community is working on currently in several ways. First, it is an extension of the general goal of Wikimedia to promote free and open access to knowledge, as it provides students with the opportunity to contribute to Wikimedia projects and share their knowledge and skills with others. Additionally, this event is an opportunity to increase the number of contributors to Wikimedia projects and promote diversity within the Wikimedia community.

This event also relates to other our activities by providing training and support for students who are new to Wikimedia projects. Many students may be unfamiliar with how to contribute to Wikipedia or other Wikimedia projects, and this event will provide them with the resources and guidance they need to get started. Furthermore, it relates to other Wikimedia activities in a way that it provides an opportunity for experienced Wikimedia contributors to share their knowledge and experience with students, which will help build a stronger and more engaged community.

Additionally, this event aligns with other Wikipedia editing events such as Wikipedia Edit-a-thons, where participants come together to work on specific Wikipedia articles. As this event is focused on students it also aligns with other student-oriented events, such as college and high school workshops, and will provide the chance for these students to connect with other like-minded students.

3. Do you have any Thematic or Regional committee or group? (Such as WISCom, CEE, Iberocoop, etc.)

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Plan

Venue and Logistics

1. Do you have any proposed venue for the event? If so, please share details (such as

how far is it from the airport or transportation hub; how close is it to the hotel, do you anticipate any challenges with using the space for the event you are planning?)

The venue is going to be at Antique Hotel, and the major transportation hub from which we are expecting the majority of the participants to arrive is the Msamvu bus terminal. For arrivals, we will be hiring a cab/bus service depending on the need to shuttle between the hotel and the transportation hub which is the Bus terminal. If any participant doesn’t arrive within a certain period, they can opt for private cabs which are available 24/7 in the city to reach the hotel. A similar practice would be followed during the day of departures as well. This will help to move people in batches, reducing the logistical efforts and the costs incurred on transfers.

2. Is the event venue and hotel accessible for people with physical disabilities?

Yes, considering that we will be hosting a diverse community we have made sure the venue and hotel are accessible to all kinds of people.

3. Are you planning to outsource some of the services? For example - a travel agency, an event production service?

• We will also hire a person for First-aid and medical services during the event.

Friendly space policy

We would like to adopt Wikimedia Foundation’s Universal Code of Conduct for the conference proceedings and the larger project activities.

Participation

It is crucial that most participants have a minimum level of Wikimedia experience so that they can engage actively in workshops and discussions. Please answer all applicable questions below.

1. Please describe the target audience for this conference or event.

The target audience for the "Wiki Student Summit" is undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in open-source and Wikimedia projects. This includes students from all disciplines, including those studying computer science, history, engineering, and more. The event is open to students of all levels of experience, whether they are new to Wikimedia projects or are experienced contributors. The event aims to bring together students from diverse backgrounds to connect, collaborate, and learn from one another. The summit will also appeal to students who are keen on exploring Wikipedia editing and creating Wikipedia articles, as well as students who are interested in building communities, networking, and learning more about collaboration on open-source projects.

Also, we intend to invite lectures/teachers from different institutions to participate in this event which will help us to able to be able to create awareness easily on why and how the implementation is Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in their teaching can be helpful.

2. If your conference has an outreach component to also target non-wikimedian individuals or mission aligned institutions, can you explain your intention for this outreach (for example

how will you ensure engagement with these participants after the conference, and what impact do you see them having on the projects)?

We intend to invite professionals mostly lectures/teachers and government officials where we believe it will be an opportunity for us to introduce Wikimedia projects to them. After the event we will keep close coordination and more workshops with the individuals so as to equip them with needed skills to contribute and implement Wikimedia projects.

3. Are you thinking about collaborating with potential partners? Such as national; educational or thematic groups and organizations? If so, will this partnership be a financial one (such as sponsorship), or a visionary one (to collaborate in regards to the content of the event)? Please share some details if you have any.

We will be partnering with some Colleges, Universities and some government sectors. These partners will be vissionary ones.

4. In which ways can Wikimedia Foundation staff support your event onsite? If you would like support, please list the different capacities in which we can support, or describe how you would like Wikimedia Foundation staff to be involved in the event. (Some examples of Wikimedia Foundation support or involvement might be

for outreach and communication efforts; to lead specific sessions; for legal or safety reasons, etc).

• We would like all the WMF staffers (technical and non-technical) residing in Tanzania to participate in the conference.Many of the staff members in Tanzania especially the ones on the technical front and Wikidata gurus are largely disconnected from the community, but their expertise will greatly benefit the community members’ work. We would like to bridge that gap.
• For outreach and communication efforts; to lead specific sessions; for legal or safety reasons, etc).

We need Wikimedia Foundation staff support in Overall planning, speakers' sessions, outreach, community management and Pre event Hackathon.

Scholarships

1. How many scholarships would you like to offer and what expenses will the scholarship cover?

• The scholarships would be giving the following categories

S.No.	Description	Number of units
1.	Wikimedians residing in Dodoma region	25
2.	Wikimedians residing in Iringa region	25
3.	Wikimedians residing in Arusha region	15
4.	Wikimedians residing in Dar es Salaam	10
5.	Wikimedians residing other parts of Tanzania	5

2. How will scholarship recipients be selected?

• Decisions regarding the award of scholarships will be made by the volunteer-driven Scholarships Committee, after duly reviewing the quantitative and qualitative contributions, participation goals, and potential future engagement of an individual to the movement. Due consideration will also be given to the Diversity & Inclusion criteria laid out beforehand. This will include criteria over, languages, gender, home Wikimedia project, new vs experienced, etc. These will be decided before the call for scholarships is sent out.

3. Do you plan to target or prioritize specific communities or participants?

• We are planning to prioritize veteran and active online or offline Wikimedians, Project coordinators, Wiki Club Leaders, activists in Wikimedia, and so on

4. How will you insure diversity and inclusion in your scholarship process?

By selecting a diverse and inclusive Scholarship Committee, we expect to have positive results in terms of selecting a diverse group of people, in terms of geography, gender identity, types of education activities, etc

Resources and risks

Describe the resource potential for successfully executing this project and the key risks/threats.

Resources

Organizing team

Team	User Names
Wikimedia Foundation Liaison
Logistics
Conference Program
Scholarships
Communications
Volunteer Coordinators
Other team members

Risks

Examples of risks, along with how you would minimize or overcome them, are:

• Skill gaps in project leadership team (e.g. no financial management experience)
• Components of the measurement process that are hard to quantify

Examples of how to minimize these risks include:

• Recruiting volunteers with desired skills to project leadership team.
• Working with the Wikimedia Foundation Learning & Evaluation Team to develop an appropriate measurement and evaluation plan.

Budget

Please provide a detailed breakdown of project expenses according to this template. (sheet 2)

You can find all past proposals, you can use these for inspiration and reference but you are required to do your own local research and come up with your own budget numbers. Keep in mind that each event is different, has local context and needs, and there is not a one-size-fits all for our communities events. While making decisions on what to fund we will consider the local context and community needs for each event.

Event budget table

Total cost of event

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Total amount requested from the Conference and Event Grants program

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Additional sources of revenue that may fund part of this event, and amounts funded

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Please confirm that you are aware that changes to the approved budget beyond 10% in any category must be approved in advance.

Discussion

Endorsements

Do you think this project should be selected for a Conference Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on the talk page of this proposal.