Grants:PEG/Belayet Hossain - Wikimedians in Bangladesh/Wikipedia 10th Anniversary Celebration at Dhaka/Report
Project Goal:
To celebrate Wikipedia 10th Anniversary with some promotional events to reach people as much as possible and encourage Wikipedia communities in Bangladesh to do offline activities.
Description of actual activities:
We plan to have several events to celebrate the anniversary as well as to introduce peoples to Wikipedia. To know more please visit, http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka
During the term of this grant we have held following events,
- 7th January 2011: Wikipedia Workshop for Bloggers has been arranged for the bloggers and others who are interested to join and edit Wikipedia, but the fear of Wikipedia policies and editing markups resist them to contribute at Wikipedia. In the four hours long workshop we introduce them about the Wiki markups and help them to understand the policies that are for assist them, not to resist them. We screen the Wikimedia video clips to encourage them to be part of Wikipedia. Around 45-50 people has been attend the workshop from different back ground and are members of Bangla blog sites. After the workshop we serve some snacks to the participants.
- 14th January 2011: Kite Flying for Wikipedia, has been arranged to celebrate 10th anniversary of Wikipedia through flying the kites with Wikipedia logo. Around 35 people attended in this whole day event, the participants were Wikipedians and their family members and well wishers of Wikipedia. We distribute the Wikipedia t-shirts and leaflets among the participants. In the day long events participants flew the kites and enjoy the day with music and foods. We serve the participants with Snacks and lunch for the day. When the day light has been gone participants enjoyed the fireworks.
- 15th January 2011: Wikipedia Birthday Party has been held on a venue at the center of Dhaka, So that people can join easily from every part of the city. Around 60 people attended the event. The event was begun with National Anthem of Bangladesh. At the event we distribute Wikipedia T-shirts, leaflets and some birthday decorative to the participants. After that we filmed the video Jimmy Wales 10th anniversary global action and other video clips related to Wikipedia. Later wikipedians celebrate the occasion with Wikipedia birthday cake and foods.
To see all the event photos please visit, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_10_Dhaka
What lessons were learned that could help others succeed in similar projects?
We are very happy and proud that we succeed to arrange those events in that scale within only a week. May be we can get more participants and coverage if we have more time to arrange and publicize the events.
What impact did the project have on WMF mission goals of Increased Reach, Increased Quality, Increased Credibility, Increased and Diversified Participation?
After the event we got some active editors in online contribution at Wikipedia especially from blogger communities as well as new people who are interested in offline activities regarding Wikipedia. That event helps local Wikipedia community to show their strong presence in Bangladesh. Also it encourages the community members from outside of Dhaka to organize local offline events. We got some interested organizations to partnering and help the community to arrange promotional activities like workshops and seminars.
Detail of expenditures:
Documentation of expenditures has been received by WMF.
A request for reallocation of remaining funds has been submitted by the grantee and approved by WMFon the discussion page of this grant report.
The expenditures are as bellow,
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| T-shirts | 57500 BDT |
| Banners, Festoons, Leaflets | 30500 BDT |
| Venue, Logistics | 11000 BDT |
| Foods, Cake, Snacks | 20000 BDT |
| Total Expenditure | 119000 BDT (1673.6 USD)* |
- All USD conversion are with the rate of 1 USD = 71.1 BDT
Amount underspent in US Dollars: 196.30USD
Will you be requesting re-allocation of remaining grant funding?
Yes. We’d like to use this money to print some booklets based on Wikipedia FAQ, which is for Workshops and Seminar. We already finalize the content for the booklet, just need some support to print and bind. That booklet will help people to know details about Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects at offline. To see a sample please visit, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WikipediaWorkshopDhaka_20110107_013.JPG
