Grants:Project/Rapid/Ottawa-Gatineau WikiClub/Photography equipment/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2017-18 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/Ottawa-Gatineau WikiClub/Photography equipment.
You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

Establish an equipment loaning program for contributors in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
This goal was achieved.
Provide the means to produce high-quality pictures of the monuments, buildings, parks and events in the National Capital Region.
This goal was achieved.
Engage with photography groups at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University and educate them on how to contribute to Commons
This goal is not achieved yet.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
600 photographs uploaded	164 photographs uploaded	No organized activity such as a Scavenger hunt was organized during this time period, but there is still plan to do so.
150 photos used on Wikimedia projects (25%)	15 photos used on Wikimedia projects (10%)	Because no organized activity took place yet.
50 articles created/improved	1	Because no organized activity took place yet.

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well?
- We were able to determine a list of items that needed images, and a portion were filled by other contributors using their own equipment en:National Holocaust Monument being one of those examples.
- The Wikiclub established a relationship with the Ottawa Field Naturalist's club and introduced them to Wikimedia Commons and how they can contribute.
- Established a relationship with the "Mushroom Observer" community and will continue to upload pictures of different fungi to their website for identification and documentation purposes. This will help us better categorize and utilize these images in articles across Wikimedia projects. They also provided advice on how to take pictures from different angles (to get the gills, etc) which is useful for identification.
What did not work so well?
- Both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have had rather turbulent years with their student government and there are ongoing issues with their finances and club funding, as such, it was no longer realistic to meet this goal.
- I (Jon Kolbert) over-estimated the time I had to dedicate specifically to this project. Having a job which requires travel takes me away from the Ottawa-Gatineau region for the prime photography months (for buildings, monuments etc.) made it difficult to find optimal occasions to produce material for the project.
What would you do differently next time?
- Establishing relationships with community partners and organizations would be the most effective approach that would give the most dividends. While it may not be realistic to always use the WikiClub's equipment, organizations such as the Ottawa Field Naturalist's have members who have decent equipment but may not know about Wikimedia Commons or how to contribute. Partnering with other local groups will harbour the opportunity to expand our network of contributors and help recruit new members to the WikiClub and Wikimedia movement. The partnerships we have are in their early stages and the expansion is ongoing.

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

We spend 100% of the grant funds to purchase the photography equipment.

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

No.

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?