Grants:Project/Rapid/WMSK/WikiOnTheRoad/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/WMSK/WikiOnTheRoad.
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? We partially met the goals of the project. The targets that we set at the beginning proved to be too ambitious due to various circumstances and perhaps also due to our overenthusiasm. However, we are not completely unhappy with the project as it provided us with some valuable learning opportunities and strenghtened our organization and cooperation.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
Number of events: 8	Number of events: 3	We underestimated the human resources that were needed from our side to organize and to convince towns that stops would be worthwhile for their residents. There were cases where we spent a substantial amount of time to work with a lower official to coordinate the event but it was vetoed by a higher official. There was also a case where a town could not open the promised space due to its internal procedures eventhough it had been promised. Repeat participants were the organizers. Four organizers attended 2 events each and 1 attended once.
Number of participants: 50	Number of participants: 18	Originally, the plan was to treavel to the regions mostly in the summer as we had assumed that people would appreciate an activity and Wikipediand would also be free-er of work and other commitments. For the first stop we checked out events in the city but did not notice a youth festival that was happening a few villages over. We also had not realized that most of the locals would be in church and otherwise occupied or even out of town. Tourists could not be engaged easily. The day was one of the beautiful summer days which likely did not help attendance. The second event was planned on a Saturday during September. This should have brought people out in better numbers. However, for most of the day we faced heavy rains. This probably contributed to low attendance too. The third event was planned on a school daya nd in cooperation with a school. This strategy proved best in attracting people.
Number of new editors: 45	Number of new editors: 6	People were interested in contributing to Wikipedia and Commons. However some of them seemed reluctant to register. For the school session, registration was not a priority. Time was limited to 90 minutes.
Number of of articles created or improved: 50	Number of of articles created or improved: 12	The number was lower due to the lower number of participants as described previously. Additionally, one of the venues did not provide as good sources to draw upon as we had requested. The internet connection was also not set up at the beginning and we lost some time. The last meeting was not focused on creation. The number is quite good all things considered.
Commons contributions	Achieved	We have achieved a good coverage for Commons. Levoča had already had quite a few pictures from the central area, the most visited sites. However, we were able to take pictures from the less visited locations. From Lipany, our biggest contribution was the 131 pictures from the Lipany Jewish Cemetery. Another dozen were taken from the rest of the town. Some picture were also taken on the road to and from WOTR destinations. The Images from WikiOnTheRoad category on Commons gathers all the pictures from the project.

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? Even when attendance was low we were able to contribute to Wikipedia and Commons using local sources and local topics. Dozens of pictures were taken of less prominent buildings and places. Some pictures were also taken on the way to the event stops. Good pictures and the first article of a Jewish cemetery in Slovakia was created in Lipany. For the third stop, organizers were able to commit to a weekday event which is rather an exception than a rule.
What did not work so well? We overestimated our possibilities. We had to spend quite a bit of time and money getting places because not enough people living closer were available. We could have explored and invested in paid adverstising through Facebook and other media. Quite a few of our leads in our destinations were not able to follow through with the plans.
What would you do differently next time? For next time we would go after achools rather than the more difficult town administration and town organizations. Schools have a more guaranteed patricipation. The only (but big) disadvantage is the need to come during the week which will be difficult for the organizers.

Finances

Grant funds spent

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

Travel Expenses and Accomodation =

First stop: travel: 41.67, accomodation: 61.25€
Second stop: travel: 70.14€, accommodation: 58.00€
Third stop: travel: 33.54€, accomodation: 24.70€
Subtotal: 289.30€

Refreshments

First stop: 103.26€
Second stop: 39.90€
Third stop: 27.77€
Subtotal: 170.93€

Swag for participants and organizers =

stickers and tshirts: 76.01€

Miscellaneous =

First stop: misc.: 3.00€
Second stop: misc.: 9.56€
Subtotal: 12.56€

Total reported spent: 548.80€

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project? At the Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2018 in Lviv I presented a session on our project. The slides can be found on Commons.