Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikipedia Day LA, 2018/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/Wikipedia Day LA, 2018.
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

Our goals included recruiting new editors, formalizing an LA User Group, strengthening the existing WP community, and educating non-editors and editors on Wikidata, Wikieducation, and archival resources.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Socialize with community members, and formalize the LA User Group Recruit new editors and facilitate discussions about Wikipedia Educate new and veteran editors on Wikidata

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
Socialize with community members and formalize the LA User Group	Yes	We have a live page for the LA User Group, people have signed up to participate, and we've put in our application. That's huge. The LA User group has been a long time coming. We were able to get concrete commitments because people were excited, and we were interacting in person.
Recruit new editors	Yes	We collected 35 email addresses from 35 interested new editors, and encouraged people to join our Facebook page, where information about edit-a-thons and activities is posted. An email went out with information about the panelists and speakers that participated at Wikipedia Day LA. There has been a small but noticeable uptick in membership on our Facebook page.
Facilitate discussions about Wikipedia	Yes	The archivists panel sparked discussions about the importance of archival materials being freely available and accessible on Wikipedia/Wikimedia, and the education panel was in part a conversation about Wikipedia as a platform to democratize knowledge. Deletonsism was the subject of a flash talk.
Educate new and veteran editors on Wikidata.	Yes	Paula Kate Marmor prepared a powerpoint that walked us through the basics of Wikidata. She explained what Wikidata is about in a way that was easy to understand. It was an engaging presentation that illustrated the power of Wikipedia's data (and the effort required to collect it).

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?

Because all of participants in the "Unveiling LA Sources" panel were affiliated with LA as Subject, we focused on creating awareness of Wikipedia Day in the Los Angeles archivist community; we thought people who were interested in archives would be interested in contributing to Wikipedia. It was an accurate assumption -- around 35 people associated with LA as Subject came to Wikipedia Day, and 19 of them indicated interest in future Wikipedia events.

The Wiki Ed Panel worked well on several levels. It was a demonstration of how Wikipedia can be used as an educational resource, but it was also a powerful call to action, as the educators spoke about issues related to gender and narrative on Wikipedia.

What did not work so well?

We held Wikipedia Day on the weekend of Passover and Easter; attendance could have been better, and there were also some technical issues that slowed down the pace of the day.

Also, I think that I (and maybe we) have been too casual about the schedule and the content. I hung on to the idea that a Wikipedia event should reflect only the community, and that our actions (as organizers) had to based on interpreting consensus. In hindsight, it was the wrong way to approach the event; it lacked a center.

What would you do differently next time? Encourage everyone involved to be bossy and opinionated.

Finances

Grant funds spent

$653.35 (total spent) Cake (and cupcakes, and macaroons): $125.00, $18.00; $16.35 Parking for panelists, volunteers, speakers: $80. (lot) $90 (valet) $10 (tip) Lunch for volunteer crew: $14.00, $60.00 Materials and supplies: $53.00, $12.00, Transportation (to pick up and deliver cakes, Uber, 16. x 2)= Gratuities for hotel staff: 20 x 1; 10 x 3 ($50) Portage fees: $40.00 Copying: $53.00

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds? No

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project? This is a description of the event as written in the LA Weekly. I'm sharing it because I love the way it framed Wikipedia Day. "Celebrate Wikipedia's 17th birthday — and its creeping march toward legitimacy — with a deep dive into L.A. history at Wikipedia Day Los Angeles 2018: L.A. on Record at the Ace Hotel. Panel discussions will cover mining L.A. resources with archivists from the Autry Museum, Cal State Northridge and LACMA; a foray into Wiki's changing role in education with local academics; and some big-data talk. Run by a nonprofit and maintained by volunteer editors, Wikipedia's body of knowledge — content and perspective — still skews white and male, but that may be changing, too. You might as well pay attention and flex your trivia brain. Keynote speech by civic instigator John Bwarie, an appearance by the lead researcher for Jeopardy! and cake from Hansen's."(From the LA Weekly: Things to Do: Wikipedia Day LA)