Grants:PEG/WM US-DC/Events 2012/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Project and Event grant approved in FY 2012-13 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:PEG/WM US-DC/Events 2012.

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 grants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Compliance and completion

Did you comply with the requirements specified by WMF in the grant agreement?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Is your project completed?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Did you use any of the grant funds?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Activities and lessons learned

This section describes what the grantee did, and what the grantee learned from implementing the project. This section should be useful to others implementing similar projects and is an opportunity for the grantee to reflect on the project's performance.

Activities

Provide a detailed list of activities performed to complete this project, descriptions of these activities, and the amount of time spent on each activity. This section should also include a list of participants, or a link to pictures, blog posts, or videos from the project or event.: Based on Wikimedia DC's annual report.

GLAM Outreach

Over the course of the year, Wikimedia DC partnered with numerous cultural institutions to present edit-a-thon and hack-a-thon events. These included the "ArtBytes" hack-a-thon at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore in July; the "She Blinded Me with Science: Smithsonian Women in Science" edit-a-thon in March; a Smithsonian Institution Archives edit-a-thon in May; and the "Masterpiece Museum" edit-a-thon at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in August.

Attendees at the "Masterpiece Museum" edit-a-thon at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

In August, Dominic McDevitt-Parks, the Wikipedian-in-Residence at the National Archives and Records Administration, spoke at the Library of Congress. The talk, entitled “Cultural Institutions and Wikipedia: a Mutually Beneficial Relationship”, outlined the potential for symbiotic relationships between Wikipedia and cultural institutions. Dominic was introduced by Kristin Anderson, a member of the Wikimedia DC Board of Directors, who described the Wikipedian community to the audience by saying that “the only people who like information as much as library catalogers are Wikipedians…. Wikipedia and the Library of Congress share Thomas Jefferson’s dream of… information for everyone.”

Wikipedia Workshops

On several occasions over the course of the year, Wikimedia DC collaborated with the Adaptive Services Division at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library to host "Editing for the Blind" events. Using the JAWS screenreader, groups of blind library patrons created Wikipedia articles for a number of books, including Hard Revolution and Fallen Grace. These events were carried out at no cost to Wikimedia DC.

Embassy outreach

In April, Wikimedia DC partnered with the Washington European Society and the Estonian Embassy in Washington to present the first of its embassy outreach events. The event, entitled "Internet Freedom & Open Government: An International Conversation", featured a panel discussion with Danny Weitzner, Deputy CTO for Internet Policy at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy; Chairman Marko Mihkelson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament; Ian Schuler, Senior Manager for Internet Freedom Programs at the Department of State; and Rebecca MacKinnon, Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation and a member of the Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board. Adam Kushner, Deputy Editor of the National Journal, moderated the discussion.

Danny Weitzner, Marko Mihkelson, Ian Schuler, and Rebecca MacKinnon speak at the "Internet Freedom & Open Government: An International Conversation" event at the Estonian Embassy in Washington

In July, Wikimedia DC partnered with the Austrian Cultural Forum Washington to present "From Mozart to Michael Jackson", a cultural event at the Austrian Embassy in Washington. Speaking at the event, Wikimedia DC President Nicholas Bashour told the attendees that the event was only the tip of the iceberg, and that Wikimedia DC was actively looking for more opportunities to reach out to an international audience.

Outreach coordination internship

Lisa Marrs (left) directing attendees at Wikimania 2012

Wikimedia DC retained Lisa Marrs as an Outreach & Program Coordination Intern from June through September. Lisa's contributions were crucial to Wikimedia DC's successful accomplishment of its goals over the past year, particularly with regards to outreach and the organization of the Wikimania 2012 conference. She also assisted the organizing team of Wiki Loves Monuments USA, and she wrote many blog entries for the Wikimedia DC blog, providing valuable documentation of Wikimedia DC's activities.

Having a fulltime intern allowed us to develop connections with cultural institutions during business hours while most other Wikipedians in the area were busy with their day jobs. The connections facilitated as a result of Lisa's outreach work allowed us to hold many events in 2012, most of which were held at little or no cost to Wikimedia DC. Additionally, the spreadsheet of organizational contacts developed as part of the internship is vital for Wikimedia DC as it continues to establish its connections in the Washington, DC area.

Lessons learned

What lessons were learned that may help others succeed in similar projects? Consider the following questions and respond with 1 - 2 paragraphs.

What went well?

Overall, we were able to carry out the goals of the grant. The outreach coordination internship was successful in providing much needed assistance to Wikimedia DC while it was preparing for the Wikimania 2012 conference, and we are pleased by Lisa's work. The connections we developed with local institutions have allowed us to hold many outreach events—many of which were at no cost to Wikimedia DC. Additionally, the Embassy Outreach events were a great success, attended by many and giving us the opportunity to spread the name of Wikimedia DC to a new audience.

We have increased capacity in the DC region for organizing edit-a-thons and other Wikipedia-related events. Staff at the Smithsonian, University of Maryland, and George Washington University libraries are now taking more of a lead role to organize edit-a-thons, with Wikimedia DC supporting them. The chapter still leads in organizing other events.

For many of the edit-a-thon events, we had complete or co-sponsorship for lunch or refreshments, saving significant costs. The ability of hosting organizations to sponsor refreshments varies, with government organizations less able to than other GLAMs. We had based cost estimates on experience working with the National Archives and DC Public Library, which fall in the latter category.

What did not go well?

Our goals were a bit ambitious in relation to the time and volunteer capacity available during the year, with many folks in the chapter busy with organizing Wikimania. On the other hand, having an intern for summer was a great help.

Unfortunately, because of how our efforts were focused, we were unable to carry out editor training events to the extent we wanted. While we were able to hold the aforementioned events for the blind, we were not able to develop substantial documentation and training materials around those events. We are also unsure of the extent to which our efforts expanded the volunteer base for the Wikimedia projects. Instead of holding a series of introductory workshops, the edit-a-thons have worked well as training for new editors with the mix of experienced Wikimedians and newbies in attendance.

What would you do differently if you planned a similar project?

Our original plan for outreach events in 2012 were not based on specific goals or quality metrics, and we had no specific plan at hand for execution. We have learned from this experience and we are endeavoring to improve on our past work. For instance, our Outreach 2013 grant will be based on our Annual Plan for 2013, which includes specific, measurable goals. We have also developed organizational priorities for us, and we are working on developing a Programs Committee that will expand our organizational capacity and ensure that our specific goals are reached. We hope to reach a more diverse audience in 2013, and we are building an organization to do so.

Project goal and measures of success

This section should reference the project goals and measures of success described in the approved grant submission. See Grants:PEG/WM US-DC/Events 2012 to review the goals and metrics listed in the approved submission.

Project goal

Provide the project goal here.

Raise awareness and understanding of Wikimedia projects both nationally and internationally.
Increase and retain existing local Wikimedia contributors, including reducing the gender gap and increasing diversity, increase volunteer engagement in chapter and outreach activities, and build capacity of the chapter. To help support partnership and outreach activities, involvement of existing Wikimedia contributors is essential. We need to support existing and engage Wikimedia contributors with continued activities including Wikipedia edit-a-thons, backstage pass tours, and social meetups.
Strengthen partnerships with cultural and other institutions in the greater Washington, D.C. region. Wikimedia DC already has strong partnerships with various institutions in the region, including the National Archives, Smithsonian Institution, District of Columbia Public Library, Walters Art Museum, and Baltimore Heritage. Our goal is to build on our existing partnership and reach out to a variety of new institutions, including the Library of Congress and the Delaware Art Museum, to name a few.
Develop and improve training materials, building upon outreach wiki / bookshelf materials, test effectiveness and refine our training materials and curricula.

Did you achieve your project goal? How do you know your goal was achieved? Please answer in 1 - 2 paragraphs.: While we cannot attest to raising awareness of Wikimedia projects on a nationwide or international basis, we can certainly demonstrate that we have increased awareness in the Washington, D.C. area, as demonstrated by increased interest in Wikipedia by the cultural institutions we have reached out to. The next step is to increase outreach to individual editors and encourage them to become long-lasting editors, including by developing and refining the Wikipedia Workshop concept and conducting more general workshop events.

Measures of success

List the measures of success exactly as provided in the approved grant submission, and evaluate your project according to each measure listed there.: According to our original proposal, "measurable outcomes include increased social media engagement through the efforts of our outreach coordination intern, number of events held, number of contributions to Wikimedia projects, number of recruited editors, and the number of new institutional partnerships." The effect of social media outreach is uncertain, as well as the number of recruited long-term editors. However, we did hold seven GLAM outreach events, as well as two embassy events, most at either no or reduced cost. Additionally, our database of contacts—created as part of this project—has grown to include 35 institutions.
Provide an overall assessment of how your project went according to these measures.: We were successful with some of our broader goals, while we were unable to measure more specific goals on editor outreach or social media engagement. Overall the project was a success, and we have room for further success.
If you were to plan a similar project, would you measure it differently? If yes, please explain how.: As mentioned earlier in the report, our next outreach effort will include metrics to better individual engagement, as well as to better organize volunteer power to ensure that Wikimedia DC's goals are being met.

Impact

This section ties this project to Wikimedia's broader goals, and shows what the project accomplished.

What impact did this project have on WMF's mission and the strategic goals? Please answer in 1 -2 paragraphs and include specific measures of impact such as the number of readers or editors reached by a particular project, or the number of articles edited or improved.

Stabilize infrastructure
Increase participation
Improve quality
Increase reach
Encourage innovation

Washington, DC, is a strong center of culture, being home to the prestigious Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, embassies of 176 countries, and other important cultural institutions. The future of the Wikimedia movement requires expanding our reach into more traditional centers of knowledge, and a strong, local Wikimedia presence is necessary for that. Our work in 2012 allowed us to increase participation by engaging these institutions. While the quality of the Wikimedia projects has not dramatically improved yet, we are just beginning what we hope will be a long-term constructive relationship with these institutions. We further hope that by conducting this outreach at a large scale, we come up with best practices for other chapters in other parts of the country, as well as throughout the world, on how to best engage with outside institutions.

Reporting and documentation of expenditures

This section describes the grant's use of funds

Documentation

Documentation of expenditures has been received by WMF.

Did you send documentation of all expenses paid with grant funds to grants at wikimedia dot org, according to the guidelines here? Answer "Yes" or "No".: Yes

Expenses

Please list all project expenses in a table here, with descriptions and dates. Review the instructions here.: These expenses should be listed in the same format as the budget table in your approved submission so that anyone reading this report may be able to easily compare budgeted vs. actual expenses.; Note that variances in the project budget over 10% per expense category must be approved in advance by WMF Grants Program staff. For all other variances, please provide an explanation in the table below.

Description	Amount allocated	Amount spent	Difference	Explanation
GLAM Outreach—Event lunch and refreshments	$3,850.00	$469.40	-$3,380.60	Much to our benefit, most of the GLAM events we held were covered by in-kind contributions of catering and meeting space.
GLAM Outreach—Event printing materials and incidentals	$550.00	$0.00	-$550.00	No printing or incidental costs were incurred for GLAM events.
GLAM Outreach—Two flatbed scanners	$160.00	$162.38	+$2.38	Cost of shipping
GLAM Outreach—Two 3 TB hard drives	$370.00	$342.38	-$27.62	Market circumstances
Wikipedia Workshop—Event lunch and refreshments	$1,500.00	$0.00	-$1,500.00	Catering was not needed for any of our Wikipedia Workshop events.
Wikipedia Workshop—Event printing materials and incidentals	$300.00	$0.00	-$300.00	Printing costs were not incurred for any of our Wikipedia Workshop events.
Wikipedia Workshop—Projector	$190.00	$381.19	+$191.19	Market circumstances
Wikipedia Workshop—Video recording kit	$350.00	$376.31	+$26.31	Market circumstances
Embassy Outreach	$4,500.00	$2,110.00	-$2,390.00	We only held two events instead of three. Significant savings were produced by our Estonian Event embassy costing only $610.00.
Outreach and Program Coordination Internship—Intern stipend	$5,600.00	$5,600.00	$0.00	—
Outreach and Program Coordination Internship—Office expenses	$800.00	$518.77	-$281.23	Successfully stayed under budget for office expenses.
Coworking space	$1,800.00	$2,275.00	+$475.00	Inexpensive coworking space that met our needs was not available; thus, we went for a $650/month small office. Note that we funded our office for 3.5 months (mid-June through September), not through the end of December as originally planned.
Microgrant and/or discretionary funds	$2,500.00	$592.70	-$1,907.30	Relatively low interest in the Microgrants program. Additionally, we were able to fund most grants out of other budgets.
Total	$22,320.00†	$12,828.13	-$9,491.87

† This includes the amount provided by the Wikimedia Foundation ($22,070) as well as the amount provided by the Washington European Society ($250). Although the different line items in our original proposal add up to $22,470.00, only $22,070.00 was funded, as the proposal misstated the total as being that amount.

Total project budget (from your approved grant submission): $22,070.00

Total amount requested from WMF (from your approved grant submission, this total will be the same as the total project budget if the WMF grant is your only funding source): $22,070.00

Total amount spent on this project (this total should be the total calculated from the table above): $12,828.13

Total amount of WMF grant funds spent on this project (this total will be the same as the total amount spent if the WMF grant is your only funding source): $12,578.13

Are there additional sources of revenue that funded any part of this project? List them here.: We received $250.00 from the Washington European Society to help fund an Embassy Outreach event. The donation is accounted for above by adding it on top of the grant funded by the Wikimedia Foundation ($22,070 + $250 = $22,320).

Remaining funds

Are there any grant funds remaining?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Please list the total amount (specify currency) remaining here. (This is the amount you did not use, or the amount you still have after completing your grant.)

$9,491.87

If funds are remaining they must be returned to WMF, reallocated to mission-aligned activities, or applied to another approved grant.

Please state here if you intend to return unused funds to WMF, submit a request for reallocation, or submit a new grant request, and then follow the instructions on your approved grant submission.

The funds remaining from this grant in the amount of {{{amount}}} were deducted from another grant payment for Grants:WM US-DC/Outreach 2013.

We request to use remaining funds on the Outreach 2013 proposal.