Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/WCNA/WikiConference North America 2023

WMF review and feedback

Hi @Louis Germain (WMCA) and @Louis Germain (WMCA),

Thank you for submitting this proposal. I think you came up with a very clear and well thought out vision. It also really shows that you have identified pain points and strategy for your work as a community. I liked the clear and prioritized focus areas, awareness to what is not being done well and how to address and change it.

I am missing your budget which I assume was accidentally deleted because the spreadsheet is almost blank. So I could not complete the review. Please edit and add it on Fluxx asap. In the meantime, here are the comments and questions I had:

• I see you would also like to invite non-wikimedians such as potential partners and visionary allies, which is great. Just make sure you well facilitate their attendance with the proper intro sessions or a plan on how to welcome non-wikimedians and newcomers do they will have the proper context and can actively engage.

That’s our objectives. We plan to organize a welcome activity for newcomers. Some team members will also be identified as resource persons to facilitate the integration of non-Wikipedians. Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:42, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

• There was not a lot of responses to the survey for both 2021 and 2023, which quite surprise me as this is a well established and big community (which might actually be the reason for the low participation rates). How do you explain this? What do you think is the reason for the lack of engagement?

We think that it is partly because the community is well established already to some extent, but maybe even more because the level of enthusiasm and the willingness to fill in follow-up surveys for virtual events is never going to match that of physical events, which is partly why we're so eager to reenergize the community by bring everyone together physically after 3 years. Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:44, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

• I appreciate the fact that you have identified specific focus areas and practices on how to address those (referring not only but mostly to the knowledge equity and privileges).

Our goal is to improve coverage of priority topics, identified collectively, that have an impact on the world and can improve people's lives. Thus, the Wikimedia projects can benefit from the efforts put in place to create and improve specific content by prioritizing resources in favor of initiatives aimed at bridging the identified knowledge gaps. We think the North American Convention is an excellent opportunity to address these issues. Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:46, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

• Can you please share some details on how this conference and its desired outcomes is linked to the 2022 WCNA? Is there any work developed over the last year that will be represented in the 2023 event? I am looking to see the continuity aspect of this conference as an annual platform.

Just like in the past, the conference nurtures grassroots Wikimedia communities, addresses long-standing online and local community issues, spurs the creation of new content, and facilitates partnerships with cultural and educational institutions. Some of the discussions we started in 2022 (representation of the community, capacity development, training, community building, etc.) will continue into 2023.

Also, it appears, for us, to be a great opportunity to address the subject of hubs. There were discussions about that, in the last few months of 2022 and the conference is a great opportunity to bring people together to continue discussions.

Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:46, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

• I really like the intention to invite developers and researchers as well. How would like them to contribute? do you have any specific goals or "tasks" in mind?

Not yet, but we’re going to work on it. We think it’s important to contribute to the advancement of the Wikimedia Movement and free knowledge by allocating resources to experimentation. We have an interest in pedagogical innovation and open educational practices among others. Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:47, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

• As you are targeting a total of 250, 80 of which will be scholarship recipients - is it right to assume that the rest will be local participants?

Some chapters/user groups will also contribute financially to offer specific scholarships. Our objectives is also to get funds with other partners that will help us to invite more participants. The rest will be local participants, indeed : contributors, students, archivists, librarians, etc. Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:47, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

• Budget - I think the budget on the link was maybe mistakenly deleted because it has only 1 budget item. Please upload it again or send the correct budget so I can provide concrete feedback.

Normally, the budget link is working, now. Is it possible to make a few changes as we would like to slightly increase the contingency budget, as we think it might not be enough ? Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:48, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

looking forward to hearing from you. CAlmog (WMF) (talk) 18:11, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Adding a note as I have just received the budget via email (but regardless - please make sure to correct the budget link) - I actually have no farther comments on the budget. A balanced budget it is. Thank you. CAlmog (WMF) (talk) 18:41, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Hello @CAlmog (WMF) thank you for your feedback regarding our proposal. I just added a few clarifications, following your questions. Merci ! Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 16:52, 2 March 2023 (UTC)

Additional funding request

@CAlmog (WMF), iIn order to balance the budget for the Toronto WikiConference, we need additional funding from the Foundation. The amount requested is US$10,666. The main reason for this deficit is the underestimation of audio-visual costs. The costs associated with this budget item were three times higher than anticipated. We were obliged to work with the Toronto Public Library's audiovisual team, and it was not possible for us to work with any other company. This explains, in part, the very high costs. Louis Germain (WMCA) (talk) 18:49, 18 January 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Louis Germain (WMCA),

As we discussed before, this request is approved. Thank you,

CAlmog (WMF) (talk) 20:37, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

Budget file error

Grants:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fund/Conference_Fund/WCNA/WikiConference_North_America_2023#Financial_Proposal In field #35 budget the spreadsheet file is incorrect. The file there is $3000 for Wiki Loves Africa, when it should be $100,000 for WikiConference North America.

@CAlmog (WMF) and Louis Germain (WMCA): can either of you arrange for a correction? Thanks. Bluerasberry (talk) 14:29, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

Hello @Bluerasberry, sorry for the late reply, I was out of office. I just fixed the file link, it's a known issue of the tool that posts content from Fluxx. In cases when the filename is not unique, e.g. "Budget.xls" in this case, the tool sometimes adds the link to a wrong file. DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 10:25, 16 April 2024 (UTC)