Grants talk:Project/Rapid/Bidgee/RioParalympics

Apologies

Apologise for the tardiness and being over budget, I had originally applied for the TPS Grant. Thank you to @Mjohnson (WMF): for suggesting me to apply for a Rapid grant and to go for the original US$2039 that I had budgeted. Bidgee (Talk) 23:20, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Grant comments

Hi Bidgee. Thank you for the ping and apologies for the delayed response. We have a few questions on your grant request and look forward to your responses:

1. Do you already have a list of notable paralympics athletes who do not yet have Wikipedia articles? It is helpful for us to have a better sense of the context in order to assess your measures of success (250+photos and 10+ articles) and the scale of potential impact. Similarly, how many notable paralympic athletes already have an article?
2. How do you envision organizing the "Wikipedia meet" in Rio?
3. Have you identified editors on English Wikipedia (or other language Wikipedias) who are particularly interested in using the content you will generate during the trip? If not, how will you reach out to them?
4. We funded a similar proposal for the Sochi Paralympic Games. The most successful aspect of the project was the grantees organized a month-long writing contest after the trip to engage editors to write articles and use the photos -- 147 articles were created or improved! You can read more about it in their grant report. In your request you say you will "organize or assist with Paralympic workshops in Australia, post games". Have you already gotten a sense from your community in Australia that people are interested in this? It may be more effective to do an online writing competition than an in-person workshop.

Thanks! Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 02:12, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alex, no problem.

1. There is a list but it is one that is a still in progress. Main reason is due to the Russia being banned from the games, the list of new competitors will likely not be out until the end of the month (possibly 28 August). I have a list (online Excel file and still work in progress) which I've been getting help to get competitors' names and check to see if any articles (on EN Wiki) and on Commons. Of interest, Australia has the best coverage but rest of the World is lacking. Noticeably Brazil, Canada, South Africa and US, but this will likely expand as more countries are checked.
2. Organising the "Wikipedia meet", I intend to post on the Portuguese Wikipedia (posting in English, though I'll kindly ask for it to be translated into Portuguese) and holding it close to the Paralympic venue(s) or accommodation. I'd love to see any photographs of competitors also used on the Portuguese Wikipedia, which would be an added bonus.
3. There is a project on the English Wikipedia that is dedicated to the Paralympics, which I will be using to reach out during the games, with the list of competitors in a similar list to the Excel file (but in a Wiki friendly format) and posting links to galleries of photographs that I've uploaded during the games. I could also post talk page messages to the participants before leaving for Rio.
4. I'd like to do both online writing competition and in-person workshops, the in-person workshops would be done working with the History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia (HoPAu) and the Paralympic project on English Wikipedia, the workshops which could be held during a two week (in October or November) long online writing competition on Wikipedia (any language, not just English Wikipedia). Holding one or two workshops would be helping those who maybe new to Wikipedia but also have sourced material (news articles, books, journals ect) that isn't easily accessible, which could be used to source articles. I would also assist if I was requested to help out with workshops organised by other people/groups and wanting someone with some experience (done this recently in Darwin, NT, though unrelated to the Paralympics). Bidgee (Talk) 14:33, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Comments on approval

Hi Bidgee. Thanks for your quick responses. It seems like there is a lot of opportunity to obtain new content and cover significant gaps. We are happy to support the project and hope you will be able to surpass your proposed measures of success! While the photos are obviously important, the main reason we are willing to fund a project like this is because of your plans to engage the wider community both offline and online to use the content after the event. It will be important to do the networking necessary to get folks interested in the content, through avenues like the Paralympics WikiProject and History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia (HoPAu), as you proposed. Good luck! Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 16:23, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, no problem. :) I also would be very happy if I'm able to surpass the proposed measures and yes, networking is something that can help a project to succeed even after the event. Thank you once again for the approval. Bidgee (Talk) 13:12, 25 August 2016 (UTC)

Local help

Hi. I hope you become successfull you request. I am offering help on getting those 10+ articles translated into Portuguese and then using photos on them. I will try to get in contact with users in Rio from Wikimedia Community User Group Brazil to see if they can help you there perhaps. Good luck.—Teles «Talk to me ˱_{C L @ S}˲» 03:35, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi Teles. Thanks, that would be fantastic and thank you for your assistance. :) Bidgee (Talk) 11:40, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

@Teles: Received the grant today, leaving Australia a little later than planned. Will arrive in Rio on Saturday afternoon 2:30pm local time and will be there until the 16 September. Bidgee (Talk) 12:36, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Change of dates

Apologies for the short notice but the date of the project has changed due to the grant funds clearing my bank account on Tuesday the 6th September. As airfares have become booked out and increased in cost, I was only able to get airfare (which only had a seat left) departing Sydney 9th September and arriving in Rio on the 10th September. I depart Rio on the 17th Sept and arrive back in Australia on the 18th Sept. The airfare in total came to $AU2437.84, which was the cheapest I could find and book.

Typically I wouldn't book without approval, however time is extremely limited and I apologise. Bidgee (Talk) 15:26, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Hi Bidgee. Thank you for letting us know. The dates are approved. Safe travels. Best, Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 18:53, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

I was wondering if the report date could be extended by a few days (16th or 18th Oct)? Just completed two uni subjects, so have more free time to get the report written, apologies for the late request. Bidgee (Talk) 22:15, 12 October 2016 (UTC)