Grants talk:Project/Rapid/UG GR/Wiki Loves Earth in Greece 2020

Comments from I JethroBT (WMF)

@Magioladitis, Geraki, and MARKELLOS: With consideration to the recent announcement regarding WMF grants programs' response to concerns about COVID-19, I am reaching out to you in regards to your Rapid Grant proposal. 

I have moved your proposal back to draft status, because we will not be approving grants for offline events happening before September 15, 2020 until further notice. I know this will cause disruptions in your planning over the next several weeks and months.

We ask you to please consider our guidance regarding postponing or cancelling your events. If you have any questions about your project, please contact rapidgrants@wikimedia.org. I look forward to hearing from you, and to answer any questions you have. 

Please stay safe and diligent during this time, and if you have any further concerns, I hope we can support you as best we can. With thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 21:51, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

@I JethroBT (WMF): Some clarifications needed: Is the whole event considered or the award ceremony. I recall that Wiki Loves Earth photos are taken in the nature, exactly the opposite of crowdy areas - completely safe. As for the award ceremony, we never held a WLE award ceremony earlier than Octover (we never do offline events during summer or when schools open or close). Even then, we can cancel the ceremony but there is no problem with quarantine measures even in May. Walks in nature will be the only thing people will be allowed to do except of cocooning... --Geraki ^T_L 18:51, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Examining the announcement I quote: "All offline (in-person) public events". WLE contest is not in-person, nor public event. Participants and organizers do not meet in person, except in the award ceremony. We can remove the latter. -Geraki ^T_L 18:56, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

@Geraki: Thank you for this clarification. The whole event is considered, including the award ceremony. Because the award ceremony's schedule was still TBD, we are not permitted approve proposals until applicants can confirm the schedule for any in-person events supported by the grant. There is no need to remove the award ceremony if it is taking place after September 15, 2020. If this is the case, the status of the proposal can changed back to the status=proposed for review. Thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 19:43, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

@I JethroBT (WMF): I made some clarifications and put a timeplan that clarifies that no in-person event will be held until October (the previous version already mentioned that the only one would be held in fall 2020 (later than 21 September...). I moved the grant proposal back to "proposed". Please review it to see if you need some more clarifications. -Geraki ^T_L 09:44, 17 March 2020 (UTC)