Talk:CIS-A2K/Events/Train the Trainer Program/2024

Criteria for developers

Hi @Nitesh (CIS-A2K) @Chinmayee Mishra Thank you for organizing TTT. I have a question about the edits criteria requirement, "An editor with at least 800 edits on zero-namespace before 30 June 2024." What will be the criteria for developers? There might be good developers who have been contributing technically, but haven't done a lot of edits. They might still be good candidates to be future leaders to engage the technical community in India, which we have a lot of gap for. KCVelaga (talk) 18:13, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

Dear KCVelaga, thank you so much for pointing out. Yes, I agree there should be some changes in criteria while the committee will review the applications. The committee will work on the second criteria before reviewing the applications. However, I would like to ask you, are you suggesting to add something for technical community or users? We are open for feedback please provide your feedback and I will try to fix it accordingly after discussing with co-host community. Regards Nitesh (CIS-A2K) (talk) 06:24, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

Thanks @Nitesh (CIS-A2K)! Yes, I am suggesting add a criteria for technical community, who may not have a lot of edits on wiki. KCVelaga (talk) 11:27, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

Hello KC, KCVelaga thanks for raising the specific concern here. I have two requests,

1. Based on your experience from several technical events (both as participant and organizer), would you like to share any specific pointer(s) for the evaluation/shortlisting process of the contributors in the tech spaces?
2. From the TTT lens, Would you like to share with us any specific topic(s) / session which could be beneficial for the media wiki developers or for any wikimedians who have been contributing technically? Or any particular training / workshop that you feel, would be helpful in bridging the gap of leadership in the technical community, which you have mentioned above? This would not only be helpful for us for the application evaluation but also in designing the program of the training.
Thanks again.
Regards -- Chinmayee Mishra (talk) 20:22, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

Thanks @Chinmayee Mishra

• It is a little tricky with technical contributors. It is more qualitative. Usually it is better to see if they mentioned contributing to at least one tool / project etc. Then checking their technical profiles: https://github.com/, https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/, https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/ and https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/ & ensuring there is enough activity.
• For sessions, how to use Phabricator well and more pro-actively would be good. Then for technical folks about thinking about planning an activity from end to end. We have less folks in the technical community engaged in outreach, so that would be helpful to have exposure to all areas of activity planning. It is not just for hackathons, but others activities as well, a more high-level overview.

KCVelaga (talk) 17:19, 21 August 2024 (UTC)

Thanks a lot KC @KCVelaga for emphasizing on these, the later one regrading outreach really makes sense and align with the TTT goals too. We will surely note these points on tech profiles for the application evaluations and programming part. Chinmayee Mishra (talk) 18:26, 21 August 2024 (UTC)

Thank you @Chinmayee Mishra! KCVelaga (talk) 18:35, 21 August 2024 (UTC)

Zero namespace criteria

Hi, I'm 90% sure I'm ineligible but can you confirm if the edit count criteria is based on only language wikis or are Wikidata and Commons also included? Saiphani02 (talk) 12:40, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

• Hi Saiphani02 the global edits will be checked but the Home Wiki Project contributions would be given the first consideration.Chinmayee Mishra (talk) 20:07, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

Event safety recommendations from the ODW User Group

I, am writing this as an official statement from the Odia Wikimedians User Group regarding an incident that happened during the Train The Trainer (TTT) Program, 19 and 20 October 2024 time window.

We were saddened to know that few TTT Program 2024 participants met with a horrible accident after the formal closure of the event. Our thoughts are with the fellow Wikimedians and we are in touch with the affected one.

The incident has brought forward the need to have improved event safety regulations for future event gatherings. With that in mind, the Odia Wikimedians User Group proposes three recommendations.

1. Event Safety Guidelines
We, the co-organisers of the 2024 TTT Program, got to know about the incident—an emergency—through informal channels considerably late, instead of being promptly notified by either the affected Wikimedians or the main organisers. As the local host, we believe it is essential to be informed about such incidents to offer required local support and assistance.
We do understand that accidents can happen at anytime with anyone. Nobody has neither any control over it nor responsible for it in all cases. But as part of the learning, we are noting this here. For the safety of all participants and organisers in future gatherings, it is recommended to follow clearly outlined event safety guidelines to handle such emergency situations, more or less like a formal consent or awareness at least with all the participants and organisers. The Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) and/or the shorter Keeping Events Safe should be used with necessary adaptations.

2. Health Insurance
Unlike the international Wiki events, there is a lack of travel insurance and/or health insurance for in-person events happening in India. Considering the safety risks, travel insurance and/or health insurance becomes critical to cover emergency necessities.

A cursory research shows that these domestic insurances cost around ₹150 - ₹250 per person for 7 days. It is recommended to incorporate this cost into any future in-person event budget.

3. Participants’ Safety Briefing
Along with the Code of Conduct announcements, which we do for all events, it is recommended to conduct a safety briefing too, for participants during event orientation, informing them of resources to utilise during emergency situations. Mentioning contact numbers in travel guides seems not to be sufficient.

In closure, we encourage all organisers to uphold participant safety as a priority and proactively implement appropriate safety measures (the above recommended ones and more) in future event gatherings.

Best regards,
Chinmayee
On Behalf of the Odia Wikimedians User Group Chinmayee Mishra (talk) 06:20, 30 November 2024 (UTC)

@Chinmayee Mishra Thanks for the message and your thoughts on the very important topic of participant safety.

We will surely consider these points to improve the safety quotient for both the participants and the organisers during upcoming events. Pavan (CIS-A2K) (talk) 15:20, 5 December 2024 (UTC)