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WikiProject remote event participation/Documentation/Wikidata Labs

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Format of the event

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Main format

Thematic presentation with discussion followed by a hands-on activity

Duration
  • 6 hours - usually, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm (BRT). Presentation + discussion usually takes 2 hours, we have an one hour break for lunch and then come back for the practical activity for more 3 hours.
Main goal
  • Provide trainings on specific Wikidata tools/projects
  • Streghten the lusophone community around Wikidata realated themes
  • Gather wikimedists, scholars and GLAM profesionals on Wikidata resources
Main target audience
  • Experienced wikimedians and newcomers to Wikidata
  • Scholars from different knowledge fields and GLAM professionals
  • Mainly the portuguese-speaking community
Total number of participants
  • +30 people engage on the live presentation
  • Around 12 participants join the hands-on part of the event
Number of organizers
  • One speaker + at least 4 facilitators for setting the event program and communicating the event for the community
Language(s) spoken during the event
  • Mostly Portuguese, but some editions are held in English
Tools used
  • YouTube + Streamyard for the live presentation with dicussion and Etherpad for taking notes. Dashboard outreach for registrations + metrics. We've been using Group.me to communicate with each other during the practical activity -- it is a simple chat platform that allows to send text messages and images. We create a different channel on it for each remote event edition. The participant needs to create an account on group.me with their e-mail, Facebook profile or cellphone number. We are looking for an alternative to Group.me that doesn't require those data to join!
Methods used
  • We reach out to members of our community that are doing some interesting project on Wikidata or someone that is experienced on a tool and invite her/him to speak for our audience about it. Then we work together to set a practical activity related to that topic that can be related to a on going project on the lusophone community. For example, we decide to work on modeling a specific set of data from a GLAM partnership, further a project on the early stages or test new tools.
Communication
  • Village pumps
  • Wikidata newsletter
  • Wikidata Telegram groups
  • Wikidata groups on Facebook
  • WMB social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
  • WMB partners social media (specially through a research center at the University of São Paulo called RIDC NeuroMat and through the Paulista Museum)

Lessons learned

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Success

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  • For the entirely remote version of the event, we are being successfull on setting the presentation broadcast (the choosen tools for it work very well!)

Challenges

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  • We've been organizing these trainings since 2017 at a university lab in São Paulo. Suddenly, we have to adjust the dynamic for an entirely remote format due the pandemic. I'd say that the main challenge now is to recriate the attention and the interaction that the physical space allows to the participants on practical activities.

Possible improvements

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  • Maybe shortten the presentation part considering that the online audience get tired sooner than an offline one
  • Find a better communication system for the practical activity after the presentation
  • Maybe also do some editions on more introductory themes for engaging new audiences, considering that now we can have a broader audience since it is being entirely online

Recommendations

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  • If you're on the first steps of building a Wikidata community, start covering basic topics so you can gather a recurrent group to keep up with the events
  • Don't be afraid to blend other projects from your user group/community/chapter, such as GLAM and Education -- Wikidata has all sorts of applications!
  • Invite people from different backgrounds as speakers!
  • Prep the speaker antecipately indicating what are the expectatios of the talk, who is the target audience, what level of technicality is . Also, make sure that the speaker knows how to use the choosen live broadcast platform and test it with her/him.

Other comments

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Documentation

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WikidataLab VIII: Before the pandemic, the hands-on activity took place at this university lab!

Links bellow contain all documentation from the event - resume, slides, schedule, activity materials, videos, metrics etc. We've been using the completely remote format since Wikidata Lab XXI. The format with live broadcast was inaugurated on Wikidata Lab VIII. Before that, the event was entirely presential. Thought would be nice to share the earlier editions as well in order to maybe inspire wikimedians out there looking for Wikidata events themes and activities.

Entirely presential:

Events taken presentialy, but with live broadcast:

Entirely remote:

Questions & discussions

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If you want to talk to the the organizers, ask further questions, feel free to use the talk page.

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