Wikimania 2021/Scholarships/GLAM Macedonia User Group/Report

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

The project was a success and it turned out to be more effective than the initial planning. In terms of the organization, everything went as planned. The location for the project realization suited the needs of the participants for proper following Wikimania and gathering and/ or discussing new ideas as future projects and activities for GLAM Macedonia. Moreover, since during this projects all active members of GLAM Macedonia took part in, the members took the chance and discussed how to improve GLAM Macedonia's projects portfolio based on Wikimania's videos and presentations. This year's Wikimania attracted more participants than initially expected. Along with the participation of the most active GLAM Macedonia members, all Wiki Club coordinators and interested Wiki Club participants visited us and followed the program. What was more interesting, and what we are proud of is that even Wiki Club members, that is students and volunteers were willing to take part in. They did, they came and they were very happy that they were provided with a chance for taking insight of the global Wiki community projects and activities. Besides Skopje-based project, Ohrid also served as a home for following Wikimania. Our Ohrid-based education coordinator organized the event and it met the same success as the Skopje-based one. Overall, the project was a success, the organizer was happy to have a chance of organizing it and glad that it gave great results, which may serve as good ground for further improvement of the Wikimedia movement, locally and regionally.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets. Please be sure to review and provide metrics required for Rapid Grants.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
around 20 persons participants in the meetups	more than 20 persons participated in the meetups	target is completed

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

• What worked well?

Overall, everything went as planned during the planning stage of the project. The organization layout of the project turned out to be useful and fulfil the project needs and the government requirements for Covid-19 prevention measures. The location offered two rooms interconnected that provided enough space for all participants. Having in mind the fact that the project lasted for several days, it facilitated the team even more in terms of following government measures. Moreover, the equipment that was provided to the participants for smooth following Wikimania proved to be very useful so that every person had a chance to listed and see what was presented. The snacks, drinks and the appetizers that were offered facilitated the day-long following of the project. What's more important, what we are proud of, all participants were taking notes of the presentations, which served as idea proposals for improving GLAM Macedonia activities and projects.

• What did not work so well?

The Covid-19 pandemics and the government imposed measures for prevention of infection impacted the project, especially the organization. It limited person-to-person contact, the participants had to keep distance or wear masks, which was seen as a bit difficult especially during a day-long event. However, since all participants understand the seriousness of the pandemics, the Covid-19 protocol was not seen as a major problem for following the problem, even though they mentioned that without it, the joy will be greater.

• What would you do differently next time?

Overall, we are satisfied how the project was organized, how it was implemented and what outcome we got. Next time we would like to have Wikimania in-person, but for on-line Wikimania, maybe it would be nice if the location of the event was moved to another cities (more than two cities we have meetups this year) in order to widespread even more the Wikimedia movement in Macedonia.

Finances

Grant funds spent

The grant funds were spent as it was calculated:

Categories	Amount / USD
Data packages to distribute to Wikimania participants (4 x 23.8)	95.2
Childcare services (3 x 23.8)	71.4
Small hardware expenses (15 x 12.7)	190.7
Video production support (1 x 121)	121
Meetups during and after Wikimania activities (food, beverage, meeting space) (4 x 262)	1,048
Administrative costs	23.8
TOTAL	1,550

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

None.

Gallery

Gallery of photos taken during the event

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?