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Grants:PEG/WM PH/Philippine WikiCon 2013/Report

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Report accepted
This report for a Project and Event grant approved in FY 2012-13 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
  • You are welcome to Email grants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.


Compliance and completion

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Did you comply with the requirements specified by WMF in the grant agreement?
Answer YES or NO.
YES
Is your project completed?
Answer YES or NO.
YES
Did you use any of the grant funds?
Answer YES or NO.
YES

Activities and lessons learned

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This section describes what the grantee did, and what the grantee learned from implementing the project. This section should be useful to others implementing similar projects and is an opportunity for the grantee to reflect on the project's performance.

Activities

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Provide a detailed list of activities performed to complete this project, descriptions of these activities, and the amount of time spent on each activity. This section should also include a list of participants, or a link to pictures, blog posts, or videos from the project or event.
The Philippine Wikimedia Conference for this year was divided into two tracks: one track for general sessions, and one track dedicated to MediaWiki training in line with the eventual launch of Wikimedia Philippines' MediaWiki Startup Initiative. In the afternoon, the Annual Convention (or regular meeting) of Wikimedia Philippines was held.
Philippine WikiConference 2013
Multipurpose Hall
7th Floor
Training Room 1
4th Floor
08:30-09:45 Onsite Registration
10:00-10:15 Opening of Philippine WikiConference 2013
Eugene Villar, WMPH President & Emman Ramirez, Project lead
10:15-10:30 State of the Movement
Josh Lim
MediaWiki Workshop
Butch Bustria
10:30-10:45 Orthography Issues in the Bikol Wikipedia
Irvin Sto. Tomas
10:45-11:00 Kapampangan Orthography
Josie Henson, DILA President
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-11:45 Wikimedia movement in Pangasinan
Vanj Padilla
MediaWiki Workshop
Butch Bustria, Marco San Andres and Mike Rubio
11:45-12:30 Lunch
12:30-01:00 Lunch (12:30-01:30)
01:00-01:30 Tagalog Wikipedia Translation Issues
Joel Encinas
Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
02:00-03:00 Improving Philippine content in Wikimedia Commons
Emman Ramirez, Jenna Delos Reyes and Antonio Alan Lopez, professional photographer
02:30-03:00 Grants 101
Roel Balingit, GAC member
03:00-03:30 Breakout Sessions
03:30-04:00 Break
04:00-06:00 Wikimedia Philippines Annual Meeting
Eugene Villar, WMPH President
06:00-07:00 Egress
07:00 Socials/Dinner at Aristocrat Restaurant
The following presentations were delivered during the Philippine Wikimedia Conference:
  • State of the Movement – A presentation on the activities of the Wikimedia movement was delivered at the beginning of the Conference by Josh Lim. These included a recap of chapter activities, new developments coming from the Foundation, and upcoming events, activities and possible updates.
  • Grants 101 – A simple presentation on the process of grant making and discussion. The main components needed on a grant proposal and the best practices to ensure a successful grant proposal.
  • Language issues on the Tagalog Wikipedia – Joel Encinas delivered a presentation on what he perceived to be problems with the way the Tagalog Wikipedia handles the translation of terms, and suggestions how this can be resolved.
  • Regional activities – Presentations were delivered on the latest Wikimedia activities in Bicol (by Irvin Sto. Tomas), Pampanga (by Josie Henson) and Pangasinan (by Vanj Padilla).
  • Improving Philippine content in Wikimedia Commons/Photography workshop – Presentation on the chapter's efforts to improve Philippine related images in Wikimedia Commons, through Wiki Loves Monuments. A photography workshop was then conducted by Antonio Alan Lopez to help Wikimedia Commons contributors enhance their images.
  • MediaWiki Workshop – Mike Rubio and Marco San Andres, participants of the Amsterdam Hackathon 2013 and Berlin Hackathon 2012, respectively provided an overview of installing and configuring MediaWiki. The workshop was based on an activity that Mike Rubio attended during the MediaWiki Amsterdam Hackathon. There were only a very few attendees and there was some network problems so the attendees could not fully try out the exercises.

Lessons learned

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What lessons were learned that may help others succeed in similar projects? Consider the following questions and respond with 1 - 2 paragraphs.
What went well?
The venue is conducive to hold simultaneous discussions and a general conference. It's very accessible with other amenities within the immediate vicinity of the venue.
The student volunteers have demonstrated a good understanding of program management as they provide quick alternatives to fill-in gaps during the duration of the conference. Their seamless coordination helped the organization communicate efficiently with one another in order to relay messages and deploy manpower timely.
What did not go well?
Not done Attendance was very low.
Not done Schedule was not observed due to the late arrival of participants.
Not done Network infrastructure was not adequate/appropriate for the MediaWiki Workshop.
What would you do differently if you planned a similar project?
  • Event scope – An option that can be considered that may be better in terms of logistics would be to separate the Wikimedia Conference and the organization's Annual Meeting, which needs to be held anyway in order to fulfill a regulatory requirement of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The organization of a national Wikimedia conference could be delayed until critical mass has been developed. As an alternative, regional-level conferences may be organized instead.
  • Venue – A university campus should be seriously considered for a venue, provided it has the amenities the chapter needs (i.e. internet connection, nearby accommodation) to allow a greater number of potential attendees to participate who in turn can be invited to be involved in the organization. Partnering with campus organizations that would further the goals of the chapter should be worked out to effect this.
  • Tie-up with similarly oriented organization/s – In order to ensure a good turn-out, it may be ideal to organize a bigger WikiConference in partnership with other like-minded organizations like Mozilla Philippines, Creative Commons Philippines, OpenStreetMap Philippines, which advocate free and open source content. That way there will be a ready pool of participants from these organizations who can be engaged in Wikimedia activities. Holding the WikiConference during a Software Freedom Day / Culture Freedom Day / Open Data Day event, which attract like-minded organizations, may also be an option.
  • Preparation/Event management – An AGM/WikiCon project team should be formed as early as February (four months ahead), if the chapter would stick to the actual schedule of the Annual Meeting as per its bylaws which is on May. A budget should also be ready by that time to allow the team to work and secure the venue, notify participants and make early reservations to save on costs. However, a WikiConference separate from the Annual Meeting may need to be performed next year, until concrete plans to have a bigger event, bigger crowd can be worked out.
  • Presentation equipment and infrastructure – Better coordination with the presenters should be done so that the equipment and infrastructure needed for the presentations and workshops (such as network) can be prepared ahead of time. Simple things like a MacBook to VGA connector, or asking the presenters to prepare PDF slides as backup, or asking what other equipment is needed would help in reducing problems and delays during the event itself.

Project goal and measures of success

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This section should reference the project goals and measures of success described in the approved grant submission. See Grants:PEG/WM PH/Philippine WikiCon 2013 to review the goals and metrics listed in the approved submission.

Project goal

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Provide the project goal here.
  • The WikiConference aims to discuss topics and issues in Wikipedia especially the growth of Philippine language Wikipedias and other Wikimedia projects, with a focus this year on MediaWiki and Wikimedia Commons.
  • The Annual Meeting aims to gather members of Wikimedia Philippines, where they can be briefed about the Chapter's activities for the past year and briefed about new initiatives and upcoming projects where they can take part and volunteer, also decide on matters brought before them as required by law.
Did you achieve your project goal? How do you know your goal was achieved? Please answer in 1 - 2 paragraphs.
Despite the delayed schedule and the dismal turnout of participants the presentations during the WikiConference were very informative and it solicited an exchange of ideas that targeted the problems facing Philippine language Wikipedias. The presentations highlighted the need to overhaul or adopt some standards in writing to permit the Wikipedias to grow. The MediaWiki training on the other hand were facilitated by attendees of Hackathons. There were some non-regular participants who attended the MediaWiki training.
On the other hand, the Annual Meeting was pushed back by more than hour due to an urgent matter that the Board had to deliberate. The time constraint forced the chair to forego with the annual activity and financial reporting during the meeting and informed that these would be uploaded at the website. Despite these, several matters that required membership concurrence were approved and the transition from the original members of the Board after the elections went smoothly. More ideas and discussions also developed during lunch breaks and socials and a proposal to bring the WikiConference outside of Manila was floated.

Measures of success

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List the measures of success exactly as provided in the approved grant submission, and evaluate your project according to each measure listed there.

Not done if it is attended by 70 participants, with 30 provincial participants

There were 58 (just 4 more than in 2012) and there were only 20 participants from outside Metro Manila. The farthest place where a participant came from was from Bohol; it was made possible through a scholarship that was provided.
Philippine WikiCon 2013 Participant map

Not done if it is able to conduct the first MediaWiki training in the Philippines participated by at least 10 developers

Aside from the core 3 members of the MediaWiki team, there were only three other participants during the MediaWiki training.

Doing... if the first gathering of "Philippine Wikimedia Communities" (which Wikimedia communities recognized by the Chapter to promote Wikimedia projects in their respective language) formulates at least three projects to be implemented by their respective communities.

The Philippine Wikipedia Communities came up with ideas and plans for projects, but were limited to inviting the chapter conduct workshops in their communities. Open Web Day which is an ongoing project since 2012 was brought to Pampanga—home to the Kapampangan community—in October 19, and again in Naga City—home to the Bikol community—on November 23. Another invitation was extended to Wikimedia Philippines in Pampanga to conduct the same Wikipedia editing workshop in another university.

if the feedback of the participants would be generally positive

General feedback was practically fine.
Provide an overall assessment of how your project went according to these measures.
WikiConference 2013 focused on the problems of the Philippine language Wikipedias and on the exchange of thoughts and ideas. Plans for a 2014 WikiConference is uncertain unless concrete and comprehensive plans to ensure good attendance and turn out would be prepared timely.
If you were to plan a similar project, would you measure it differently? If yes, please explain how.
  • Budgeting – The chapter earmarked a significant amount for scholarships (constituting 42% of the budget) but only a handful availed. With two WikiConferences held back-to-back with the annual general meeting, the chapter can already benchmark the actual cost needed for scholarships and other expenses. If ever a Philippine WikiConference will again be organized and scholarships will be provided, it must first gauge the number of interested participants who will be availing of a scholarship.

Impact

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This section ties this project to Wikimedia's broader goals, and shows what the project accomplished.

What impact did this project have on WMF's mission and the strategic goals? Please answer in 1 -2 paragraphs and include specific measures of impact such as the number of readers or editors reached by a particular project, or the number of articles edited or improved.
Increase participation
The low turn out didn't necessarily translate to a decrease in participation as the eagerness of first time participants to bring the Wikimedia projects to their localities has been expressed. The chapter was able to conduct Wikipedia editing workshops which were brought about by the interest of the participants, some participants of the workshops that ensued were first-time editors of Wikipedia.
Improve quality
Previously, there were no in-depth discussion on the problems confronting Philippine-language Wikipedias. The main stumbling block has been mostly orthographic issues. During the Tagalog Wikipedia Translation Issues presentation, actual article samples were presented that generated several reactions from the audience, showing how articles are badly written often times literally translated, that it loses the essence and concept. The discussions on orthography also created an opportunity for each language community to exchange ideas and opinions on how to possibly address the orthography problems confronting them.

Reporting and documentation of expenditures

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This section describes the grant's use of funds

Documentation of expenditures has been received by WMF.

Documentation

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Did you send documentation of all expenses paid with grant funds to grants at wikimedia dot org, according to the guidelines here? Answer "Yes" or "No".
YES. Detailed expense list and corresponding documentation was sent to the Grants e-mail. Additional documentation submitted on Dec. 9, 2013.

Expenses

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Please list all project expenses in a table here, with descriptions and dates. Review the instructions here.
These expenses should be listed in the same format as the budget table in your approved submission so that anyone reading this report may be able to easily compare budgeted vs. actual expenses.
Note that variances in the project budget over 10% per expense category must be approved in advance by WMF Grants Program staff. For all other variances, please provide an explanation in the table below.


Number Category Item description Unit Number of units Actual cost per unit Actual total Budgeted total Currency Notes
1 Venue Conference rooms package ₱46,944 ₱45,000 ($1,125) PHP Includes video documentation of two venues: training room and main conference area.
2 Venue Wifi Internet access device 15.5 ₱224 ₱3,472 ₱8,000 ($200) PHP Internet rate is for whole day connection. 11 laptop computers were connected to the Internet for a whole day, while 9 devices for half-day.
3 Equipment Laptop computer rental unit 25 ₱1,200 ₱30,000 ₱30,000 ($750) PHP
4 Equipment LCD Projector rental unit 1 ₱2,000 ₱5,000 ($125) PHP We sourced the LCD projector from the laptop computer providers, which offered a cheaper rate than the LCD projector at the venue.
5 Equipment Two-way radios rental unit 2 ₱400 ₱800 ₱2,400 ($60) PHP Two units sufficed as the venue coordinators also had their radios use the same frequency which allowed better coordination.
6 Office supplies Assorted supplies ₱2,431 ₱2,500 ($62.50) PHP
7 Office supplies Toner pc 1 ₱1,890 ₱1,890 ₱1,800 ($45) PHP Toner returned for general use of the chapter.
8 Courier Express mail mail 2 ₱175 ₱4,500 ($112.50) PHP Limited the use of courier services as legal advice was obtained that e-mail communication had the effect of sending couriered mail and fulfills the requirement of the Corporation Code to send notices of meeting to members.
9 Tax Documentary stamp taxes for proxy forms pc 20 ₱300 ₱300 ($7.50) PHP Attached documentary stamps to proxies issued.
10 Food Lunch, snacks, dinner, beverages pax 80 ₱34,858 ₱40,000 ($1,000) PHP
11 Allowance/Honoraria Facilitators package ₱10,000 ₱10,000 ($250) PHP
12 Scholarships Fare (Metro Manila) pax ₱2,000 ($50) PHP Unused
13 Scholarships Fare (Regions around Manila) pax ₱6,000 ($150) PHP Unused
14 Scholarships Fare (Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao) pax 15 2 ₱7,871.50 ₱105,000 ($2,625) PHP
15 Scholarships Accommodation pax ₱28,065 ₱60,000 ($1,500) PHP
16 Organizing team Accommodation pax 15 ₱14,580 ₱22,500 ($562.50) PHP 2 rooms for two nights for Organizing team, 1 room for volunteers
17 Organizing team Preparation and meeting expenses ₱15,572.60 ₱15,000 ($375) PHP
18 Souvenirs Umbrellas pc 100 ₱18,000 ($450) PHP Unused
19 Promotional materials Shirts pc 100 ₱11,000 ₱20,000 ($500) PHP Production of the shirts was delayed. It was decided to print only 50 because they couldn't be made available in time for the conference.
20 Promotional materials Notepad 100's 50 ₱5,000 ($125) PHP Unused
21 Promotional materials Tarpaulin/Board ₱2,000 ($50) PHP Unused
22 Contingency Unexpected necessary expenses ₱4,721 ₱5,000 ($125) PHP


Total project budget (from your approved grant submission)
₱ 410,000.00
Total amount requested from WMF (from your approved grant submission, this total will be the same as the total project budget if the WMF grant is your only funding source)
₱ 410,000.00
Total amount spent on this project (this total should be the total calculated from the table above)
₱ 214,680.10
Total amount of WMF grant funds spent on this project (this total will be the same as the total amount spent if the WMF grant is your only funding source)
₱ 214,680.10
Are there additional sources of revenue that funded any part of this project? List them here.
None

Remaining funds

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The funds remaining from this grant in the amount of 195,319.90 PHP were deducted from another grant payment for Grants:WM_PH/Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2013.
Are there any grant funds remaining?
Answer YES or NO.
YES
Please list the total amount (specify currency) remaining here. (This is the amount you did not use, or the amount you still have after completing your grant.)
₱ 195,319.90
If funds are remaining they must be returned to WMF, reallocated to mission-aligned activities, or applied to another approved grant.

Please state here if you intend to return unused funds to WMF, submit a request for reallocation, or submit a new grant request, and then follow the instructions on your approved grant submission.

The organization intends to have the extra amount go towards funding a new grant: Grants:WM PH/Annual program plan 2014