Grants:PEG/WM UA/CEE Meeting 2014

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statusFunded
WM UA/CEE Meeting 2014
Organisation of the Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014 in Kyiv, Ukraine
targetWikimedia projects in all CEE languages (Albanian, Armenian, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Georgian, Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Turkish, Ukrainian plus Esperanto, Kashubian, Crimean Tatar etc.) and Wikimedia Commons
strategic priorityIncreasing Reach, Encouraging Innovation
start date1 December
start year2014
end date31 January
end year2015
budget (local currency)N/A
budget (USD)18202.01 USD (total)
14137.22 USD (requested from PEG)
grant typeGrant requested by an organisation
non-profit statusYes
creatorNickK
contact(s)• treasurer at wikimedia dot in dot uaAntanana, director at wikimedia dot in dot ua
organization• Wikimedia Ukraine


Goal[edit]

Our goal is to develop CEE community, share experience and receive new skills by organising Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014. We want to fortify interstate and international collaboration between various Wikimedia chapters, thematic organisations, user groups and other communities in Central and East Europe and its regions. After two successful editions in 2012 and 2013 we want to improve international cooperation and develop links with CEE countries that are still in process of developing local communities.

Plan[edit]

Activities[edit]

  1. August. Discussion at Wikimania whether the CEE community really needs this meeting. Meeting notes are here: Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014/Wikimania, the decsion was to go ahead with organisation, Ukraine is the main candidate for hosting.
  2. August — October. Contacting CEE chapters, user groups and communities concerning their questions and needs. The results of this stage can be found here: Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014/Questions&Needs
  3. October — November. Discussion with potential venues, hotels and partners. Result: definitive venue (Kyiv National Linguistic University) chosen, agreement with Kozatskyi Hotel for reduced price, work with other partners.
  4. 1 — 15 November. Consultation with CEE countries concerning possible dates, relaunched discussion about questions and needs. Preparation of the draft agenda: Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014/Programme
  5. 15 — 30 November. Official registration opens, finalising programme and confirming speakers. Visa support for Albanian nationals.
  6. Around 1 December. Booking tickets for all attendees or confirming travel details with chapters having their own funding.
  7. 1 — 17 December. Preparation of talks and presentations by the meeting participants.
  8. 17 — 19 December. Arrival of participants to Kyiv
  9. 19 — 21 December. Conference days, two sessions according to the programme: Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014/Programme
  10. 21 — 22 December. Departure of participants.
  11. 22 December — 15 January. Post-conference survey to measure participants' satisfaction, impact of the conference and potential projects launched by conference participants.
  12. 22 December — 31 January. All reimbursements (if necessary) completed, financial report of the conference ready.
  13. January. Creation of the page with our experience as organisers (as a learning pattern or a subpage of Wikimedia CEE Meeting) for future hosts of the CEE Meeting.

Impact[edit]

Target readership[edit]

  • Wikimedia projects in national languages of the CEE countries: Albanian, Armenian, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Georgian, Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Turkish, Ukrainian
  • Wikimedia projects in other languages: Esperanto, Kashubian, Crimean Tatar and other
  • Wikimedia Commons

Fit with strategy[edit]

What crucial thing will the project try to change or benefit in the Wikimedia movement? Please select the Wikimedia strategic priority(ies) that your project most directly aims to impact and explain how your project fits. Most projects fit all strategic priorites. However, we would like project managers to focus their efforts on impacting 1–2 strategic priorities. Examples of strategic priorities can be found here.

  • Increasing reach: help in forming community and developing projects in countries that have no or only recently formed movements, such as Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and others. Helping to improve reach in countries already having established movement: as Central and Eastern Europe still observe a growth in the number of Internet participants and are on the edge between developing and developed countries, we want to help reach potential readers and editors all over the region.
  • Encouraging innovation: we want people in different countries to share their innovative projects (e.g. WikiCamp in Armenia, Wikipedia workshops for cenior citizens in Czech Rep. etc.) as well as other successful projects with a wider audience. This will, on one hand, help successful project leaders share their experience, on the other hand, will help other communities implement their experience in their countries.

Measures of success[edit]

Please provide a list of both quantitative and qualitative criteria that will be used to determine how successful the project is. You will need to report on the success of the project according to these measures after the project is completed. See the PEG program resources for suggested measures of success.

Quantitative
conference
  • 45 participants (including 30 not living in Ukraine)
  • At least 15 countries or language editions of Wikipedia represented
  • At least 20 attendees making presentations or talks as speakers to share their experience
  • At least 80% of presentations shared either as video, audio recordings or by publishing presentation slides
  • At least 80% of attendees find the conference useful in the post-conference survey
  • At least 60% of attendees confirm having new ideas or better vision of the projects they want to work on
  • At least 60% of attendees confirm having learned new information regarding project management, running chapter projects or community building.
Qualitative
  • Information collected about questions and needs of most of the region's chapters (almost done so far)'
  • Countries without established chapters improve their organisation and activities of their communities
  • New projects launched or existing projects improved in most of CEE countries
  • Improved regional cooperation, with launch of new cross-border activities
  • Designed working patterns for "standard" projects in the CEE region, such as WEP, GLAM and photo contests.

Note: In addition to your project-specific measures of success, you will also be asked to report on some global metrics at the end of your final report. Please keep this in mind as you plan, and we'll support you as you begin your project.

Resources and risks[edit]

Resources[edit]

Team members
Previous experience
  • Experience organising four Wikiconferences: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • In particular, experience preparing three streams of Wikiconference 2014 programme with ca. 60 attendees from 4 countries
  • Discussion about experience and lessons of Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2012 and Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2013 during Wikimania, see Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014/Wikimania
  • Feedback about questions and needs collected from 21 countries, see Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2014/Questions&Needs, which helped us prepare the agenda
  • Support from chapters having previously organised large events, such as WMPL and WMRS
  • High interest from most of CEE chapters: 23 countries already contributed to discussions about the meeting and thus are aware of it, around 15 have displayed interest in attending.
  • WMUA owns audio and video equipment that should allow us record audio and video from sessions, although we may need extra equipment for recording both sessions at the same time.

Risks[edit]

  • Little time for preparation due to late start of organisation (no other countries interested in hosting + silence on the mailing list)
    • The most important part, conference programme, is almost ready. Speakers will have one month to prepare talks, which should be enough. On the other hand, postponing the conference till February (after winter holidays) will reduce time between Wikimedia Conference 2015 (next big event) and will leave two month less for implementing new ideas
  • Possible higher costs due to making last-minute arrangements
    • 19—21 December is a low season in Kyiv, and Kyiv is not particularly popular as a winter destination. In addition, Christmas holidays in Ukraine start only on 29 December, thus prices for these dates are not particularly high, and sometimes even lower then for more distant periods.
  • Lack of participation from chapters
    • At the moment only one chapter of the region have expressed little interest in the event (WMHU), all others being motivated to participate. We are in touch with all active communities in the region (but one) and all of them so far are ready to contribute.
  • Poor weather in December
    • In previous years Decembers were generally mild, with temperatures around -5..0 and little snow. These weather conditions are quite normal for the CEE region (except probably Greece, Turkey and Cyprus) and should be managed by participants without problems. However, temperatures in Kyiv may fall to -20 degrees (this happens just 1-3 days a year), and in this case we will have to make special arrangements (most notably additional heating). The only way to avoid poor weather is moving this conference until April (as it can still snow in March), but it will be too late.
  • Safety situation in Ukraine
    • See our FAQ: there are no particular safety concerns in Kyiv, it is quite far from war zones (at least 700 km from the closest front line) and all international air companies fly to Kyiv normally. Safety situation should not change greatly by December
  • Fluctuating exchange rate and restrictions on use of foreign currency. Ukrainian Hryvnia is very volatile during the latest months, and our government makes us sell some 50% to 100% of incoming funds in foreign currency immediately upon reception.
    • Solution: we would like WMF Travel Team (we have already contacted them) or one of our partner chaptes with good financial system (we have already approached WMPL) to book tickets for foreign attendees on our behalf. This is the only important part that needs to be paid in foreign currency, and we will greatly reduce currency risks if these bookings are done outside Ukraine. In this case all remaining expenses (accomodation, food, venue) will be covered in UAH, which we can do without particular problems, as we have arranged prices in advance.

Budget[edit]

Please provide a detailed breakdown of project expenses according to the instructions here. See Budget Guidelines.

Grantees are subject to line-item scrutiny of expenses. Changes to the approved budget beyond 10% in any category must be approved in advance.

Project budget table

Exchange rate: 1 USD = 15.14 UAH (as of 20 November)

Number Item description Unit Qty Cost per unit UAH /USD Total cost USD WMF contribution (USD) Other sources (USD) Notes
1. Travel costs & visas 9205.00 6055.00 3150.00
1.1 International travel costs per participant 30 230.00 EUR / 290.00 USD 8700.00 5800.00 2900.00 Average travel costs per participant are 230 EUR / 290 USD (see distribution per country), with lowest being 97 EUR / 122 USD and highest 358 EUR / 450 USD. We expect that out of 30 foreign participants, 20 will have to request scolarships and 10 will have their travel costs covered by their chapters or thematic organisations.
1.2 Domestic travel costs per participants 10 25.00 USD 250.00 0.00 250.00 Already covered by our Grants:PEG/WM UA/Programs in Ukraine 2014 grant as 3.6. International conference travel expenses: this will allow us cover travel costs for attendees from other cities of Ukraine.
1.3 Visas person 3 85.00 USD 255.00 255.00 Among CEE countries only Albanian nationals need visa for visiting Ukraine. We expect 3 attendees from Albania. Visa fee is fixed in US dollars
2. Accommodation and meals 5706.05 5706.05
2.1 Accomodation participant x night 40 x 3 300.00 UAH / 19.82 USD 2733.80 2733.80 30 foreign + 10 Ukrainian participants not living in Kyiv will have to be accomodated. Cost of a double room in Hotel Kozatsky is 560.00 UAH per night (special rate), which gives 280.00 UAH per person. Cost of a single room is 450.00 UAH. An average figure of 300.00 UAH is case we will have to order a few single rooms (e.g. due to odd numbers of male and female participants). 3 nights from Tuesday to Sunday per person. Breakfast is included in price.
2.2 Meals participant x meal 50 x 5 100.00 UAH / 6.61 USD 1651.25 1651.25 5 meals (3 lunches + 2 dinners) per participant. Cost of a standard lunch or dinner (allowing to satisfy all dietary preferences) in central Kyiv is about 100 UAH, either ordered as catering or served in an entry-level restaurant. Meals on other days will be covered by participants themselves.
2.3 Coffee breaks participant x break 50 x 5 40.00 UAH / 2.64 USD 660.50 660.50 5 coffee breaks (3 morning and 2 afternoon) per participant. Coffee breaks will include drinks (coffee, tea, juices) and snacks (cookies, fruits etc.)
2.4 Main social event participant x break 50 200.00 UAH / 13.21 USD 660.50 660.50 Friday evening will be the best occasion for participants to communicate about any topics they are interested in. We plan a more official dinner or a disco party (TBC). This social event will be funded by us, while other social events (Thursday and Sunday) will be paid by attendees themselves.
3. Venue 1060.76 145.97 914.79
3.1 Hall rent day 3 4000.00 UAH / 264.20 USD 792.60 0.00 792.60 Completely covered by Kyiv National Linguistic University.
3.2 Wi-Fi set of equipment 2 1850.00 UAH / 122.19 USD 244.38 122.19 122.19 Kyiv National Linguistic University provides two Wi-Fi hotspots; two more are needed to cover all rooms. This equipment will remain property of Wikimedia Ukraine after CEEM and will be used for editing workshops. At the moment we are negotiating with Kyivstar (Ukrainian mobile provider which participates in WMF project Wikipedia Zero) who might provide Wi-Fi in the rest of rooms free of charge for the event days.
3.3 Transportation expenses way 3 120.00 UAH / 7.93 USD 23.78 23.78 Delivery of equipment, food and materials to the venue.
4. Materials and gifts 883.75 883.75
4.1 Conference programme leaflets participant 60 20.00 UAH / 1.32 USD 79.26 79.26 A few more than expected number of participants to include representatives of univerity and partners attending (who are expected to be present only on Friday morning).
4.2 Name tags participant 60 8.00 UAH / 0.53 USD 31.70 31.70
4.3 Conference bags participant 60 150.00 UAH / 9.91 USD 594.45 594.45 Main souvenir for participants, useful for holding all conference materials, also suitable for holding laptops.
4.4 Notebooks participant 60 30.00 UAH / 1.98 USD 118.89 118.89
4.5 Pens participant 60 15.00 UAH / 0.99 USD 59.45 59.45
5. Administrative expenses 1346.45 1346.45
5.1 Bank expenses project 1 450.00 UAH / 29.73 USD 29.73 29.73
5.2 Communications fee project 1 500.00 UAH / 33.02 USD 33.02 33.02 Sending documents by post (most notably invitations to Albanian nationals) and telephone communication
5.3 Unforseen project 1 1283.70 USD 1283.70 1283.70 10% of the total grant sum. This includes unforeseen events as exchange gain/loss, transportation problems (e.g. cancelled flights), weather conditions (e.g. additional heating), increase in air ticket fees (e.g. due to travel from remote airport insteaf of the one in capital), satisfying uncommon requirements (e.g. users with special needs attending) etc.
TOTAL 18202.01 14137.22 4064.79
Total cost of project
18202.01 USD
Total amount requested from the Project and Event Grants program
14137.22 USD
Additional sources of revenue that may fund part of this project, and amounts funded
  • Kyiv National Linguistic University provided venue and two wifi hotspots
  • Wikimedia chapters may pay for the travel of their members.

Non-financial requirements[edit]

See a description of non-financial assistance available. Please inform the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) of any requests for non-financial assistance now.

Requests for non-financial assistance, if any
  • Assistance from the WMF travel team: ideally they make payments for tickets, and then we do all further actions. This will reduce flight costs, as bying tickets from Ukraine has a high currency risk and touth regulations.
  • Participation of WMF staff, and, if possible, Board and AffCom members.

Discussion[edit]

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