Grants talk:Conference/WCNA/WikiConference North America 2021

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Recommend increasing video editing budget[edit]

It is unclear how much video this conference will produce, but I think 8 hours * 3 days is the estimate. Maybe some days will have parts not recorded, and maybe there will be pre- and post-conference events with recorded components.

Right now the budget says video production is 60 hours. If there are 24 hours of video, then the editor needs minimum 3 times that because they have to watch the video, pause and edit, then watch again. The two watching sessions will be approximately double total time, then editing will take time also, which is 3x. Also, there are 3+ languages of content to edit, so at least one video editor will be watching without much editing and perhaps just kicking a video to a native speaking editor. Alternatively, maybe it is not necessary to get a native speaker editor, but in any case, separating English from non-English is one kind of labor, then other kinds of editing will be a different workflow. If there are actually separate feeds for speaking rather than transcribing language then that multiples the raw recording hours and they all need editing.

For an online event the editing is important because producing a watchable recorded video gets more value out the event, especially with the other steps we are taking with producing a nice event.

There is not a standard, but for a 3+ language event, I support editing being 5*number of video hours. Also $25/hour is on the low end. If there are multiple editors maybe someone will grind through at that rate, but a multilingual person may need more for parts. $30/hour seems easier.

24 * 5 * 30 = US$3600 , currently editing budget is less than this. Blue Rasberry (talk) 03:22, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Local outdoor video hubs[edit]

There are some cities and universities with active wiki communities. Wikimedia New York City recently organized its Wikipediay Day 2021 event by hiring a videographer in advance to be in person outside in some spacious places and allow people to speak in person in front of cameras. This made talks for the event higher quality and easier to watch, plus it was also a nice way to support the speakers in presenting their best.

Personally I am at a university and I have access to some hours of videographer time, and I am planning on getting some faculty, librarians, and students in front of our own cameras to do talks. I do not need funding, but there are some other universities and small wiki groups who would use video time if they got easy sponsorship. Universities especially are experimenting more with video production in all kinds of ways but with COVID scarcity, getting sponsorship helps.

I propose making subgrants available in the amount of $1200 per city or university which can arrange to get a few people on camera and microphone to give a talk of higher quality than webcam at home. There are some big projects in various places around the region and organizations and wiki volunteers would be motivated to do good video if it were for the conference, and also if individuals and the org could also distribute the video in their own channels to showcase their own work, and also if they had some sponsorship to plan this out.

4x video teams * $1200 = $4800, plus $200 for consultation because someone is going to have trouble converting the video file, figuring out copyright license, etc, and a little extra funding could support the team videographer that figures it out in supporting the team which does not. Add $5000 if there is budget space. Blue Rasberry (talk) 03:22, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

  • That sounds good. If some people made little videos -- training presentations or original-research presentations, they might be better than somebody's live presentation. Hmm. Let's see if want bend our request in that direction. -- econterms (talk) 03:51, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Keynote / special session stipends[edit]

There is a custom of spending money on keynote and special session speakers. Sometimes keynote speakers take travel costs, sometimes they take a stipend. Professional speakers from outside the community sometimes give consulting sessions. I propose a budget of $500 * 4 = $2000 to sponsor a mix of 4 keynotes and special sessions.

These invited special sessions may be non-wiki professionals who give talks on hot topics such as the following:

  • diversity and inclusion
  • de-escalation
  • responding to negativity / harassment
  • webconference management and moderation for professionals
  • not a talk, but sponsor a third-party journalist to review and publish on the event to reach new audiences
  • experience from an underserved demographic from which we simply are unable to recruit a wiki volunteer
  • allied technology
  • data ethics, such as in the context of increasing business interest in Wikimedia projects

Blue Rasberry (talk) 03:38, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Useful background[edit]

This in-person conference went well, and the grant was approved, and follow-through went well: WikiConference North America 2018 -- econterms (talk)

Support with suggestions[edit]

I support the project, but based on WCNA, I have a couple of suggestions. One reason I would like to see this grant go through is I would particularly like to see coaching given in advance to people who are running sessions, about handling zoom-bombing and other difficulties. I would also suggest trying to avoid "platform creep" where people are expected to use several new platforms. Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk) 02:35, 16 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

WMF comments[edit]

Dear Pharos and the WCNA,

Thank you for submitting this proposal! Especially in these times, we are very happy and grateful to see communities taking on the challenge of organizing a remote event. We are an online community, but in-person events still have great impact on our work and collaboration, and it's not obvious to shift to that form of convenings.

Your proposal has many strengths to highlight and the vision is clear. I reviewed your proposal, and have some follow up questions and comments to share.

Community input

  • How many people responded to the Community Engagement survey?
  • I think it's great to extend your focus on language based gaps and community building for non-English speakers. As for the goals and top 5 priorities you identified, I think it needs some prioritizing. They are all good and worthy goals, but probably too much to achieve in a remote conference. Online events have a very different 'rhythm' than in person events and it's much hared to keep people focused and engaged for 3 days for a remote event. In order to achieve your main goals, I recommend better prioritizing.
  • How are you going to achieve the 'Community safety' goal you mentioned as a community priority?
  • I'm interested to hear more about your objectives and desired outcomes. What will indicate that you have achieved your goals? What kind of change and impact are you hoping to see after the event?

Participation

  • WMF support for translation and transcription - For the Strategy meetings, a contractor and paid volunteers were hired for translation support. This is not something we do in-house. I also see you already budgeted almost $5.5K for translation and transcription. For what purpose do you need the extra WMF support? If you wish to add more translation options or methods that are not already covered, we can ask our staff for anyone who might be willing to volunteer in that role, under their volunteer capacity and your management as organizers.
  • We do not offer in house videoconferencing support. But if you need help with producing the event, this is something you can budget for.
  • We'll be happy to help with all the other WMF support requests you had.

Budget

  • Awards - Can you please clarify who will be awarded and for what? Will it be $50 awards, or a specific item at a cost of $50? Generally we do not encourage Cash rewards. Please try to replace it with another form of recognition such as a t-shirt, a bag or something similar.
  • Wiknic in a box - that's a really nice idea! Do you think you will have 10 groups that can meet in person under the current restrictions?
  • I'm not clear why would you need physical banners for a virtual event?
  • Scholarships and funding for participants: The Project-based grants and all the E-scholarship expenses (line items 15-17) are not event related costs and therefore cannot be approved under the Conference grants program. You can submit a separate proposal to the Project grants or Rapid grants programs, or encourage relevant attendees to apply for a rapid grants during the specific time frame of the conference.
    As a reference, the WikiCite E-scholarship program was a pilot specifically aimed to promote and develop projects that are relating to the mission of WikiCite. We are happy to support you in removing any accessibility and access issues for participants, but the E-scholarships and Project-based grants are not under the Conference grants scope. Please remove line items 15-17 from the proposal.
  • Do you have a quota for the Program technician for trilingual broadcasting? Doe's the event require 60 hours of service?
  • Can you please share your plan for the Post-event video? What will it be used for and how will you produce it given the event will mostly be virtual?


Thank you again for this thought-out proposal and for allowing this important and much needed platform for engagement. I'll appreciate understanding better your objectives and the kind of change you are hoping to see. Other than that, the proposal makes sense to me and we will be happy to support this event.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Best CAlmog (WMF) (talk) 00:06, 27 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Replies[edit]

Community input

  • 14. We added this to the Grant document. I'm not sure of the overlap with the organizers, who discussed the conference actively.
  • I think it's great to extend your focus on language based gaps and community building for non-English speakers. Green tickY
  • Right, we should have identified a top two. We've done that now: training and partnerships. These are broad. In the updated Grant phrasing we link them to some of the diverse phrasing in the survey responses, and to the phrasing of the Strategy initiatives.
  • In WCNA 2020, we had stated safe space principles and it seemed to go all right. As user:Mary Mark Ockerbloom notes above however, we did have zoom-bombers. We threw them out pretty fast but it is a shocking experience to be intruded on that way, especially the first time. She suggests we have practice and training; we might also have trained designated bouncers.
  • Well we did after-the-fact surveys after WCNA 2018 and 2020. We could do that the same way again. We had a lessons-learned meeting in December, after the 2020 conference. The main change and impact however is not to measure but to keep the connections alive and give people an enlightening, educational, and encouraging experience like a professional conference.

Participation

  • We are not loooking to WMF for in-house translation, transcription, or videoconferencing support. We would only come to WMF for consultation on what solutions have worked best for them, which we have already begun to do.

Budget

  • We will create and mail out custom awards, in the style of wikiconference:2019/Awards, which were 3d-printed barnstars. The $50 is meant to cover both production of a custom award and shipping.
  • We think that by October this will be possible in much of North America if covid conditions improve as anticipated with widespread vaccinations. Few places restrict small outdoor gatherings even currently, but we want to go beyond legal requirements and will only do things when and where it is safe. We will also use some of this for the local outdoor video hubs concept suggested by Bluerasberry above, which is even safer in current conditions.
  • Physical banners would be for small outdoor gatherings.
  • We have removed all of the scholarship items in the budget.
  • The quote and hours for program technician for trilingual broadcasting is based on information from WMF staff who have done similar projects recently.
  • The post-event video will be a highly edited distillation of the conference that is minutes rather than hours long, like a film trailer that introduces an audience to the longer, more drawn-out recordings. This concept (as well as outdoor video hubs) is partly modeled on the recent File:Wikimedia New York City celebrates 20 years of Wikipedia.webm and its shorter edit File:Welcome to Wikimedia New York City.webm. We adjusted the budget slightly up per user:Bluerasberry's advice above. The topics of interpretation/translation and video production are new to the organizers.

Grant approved[edit]

Hi Pharos and the WCNA team,

Thank you for your work on the grant request and responding to our comments. I’m happy to tell you that we've reviewed the final proposal and are happy to support it! You received an email last week with more instructions and next steps. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will circle back soon to schedule our first meeting. Looking forward to working together! CAlmog (WMF) (talk) 19:26, 7 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]