Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/WikiGameJam Bay Area 2026 (ID: 23653481)

Comments from I JethroBT (WMF)

@Barrythrew: Thanks for this proposal supporting a WikiGameJam in the Bay Area, extending from similar programming that was recently held in NYC. Please see my comments below:

• The idea for the proposal seems very solid to me, and is similar to the rationale for why we fund hackathons focused on Wikimedia tool development or enhancement. The purpose here is different in some important ways though, and software that is developed is not narrowly focused on software that editors are primarily using.
• It's great to see there is an active and substantive community that may participate in the event, given the past efforts to invite members from the GDC parties noticeboard and the mailing list maintained by the the Bay Area Wikipedians.
• While there are some indications that the previous WikiGameJam in NYC was successful, the proposed evaluation plan for this project does not offer any specific outcomes of what work will happen at the conference nor what benefits the participants will get from attending it. While I understand it is not possible to promise metrics for software that is not yet build much less proposed, we cannot fund proposals where proposed impact is focused on running an event with participants as opposed to what benefits that event will have. The proposal does note that The broader WikiGameJam team will also monitor the number of players engaged on WikiArcade but it's not clear if this refers to an evaluation of participants in the WikiGameJam, people who more generally play the games themselves, or something else. Given that the required budget for this proposal is close to maximum budget for the funding program, I am sending the proposal back for revisions to include more concrete impact of the conference in order for it to be considered for funding. It may be helpful to refer back to how software from the previous hackathon has been used, and if more time is needed to evaluate this, the proposal timeline may be extended if needed.
  • One positive aspect of the evaluation plan was its focus on returning participants. This is a helpful assessment of the sustainability of these projects in general for future consideration, and can offer evidence of a community around this kind of software development work in the movement.

I have sent the proposal back to you for revisions on this need, as well as any other needs based on the above points. I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 19:20, 12 December 2025 (UTC)

@I JethroBT (WMF) : Well received, and we have had similar discussions about improving evaluation. Our reply is being a little delayed by the holidays. We'll get back to you as soon as possible, hopefully beginning of next week. E mln e (talk) 20:16, 17 December 2025 (UTC)

@I JethroBT (WMF) With apologies for the delay due to the holidays and illnesses, we have outlined an evaluation plan, learning goals and how we will disseminate what we learn. E mln e (talk) 23:46, 8 January 2026 (UTC)