Learning patterns/Project management for edit-a-thons
What problem does this solve?[edit]
When you start planning an edit-a-thon, you may have to start months in advance to secure a space, start crowdsourcing lists of articles to edit, get outreach going, organize childcare, get funding, and get all the day-of necessities like food and coffee.
What is the solution?[edit]
We suggest using free project management software to keep your ducks in a row. Especially if you have multiple people collaborating on organizing an edit-a-thon. The Art+Feminism core team uses Trello, because it's free and has a low barrier to entry for use. It also provides a list of good examples if you're not sure how to organize your boards: Inspiring Trello Boards
Things to consider[edit]
- There is lots of project management software out there and Trello isn't necessarily the best but it's free! If you're a non-profit, you may look into non-profit licenses for other software.
Examples[edit]
- Wikimedia DC used a project/workflow management software tool called Podio for planning edit-a-thons in 2014–15, for which we were able to obtain a non-profit license. We implemented a task-based workflow for each edit-a-thon that automatically created a tailored set of tasks (such as setting up an event page on Wikipedia, announcing the event, arranging catering, collecting event metrics, and generating an event report) for every new event and assigned them to particular volunteers.[1]
When to use[edit]
The Art+Feminism team used Trello to organize the 2016 international edit-a-thon. Because we had multiple people, who were geographically dispersed, working on different aspects of the project, it was essential that we had a way to share tasks, assign work to each other and check things off when they were completed.