User:Sj/Wikimania

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I have been involved with the annual Wikimania confs since the final months of prep for the first event. In 2005 I was cochair of the program committee and helped organize travel scholarships, and brought in the first set of documentary filmographers (who published their raw material to the Internet Archive that fall). In 2006 I put together the winning Cambridge bid, and organized the conference proper with Phoebe and Delphine. From 2007 to 2010 I helped with judging Wikimania bids (I think that's enough for some time...) I have also helped promote the conference to potential speakers and find sponsors on a few occasions.

thoughts about Wikimanias future[edit]

  • Let's answer hard questions about what the conference should be about.
  • Let's help bids present themselves in terms of well-defined criteria and expectations, in addition to the narrative bids?
  • We should find ways to recognize and support great bids that don't get chosen to host -- either by helping them run local events with the ideas and support they gathered during the bid process, by helping them attend wikimanias in person and learn / plan for the future, or simply by active recognition.


old notes on this page from 2006[edit]

Multiling[edit]

  • LISA is sending someone to present.
  • TING wiki reps there : Xtian, if funding can be found. Mattis, unless he's in Berlin promoting a Wikifest from afar

Education[edit]

Sounds of Animals of the World project


From Robert French, who runs Marcomblog.com, teaches in Auburn, and continues to try to use wikis and integrate WP into classes.


Good to hear from you. I appreciate you keeping up with us. Very kind of
you, really.

We have been experimenting with wikis in classes. One public example is a
simple collaborative writing exercise involving the creation of a press
release. That was undertaken by students in the Introduction to PR class.
This was their first attempt at press releases and their first exposure to
wikis, too. They actually enjoyed it. The learning curve wasn't too
difficult for them at all, re: the wiki.

http://www.marcomblog.com/wikimedia/index.php?title=Students:Project

There are other examples we have explored, too.

For instance, right now the senior level Public Relations Campaigns class is
pitching wikis to a city school board for their teachers and board members
to engage in collaborative projects. One example would be a private wiki for
accumulating all the information needed for their periodic school system's
accreditation process. Another would be a compilation of daily lesson plans.

The students will also be using wikis to collaborate on the acumulation of
research and background information they compile along the way. Also, they
will use a wiki to create their report for the clients.

I would like to involve students in some of the projects available at
Wikipedia, but have not done that, yet. I really need the projects to
directly relate to their projects. So, I will have to explore that further.

By the way, I did write to Jimmy Wales and commented in his blog. I haven't
heard back from him. Perhaps he missed the post and email, or he was just
too busy. Since he is an alum of Auburn, we would love to hear from him,
too. It would help me show the students a local/personal tie-in to wikis and
perhaps increase their interest level. If you don't mind, please share that
with him if you see him.