Overview of the different kind of people contributing and participating in Wikimania. Relevance of their participation, possible expectations and possible ways to meet their expectations.
Image
Who
Description
Why we want them at Wikimania
Expectations/needs
Expected outcome (our objectives)
Output (what we do to get the outcome)
Attendees in general
Everybody
Logistics (venues, accommodation, food, transport, visa, registration, scholarships): finding what they need, having a covenant stay, being able to afford their participation.
Communication designed specifically for the different targets. Information, answer to their questions.
Expectations and need can vary
Making sure food and connectivity responds to needs and its good.
Making sure the program is a combination of things you can listen to or passively enjoy (panels, presentations, exhibition), things which makes you interact, experience and learn (workshops, training, discussions, gatherings), and things you can choose from (sufficiently large program)
Making sure people remember not only connectivity and food, but also what the event was about.
Making sure people are prepared for the specific location of Wikimania (they know how is going to work and what the general atmosphere will be).
Making sure people have being able to contribute to the program (to define what they want to talk about and listen to).
Allow people to take advantage of the location (excursions, tourism...).
Managing properly all aspects of the logistics and communication.
Giving the event a a general working direction (not necessarily one theme but maybe something common to all sessions. i.e. a relevant question at the end or during each session such as "what would you do if you had all possible money and resources? what would you do with what we currently have?)
Newbies
People who are new. They still know little about the archipelago, the movement and its dynamics.
People working in GLAMs.
Policy and decision makers.
People contributing to like-minded organizations and projects.
People who have just started editing the Wikimedia projects.
People who never edited the Wikimedia projects.
Because Wikimania is and can be an excellent occasion for outreach.
Getting a sense of what Wikipedia and Wikimedia is.
Providing them with a sense of what king of synergies they can build with the Wikimedia projects.
Browsing possibilities to get involved in projects and initiatives (active participation).
Accessing discussions and communication material which is specifically conceived for them (it responds directly to the questions "what can I do?"/"how can I do it?".
Maybe for some people, getting a job at Wikimedia Foundation or in a Wikimedia related project or chapter-affilate.
Providing them with an overview of Wikipedia archipelago/Wikimedia: exhibition.
Providing them with a sense of what is going on: posters, chapters village.
Allowing them to time with people (coffee breaks, meals, parties, flat).
Providing them presentations that specifically target them (maybe it is just enough to indicate in the presentation what kind of knowledge is required to understand it, if it is meant to target a specific audience...).
Insiders
People who are active on the Wikimedia projects (at least one).
Wikimania is for them.
Meeting in person people they already know and they have been working with online.
Getting more involved in projects and initiatives (as promoters, leaders).
Engaged
People who are specifically engaged in the movement and its projects.
Wikimania is for them.
Meeting peers and colleagues.
Developing further their projects.
Presenting what they are working on.
Contributing to Wikimania programme.
Looking for people to work with.
Meeting in person people they already know and they have been working with online.
To present their work: posters, presentations, panels, chapters village.
To develop further their work: workshops, meetups (formal and informal meetings).
Media and journalists
Researchers
They contribute to study Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, open online communities, wikis and they produce papers, publications, data, analysis.
They link Wikimedia and the Wikimedia projects to universities and research centres.
They can contribute to discussions with data and analysis.
They are often part of the community already.
Developers
Like-minded organizations
Organizers
The chapter(s), the volunteers, the promoters, the people contributing to the planning and implementation.
