Wikimania 2016 bids/Esino Lario/Sessions

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The working sessions we propose for Wikimania Esino Lario are based on the analysis of the different sessions which have already been organized in previous editions of Wikimania and other relevant conferences, and they relay on the observation of the targets we want to address (their relevance for the movement, their expectations and the way their expectations can be met).

Presentations[edit]

Presentations are speeches meant to inform, persuade, or rise issues. According to the discussions on past Wikimanias we highlighted the need of two kind of presentations: presentations meant for newbies which provide an overview of a topic (user digest presentations) and presentations which are more in-depth which assume the public have already a certain degree of knowledge on a topic (critical issues). To introduce topics and to provide an overview to what is going on in the moment also posters, the community village and brochures are valuable tools.

User digest[edit]
A presentation at Wikimania Hong Kong.
Presentation at Wikimania London.

A "user digest presentation" is a presentation which provides an overview of a topic. It is a sort of extended "State of the Wiki" which can browse all sort of more specific topics: status of the organization (i.e. Wikimedia Foundation, chapters-affiliates-groups around the world), strategies related to territories (i.e. Iberocoop, Africa, Wikipedia offline and on mobile phone), specific projects (i.e. Wikidata, Wikisource), projects in the field of education (i.e. schools, high schools, universities, outreach targeting specific groups), partnerships with GLAMs, dynamics of the online community, research related to Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, software development, events, legislation...

The idea behind general presentation is that people can be extremely informed in a specific field, but they can be newbies in another. The "user digest presentations" are conceived to provide an overview of a topic, and they do not expect people to have background knowledge on it. This kind of presentation is linked to existing groups (i.e. people working in education and partnerships with GLAMs). The evaluation of the user digest presentations should take into consideration the preparatory work of the applicant and the capacity of the presentation to acknowledge not only what is going on in one country or one linguistic projects but around the world and in different linguistic projects.

The user digest presentations are managed through the liaisons. You can contact them if you have ideas or suggestions.

Critical issues[edit]
A presentation at Wikimania Haifa.
A presentation at Wikimania London.

Presentations around critical issues are meant to present a topic more in-depth (problem, possible solution, critical analysis). Those presentations do not target newbies, and they can assume attendees have already a background knowledge on the topic. Those presentations are also meant to nourish discussions. In the call for proposals, applicants will be asked to specify who is the target of the presentation and what they would like the presentation to produce (i.e. decision, beta test, creation of a new specific project, collaboration with specific groups, application to the IEG or other grant). Those presentations can be also further discussed during meetups.

Presentations on critical issues will be selected for Wikimania Esino Lario using a call for proposals and a selection process managed by the Program Committee. Participants will also be invited to contribute to Wikimania by preparing posters. Presentations will be video recorded and uploaded online after Wikimania and not in Esino Lario.[1]

Posters, chapter village and brochures[edit]

Posters can be a way to provide an overview of topics and of what is going on in the movement in different countries and locations. The chapter village has been organized during the last Wikimania as a space to allow participants to meet the chapters and who works and collaborates with chapters. Brochures are normally distributed in the chapter village and in London they have been produced specifically to allow people interested in a topic to get an idea of what was going on related to that topic during Wikimania (introduction and events which might interest). During Wikimania Esino Lario posters, the chapter village and brochures focus on newbies (in the different projects and initiatives); these formats provide space for a variety of information and they increase the number of topics covered by the conference. The posters are also a tool to prepare the "user digest" presentations and to provide the community with online documentation during and after the event.


Discussions[edit]

Thematic discussions[edit]
A discussion at Wikimania Haifa.
The room used for discussions at Wikimania London.

Thematic discussions are discussions with an objective; the objective is what determines their structure. Among the objectives there can be for example taking a decision, browsing possible solutions for a problem, making latent problems and issues emerging, considering a topic from different perspectives.

It could be interesting to browse the possibility of transforming the Q&A with Wikimedia Foundation board into a discussion; also the presentation of Wikimedia Foundation could be structured differently: with a "user digest presentation" of the executive director and a discussion involving the executive director and representatives of the different areas of the foundation.

We estimated the price to have two facilitators involved in supporting the planning of those session (selection and definition of the structure, i.e. plenary and group discussions, simulations, different technique of brainstorming...) and contributing in facilitating their implementation.

Expense Number Days Cost/Unit Total in euro Total in dollars
Facilitators 2 € 3.000 $ 4.117,47
Total amount planned in the estimated costs € 3000 $ 4.117,47
Currency € 1,00 $ 1,37
Meetups[edit]
A meeting at Wikimania London.

Meetups are informal meetings. We expect the proximity which characterizes Wikimania Esino Lario to facilitate meetups. We expect them to take place in bars, restaurants and in the tensile structure. Time for meetups will be included in the schedule and not simply planned after the working sessions or at lunch.



Technical and training[edit]

Hackathon/DevCamp (preconference)[edit]
Hackathon at Wikimania London.

The Wikimania hackathon is a classic Wikimania pre-conference event during which computer programmers are invited to collaborate insensibly on Wikimedia software projects. The connectivity of Wikimania Esino Lario is planned to provide the technical requirement to host such event.

The primary school is located closed to the arrival of the optical fiber and it can accommodate conveniently 200 people (one large hall and 6 other rooms surrounding it); it is adjacent to Villa Clotilde with its garden and the new museum with its multimedia room; it is near by the theatre of the Kindergarten.

Training[edit]
Grantmaking learning day at Wikimania Hong Kong.

A training is a session meant to enhance skills. The idea of the training is that you come out of it with a new or reinforced competence (or at worst you come out it knowing who can answer your questions). A call will be made to ask people what kind of training they want or need. Training can be on all sort of topics: how to contribute to a project (i.e. Wikipedia, Wikisource, Wikidata), how to get your group recognized by Wikimedia Foundation, how to organized an educational event in a high school, how to request a grant to Wikimedia Foundation, how to evaluate a project, how to take photos for the Wikimedia Projects, how to organize a contest, how to download and install kiwix, how to involve a museum, how to use QRpedia in a museum, how to adopt on open licenses or how to make others using them...

  • The collaborative space is also designed to have an help desk where people can ask questions, in particular short technical ones (i.e. how do I make a table using a wiki, how I convert my video, how I do become an admin...).
  • Workshops will also be organized in the evening as a sort of hands-on training.
Collaborative space[edit]

The collaborative space is a building which will be 24/24 open and equipped with working stations. We would like to create in this space also a sort of help desk where people can ask questions, in particular short technical ones (i.e. how do I make a table using a wiki, how I convert my video, how I do become an admin...). The collaborative space will remain a collaborative space also after Wikimania and it will host Esino Lario associations.



Notes[edit]

  1. This is in order to avoid overloading network connectivity during the event; please refer to Esino Lario/Technical.